Four Services on the Hill
Immanuel Lutheran Church & School sits on a rise at 950 Hart Road in Batavia, Illinois, where, on an August day in 1986, members walked in formation from the congregation's former Webster Street home behind a cross held aloft to their new building on the hill. The hilltop campus now houses a sanctuary for traditional liturgy, a gymnasium that doubles as a contemporary worship space, classrooms for a preschool-through-eighth-grade school, and the offices of a staff that serves both church and school. The congregation that began with fourteen members in 1882 today gathers each weekend around four services, a school of more than two hundred students, and a network of ministries that reach across the Fox River Valley.
The rhythm of the week centers on four Sunday services, plus a Saturday evening option. On Saturday at 5:30 p.m., a smaller and slightly more casual traditional service draws a faithful crowd into the sanctuary. Sunday morning begins at 8:00 a.m. with the early traditional liturgy, broadcast live on YouTube; it is followed at 9:30 a.m. by a second traditional service that runs alongside Sunday School and adult Bible study. At 10:45 a.m. the action shifts to the gym, where the contemporary service, led by Worship Arts Director Jimmy O'Connell and a team of professional musicians, fills the room with a lighter liturgy, current Christian radio favorites, and contemporary hymn arrangements.
Holy Communion is celebrated on the first, third, and fifth weekends of each month. Members of sister Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregations are welcome to commune after introducing themselves to a pastor; others are warmly invited to come forward for a blessing by crossing their arms over their chest.
What to Expect on Sunday Morning
First-time visitors tend to find that "come as you are" is taken literally here. Most who attend the 5:30 p.m. Saturday service and the two traditional Sunday services dress on the nicer side, from casual dress pants or nice jeans with a dress shirt all the way to suits and dresses. The 10:45 a.m. contemporary gathering leans casual, with jeans and t-shirts common, and even shorts and flip-flops appearing in the summer months.
The traditional services follow a classical Lutheran liturgical structure: church bells ring, an opening hymn is sung, the order proceeds through invocation, salutation, confession and absolution, prayers, Old Testament and New Testament readings, a Holy Gospel, a children's message at the foot of the altar, and an original sermon from one of the pastors. The service closes with a benediction and closing hymn. The 10:45 a.m. contemporary service keeps a lighter liturgy but still includes confession and absolution, prayers, scripture reading, and the same children's message and sermon as the morning services.
Families with young children will find activity bags called "Wiggle Tamers" tucked into the pews for traditional worship, coloring pages and small toys available by the entryway at the contemporary service, and a staffed nursery open during the school year for children younger than preschool age. Sunday School for preschool through eighth grade runs from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. during the school year, with adult Bible study available for parents at the same hour. The pastors and members are accustomed to small wiggles in the pews.
From a German-Language Congregation to a Hilltop Campus
Batavia's first settler, Christopher Payne, built a cabin near what is now Mahoney Creek in 1833, about a mile east of the Fox River on the north side of what is now Wilson Street. It took twenty-seven years for the German Lutherans living in that small river town to organize a congregation; on October 12, 1882, fourteen members signed and adopted a constitution, and Immanuel Lutheran Church was officially formed. It would be another twenty years before the congregation had its first resident pastor.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, Immanuel adopted a custom now taken for granted in American churches: men and women could sit together. Until then, men sat on one side, women on the other. About the time of the beginning of World War I, the church established a Sunday School. In 1918, four services a year began to be held in English; later the pattern settled into one English service and one German service each week.
By the 1980s the congregation had outgrown its Webster Street home. The move to 950 Hart Road in August 1986 was a procession rather than a move: members walked behind a cross carried aloft from the old church to the new one. An education wing followed in 1993, and the preschool, begun in 1989, expanded to include Kindergarten. First and second grades were added in 1996 and the school grew through eighth grade. A second addition in 2005 brought a library with more than 1,500 titles, a technology lab, a science lab, and a full-size gymnasium that now serves both school assemblies and the contemporary worship service.
The Triune God and the Means of Grace
Immanuel's mission statement is short enough to memorize: "We live together in God's story by worshiping, learning, and loving so that Christ is made known." With the universal Christian Church, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God - the Father, Creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God's Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God.
The Bible, Immanuel teaches, is God's message to man and the only source and standard of Christian teaching. Human beings are sinful by nature and in need of salvation. God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior, and He provides salvation and life through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Each Christian is encouraged to respond to that love by dedicating daily life to the glory of God.
