Geri Sandin didn’t like to sit still. When she wasn’t raising her four children, she was a Tupperware Sales Manager and dedicated volunteer at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. In 1983, she took over a business from some friends and built up to 28 clients. Sandin Secretarial Service was born and Geri’s customers gave her more than just business. They gave her churches.
It started with one ceramic church. Jim, Geri’s husband recalls, “One person started the collection and it just kept growing. Every time her clients traveled somewhere, they’d bring her a church.” It wasn’t just the churches, it was the wooden shelves they rested on. Soon, Geri’s office walls were covered in churches. Jim estimates her collection was around seventy to eighty churches and recalled that her favorite one came from Europe. 
In 2013 Geri closed her Bloomington, MN office and moved her business home. She retained one client as she worked from home for five more years. While Jim was happy to help his wife work from home, he wasn’t so excited about moving the churches into their house. “She also collected glass bells from our various travels and people gave us bells as anniversary gifts. So we had forty bells in the house, on top of all the churches,” Jim says with a chuckle.
Jim and Geri moved to New Prague in 1974 and immediately joined Holy Trinity while Pastor Fultz led the church. The Sandins were part of the generation that moved Holy Trinity’s location to its current building in 1979. Geri taught Sunday School for many years while her children were young and Jim volunteered as an usher. Later, Geri was asked by Pastor Anderson to serve on the Church Council. As pastors came and went, the Sandins maintained their steady presence at Holy Trinity. As a businesswoman, Geri didn’t like modern technology as she preferred her electric typewriter over a computer. But when COVID closed the doors of Holy Trinity, Jim and Geri were thankful for the technology of online worship services. “The online church services were the best thing that came from COVID,” Jim states. “Each Sunday we had our routine of watching church on TV.” Pastor Ben Hilding was blessed to visit Jim and Geri in their home as her health declined and they proudly showed him “their sanctuary.” Geri passed away on January 2, 2024.Geri’s memory lives on through her churches, so after her children and grandchildren chose their favorite church, Jim was left with over fifty churches. He connected with Director of Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Ministry Kate Kienow for ideas. Kate discussed options with Jim. “I was honored to help Jim find homes for Geri’s churches. We considered giving them away at Easter or Vacation Bible School but decided to share them with the students to celebrate the end of Crew Time, Confirmation, and Agape. Now each family can take a little church with them this summer!” Kate explains. Jim also thought there might be an intergenerational component to the families taking a church home. He adds, “Some people may have had Geri as their Sunday School teacher and now their kids are in the children’s programs.”
Sunday, May 12, and Wednesday, May 15 are the final days of the CYF program year. Don’t miss these youth-filled worship services! Students are invited to take one of Geri’s churches home as a gift from the Sandins. Thank you, Sandin family for sharing God’s love for all people from one generation to the next!
Written by Karen Taylor, Communications Manager
May 9, 2024
