December 2024
On Sunday, November 17, 2024, two of our LCMS Northern Illinois District congregations came together in worship as a part of a new beginning and a forward-looking vision to answer the question, “What’s next?”
The Northern Illinois District President, the Rev. Dr. Allan R. Buss, served as preacher for the special service, with Rev. John Shumate from Prince of Peace, Waukegan assisting with communion and Rev. Jim Buckman from Faith, Lake Forest serving as liturgist. Members of Home Bible Study groups from Waukegan and North Chicago were able to attend, as well as special guests Mayor Leon Rockingham, City of North Chicago; Dr. John Price, the Superintendent of the North Chicago Public School board; Mrs. Dora King, President of the Public School Board; and Rev. Dr. Chris Singer of Lutheran Church Charities.
Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Waukegan now face a joint future and oneness in mission.
Pastor Jim Buckman has served Faith, Lake Forest since 2016. Previously, he was called to the New Jersey District to serve in Urban Mission. He also serves as a chaplain in the Air National Guard. In regard to Faith Lutheran Church and its ministry, Pastor Buckman shared, “God has blessed our church with good works which He prepared in advance to do.” Specifically, Faith continues with faithful administration of Word and Sacrament ministry in and through the three liturgical services offered weekly, their growing Hispanic Home Bible studies, and the Faith on the Fairway fundraiser (now in it’s 4th year), which offers scholarships to the Community Colleges of Lake County for public school graduates in the city of North Chicago.
When asked how this pursuit of a collaborative mission and purpose between Faith and Prince of Peace began, he stated, “About four years ago, President Buss (I like to call him, “Bishop”) said to me that I should talk with Pastor John Shumate about a partnership with Prince of Peace in Waukegan. So, I told him, ‘yes.'” Pastor Buckman then admitted he didn’t follow through at that point because of busy-ness at the time.
“The following year, President Buss brought it up again. Again, I told him, ‘yes,’ but this time I actually reached out to Pastor Shumate and we began talking about coming together…Pastor Shumate thought it would be good for me to meet with his leadership and share with them my thoughts. So, I did this and the leadership team felt they wanted our churches to come together.”
The idea was never to close Prince of Peace. Instead, the overarching intent was to bring these two congregations together in a unique way to begin a new chapter.
Joining two congregations together can be a lengthy and complicated process. Naturally, there are scenarios to discuss and questions to be answered. An exploratory team was formed which aimed to find answers to every potential question. Pastor Buckman shared that there wasn’t a specific timeline set for this exploration period. Instead, they made sure each question was investigated and answered thoroughly.
Member meetings followed, along with the opportunity for Faith members to see the Prince of Peace property. Meetings were also held to invite the Prince of Peace members to meet the rest of Faith’s staff and the congregational president. Pastor Buckman stated that these meeting were well attended and cordial.
He also shared, “[In working together with Prince of Peace,] we are leveraging the strong staffing that we already have, and we will augment our staff as we go forward. When I was an urban missionary in New Jersey, I had the privilege of working with immigrants from around the world. I got to train them in Prayer Walking, planting House Churches, and, by God’s grace, was able to help enroll some in our formal seminary training. It is my prayer [through this new partnership] that we will intentionally raise up Hispanic men to become fully and properly trained LCMS pastors. We have a dire need for this. [The population of] Lake County, Illinois is about 45% Hispanic. Yet, we do not have a single ordained LCMS Hispanic pastor in our county…I hope you will join us in praying for an abundance of Hispanic LCMS pastors.”
The overall vision for this future ministry is to intentionally recruit and raise up new LCMS pastors. They intend to begin Home Bible Study groups which will develop into Home Churches, led by those new LCMS pastors. Eventually, the Home Churches will grow into meeting in brick-and-mortar buildings that they own. The Waukegan location will be both a training center and a host site for mission teams who come to work collaboratively with the current staff.
Pastor Buckman stated, “We will remain faithful to our Lutheran Confessions, and we will abundantly support the work of our District and Synod. We will share what God has taught us with others, and we will welcome the best in guest preachers and teachers. We will be joyful together in this journey.”
As Pastor Buckman is known to say, “We praise God from Whom all blessings flow.”
Join us in praying for their new collaboration, along with its members and ministries, as they move forward in service to the Lord’s church together.
WITNESS: Encouraging personal witnessing, congregational engagement with their community, support of our NID partnerships and missions, and sharing in a world mission field together.