We are all feeling the effects of inflation. Who hasn’t groaned when putting gas in the car, or buying a few groceries that cost a ridiculous amount, paying the monthly electric bill, or paying for an unexpected health care bill. Inflation raises prices, and lowers the value of savings, pensions, and social security income. But the reality is that the impact of inflation is not the same for everyone. The impact of rising prices and decline in the value of money and assets is not as devastating for some as it is for others. One of our fellow congregants who worships with us regularly is feeling the impact of inflation, and is struggling with an unexpected dental bill. This individual is seeking help from our church family. We maintain a line item in the budget labeled “pastor’s discretionary fund” which is a small amount designated for gas and local store gift cards that the Pastor (or Mark) can give to those in need. But we do not budget to provide assistance with things like health care bills, or help with life necessities. Our decision was to invite the congregation to help meet this need. The amount requested is $650. Please watch for additional information as we work to set this up.
June 23, 2022: Happy Summer!
Happy Summer! Based on tradition, as of the Sunday of the annual picnic, we are officially on our summer worship schedule. However, in today’s world, nothing much has changed. One thing that is different that the choir has no weekday rehearsals, and all are invited to come early to worship to rehearse the songs for that day. As we have done and past, services will vary week to week between a more contemporary style and a more traditional style. And as we’ve announced before, we will have a number of guest pastors and speakers through the summer. Meanwhile our Ministry Site Profile writers are busy working on the document to send to the synod, and the Call Committee is preparing to interview pastoral candidates. Faith formation team members have planned Vacation Bible School for 4 Wednesday evenings in July and August. VBS relies on many volunteers to host a fun and thoughtful event for kids of all ages. Please consider whether you might be able to volunteer to help make that a reality.
Meanwhile, it’s impossible to ignore that the world we currently know is not the same world we knew in 2019. Long weeks of isolation, virtual worship, connecting minimally with distant family and friends have reinforced the constancy of change. The saying that “change is the only constant” has never been so meaningful. We don’t have the answers to how our church will be changed. But our church and, in fact, all churches are working to understand a new reality and to discern how we approach the future. We are challenged to listen and understand how God is leading us on an unknown journey. Let us all pray for insight during our journey.
May 26, 2022: Summer Schedule & the School of Lay Ministry
The other day I was asked when we would be starting the summer worship schedule at Holy Trinity. I paused for a moment to think about how to respond. Actually, we’ve been on what we used to call “summer schedule” since we returned to in-person worship as the pandemic waned. This summer we will continue with our usual summer activities. We will continue to have worship services every Sunday at 9:30, with communion offered every week. The format of the service will continue to alternate between traditional and contemporary. If we have volunteers, we will have a coffee hour after the service. Vacation Bible School will be held in 4 consecutive Wednesdays in July and August, Bible Study will continue to be held weekly, and the semi-annual meeting and church picnic will take place on June 12. But what makes this summer differ from other summers is that we don’t have a full time or part time pastor. However, the plan that the council and the worship committee have put together will hopefully result in a summer that will provide for rich, meaningful worship.
Pastor George Koch will officiate at many of the May, June and July services, and other Pastors will officiate for all Sundays in August, and several in June and July. At some of our summer worship services, individuals from our congregation as well as from outside of our congregation will be providing a temple talk in lieu of the traditional sermon on topics such as the Indonesian experience, Christian life in Tanzania, and the Afghan resettlement program.
We are blessed at Holy Trinity with several members and friends who have attended the School of Lay Ministry (SLM) sponsored by the NE Synod. “The School of Lay Ministry is designed to educate and equip lay people for enhanced participation in congregational and synodical life through personal spiritual development, biblical enhancement, and life-long learning.”
(https://nelutherans.org/faithinaction/schooloflayministry) The individuals who have completed this program have volunteered to share their insights and learning with us as we go through this transition phase at Holy Trinity. This Sunday, May 29, Jill Schock will be the first of the SLM graduates to offer a “Temple Talk” in lieu of the traditional sermon. On July 17, several of the SLM graduates will work together to participate in the worship service and offer the message. We are a community rich with blessings, and we hope you will join us as move through these summer months.
