Trinity Church Newsletter

Dear Trinity, Wow! It seems like 2017 has just flown by but as we drift into 2018 my mind is drawn to what this New Year will bring for me, my family, and the church. As I do this I reflect on all that has happened this last year, the good and the bad, and look forward to the possibilities that God has for all of this next year. As I do this mental practice, I remember our denominational tradition that in the years past has slipped our memory. In the early Methodist societies, especially those in London, they participated in a Covenant Renewal Service. This service was usually celebrated on New Year’s Eve or Day. This service revolves around the understanding that our membership or discipleship revolves around a covenant we have made with God. This covenant is seen in the words of our baptism, rehearsed in the celebration of communion, and sits at the heart of all of the ministry of the church. I know sometimes we have trouble with this word covenant as it is not common language

  It is the day after Christmas and I have been sitting here in my quiet house for the past four hours praying and studying my quiet time materials.  The fire and my candle are burning, the tree lights are on, my tea is hot, our pets are snoozing around me and I have watched the dawn break. At 5:15 this morning, we watched our daughter and her family drive away as they began their journey back to Colorado.  I wish I could just climb into bed and go back to sleep once I’m up, but that’s not in my DNA.  So I have been here in my quiet time praying, reading and listening.  This has been a mini-retreat for me after the busy-ness of the festivities. Pastor Chris talked about possibilities on Sunday and I am excited about the possibilities 2018 will bring.  Each one of you bring gifts, skills, talents and abilities that have the possibility to transform our church into an even more missional church. The ideas bubbling up are so much fun to hear.  Our study of what it means to be a “Chur

What’s Going On? By Pastor Chris              As I mentioned in my letter this month, January is a time of transitions. This is the same in the church. For those of you who were unable to hear Tim Holcomb share on December 10 th of this year I encourage you to go to our website and listen as he shares about the state of the church. But also in it he announces that he is stepping down as the president of our leadership board. This has to do with the structure of our board. We as a church have guidelines for how committees must be run. This document is the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church. This book is edited, revised, and revisited by the General Conference of the United Methodist Church every four years. That’s a long way around to say that part of these guidelines are term limits for certain committees and boards in the church. For most committees including the leadership board this term is three years. Because of this when we developed the new leadership board we