Who are we?
Mequon-Thiensville Ministries is a joint effort by four Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) churches to serve our community with the good news of Jesus Christ through worship, Bible study and Christian friendship. The four congregations partnering in this ministry are Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church (on Main Street in Thiensville), Trinity South (on Cedarburg Road), Trinity West (on Wauwatosa Road, north of Mequon Road), and St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church (on Mequon Road near I-43).

Why a "joint ministry"?
In the Mequon-Thiensville area, we have a unique opportunity - four WELS churches united in faith, reaching out with the gospel on four different campuses! Such a wonderful situation raises a number of questions: Are there any areas of our ministry where we can accomplish more by working together than we could as four individual churches? How can each congregation best use her strengths to complement our other churches? Can combining some of our efforts free our pastors and laypeople to apply themselves to other areas of ministry? How can we continue to encourage each other in the faith? As we partner together in some portions of our ministries, may God bring rich blessings to all four of our congregations!

What work are we currently doing together?
While we are constantly re-evaluating the best ways to join together in our gospel work, our churches are working together in the following areas:

• Evangelism - Every new household to move into our area receives literature about our churches, as well as a follow-up phone call, when possible

• Publications - Under the "Mequon-Thiensville Ministries" banner, our churches share advertising space in the Yellow Pages, on the annual Chamber of Commerce maps, on sporting event posters, online (www.mequonthiensvilleministries.org), and in joint mailings for Easter and Christmas services

• Christian Education - Our pastors take turns teaching confirmation classes for the public school catechism students from each of our churches, allowing those students the benefit of more interaction with their peers in their catechism studies

• Youth Groups - Our four churches operate Teens Serving Jesus, a fellowship and service group for our teenagers. We also offer Lutheran Pioneers programs for both boys and girls

• Fellowship opportunities and joint worship services - As Christians who are united in faith, we express that unity by gathering together to encourage each other in worship and fellowship. We do this in two annual joint worship services (a Mission Festival and a Reformation Service), and through an annual joint picnic, a bowling league, and TNT group (fellowship activities for twentysomethings, thirtysomethings, and beyond)

What lies in our future?
Only our gracious Lord knows that, of course, but it's exciting to fix our eyes on the opportunities he's given us. We have four Lutheran churches with a combined membership of over 1,500 in a community of 20,000. With a pool of Christian witnesses that makes up nearly 10% of our community, with four congregations and their unique sets of strengths, what a wonderful time to see how we can best reach out with Christ's good news to our community!