Prepare your taste buds for a Chili Bowl battle! 

You're invited! Bring friends! All are welcome! Join us for a fun dinner and music event to benefit Youth Mission 2026 is headed to Wausau, Wisconsin July 10-18, 2026!

Sunday, March 22
5:00-7:00 pm
Community Life Center

Dinner includes the Chili Cook-Off entries, lemonade, and water with Youth Mission providing fresh veggies, bread, crackers, & desserts. 

Enter your chili today!

  • If you would like to enter your chili in the Cook-Off, please email Kelley Miller at KMiller@stlc.org.
  • All chili entries are anonymous to the voters and are placed throughout the Community Life Center with youth serving samples.

Chili Cook-Off schedule:

  • 4:30 pm: Chili entries should arrive no later than 4:30 pm. Check in with Kelley Miller. Please bring chili in a crock pot. Please bring a full crock pot of chili.
  • 5:00 - 5:45 pm: Chili tasting and ballot voting.
  • 5:45 pm: Ballot voting ends. Ballots collected & tallied. Winner announced with prize awarded & photo taken.
  • 6:15 pm: Donation voting ends. 
  • 6:30 pm: Chili with the most donation dollars is announced and prize awarded.

How will the chilies be judged? Chilies will be judged two different ways:

1) Ballot voting:  Ballot voting sheets have a 1-5 rating scale (5 being the highest) on each of the following criteria:

    • Color: Does it look appetizing? Does it look bright & colorful or dull & bland?
    • Aroma: Does it smell good? Does the aroma make you want to dig in?
    • Consistency: How is the meat/bean-to-sauce ratio? Is it runny, mushy or overly thick?
    • Taste: How is the flavor? Do the ingredients blend well, or is one too overpowering? Does the first bite make you want another one?
    • Aftertaste: Once you swallow, is there a spicy taste ("bite") that stays on your tongue? Is it pleasant?

2) Donation voting:  Benefits Youth Mission 2026. These are free-will, tax-deductible donations that will help to secure our transportation needs.

    • Donation boxes are found at each chili. Place your donation in the box by the chili you love the most!
    • Vote with your donations anytime before 6:15 pm.
    • Make checks payable to St. Thomas Lutheran Church with "Youth Mission" in the memo line.
    • Donate online at STLC.org/GiveOnline on the line "Youth Mission Trip" under "Youth Ministries". See Kelley Miller before 6:15 pm after making your online donation to have it count toward the donation voting prize.

Questions? Please contact Kelley Miller at KMiller@stlc.org.