ARENZVILLE, IL | HOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST BURGOO 
| Churches | |
| Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church |
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From Virgil M. Dowdall's 1968 supplement to Perrin's History of Cass County:
"In March 1872, a minister of the Central Illinois Synod was chosen as pastor of St. Peter's church. Several members protested this move as it was a violation of their constitution. (Prior to this the church was served by pastors of the General Synod.) The protesting group withdrew and began holding services in the "Union Church," at Arenzville, with Pastor Warnke of Bethel serving them in services on Sunday afternoons. "In the fall of 1872 Christopher Lovekamp, Henry Lovekamp, and Henry Schaeffer were elected the first elders. In 1872 Pastor Toewe of Michigan was called as the first pastor and was installed on April 4, 1873. In the latter part of 1873, the present site was bought, and by the third Sunday in Advent, the church was completed and dedicated as Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. During the pastorate of Rev. Carl Eberhardt, who served from 1896-1914, the congregation outgrew the old church, and a new and larger one was built on the same site. It was dedicated June 11, 1911, and is still in use. Trinity is a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. The present pastor is Rev. Daniel Bishop. Trinity has an attached school building which serves a small school of elementary grades, pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Trinity school offers quality, Christ-centered education to all children, regardless of religious affiliation. No tuition is charged for members or non-members. For more information, phone 217-997-5535. Sunday School and Bible classes are held at 9:00 a.m. Divine Service at 10:00 a.m.
Trinity Lutheran School Yearbooks
This collection is possible through the courtesy of Lori Kulow Johnson, who graciously shared her family's collection of yearbooks and the 1972 church history. Thank you to the many individuals who helped identify the persons in the photos, especially Kathy Hancock. We made an effort to put a name on everyone, but a few students are still unidentified. If you have an addition or correction, please contact the webmaster or post a comment on the Memories of Arenzville Facebook Group. The links below will open a PDF file in a separate window and prompt you to save the file to your computer. Once you save it locally, you can view or print the file (for printing, it is best to select "fit to page" in your print options). Please note that these are large files and, depending on your connection, may take several seconds to download. |
"As far as is known, the first work done among Lutheran people of Arenzville dates back approximately to 1835. There were two preachers from time to time. One of these was Pastor Rieger. He met with people in various homes, and organized something of a school for the teaching of religion. At that time, Lutherans had no church of their own. In 1849 a group of Lutherans decided they would like a church outside the city limits, and St. Peter's was built two and one-half miles north of Arenzville on property purchased from Frederick Lovekamp. Pastor Launer resigned his ministry of the two congregations to serve St. Peter's, and Pastor Gebbert and Gebing served the townspeople.