WHAT WE BELIEVE
For over 150 years, our congregation has been a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). We wholeheartedly and fervently support the work that God has placed us here to do which is to draw people closer to Christ and assure them of His gifts of a joyful, abundant life here on earth and the richness of eternal life with our Savior in heaven. If you are seeking a fuller understanding of our beliefs we invite you to look at the LCMS web site at www.lcms.org which details the different doctrines of our church body. You can also download our WHAT WE BELIEVE document, which gives several points on which we anchor our faith and our understanding of the Scriptures.
HISTORY
How does one sum up 150 years of history and tradition that surround us here at Immanuel? The answer can only be to say that God is good—He is gracious and kind—He gives length to our days and hope to our hearts so that as the people of God who gather in this tiny corner of His kingdom we may throughout all our days thank and praise Him, serve and obey Him.
From the midst of our nation’s Civil War in 1862 a hearty band of German Lutherans gathered together just to the east of the Fox River in the Dundee area to form Immanuel Lutheran Church—choosing that name to signify our trust and confidence that “God is with us.” From this humble beginning, God’s goodness was so apparent as the church operated its Christian Day School and completed its first building living out the words of that great hymn of the church: “through toil and tribulation” as the congregation faced doctrinal disagreements, teacher problems, lack of space and epidemics that decimated the community of Dundee. And yet through it all, God’s hand provided for His people again and again.
Our present church building was completed in 1886 at a cost of $25,000 and to this day continues to be our spiritual center and home. Sitting on top of VanBuren hill overlooking the Fox River valley, Immanuel Lutheran Church stands as a beacon of hope used powerfully by God to draw people closer to Christ. Our school building initially constructed in 1911 houses a place of learning where the Lord’s little lambs are led closer to Him each and every day. Our commitment to the Christian education of our church’s members and the children of our community is viewed as the centerpiece of our mission work.
Through all these years, we remain convinced that our God is with us—that He sustains us—that He provides for us—that He gives us strength and purpose for each day as we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Even as we thank and praise Him for these last 150 years of blessings upon our church and school, we remain a people with eyes looking outward at the harvest fields the Lord has placed before us knowing that there are many more who have yet to hear of Jesus and His love and who need to be drawn closer to Him.
