A "Place of Miracles" Rededicated
November 24, 2002

"It's hard not to believe in miracles when seeing a newborn baby," commented Pastor Turbin at the rededication of Trinity's baptismal font. "And here, at this blue marble font inscribed with the words 'Lasset Die Kindlein Zu Mir Kommen,' parents have been bringing their children for the past 100 years to witness another miracle -- the mixing of the Word and water. Here, the seed of faith is planted. Here, by the washing of baptismal waters, children and adults are reborn children of God and become inheritors of eternal life. Here, the Holy Spirit makes ordinary people members of His church, the body of Christ."

The baptismal font, which was placed in the chancel of Trinity in 1902, was rededicated on November 24, 2002. Carolyn Anderson and Mabel Denow joined Pastor Turbin in rededicating the baptismal font. Anderson and Denow, lifetime members of Trinity, were baptized at this font and had ancestors in the confirmation classes responsible for its purchase. A gift from the confirmation classes of 1892 through 1902, this font has been a place of miracles, the place where God gives freely of the gift of his Son who set us free from the bondage of sin and death.

Trinity was the first church established in Cedarburg in 1843 by Lutherans from Pomerania, Germany. The present church building, located on Columbia Road, was dedicated in December, 1891. It took 10 years for Trinity confirmation classes to raise funds to purchase the baptismal font. Originally the font was open, but sometime in the 1940s or 1950s, a polished brass cover was purchased by the Sunday School children. Besides the German inscription, which is translated "Let the little children come unto Me," and the date 1902, the font bears a chip on its pedestal. It's been reported that many years ago, a choir director, in frustration over the performance of the adult choir during practice, pushed over the font. Little else is known of the font's history except the names of the thousands of infants, children, and adults who were baptized there. Upon concluding the rededication, Pastor Turbin added, "We are confident that God will continue to do miracles at this font."