Elected representatives from St. John’s, Trinity, and Messiah are meeting to recommend to their congregations whether or not a three-point merger would be the best for the future of our respective congregations.

The Merger Consideration Committee has decided that to make this determination, we need to hear from members of all three congregations. We feel this is best accomplished by worshipping jointly and coming together for fellowship afterward. We will meet jointly for three consecutive weeks, once at each site, with St. John’s hosting the first week, Trinity the next, and Messiah for the final week.

Only one worship service will be offered at one location for that particular Sunday. The other two congregation locations will not have worship services or fellowship for that particular Sunday. All three congregations’ memberships are strongly encouraged to attend worship and fellowship together. And Sunday School will be offered all three weeks during fellowship time.

We are inviting you to participate each week.

 Pastor Dan Eddy of Messiah will be leading and preaching at all the services. It will be a three-part sermon series called “Where do we go from Here?” It is an in-depth look at how to seek God’s Wisdom for determining our future as Missouri Synod Lutherans in the Beloit area. Pastor Senn from Trinity and Vacancy Pastor Ron Rather from St. John’s will assist with the services.

Here is the Schedule:

 • Sunday, April 14 at 9:00 a.m. only. Joint worship at St. John’s, 1000 Bluff St. with joint fellowship discussion following worship.
        o Worship Theme: Seeking God’s Wisdom in Reconciliation. How to resolve conflict to leave the past in the past.
 • Sunday, April 21 at 9:00 a.m. only (not 9:30 a.m.) Joint worship at Trinity, 1850 Cranston Rd with joint fellowship discussion following worship.
        o Worship Theme: Seeking God’s Wisdom in Unity. How to express our Lutheran Confession of Faith in fellowship with each other.
• Sunday, April 28 at 9:00 a.m. only (no 11:00 a.m. service). Joint worship at Messiah, 1531 Townline Avenue, with joint fellowship discussion following worship.
        o Worship Theme: Seeking God’s Wisdom in Evangelism and Outreach. What is your role in telling and showing Christ to our families, friends, and community?

After each worship service, the congregation for that week will host fellowship. As part of the fellowship, the hosting congregation’s lay leadership will facilitate a discussion to gather people’s input on a potential merger – New Plant. We want to hear from you.
This is an excellent opportunity to see how much all three congregations’ members love worshipping together and being in fellowship with each other.

Thank you in advance for your participation and input.

God’s blessings,

Beloit Lutheran Merger Consideration Team