Dearly beloved,

The summer is flying by! I hope that you have had the opportunity to take time to refresh and renew your spirit. My soul has found greater depths as we have delved into the Lord’s Prayer during the past couple of months. There is such a richness to this prayer that is so familiar! Each week we used a variation of this prayer to help lift up the gift that Jesus gave us. (Note: if you missed any of them, you can still watch past worship services on our Facebook and YouTube pages as well as find previous weeks’ bulletins on our website).

As many people travel and are involved in summer activities, we know that it is not always possible to join us for worship each week – but know that you are indeed missed! Keep in touch and let us know where you are experiencing the presence of God in your life. Did you take a little Jesus with you – if so, share a pix and tag us.

One of the challenges for us during the summer is that there is decreased giving along with increased stress for our income and expenses. This results in our need to “borrow” from our savings which continues to decrease with each passing year. We are grateful for many of you who maintain your regular offerings through these months. Online giving and regular offerings enable us to continue the ministry that God has set before us.

Just as our households face increased expenses so too does Trinity. We have made many cuts over the years and are very mindful of being good stewards of all that is entrusted to us.

We are faithfully asking and challenging each household to consider giving at least an extra $5 a week as part of your regular giving. This small increase, based on the number of regular giving households, could bring approximately $20,000 to better cover expenses.

You will find your mid-year contribution statement included with the letter that was mailed out. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to contact Sue Ellen, our Office manager (trinlutheranoffice@yahoo.com).

We are blessed to be brought together with you as this community of faith! May you continue to know the love and peace of Christ!

Peace, Pastor Jen

It is way to hot for your Financial Gnome to leave his nice cool hole in the ground, but here I am. While attendance has been good up until the summer, giving has been erratic, leaving us needing to “borrow” $8K from our Special Funds account to cover ongoing expenses. This is not good, as Special Funds is running out of funds to borrow.

So, your uncomfortably hot Gnome is giving you a warning, we need to increase our contributions immediately or your Gnome will become a hot and IRRITATED Gnome. That is not a pleasant thing to behold. I wouldn’t want anything Biblical to happen to you, like the ten things that happened to Pharaoh. This heat does strange things to people. A small increase in your giving might be good insurance for cooling off a hot Gnome who would really rather go underground again.

It would be best for all of us if I didn’t have to come back up during service to turn off the AC until the Fall.

Looking forward to seeing you when the weather is cooler,

Your financial Gnome

Prayer Meetings: if you are interested in being part of a group that meets regularly (probably once a month) to spend time in prayer – for particular people, places., for the congregation and community as well as to learn and practice different ways to prayer – please let me know

You are each a blessing from God to me!

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen