A Sunday Morning at 155 Second Street
Capron Lutheran Church meets each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. on Second Street in the village of Capron, a short drive east of Rockford in rural Boone County. The service follows the fourfold shape that runs through Lutheran worship nationwide: Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending. Gathering opens with prayers and songs. Word includes four Scripture readings, a short Kid's Time, and a sermon. Meal centers on Holy Communion. Sending closes with a final hymn and a blessing. A normal Sunday lasts about one hour.
After worship, the congregation moves into the Fellowship Hall for light refreshments and conversation, a rhythm that newcomers notice quickly. Both in-person seating and an online broadcast via Facebook Live are offered at the same hour.
Communion at Capron is open to everyone of any age. Grape juice is available alongside wine, the bread is shared by intinction, and anyone who prefers not to receive is invited to come forward for a blessing.
Pastor Don Gillingham and the Ministry Team
Don Gillingham has served as Minister of Capron Lutheran Church since August 2022. A Lutheran educator since 1977, Gillingham is known for a relaxed preaching style and a strong drive to empower volunteers. He lives in Loves Park with his wife Pam, a second-grade teacher, and has three adult children and five grandchildren. Around Boone County he is a familiar presence at local events, learning the history and rhythms of this rural community.
The church office is staffed part-time and is open on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
From a Norwegian Synod Church to the ELCA
The congregation's roots run deep. Its first worship service took place on November 21, 1844, the first confirmations in April 1845, and the first building went up in 1849, with a dedication on April 26, 1850. In 1853 the young parish joined the Norwegian Synod, a reflection of the Norwegian heritage of its founding families.
A split in 1870 created two congregations in the area, a Synod church and a United church, each of which organized Ladies Aid societies in the 1880s and 1890s. After four decades apart, the two bodies reunited in 1913 as Long Prairie Lutheran Church, which in 1914 joined the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America. In 1946 the parish adopted the name Capron Lutheran Church and installed its first organ.
The shape of today's campus grew over the 20th century. A Fellowship Hall was added in 1926, a narthex in 1941, and an education wing, kitchen, restrooms, and a new parsonage in 1958. A new entrance and wheelchair ramp were built in 1993 and dedicated in 1994, and in 1998 the organ console was repositioned so the Fellowship Hall could be reached directly from the sanctuary. The church purchased the Manring House in 2000, and over four summers from 2004 to 2007 church members picked up trash at the Boone County Fair to help fund a new parking lot. In 1988 the congregation joined the new Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, where it remains today as a member of the Northern Illinois Synod.
Word, Sacrament, and the Welcome Table
Capron Lutheran sits within the ELCA tradition that takes 1 John 4:8 as a starting point: "God is Love." Members believe this love can be experienced through relationships with others, through Word and Sacrament, through personal devotion, and through acts of service offered as a grateful response to all God has done. "We are not willing to put God and God's work in the world into a box," the congregation teaches.
The two Lutheran sacraments anchor the parish's life. Baptism welcomes people of any age into the Christian community and is normally celebrated during worship, with parents, godparents, and the gathered congregation each making promises. Children later take part in Confirmation, a faith-formation program that ends with the young person standing before the congregation to affirm their baptism and become an adult member.
At the Communion table the church teaches the Real Presence of Christ, that Christ is present in, with, and under the bread and wine. Because grace is described as "a free gift for all through no work of our own," everyone of any age is welcome to receive.
The Trinity and the Bible
The congregation confesses the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, often described as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. The Bible is regarded as inspired by God and as the norm for faith and life, written over thousands of years and gathered at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. It is a book of stories, history, lessons, and poetry through which members read and pray their way into a deeper relationship with God.
Serve Others: A Century of Local Mission
Service beyond the sanctuary has marked the congregation for generations. The Rosebud Ministry has reached out from Capron Lutheran since 1982, and the Rural Plunge, a hands-on mission experience, has run since 1985. A community garden was begun in 2010, and later that same year Little Lambs Pre-School opened as an outreach of the church, serving young families of the area.
In 2013 the congregation launched three new ministries at once: a partnership with Love INC, a Community Clothing Exchange, and the Paper Angel Closet, all ways of walking alongside neighbors in practical ways. An Open Space Worship gathering was added in 2015.
The church works closely with Rockford Area Lutheran Ministries (RALM), a regional body that supports programs such as Laundry Love, Becca's Closet, and Park Players. Capron Lutheran also supports Lutherdale, the ELCA outdoor ministry center on the Lauderdale Lakes in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where campers enjoy waterfront activities, archery, the climbing tower, and the low and high challenge courses. The congregation keeps ties with Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, one of the ELCA's eight seminaries.
Lutheran World Relief and the Wider Church
Capron Lutheran members have long taken part in Lutheran World Relief projects, packing quilts, school kits, and personal care kits for shipment to communities in need. Giving also flows through the broader work of the ELCA, including Lutheran Disaster Response and the Good Gifts catalog, both of which help provide food, relief supplies, and recovery support around the world. Locally, the congregation helps stock a food pantry and prepares shared meals for neighbors in Boone County.
Children, Preschool, and Vacation Bible School
Children have always been at the heart of the parish. A Sunday School program for children ages 3 through 14 historically met on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m., September through mid-May, before worship; that program is currently on hold. Vacation Bible School is offered each summer on the church grounds, with morning sessions for children in the community.
Little Lambs Pre-School, founded in 2010 as an outreach ministry of Capron Lutheran, serves three- and four-year-olds and continues to operate as part of the congregation's work with local families.
Special Services and Pastoral Care
As a parish church, Capron Lutheran hosts baptisms, weddings, funeral and visitation services, and other special services as needs arise.
Planning a First Visit
Sunday worship begins at 10:00 a.m. Parking is in the lot north of the building, with designated accessible spaces near the front of the church, and visitors enter up the ramp through the double sanctuary doors. Dress runs the full range from jeans and t-shirts to Sunday best; everyone is welcome to come as they are. The church office is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The address is 155 Second Street, Capron, Illinois 61012, and the phone is (815) 569-2480. Services can be watched through Facebook Live at the same 10:00 a.m. hour, and online giving is available on the church's donate page.
A welcome card, a hymn, a cup of coffee, and a long history of opening the doors to strangers are waiting on Second Street.