Pastor Chris' Letter September 2018


Dear Trinity,
After all of my time as a pastor, one of the hardest things in ministry has been saying goodbye to our loved ones. Since I have been at Trinity we have lost many of our spiritual pillars as they have passed from this life and gone home. We celebrate the fact that they have finished their course in faith and yet we still feel their loss.
If you have been to one of the funerals I have officiated, you know that I emphasize the fact that our loved ones have gone home. I also point out that we have to deal with the real loss of our loved ones in our lives. We have to deal with this loss in the form of grief. The world many times tells us the lie that grief is something for us to “get over,” but the truth is that there is no getting over our grief. The only way to deal with our grief is to get through it. And the way we get through grief is together.
The way I suggest moving forward together is to honor the memories of those who have passed. By celebrating those who have passed we remember who they were to us and how they made us who we are today. We have talked in our current teaching series about pouring love into the lives of others. This process of moving through grief together is honoring those who poured love into us. So I have a suggestion for how we do this together as a church.
My suggestion revolves around a church holiday that we sometimes overlook: All Saints Day. This celebration is a chance for us to honor those who have gone before. In years past we have celebrated by reading the names of those members who have passed in the last year, lighting a candle, and ringing a bell. The one thing that this overlooks is the personal losses of the church. I know many of you have lost loved ones that are not members of the church this last year. So I would ask that all of you submit the names of those loved ones you have lost this last year so that we may read their name and light a candle in honor of them. The other piece is that I would like to collect memories and stories for anyone who has passed (at any time not just this last year) so that we may honor these memories in a special way. Over the next month we will send out cards for you to return these memories so we can truly grieve together.
We will celebrate All Saints Sunday on Sunday, November 4th at both services. I encourage you to share the names of your loved ones who have passed over the last year and to complete the memory cards when they are distributed. Thank you for your help as we share this burden of loss together. 


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