Three Sunday Services in Joliet
Messiah Lutheran Church sits on Houbolt Road in Joliet, Illinois, just across from the airport, in a part of Will County where old Scandinavian roots and a new multicultural congregation now share one roof. Members describe the location with a familiar shorthand - "the church across from the airport" - and visitors can find the building easily along the route into the city.
On a typical Sunday morning, the church runs three worship services that give the day three different shapes. At 8:30 a.m. the Traditional service opens the day with classic Lutheran hymns, the weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper, anthems from the Sanctuary Choir, and a Children's Sermon. The 8:30 service is also the one that is streamed online for those who cannot be in the room.
At 9:40 a.m. the Education Hour fills the church with Sunday School and Bible Study classes for every age - preschool through high school in the children's and youth wings, and Insight, the adult Bible study, in the Fellowship Hall with coffee and treats. A Prayer Station is open for individuals or small groups during the hour.
At 10:45 a.m. the Family Praise and Worship service gathers the whole household together. The Praise and Worship Team leads contemporary music, a Children's Sermon is included for the younger worshipers, and the Lord's Supper is served every week. Child care is available in the nursery during both morning services.
At 1:00 p.m. the Sanctuary fills again for Cristo Rey, a bilingual worship service led by Pastor Keith Forni of Cristo Rey Lutheran Mission. English and Spanish are woven into a single liturgy, and the congregation shares fellowship together after the service ends.
LCMC Roots and Lutheran Beliefs
Messiah is a member of LCMC - Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ - and that affiliation shapes the church's tone. The congregation teaches that Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead, that salvation is by faith alone, by grace alone, and by God's Word alone, and that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. The church practices the two Lutheran sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and baptizes people of every age - infants, children, teenagers, and adults. Luther's Small Catechism, the Augsburg Confession, the Book of Concord, and the three ecumenical Creeds (Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian) are named as the Lutheran foundations.
The congregation's own story stretches back more than a hundred years in the Joliet area. It began as a Scandinavian Lutheran church and is now made up of people from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The church describes itself as evangelical, Bible-based, Christ-centered, and family-oriented, and frames its mission with the words Bring, Build, and Bump: God brings people into relationship with Him, builds believers up to be like Christ, and bumps the world through the daily lives of those who follow Him.
Life Groups and the Rhythm of the Week
Outside of Sunday morning, Messiah runs a long list of "Life Groups" that meet at regular times during the week. Some gather for Bible study, some for music, and some for service or fellowship. The congregation sees these groups as a way to find "your people and your place" at Messiah.
3M Messiah Men's Ministry is a Bible study for men of all ages that meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. The Quilters meet on the third Tuesday at 9 a.m. to assemble and tie quilts that are sent to Lutheran World Relief for distribution after natural disasters and war. The same group makes lap robes for Lightways Hospice and baby quilts for the church's own Li'l Loves Ministry. Memory Bears volunteers sew 24-inch teddy bears out of clothing from people who have died, to comfort the grieving and to donate to children in need.
On Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. (September through May), Stay-N-Play opens the Family Life Center gymnasium to children five and younger for an hour of free play. On the second Monday of each month from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. a Messiah team goes to Daybreak Shelter at 611 Cass Street in Joliet to prepare and serve a meal for people who are unhoused. Faith and Body gathers on Thursdays from 9 to 10 a.m. to combine physical exercise with encouragement in faith, September through May. Environmental Care invites green thumbs to help with landscaping and gardening whenever they can, and the church provides a phone number for anyone who wants a list of jobs to choose from.
Older adults find a steady gathering in O.W.L.S. (Older Wiser Loving Seniors), a monthly luncheon on the second Tuesday of the month, September through May, with speakers, crafts, and fellowship.
Messiah Kidz Club, Confirmation, and the Next Generation
Children and students have a deep bench of programming at Messiah. Children's Ministry Director Leslie McFarland oversees the work from kindergarten through fifth grade. Messiah Kidz Club Sunday School meets during the 9:40 a.m. Education Hour in the upstairs education wing, and Messiah Kidz Club Wednesdays (called MKW) runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. during the school year. MKW adds games, Bible verses, worship songs, and a weekly lesson to a discipleship focus on relationships and spiritual growth.
Student Ministry Director Kersten Stier, a third-generation Messiah member, oversees grades six through twelve. Junior high students meet on Wednesday evenings for Head 2 Heart, the church's Confirmation program, which walks students through Luther's Small Catechism and other Bible basics across the school year. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the evening moves from games and activities into a lesson and small-group discussion before dismissal at 8:00 p.m. The Head 2 Heart program identifies five goals it asks students to form: Worship, Fellowship, Stewardship, Evangelism, and Knowledge.