In Holy Communion, the bread and wine are not merely symbols; the congregation teaches that Christ places His true Body and true Blood in, with, and under the bread and wine, given as a personal assurance of the forgiveness of sins. Those who wish to commune are asked to examine themselves, to confess sin, to trust in Christ's atoning death, and to receive the gift with grateful, repentant hearts.
Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation
Immanuel baptizes infants and adults alike. The baptismal font stands at the front of the sanctuary, and baptisms usually take place at the beginning of a regular weekend service when Holy Communion is not scheduled, although emergency baptisms can be arranged at other times and places. Parents and sponsors promise to faithfully bring the child to the services of God's house, to teach the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments, to place the Holy Scriptures in their hands, and to provide for the child's instruction in the Christian faith. Each fall, third graders and their parents come to the altar to receive a personal Faith Alive Bible, which becomes the standard Bible for all Christian education classes at Immanuel.
First Communion classes are offered for baptized children in grades five through eight, with a four-week class that walks parents and students together through what the sacrament means. Confirmation classes are held on Wednesdays for students in grades seven and eight, giving young people the opportunity to reaffirm the promises made at baptism and to begin a more mature faith walk, with parents serving as role models of regular worship and family prayer.
Immanuel Lutheran School
Tucked into the same campus is Immanuel Lutheran School, an accredited preschool-through-eighth-grade program serving more than two hundred students in three preschool classrooms, an elementary division of Kindergarten through Grade 5, and a departmentalized middle school that graduates students to the area's high schools. The school is led by Principal Donna Laughlin, a Valparaiso University graduate with a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Concordia University, who came to Immanuel in 2015 after serving congregations and schools in California and Wisconsin.
Immanuel Lutheran School first received National Lutheran School Accreditation in September 2001, gained Non-Public School Recognition from the Illinois State Board of Education in September 2002, and earned an Exemplary Status designation in 2009 from NLSA, one of only three schools nationwide to receive that honor that year. The school has continued to maintain its accreditation, most recently renewing it in 2021. Immanuel Lutheran School welcomes children of all races, creeds, and national and ethnic origins.
Facilities include the full-size gymnasium added in 2005, an onsite library of more than 1,500 titles, and technology and science labs. Sharon Dalpini, who has served as Music Ministry Director since 1993, was also on the school's teaching staff for twenty-nine years, the school's first Kindergarten teacher and later Physical Education and Music Education teacher for grades K-8. She also helped start the school's sports programs in 2002 and was the first Athletic Director.
Children and Families on Sunday Mornings
Family Ministry at Immanuel is anchored by Director of Family Ministry Kari Larsen, who has been on staff since 2004 and holds a Bachelor's Degree from Concordia University-Chicago. Sunday School runs from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. during the school year for preschoolers through eighth graders. Preschoolers stay with a parent to hear Bible stories, sing, play, and make a craft together. Elementary students in Kindergarten through Grade 5 dig into Old Testament and New Testament stories, while middle schoolers meet in the upstairs classrooms for fellowship and Bible study. Around Christmas, preschoolers through fifth graders take part in a Sunday School Christmas program, and around Easter, families with children ages one through third grade are invited to the Easter Journey, a guided tour of the resurrection story followed by an egg scavenger hunt.
On Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. during the school year, Sing & Play offers a drop-in parent-toddler class that builds connection between parent and child through songs, movement, and play. Siblings are welcome, and no registration is needed. Vacation Bible School takes one week each summer and is announced well in advance.
Middle and High School Youth
Student Ministry at Immanuel, led by Director of Student Ministry Matt Cassidy, gathers youth around two weekly evenings. High School Youth Night meets on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. in the Youth Room, ending with an activity in the gym or outside when weather permits. Middle School Youth Night meets on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. Confirmation classes for grades seven and eight are held on Wednesdays.
Every three years, Immanuel's youth join thousands of others at the LCMS Youth Gathering, a tradition that has continued since 1980. In non-Gathering years, the youth ministry embarks on a summer mission trip with Group Mission Trips. Immanuel has sent students to serve in Parsons, Kansas (2008), Hawley, Minnesota (2009), Hurricane, West Virginia (2011), Greenville, Michigan (2012), Glenwood, Minnesota (2014), Waterloo, Iowa (2015), Rushville, Indiana (2017), Elkview, West Virginia (2018), Chattanooga, Tennessee (2019), and Mission, South Dakota (2021). More than 138 different students have participated across these trips, with thirty different chaperones working alongside them.
