Melanie Jongsma

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church fills sanctuary with familiar faces by Melanie Jongsma LANSING, Ill. (May 16, 2020) - Throughout the Illinois stay-at-home order, Pastor John Richy of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church (18100 Wentworth) has been recording his Sunday messages and posting them on YouTube. When he mentioned how difficult...

May 10–16 in Lansing, Illinois by Melanie Jongsma LANSING, Ill. (May 16, 2020) - Eight weeks into quarantine, much of Lansing was feeling some level of restlessness. Whether in the it's-not-safe-to-open-yet or the it's-not-safe-to-stay-closed camp, long days of mostly passive fighting against an invisible virus—and possibly achieving invisible results—made it difficult...

by Melanie Jongsma CALUMET CITY, Ill. (May 15, 2020) - Dozens of cars rolled in to the parking lot to the east of the Our Lady of Knock Church building (501 163rd Street) around 11:30am on Wednesday, May 13. They were there to celebrate Father Patrick Lyons on the actual...

submitted by Hank and Mary Kudlo LANSING, Ill. (May 12, 2020) - Jeanette Bottos (nee Komorowski) celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday, May 9, 2020. She was born in 1920, in Lansing, in a gray house on Railroad Avenue—the house still exists—and she traveled by horse and buggy to be...

Lansing's Cornerstone Church shares some of the adjustments they've made during quarantine by Melanie Jongsma LANSING, Ill. (May 12, 2020) - Most churches know that "the church is not the building." A church is a group of people. Those people happen to have regular meetings in a specific building, so it's...

by Melanie Jongsma LANSING, Ill. (May 10, 2020) - The family of Nathan Goodman finally got some measure of closure today. While celebrating Mothers Day at the Lansing home of Goodman's mother, Donna Vis, they were overwhelmed by a parade of more than 100 vehicles that passed in front of...

information provided by the Office of the Governor SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (May 10, 2020) – To address the educator shortage that Illinois faces, and a pandemic that has changed the educational experience for all students, Governor JB Pritzker recently signed Executive Order 2020-31 to help teacher, paraprofessional, and other educator candidates...

May 3–9 in Lansing, Illinois by Melanie Jongsma LANSING, Ill. (May 9, 2020) - It was 5:00pm on March 21 that Governor Pritzker's original stay-at-home order went into effect, first through April 7, then through the end of April, and now through the end of May. Numbers of coronavirus cases continue...

Birthdays, anniversaries, obituaries, and other community announcements also welcome by Melanie Jongsma, Managing Editor LANSING, Ill. (May 6, 2020) - Though COVID-19 has forced people to observe careful distances, families, schools, and businesses are innovating new ways to make connections. The Lansing Journal understands the importance of milestone celebrations in a...

by Melanie Jongsma LANSING, Ill. (May 6, 2020) - The Biblical Garden was a new addition to the grounds at Trinity Lutheran Church last summer, thanks to the passion of garden enthusiast Diane Lund, who also leads the Lansing Garden Club. This year the Biblical Garden has been enhanced with...