Lance Rengel, elder

Lance is originally from Mundelein IL.  While growing up he never attended church except for weddings and funerals.  He had never read the Bible nor did he know anything about God or the Christian faith. He graduated from Mundelein High School in 1979 and promptly enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for 3 years. While Lance was in boot camp, the US embassy in Tehran, Iran was attacked and 52 hostages were taken for 444 days. The possibility of going to war and dying became a reality, and so began a search for truth and meaning.  After boot camp Lance went to Supply School in Camp Lejune, NC and then to his permanent duty station at the Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, CA. While at the MWTC he met some Mormons, joined the Mormon Church and began reading the Bible.  After a year of being a mormon, Lance began to have many questions concerning this “religion”.  He was discharged from the military in 1982 and a few months later returned home to Illinois.

When Lance returned home he began attending the College of Lake County.He also took a job as a part time graphic artist for a T-shirt screenprinting company. But he put his “search” on hold and returned to a life of work and partying. In 1987 he graduated from CLC with an AA in Art. During his final semester at CLC he met Tina and they were engaged a year later. Tina and Lance were married in May 1990 and began their T-shirt screenprinting business, Art Newvo Graphics, 2 months later. Their daughter Amanda was born 9 months after that.

Lance worked hard to make his business a success, but the harder he worked, the farther he found himself in debt, and combined with the stress and overwork his health began to deteriorate. In the summer of 1994 Lance was working late on a hot June night. For a couple of nights he had been turning on WMBI at midnight and listening to Mike Kellogg and “music through the night”. Mike shared the Gospel and explained Ephesians 2:8-9. The guilt of sin overwhelmed Lance and he knelt on the cement floor of his shop and begged God to forgive him and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. A few days later Lance told a man named John, whom he knew to be a Christian, about what happened. He asked John if he could go to church with him. Lance attended Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church in Antioch from 1994-1998. During that time he was trained in Evangelism Explosion. In 1996 CLCBC sent Lance to an EE clinic where he became a certified lay teacher. Lance taught Children's Church and was a weekly leader.

In the summer of 1998 Lance began visiting Lighthouse while still attending CLCBC. At the same time his daughter Amanda was going to Awanas at a third area church. Being involved in three churches became too much and for many months Lance sought the Lord about where he should serve. He became a member of Lighthouse in October of 1998. In 1999 he felt the call of 1 Timothy 3:1 and began an elder internship. In October 2001 Pastor Tom recommended Lance to the congregation for approval to become an elder at Lighthouse Church of Antioch.

As elder, Lance currently serves as the Adult Bible Study teacher on Saturday nights (The B.E.A.C.H. Class), and fills the pulpit on occasion in Pastor Tom's absence.  Lance has also earned a diploma for The Scofield Adult Bible Studies Certificate Program through Moody Bible Institute.