If you’re interested in learning more about the School of Lay Ministry, talk to Yvonne and Dick Topping, Jill and Jerry Schock, or Ade Monareh, or check the web site cited above.
May 2022: A Summer Like No Other…..
After several years of learning with deal with different worship experiences – zoom, streaming, outside in parks, outside under the tent, inside socially distancing wearing masks celebrating communion with little plastic cups, and now more like what we remember from 2019 – our summer of 2022 promises even more change! The Church Council and the Worship Team have been working hard to plan a summer worship experience that will be enriching and enlightening. One of the realities of 2022 is that “supply” pastors are currently in short “supply.” Pastor Luther’s last Sunday with us May 15, so our “summer” season will start on May 22. The plan that the Lord has been guiding us to includes a rich variety of familiar and not so familiar worship experiences. We will continue summer Sunday worship at 9:30 every week. There will be traditional services lead by clergy we know and those whom we don’t know. Some Sundays the traditional sermon will be presented by a guest, some of whom we know, some who are new to us. The guest speakers will present a variety of topics: theological perspectives, outreach locally and outreach in distant lands, Christian living, and other pertinent topics. A schedule will be published as dates are established. Summer plans also include some other traditional events. The semi-annual meeting is scheduled for June 12, followed by the church picnic. Vacation Bible School will be held in a format similar to last year on 4 Wednesdays midsummer. Please plan to join your Holy Trinity family and friends at these events.
Meanwhile, the Call Committee and the MSP (Ministry Site Profile) Team are getting ready to prepare the document that will be sent to the Synod to attract pastoral candidates to our church. On May 22, we will hold a workshop to begin writing our MSP document. Please plan to attend worship on May 15 to bid Pastor Luther farewell and thank him for his leadership during these past months. His presence has been a blessing to us. Please continue to pray for God’s guidance as we move through these next steps in the transition process.
New Constitution Draft for Congregational Review
Toward the end of 2021, we undertook a review and revision of our Constitution. At the end of November, a task force led by Russ Hilliard and Mark Beliveau completed revisions to the constitution reflecting changes that are required by the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Additional changes to the proposed constitution reflect current ways in which we do business, such as allowing for electronic voting. The proposed constitution has been reviewed and approved by the Council, and will be reviewed and voted on by the congregation at the semi-annual meeting on June 12. Two documents are available for you to access and review prior to the meeting. One is a brief memo prepared by Russ briefly describing changes that you will find in the second document which is the proposed constitution.
You can view the full document here.
Paper copies are also available in the church office. Please read the documents in preparation for discussion at the meeting.
April 2022: Pastoral Call Process update
It was only a few short months ago in mid November that we embarked on the search for a new Pastor. The Transition Team quickly dove into their mission and was already meeting together by December. They have done and continue to do a remarkable job helping us through this first part of the journey. The first thing they accomplished was administering the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT). The results were shared with the congregation at a workshop on March 28. As a follow up to enhance the CAT results and provide us with additional insight about our congregation, the team and Pr. Luther have been working together to plan the “Why Us” workshop scheduled for May 1. And on May 22, the team will be presenting the Ministry Site Profile (MSP) workshop at which the congregation will be asked to begin the process summarizing our ideas about our congregation, and identifying what characteristics we seek in a new Pastor. The Transition Team members include: Paul Karl (Council representative), Cheryl Brigham, Jessica Feeley, Eileen Kackenmeister, Jeff Morrison, Dan Scammon, Rebecca Schrumm, Byrl Short, and Auderien Soeun.
After the MSP workshop on May 22, the writing team will begin creating the first draft of the document. When the MSP team has prepared the draft, it will be sent to the Council for review and approval. The final step is for the document to be shared with the congregation for review and approval. The MSP writing team includes: Mark Beliveau, Linda Edwards, Dot Kasik, and Eileen Kackenmeister.
