ABOUT WLIM

HOW DID WLIM GET STARTED?

At the turn of the century, Pastor William Rader took a walk one Sunday afternoon and decided to visit one of the institutions on the Milwaukee County complex in Wauwatosa.

The grounds contained a hospital, tuberculosis sanitarium and a facility for people with mental health problems. After observing the residents and questioning the staff, he found that no one was ministering to the patients' spiritual needs. Pastor Rader was moved and concerned for the souls of those forced to live their days, and sometime years, in a hospital or institution.

Pastor Rader began visiting various institutions in the Milwaukee area and later rallied the support of Milwaukee area churches to adopt the ministry efforts to the institutionalized as a local, extra-synodical mission of love to the afflicted.

In May, 1901, the ministry, which later became Wisconsin Lutheran Institutional Ministry (WLIM) was founded for the purpose of meeting the spiritual needs of those who were institutionalized, particularly those who were unchurched. The fledging ministry called its first full-time chaplain, Pastor Enno Duemling, beginning in May, 1902 and that ministry continues today with God's blessings.

The ministry grew steadily through the early years until it was able to add a second chaplain in 1926 and then, in 1938, a third full-time chaplain. In the ensuing 50 years until 1989, the ministry operated with either two or three chaplains until it was able to consistently support three pastors.

In 1993, WLIM called its first executive director to manage and expand the ministy's efforts to the institutionalized. The ministry called its first deaconess, a compassionate Christian woman to witness and counsel with troubled youth. The ministry merged in 1998 with institutional ministries in the northern and western Wisconsin districts of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), adding three additional chaplains to the staff, to form a larger and more geographic ministry to the institutionalized. A new position was added in 1999, director of ministry advancement, to assist in managing the growth and outreach of the ministry and its financial support and the position of resource development director added in 2006.

In 2002, WLIM celebrated its centennial — 100 years of God's grace. Today, WLIM continues to share the saving grace of Jesus Christ with His lost sheep.

Photos: 1-Pastor Enno A. Duemling, called in 1902 to be the ministry's first fulltime chaplain; 2-Milwaukee County Hospital, now the site of Froedert Hospital (ca. 1930's); 3-Grand march for dinner at the State Prison in Waupun, WI; 4-Gardens in State Prison in Waupun, WI; 5-Milwaukee County Asylum for Mental Diseases, Wauwatosa, WI; 6-Church service at the Milwaukee County Children's Home conducted by Pastor Louis Spilker; 7-Open Air School Room, Muirdale Sanitorium (ca. 1920's); 8-Pastor Arnold Schroeder visiting a prisoner; 9-Pastor Robert Kleist visiting a nursing home resident; 10-Pastors Kenneth Lenz, Arnold Schroeder and Robert Kleist in 1973; 11-Pastors Charles Iles, Sr., Guy Purdue and John Ibisch joining hands in 1998 to officially merge Madison Institutional Ministries (MIMI), Northern Wisconsin District Institutional Ministries (NWDIM), and Wisconsin Lutheran Institutional Ministries (WLIM) into one ministry.