Adult Bible Studies
Immanuel offers several ongoing Bible study groups that meet during the school year. On Tuesday mornings at 9:00 a.m., a pastor-led group works through books of the Bible, with a recent focus on the Gospel of John. On Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m., a lay-led group gathers to study characters of the faith, with recent topics including Joseph the Carpenter. On Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m., Pastor Noah leads a men's Bible study that has been working through the Book of Hebrews. Two women's studies meet on Wednesdays: a 9:00 a.m. group that has studied the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and a 6:30 p.m. group that has worked through video studies like Before Amen.
Choirs, Handbells, and Lessons & Carols
Music is woven into the life of Immanuel under the leadership of Music Ministry Director Sharon Dalpini. The Christus Choir, for high schoolers and adults, rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the sanctuary from mid-August through the end of May and sings traditional hymns and contemporary songs accompanied by organ, piano, and string instruments. Tongues of Fire, a choir for middle and high schoolers, performs once a month during the school year. The Joyful Sounds Handbell Choir, directed by Joanne Zillman, performs six to eight times a year, with rehearsals on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. prior to the day they play. A brass ensemble led by Dale Rudy performs at the Reformation, Christmas Eve, and Easter services, plus special summer events. School choirs sing during the school year for children enrolled in the school.
On the first Saturday in December, the congregation gathers for the annual Lessons & Carols service, a tradition begun in 1994. Nine scripture readings alternate with musical performances from choirs, mass choirs, special anthems, congregational hymns, and string ensembles to prepare hearts and minds for the birth of Christ.
Care Ministries: GriefShare and Stephen Ministry
Immanuel offers two distinct care ministries for those walking through difficult seasons. GriefShare is a thirteen-week Christ-centered program developed specifically for those grieving the death of a loved one. Sessions are offered in the fall and winter or spring and are free, thanks to the generosity of the ILCS Foundation. A Surviving the Holidays seminar is also offered each year for those navigating the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons after a loss.
Stephen Ministry is a one-to-one lay caring ministry. Stephen Ministers are trained lay caregivers, with men paired with men and women with women, who meet weekly with someone going through grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, relocation, or separation due to military deployment. The ministry is confidential and Christ-centered, walking alongside people through one of life's hardest stretches.
Hart to Hearts and Mission Support
The mission work at Immanuel reads less like a list and more like a portrait of how the congregation has chosen to love its neighbors. Hart to Hearts is an Immanuel mission outreach that helps people in the community with repairs, cleanup, and accessibility projects such as wheelchair ramps and yard work. Led by Dan Gatz, the ministry serves both Immanuel members and others in need, and volunteers, experienced in the trades or not, are always needed.
Immanuel also partners with Redeeming Life Outreach Ministries, a recognized service organization of the LCMS Northern Illinois District that provides a safe and stable home for single expectant and postpartum mothers, walking alongside them whether they choose to place their baby for adoption or to parent. At Christmas, the church and school actively support Samaritan's Purse through Operation Christmas Child, with families donating and packing shoeboxes that go to children around the world. Worship Anew, a thirty-minute broadcast service, is supported by Immanuel members with gifts that keep the program running on BATV. The congregation also practices tithing: Immanuel Lutheran Church gives ten percent of its donations to ministries outside its doors.
The Mission and Ministry Council
The administrative life of the congregation rests with the Mission and Ministry Council, eleven voting members consisting of four officers and seven members-at-large elected by the Voters' Assembly. Officers serve two-year terms and at-large members serve three-year terms, with approximately one-third of the council elected each year. The council develops policies to execute the goals approved by the Voters' Assembly and oversees the day-to-day ministry of the church and school.
The Immanuel Foundation
The Immanuel Lutheran Church & School Foundation is a legally independent non-profit organization that manages donated funds in a diversified portfolio of mutual funds and bonds managed by the LCMS Foundation. The Foundation exists to make a lasting impact on ministries for generations to come, especially through inherited or unexpected gifts and through estate planning. The Foundation Board meets on the first Tuesday of each month and considers funding requests for ministries including youth mission trips, family and children's ministries, school financial aid, and community outreach. The aim is to use five percent of the balance each year, leaving potential for growth so that gifts can support ministries for decades to come.
From the font to the altar to the choir loft to the classrooms and the Hart Road hilltop, Immanuel continues a mission that began when fourteen members signed a constitution in 1882 and that today reaches more than two hundred students, dozens of ministries, and neighbors across the Fox River Valley.