September 2024
In July 2024, NIDnews.org shared about Reverend Ted Fischer’s installation at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois. In that brief story, we hinted at “more to come” about Pastor Fischer’s call to develop a Hispanic ministry and the unique partnership which has been formed between St. Peter and Messiah Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois.
NIDnews.org was able to learn more about this new arrangement in the LCMS Northern Illinois District from Pastor Fischer and John Franklin, who serves as both the Congregational Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Deacons at Messiah Lutheran in Chicago.
When asked to explain what this new partnership is, Pastor Fischer shared, “St. Peter and Messiah have agreed to work together to support bilingual ministry in the Chicago neighborhood around Messiah. St. Peter will primarily support the launch of a new Hispanic-focused mission. Messiah will contribute to that mission and allow their building to be used for that mission. Messiah has also received a pastor (me) to sustain and continue their existing English-speaking ministry.”
Pastor Fischer shared that he first learned of the possibility of this unique arrangement through a conversation with Pastor Greiner and Lexi Schmidt, the Director of LINC Chicago (LINC, Leaders in every Community, is a Recognized Service Organization of the LCMS Northern Illinois District.). They asked Pastor Fischer if he would consider bilingual church planting in the city. It turns out that earlier in that same month, he had been doing some independent research into the idea of church planting in a Hispanic context.
Before attending seminary, Pastor Fischer and his wife, Cassandra, served as missionaries in Guatemala for a year. He also served as the youth director at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, Illinois for four years.
Pastor Fischer is fluent in Spanish. Although he studied Spanish for eight years in high school and during his undergraduate program, he shared that his fluency really developed during his time serving in Guatemala.
What proceeded from that conversation with Pastor Greiner and Lexi Schmidt was working through Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana to determine how the idea of a bilingual church planting could be incorporated into Pastor Fischer’s seminary training.
Pastor Fischer explained, “It was arranged for my vicarage to be delayed until my final year so that while on vicarage I could begin some of the on-the-ground research and planning for the church plant. Tabor Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois graciously accepted me as their vicar and gave me extremely valuable training in bilingual urban church planting. During my vicarage, as I researched neighborhoods that would be the best for a bilingual church plant, I became connected with Messiah Lutheran Church, and they expressed interest in working with us in the process. After many, many conversations between St. Peter, Messiah, the Northern Illinois District, and the seminary, an agreement came into place and brought us to where we are today.”
Messiah had been in vacancy for over two years. Although they had attempted to call a pastor “from the field,” the process has been unsuccessful.
John Franklin added, “The shared ministry opportunity was brought to Messiah by the NID [Northern Illinois District]. Pastor Robarge [Rev. Phil Robarge serves Tabor Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois] and President Buss [Rev. Dr. Allan R. Buss serves as District President for the LCMS Northern Illinois District] brought Messiah this opportunity as they were considering churches in Chicago to be a part of a new Hispanic Ministry. In further talks with Pastor Greiner at St. Peter [Rev. Micah Greiner serves St. Peter Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois], the relationship and agreement became a real thing.”
The process to for this collaboration took time, and of course, much conversation and cooperation. Both men saw God’s hand at work through His people in this process.
Pastor Fischer shared, “Logistically speaking, this partnership is fairly unique and, to my knowledge, has not been attempted before, so the current systems in place are not set up to facilitate such a process. Additionally, there are many separate people and entities involved in the process, which makes communication slightly more complicated. Thankfully, so far, everyone that is involved has been patient and gone above and beyond to make the partnership work because of a shared belief that the bilingual ministry will be a tremendous blessing to God’s kingdom here on earth.”
John Franklin corroborated that sense of working together, “Our process was blessed to not have many challenges, besides having Messiah be a part of something that hasn’t happened before amongst churches. We all know change is hard for everyone and having everyone buy into what Messiah will be a part of wasn’t necessarily challenging, but we all have faith in the process and God’s plan for all of this to happen and succeed…Truly, Jeremiah 29:11 is allowing this new ministry to happen here in Messiah. All of the things that needed to happen at both congregations, along with the NID, have allowed this ministry to begin in Chicago.”
This particular ministry is still in its infancy, but Pastor Fischer is looking forward to the opportunities and interactions to come, “I am excited about new relationships and learning new things form God’s people. I am also excited to see the doors God opens in this community for His Gospel message to be heard. Most significantly, I look forward to seeing firsthand the transformation and healing that God will bring to people who are drawn to faith in Him.”
Again, we welcome Pastor Ted Fischer and his family to his new call in the NID. We pray God’s continued blessing on his ministry and for St. Peter in Arlington Heights and Messiah in Chicago as they continue to work together for the glory of God’s kingdom!
WITNESS: Encouraging personal witnessing, congregational engagement with their community, support of our NID partnerships and missions, and sharing in a world mission field together.