Atonement Lutheran Church is more than just a place of worship for Warren Langlois. Having grown up in the neighborhood surrounding the historic church - as well as having been an active member of the congregation for most of his 88 years - Langlois feels very much at home within the red brick structure which occupies a good portion of the block at 2915 Wright Avenue.

Six generations of Langlois' family - from his grandparents, who were charter members, to his great grandchild who is currently enrolled in confirmation class there - have belonged to the West Racine congregation, the full name of which is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement. Yet, it isn't just his own family that has made the church such an important part of Langlois' life all these years.

"It's all of the people," Langlois said.

He and Marjorie, his wife of 67 years, have especially fond memories of the time they spent in Atonement's young married couples club, YoMarCo, which was started in 1945 by the pastor then, the Rev. Jerome Miller.

"We did all kinds of things together, from going to the museum in Milwaukee to decorating the church for Christmas," Warren said of the group.

"We looked forward to it every month and made a lot of good friends," said Marjorie.

The couple and their five children have been involved in many aspects of church life through the years, from teaching Sunday school to singing in the choir, and all of those experiences bring back good memories, which the Langloises shared with us recently in honor of the congregation's 100th anniversary.

"We just love everything about the church," said Marjorie.

Centennial church

Warren and Marjorie are two of many members of Atonement who have been celebrating the church's 100 years of mission, music and ministry in Racine for the past year. Next weekend, the congregation will wrap up the festivities with three days of special events that focus not only on Atonement's past, but its future. And they are hoping that people who have been associated with the church in some way through the years will join them in their celebration, says the Rev. Warren Williams, who has led Atonement's congregation for the past 22 years.

"We would love to have people who have been confirmed or married here come back and be a part of the celebration," Williams said. "We can seat about 500 or so people, and we would love to have the place packed to the gills."

Williams, who took a three-month sabbatical last spring to write a history of Atonement, found much to celebrate during his research of the church, which was chartered as an offshoot congregation of Holy Communion Lutheran Church in 1909.

Atonement, for example, was one of the first Lutheran churches in the area to offer services in English. Most Midwestern Lutheran churches in the early 1900s were ethnic in origin and conducted worship in the languages of their immigrants, including Danish, Norwegian and German, Williams explained. Holy Communion was the first English Synod Lutheran Church in Racine, and since Atonement was founded by the Rev. William Eckert, who was Holy Communion's pastor, it too was originally in that synod.

Beyond the sanctuary

Since its earliest days, Atonement has been focused on mission, Williams said. Through the years, its mission work has ranged from providing material and financial aid to missionaries around the globe, to feeding the hungry here at home, through work with both a local food pantry and the community meal at St. Patrick's Catholic Church.

"We have a strong sense of mission and a sense of who we are and what we are about," Williams said.

A few of the highlights of the congregation's mission work through its early years include it's founding of a new congregation in the late 1940s at what was then called Mygatt's Corners, which is now Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church on Green Bay Road; co-founding Racine's Lincoln Lutheran organization; hosting Racine's first Boy Scout Troop, No. 15; and helping Carthage College get settled in its current Kenosha home, including substantial support for the construction of Siebert Chapel.

More recent times have seen the establishment of a nursery school at Atonement in the mid-1960s, and a day care facility in the 1980s.

The church's child care facility has also served as a satellite site for the Racine Unified School District, providing 4-year-old kindergarten for the past two years. Members of the congregation also worked with Racine's REST homeless shelter program.

All of that, and more, is an important part of what has sustained Atonement through its first 100 years, and will continue to sustain the church in years to come, Williams said.

"People want to have membership in a congregation they feel is focused beyond themselves."

If You Go

Atonement Lutheran Church will celebrate its 100 years in Racine next weekend with three days of special events. Those planning to attend the Confirmation Dinner or Sunday lunch are asked to RSVP to the church office, (262) 637-5671, by June 17 at the latest.

7 p.m. June 19: A 100-year video, featuring memories and history of the church, will be shown in Atonement's Fellowship Hall. Hors d'oeuvres and a special 100th anniversary wine will be served.

6 p.m. June 20: Confirmation Dinner in Fellowship Hall. All Atonement confirmation classes, past and present, are invited to come share stories and reminisce over class pictures. A complementary Lutheran church basement supper (chicken, biscuits, Jello and dessert) will be served.

10 a.m. June 21: "100 years of Ministry, Music and Mission," a special anniversary worship service and celebration at Atonement. The service will feature a performance of "Creation," a cantata that retells the Genesis story, written by Porter & Bobrowitz, as well as the world premiere of a piece written especially for the anniversary by Mark Albrecht. The celebration will continue with a noon luncheon at Roma Lodge, 7130 Spring St. A choice of meals is offered. Cost for lunch is $18 for adults and $7.50 for children.

June 19-21: The Atonement Museum, a temporary display of photographs and artifacts that tell the church's story, will be open in the church parlor during certain times throughout the weekend. Hours are 3-7 p.m. and after the video on June 19; 2-8 p.m. on June 20; and 8-10 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. June 21.