Following the congregation approval, the completed MSP document will be sent to the New England Synod office where Pr. Wilco, our Synod representative will match our needs and desires with the qualifications of pastoral candidates. We plan to have our MSP document to the Synod by the start of summer. Then the Call Committee will await resumes of clergy who are seeking a new call. As you’ve probably heard, there are fewer candidates available than at other times, so we may have to remind ourselves to be patient and trust that someone will be lead to us. Call Committee members include: Erlinde Beliveau (Council representative), Stephanie Goupil, Tina Maiorino, Julie Moore, Dick Topping, and Dave Smith.
Please pray for our Transition Team members, as well as MSP writing team members, and Call Committee members that they may listen thoughtfully, and discern God’s path. And say thank you to these individuals when you have a chance!
February 2022: Council's focuses this year.
February is essentially the start of a new council year at Holy Trinity due to the idiosyncrasies of our annual meeting date and usual council meeting dates. On Tuesday, the 15th the council that was elected to office in January met for the first time. And due to the idiosyncrasies of term limits, 4 of the seven council members were new to their roles, 3 of them being new to council. Steve Bauer is now the Vice President, Pam Shaw is the council member for “coming together” which includes fellowship and worship, and Tom Bernth is the council member for “growing in faith” which includes faith formation, the library and stewardship. Paul Karl, council member for caring and social ministries is continuing on for another year, and Erlinde Beliveau is continuing as secretary, Kristin Crawford is continuing as financial secretary, and I have assumed the role of president. Pastor Luther, who joined us in January, continues to provide leadership and guidance as we move forward.
As we began this new year, it was fairly clear that there were a few areas that needed our attention. Perhaps the one foremost on our minds is how we can facilitate and support the process to bring a new full time pastor to lead our congregation. The Transition Team has made great strides as they began with the introduction of the Congregation Assessment Tool (known as the CAT). Soon we’ll be progressing to the interpretation of those data. With the help of the NE Synod, the team will be learning how the results of the CAT and insight learned from other exploratory events will help us understand and describe the “personality” of our congregation.
This information will be the foundation for the next step which is preparation of the Ministry Site Profile. The MSP is the document that is sent to the Synod to help identify appropriate candidates for our church. The council will soon be identifying people who can help prepare our Ministry Site Profile. And of course, council will be identifying individuals who are willing to serve on the Call Committee which is similar to a search committee in the academic or business world. There’s a lot to be done, and we ask each of you to prayerfully consider how you might be able to help during this journey, and to pray for all those who are volunteering during this challenging time.
The council’s second focus for the start of this year is trying to gradually and safely introduce some less restrictive practices in our worship experience as we see the threat from Covid receding. Certainly, the virus remains a threat to those who have yet been vaccinated, but as we see the virus seemingly becoming less prevalent, we want to enrich our current worship practices. During the next few months we will be introducing some changes that we believe you will welcome. We will of course remain vigilant about the “numbers” and be ready to make changes if necessary. We welcome your feedback as we move forward.
We ask you to pray about how you might be called to participate in the work of Holy Trinity, and to pray for the council and our pastor, and all the team leaders and members who are donating their time and talents during this time.
Judy Evans, Council President
December 2021: Hear, prepare, cheer.
The words of Luke, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight” was read by Pastor Gerkin Nelson early this month and certainly helped me get into the wonder of Christmas. She spoke about the “noise” of the holiday season and other “noises” from work demands, COVID concerns, family needs, obligations, and world events. Some of us may be able to filter out the noise during the holidays so we can hear “the voice of Christmas” sift through and listen more intently and thoughtfully to be touched by Christmas joy.