High school students and recent graduates meet for F.A.M. - Friends and Mentors - on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. F.A.M. is built around games, practical life skills, prayer, and fellowship, and gives older teens a place to talk with peers and adults who have walked the road ahead of them. Sunday morning Bible study for grades six through eight meets in the Youth Room, and high schoolers meet in the Fireside Room at 9:40 a.m. Vacation Bible School is offered each summer; the curriculum rotates year to year and registration is opened each spring.
Music at Messiah: Choir, Praise Team, and the Organ
Music is one of the most visible ministries at Messiah, and it spans both Sunday services. The Sanctuary Choir, led by Director Herb Alexander, rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m., beginning in late August and continuing through May. The choir sings most Sunday mornings from September through May at the early service, and adds special music for Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter. Choir nights end with fellowship and, often, sweets.
The contemporary side of music is led by Worship Coordinator Justin Brown, who grew up at Messiah and joined the worship team as a teenager. The Praise and Worship Team, made up of adults and teens from the congregation, leads the 10:45 a.m. service and gathers for rehearsal on Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. and Fridays at 6 p.m. The team can range from a full band down to a soloist with a guitar.
Behind the organ console is Rose Ann Sochan, the church's organist since 1976. Rose grew up in a musical household, began organ lessons at nine, graduated from Lewis University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music, and has recorded three CDs of sacred music played around the world. The Children's Choir meets the third Sunday of each month during Sunday School and performs the fourth Sunday of the month.
A Congregation That Tithes Outward: Local and Global Partners
Messiah is notable for how deliberately it sends its offerings out the door. The church tithes the first ten percent of all offerings given in worship, and that money is distributed across a long list of partners in Joliet, the wider region, and the world.
Locally, Messiah supports Morning Star Mission, Daybreak Shelter, the Pregnancy Resource Center, Lightways Hospice (which sits just down the street from the church), Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, and the Cup of Cold Water ministry. Church members volunteer at Feed My Starving Children, sponsor children through the church's own Li'l Loves Ministry, and host a Moms & Babies program that supplies baby items to underserved parents in the community once a month.
Globally, the congregation partners with Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Disaster Relief, the Foundation for His Ministries in Baja, California (supported for more than fifteen years), and G.O. Ministries in the Dominican Republic, where the Sunday School sponsors a child and members have served on short-term mission trips. The congregation has also partnered with Alpha USA for more than fifteen years to run Christianity-exploring courses, and supports Katherine (White) Perez Gomez as a campus staff minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Joliet Junior College.
Prayer, Care, and Practical Support
A pastoral prayer ministry runs underneath the visible life of the church. An Emergency Prayer Partner chain responds in times of crisis with confidential prayer. A Thursday morning prayer group meets from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the Fireside Room for conversational prayer for the congregation, community, and nation. Prayer shawls, lap afghans, and prayer squares are kept in the front lobby and offered free to anyone who is ill, in therapy, or living in a nursing home. A prayer request form on the church's site invites people to send needs directly to the pastoral team, with concerns kept confidential unless the requester asks for public prayer.
Pastoral care extends to families during hard transitions. The Memory Bear Ministry gives grieving families a tangible keepsake made from a loved one's clothing. Messiah pastors visit members in their homes, the hospital, and the local hospice, and members of the congregation regularly volunteer at Lightways. The Moms & Babies program serves expectant and new parents in the surrounding neighborhoods, with appointments once a month and pickups on Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Staff and Pastoral Leadership
Senior Pastor Kurt Hoover has served Messiah since 2010, after time in churches in California, Minnesota, and his home state of Iowa. A graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and Luther Seminary, he preaches sermons that are described as practical and compelling and is known for caring conversations in the church hallway and beyond. He and his wife Molly, an elementary teacher and Masters Swim Coach of the Year, have two children, Myka and Eli.
Pastor Keith Forni of Cristo Rey Lutheran Mission leads the 1:00 p.m. bilingual service each Sunday and brings a Spanish-speaking Lutheran witness into the congregation. Office Coordinator Vicki Dallmann keeps the church office open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Saturdays by appointment, and Bookkeeper Sherri Unyi supports the financial life of the church. Kate Richmond serves as Building Liaison, handling questions about facility use.
Worship Coordinator Justin Brown, Technology Coordinator Nikolai Stier, Student Ministry Director Kersten Stier, Children's Ministry Director Leslie McFarland, Sanctuary Choir Director Herb Alexander, and Organist Rose Ann Sochan together shape the weekly experience of the people in the pews. Church elders, called to walk alongside the pastors in the spiritual care of the congregation, serve alongside these staff members, and a set of ministry boards - Public Relations, Parish Fellowship, Properties, Stewardship, Young People, Christian Education, Evangelism, Lay Ministry, Safety and Security, and Parish Planning Council - opens the work of the congregation to any member who wants to join in.
Whether a visitor arrives at 8:30 in a quiet sanctuary, at 10:45 with a full band and a room full of kids, or at 1:00 for the bilingual service in English and Spanish, Messiah Lutheran Church extends the same welcome that has shaped its life on Houbolt Road for more than a hundred years.