Trinity United Church of Christ in La Salle to celebrate 150 years

Trinity United Church of Christ, 829 Fourth St., La Salle, will be celebrating its 150th anniversary with a worship service Sunday, June 11.

The service begins at 10:15 a.m. and will include the Templeton Band.

In the mid-19th century, a wave of German immigrants came to America to seek a better way of life. Continued wars, crop failures and persecution caused many to leave. Some of these pioneers settled along the East Coast, and others went to Pennsylvania.

Still others came up the Mississippi River and settled on both sides of the river at a point where St. Louis and Alton are located. Some of them made their way along the Illinois River to La Salle-Peru, according to the church’s story shared by Pastor Betty Delgado.

These early settlers were deeply religious and brought with them their Bibles, catechisms, hymnals and prayer books. They had foresight enough to see there would be no established church that could minister to their needs in their native German language, Delgado said.

By reading between the lines, families kept their religious convictions alive by family devotions. Many of these people had nothing except their faith in God, Delgado said.

For 11 years, the ladies within this movement worked with great determination and faith toward the realization of a church of their own. In 1873, their dream became a reality, Delgado said.