Arlington Heights church to become nonprofit ministry
Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, 1122 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights, will be closing as a worship center. The last service will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 30, and will be a celebration service.
Cross and Crown Lutheran Church was founded in 1968, and has had a long history in the community as a church. The new organization will be called Cross and Crown Ministries. Current pastor, the Rev. Randy Thompson, will continue as director.
The presence of ministry will continue as the former church will remain open as a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. For 16 years, members of the congregation - with the help of many volunteers from other churches - have served the homeless and jobless in the area through the Ministry of Hope.
Before the COVID pandemic, 60-70 people would come on Saturdays for a hot breakfast, hot lunch, fellowship, Bible study, spiritual counsel, and help with jobs and resources. Though shortened now, and without the on-premise cooked meals, the expectation is to return to the full ministry as the health concerns are lifted.
Other projects for Cross and Crown Ministries includes its day care, Kids of the Kingdom, which services under-resourced families. Also part of the ministry is supporting other local churches that need a place to meet (the building hosts two guest churches and now will have room for a third on Sunday mornings), and with Thompson contracting with other churches to provide pastoral services.
There is also an international aspect to the ministry. For decades the congregation supported seven missionary families all over the world, four of them having been members before going overseas. Cross and Crown Ministries will continue that support.
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