Holy Trinity continues to share joy. Our worship is well attended via YouTube and in person as caring Supply Pastors bring hope and life to God’s words during this time of transition. Holy Trinity has many attendees who serve during worships, through ministries, and in the many jobs that need to be completed to maintain the workings of our Church. Our staff has kept us grounded in consistency through Mark’s worship production and the musicians and choir who lift our hearts in words and rhythm. Our Faith Formation Leader, Faith Bygd, creates an email entitled Growing In Faith Together (GIFT), which includes bible lessons, crafts, music, videos, and games for all ages and about 8 teens are attending the youth gathering in Minnesota next summer. We will come together on January 30th for our Reconciling in Christ celebration and our hard-working Transition Team meets weekly to prepare us for the CAT survey in January. As much as we would rather not hear a baby cry, the heart-melting fussing of a baby during a baptism can bring tears to some who reflect upon their own child’s entrance into God’s family. I hope you have opportunities to see, feel, or give the joy of Christmas into the season of Epiphany.
The Church Council met this week to discuss the part-time interim opportunities that have been presented by Steven Wilco, Associate to Bishop Hazelwood. Pr. Wilco will be our supply pastor next Sunday. He will hold a Q & A session about the Pastoral transition process in the sanctuary following worship. As always this will be recorded. If you are unable to attend in person, please send Mark your questions and we will do our best to have him answer them. The Church Council has also decided to make a few shifts in order to remain vigilant for the safety of as many attendees as possible. These considerations are not necessarily new to us and we hope the Congregation understands the reasons for these adjustments. Unfortunately, many systems in our Community are being challenged during this current surge. The following guidelines begin on Sunday, December 19 and will continue until case numbers decrease and significant winter weather has past.
These are the guidelines:
- We are asking attendees to enjoy our worship and do your best to move to the beautiful outdoors for fellowship conversations. Please keep 3 feet away from people outside your “pod bubble” whenever possible.
- At this time, we are suspending the indoor coffee fellowship following our worship.
- Indoor air circulation will be increased whenever possible.
- The use of masks is “highly recommended” to protect others and ourselves. New masks are available at the entrance of the Church.
- The use of communion cups (i.e., wafer and grape juice) or gluten free options will be continued.
November 2021: Over the past four years with Pastor Tim.
Wow! What a ride it has been from Pastor’s very first children’s sermon! Does anyone else remember seeing shaving cream in front of the altar?
Over the past four years of Pastor Tim Krick’s pastoral leadership at Holy Trinity, I believe our Church has deepened our faith through his words, passion, and fortitude.
Through his words...
He helped us gain an understanding when considering the (Go ahead, say it.) “context, context, context” of a scripture’s historical elements. Pastor’s words challenged us to reflect on how we could more actively live out our faith by highlighting the ways we can address our community needs.
We appreciated the engaging activities that Pastor delivered in sermons. This helped us each hold a mirror to ourselves for reflection which lead to further reading and dialogue far after the benediction was delivered.
We savored the peaceful mid-week service, Bible Study group, conversations over coffee, different classes/forums of faith instruction, and discussions that encouraged us to listen and gain new perspectives which helped us “soften” any misguided beliefs we were harboring.
We felt the magic when we listened to the children’s honest, insightful, and joyful responses during the children’s sermon. This also brought smiles, insight, and hope for us not sitting on the carpet.
Through his passions...
We gained a better understanding of diverse communities who we may not regularly intersect our daily life. Pastor’s intentional work in the Reconciling in Christ process provided us with the opportunity to learn about the challenges and inequities people who identify as being in the LGBTQIA+ community.
We gained awareness of the importance to earnestly listen, ask questions, empathize, discuss, and adjust our understanding of complicated and sensitive topics.
We continued to financially support and participate in local and international ministries which provides different avenues for Holy Trinity to serve people living in situations of housing or food insecurity. Yes, Pastor’s departure brings us significant change after already experiencing months of pandemic concerns, yet we are also sending out his “gifts” of engagement, personal connection, and teaching to a far bigger community in need through his work with Lutheran World Relief.
