TRINITY UMC

Awana works with churches from 100 different denominations. It began as a children’s program at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago in 1941. Lance Latham, North Side’s senior pastor, collaborated with the church’s youth director, Art Rorheim, to develop weekly clubs that would appeal to churched and unchurched kids, lead them to trust Christ for salvation and grow them in enduring faith and service to God.

Other churches learned about the success of the program and inquired about its availability. In 1950, Latham and Rorheim founded Awana as a parachurch organization. By 1960, 900 churches had started Awana programs. By 1972 Awana had begun its first international club. Today children and youth in more than 100 countries participate in Awana programs, and millions of adults are alumni.

The founders of Awana derived the Awana name from the first letters of Approved workers are not ashamed as taken from the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:15.

Today, more than 12,000 U.S. churches run Awana with programs in all 50 states. Awana can also be found in over 6,000 churches in 109 other countries.

Trinity UMC is proud to be among those 18,000 churches in 100 different denominations uniting, through Awana, to teach our children about Jesus Christ!