Our Story – First Worship

The first worship service was scheduled for October 12, 1969. However it had been raining for a week and the parking lot was just a mud pit! No one could get in or out. So they were preparing to cancel the first service when 11 truckloads of gravel were donated by one of our banking friends in Joliet! God really wanted New Life to begin. There have been many stories like this over the 50 years. Just when it looks like something won’t be possible or needs to be cancelled; a blessing arrives from an unknown place. God works in many ways!

So the first service was held. Everyone sat on blue folding chairs on poured concrete floor. The altar had not yet arrived so in true New Life fashion, they improvised with a cardboard box covered with a sheet! Propane heaters had been brought in to heat the building. But they had to be shut off during the service because no one could hear over the sound of them. Music was provided by the organist and choir from Theodore Lutheran Church.

*Obviously the picture above is not from the first service since there is a Christmas tree in it! But if you have any early pictures from that first year, please share them with Susan Brown.