We practiced living through awkward, unfamiliar, or unpredictable discussions and experiences because we were reminded we are a Christian first and we are capable of doing what we can now to love our neighbors.
Through his fortitude...
Pastor provided Holy Trinity with a steadfast presence, diverse engagement, and loving concern through these ongoing months during the Pandemic. Despite being physically out of our Church, he helped us to remain grounded in the presence of God due to Pastor’s pastoral fortitude.
After months of online service, we understand that a vibrant church doesn’t have to be a traditional church setting. During the most challenging times of the Pandemic, Pastor’s vision provided experiences that helped to improve feelings of isolation and generated spiritual engagement.
We felt comforted and energized by the people we saw on Zoom when attending online services. The participation of individuals and families to read, sing, share faith stories, chat together in breakout rooms, or Adult Forums was a magnificent dance of creativity and collaboration by Pastor, Mark Donahue, our musicians, and others.
One of my close friend’s favorite quote is by Martin Luther King is one you have probably heard. “The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they* stand at times of challenge and controversy.”
Christians understand that when we are given opportunities or choices, we are told to do what is right for those who happen to be living without a voice. A voice that may need resources, knowledge, mental or physical health, or just some plain “old’ good luck.” For reasons that you can obviously fill in, our Church Community finds itself in challenging and controversial times which makes it more important than ever to live through the lens of a compassionate Christian.
Let us keep God’s grace close as we make decisions of how we prioritize our time, energy, gifts, and financial support. Breathe in patience and an open heart as Holy Trinity moves through discernment and ask for your participation in the many months ahead. Let us live in the present and not let our concerns, worries, big aspirations, or expectations take over what we can do right now in our community and World as a caring, vibrant, and inclusive Church.
(*The words “man” and “he” were replaced by “person” and “they.”)
Council's Update on Pastor Tim's announcement that he's leaving Holy Trinity
Hello Holy Trinity. I am writing to you because the Council thought it might be helpful for us to provide a short update following the announcement that Pastor Tim has accepted a position with Lutheran World Relief.
I’m sure some of us may be feeling many emotions today. Others of us may not be feeling any emotion at all because we are still processing the news. Whatever you may be feeling, Holy Trinity is in the loving hands of God and as some young people say, “It’s all good.”
Whatever you are feeling, the Council and I want you to remember that Holy Trinity is a Church that has gone through transitions before and we will be successful going through this one. We will be successful because we know how to come together and work together. We know how to serve and complete what needs to be done. We know how to support this work by our participation. We also know how to listen to one another, share our thoughts, and come to a decision that will serve the work God calls us to do.
We will be here together in person or virtually when supply pastors and others provide us with sermons that feed our soul with God’s words. We will be together when we begin the “Transition Phase” that asks us to reflect and participate in various events. This work will then lead us to the “Call Process Phase.”
I believe the Church Council is capable in carrying out the oversight that is necessary for this rather lengthy process. After our regular Council meeting last Thursday we met with Steve Wilco. Steve is the Associate to the Bishop, serving western MA, part of Connecticut and NY, Vermont, and NH. He will lead us through the process and will be here on December 19th as a supply pastor.
The Council will be meeting on November 1st to start forming the Transition Team. This group of 6-8 people will be involved in the initial phase of our pastoral transition (approximately 6-9 months). This team needs members who have a positive outlook, creative strategic thinking, strong communication, and organizational skills. Please prayerfully consider if serving on the Transition Team is something you would consider. Contact Mark in the office or me if you have questions or are interested.
At our meeting on the 1st, the Council will begin the “rollout” of the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT). This is a survey that takes the “pulse” of the congregation. It will ask you about your experiences, perceptions, and aspirations of Holy Trinity. It can be completed online or on paper.
Finally, the Council will discuss the plans for Pastor’s Godspeed and Farewell event. His last service will be on Sunday, November 14th.
Peace, Cristina Dolcino