F
or this midweek religious gather- ing, there are no long wooden pews, no stained-glass windows,
sometimes not even a roof—just puffy white clouds followed by a stun- ning sunset. Te “church” for this evening is a 60-foot stern-wheeler, the Chief Waupaca, and worshipers spend much of their time on the deck. Tis is what summer brings for
Waupaca’s Trinity Lutheran Church: a floating worship hour, just before twilight, on the city’s Chain O’ Lakes, a retreat in the heart of central Wisconsin’s vacationland. Te chapel cruise has been a summer fixture since 1975. As parishioners and vacationing
guests gaze at nature’s natural beauty, the word of God simply “comes alive out here,” passengers say. It brings new meaning to the sermon and hymns—sometimes sung a cappella, other times accompanied by guitar. Te summertime tradition started
as a ministry of Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church, later taken over by Trinity (
www.tlcwaupaca. org). Te Wednesday evening wor- ship cruises run for 10 weeks, from June through mid-August. Typically 50 to 60 people take part. Nature treats them kindly.
Worshipers see all kinds of birds, turtles, maybe a deer at water’s edge. Te lush stands of woods rustle in a breeze; a heron might pause on a boulder poking out of the water; and passing boaters wave enthusiastically. Only once in the last decade has a service been canceled due to storms. Tere is also no shortage of man-
made sights. Te cruise passes by a girls’ camp, a Jesuit retreat house, a nursing-care facility for veterans as well as lovely lakeside homes. (Movie star Esther Williams once owned an island on this chain of 22 lakes.) Most of all, the serenity of this
watery retreat is soul-stirring. Peace
and quiet is the order of the day or evening, and the scenery—God’s handiwork—is impossible to match. Local Lutheran pastors deliver
sermons aboard the 90-passenger Chief Waupaca, but oſten clergy from other denominations preach, too, as well as laypeople.
Time to slow down Not surprising is the oſten heard reminder that amid all the hustle and bustle of today’s life, we need to slow down and revel in the wonder and beauty of creation. It’s not difficult to do that on
the spring-fed Chain O’ Lakes. Te cruise doesn’t ply all of the lakes, of course, but enough so that the rustic beauty shines through—for even the most jaded eyes. Alvera Peterson, who along
with Audrey Schmidt organizes the cruises, said the worship services
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enable even those without a boat to enjoy the lakes, stirring in passengers a love and gratefulness for creation. Jennifer DeNetz, a pastor of Trin-
ity, can rattle off a string of apprecia- tive phrases she hears, including “My kids love it.” And from the younger set: “We even saw a rainbow.” Te paddleboat rental costs the
church about $2,000 each summer. Weekly offerings are taken during the cruise but don’t fully cover the cost. Still, Trinity has no intention of backing off from its popular sum- mertime ministry.
Author bio: Nelson is a freelance writer in Brookfield, Wis.
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with other Lutherans!
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