06/24/21 Tidings

A Message from your Council President

I hope you are enjoying your summer so far! It’s been really nice to be able to get out and see people’s faces lately. I especially enjoyed seeing the smiling faces of all of you that attended worship in person this past Sunday. It felt really great to sing together, smile together, and commune together again. It almost feels as if life is getting back to “normal.”

Ever since I started attending Trinity in 1990, I have very fond memories of all of the activities that we had to offer both within the congregation and in the community as a whole. COVID put a quick stop to all of this, but I feel that now is a great time for us to get back to planning and organizing more events and activities. I realize that we are all busy. (I’m writing this letter at 5 p.m. on Tuesday so it can be in the Tidings tomorrow morning!) The point I’m trying to make is if we start planning things now, we could have them ready to go in the fall.

We need to breathe new life back into our church, and this takes help from all of you. Our ministry teams are severely lacking members which in turn hinders us from planning events. If you have ideas for anything you would like to see our church do, or participate in, or social/service groups you would like to be a part of, please let me know. Please join a ministry team if you have time (it’s only a couple of hours per month), or you could help with one event and be done. Volunteering at the church doesn’t have to be a lifetime commitment! Please pray on this and contact me with your ideas. My email is ericjlonsdale@gmail.com and my phone number is in the directory.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding throughout the past year. I look forward to seeing you all again very soon. God bless you all!

Sincerely,

Eric Lonsdale

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for family VBS, and get your kiddos signed up for Sunday School!

Pastoral Acts

3 funerals – Don Zuehlke 6/8, Sandy Anderson 6/10, Lucy Rumary 6/11
1 Wedding – Josh Gerard & Shalane Hundt 6/12

Feed Your Soul Service Team

Feed Your Soul is resuming on-site serving on July 8! Trinity is putting together a service team, and we need volunteers! If you are interested in joining the team, please let the office know as soon as possible. Help us be the hands and feet of Jesus in Fort Atkinson!

Updated Mask Policy

Beginning June 20, per the CDC guidelines, Trinity will be moving from “Masks Required” to “Masks Optional” for those who are fully vaccinated. Masks remain a good, safe option for anyone who wishes to wear one. If you see people are wearing masks, please be respectful of their choice. Masks are not required for outdoor events, such as Praise in the Park.

Because there are still those in the church who do not have the opportunity to be vaccinated, we lovingly ask that you continue to socially distance the recommended 3 feet.

UPAVIM Sale – Christmas in July?

The UPAVIM craft items will be out for display and purchase at the July 11th worship in the park. Kay’s bringing a few Christmas items as well as some new creations from the talented Guatemalan women. Remember, all proceeds go toward the scholarship program for the UPAVIM school, and the purchases help the women in the community earn a livable wage and learn new skills. Come and browse during the coffee time after service!

LIFT leads worship on June 24 and June 27

There will be no drive-thru communion on “Praise in the Park” weeks.

Homeless Coalition Icon Sale

The Homeless Coalition is asking for your support during the Icon Sale at Festival Foods. The sale will support the Homeless Coalition from 6/27-7/11. Each patron will be asked if they would like to support HCFA with a $1 or $5 donation. They will be able to write their name on a house-shaped paper to be placed in their window.

LWR Projects

As a congregation we will be collecting bars of soap for Lutheran World Relief the month of May and June. The bars of soap may be dropped off at drive-thru communion or at the church office. There will be a basket that will be provided for the soap.

We will also be collecting School Kits and Personal Care Kits to send to LWR, too. Our deadline for these projects will be Sept. 12 as these boxed kits need to be in Madison on Sept. 18.

There will be a list of needed items for the School Kits and Personal Care Kits in the Tidings as well as available at the church office and drive-thru communion.

Personal Care Kits

One lightweight bath-size towel (20×40 or 52×27) dark colors
Two bath-size bars of soap equaling 8-9oz in original wrapping
One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging
One sturdy comb, remove packaging
One metal nail clippers, remove packaging

School Kits

Four 70-sheet notebooks of wide or college ruled paper
One 30-cm ruler on one side with inches on the other
One pencil sharpener
One pair of blunt scissors
Five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers secure with a rubber band
One box of 16 or 24 crayons
One 2 1/2 inch eraser

STAR Crafters Needed

STAR is working on touching up the Chrismons for the church Christmas tree and is looking for crafters to help them out! If you are interested in helping, please call Sharon Armstrong at 920-650- 4948 for more information.

If you are interested in becoming a member of STAR, please contact Sharon Armstrong. STAR is always happy to welcome new members!

Hiking/Fellowship Event

Saturday, June 26th at 10:00 am, meet at the Nordic Trails parking lot on County Highway H just north of Hwy. 12 for 1.5 miles to the Nordic Trail parking lot, on the east side of the road. https://wisconsintrailguide.com/cross-country-skiing/pdf/map-nordic-trail.pdf

This is a fee area, so you’ll need a yearly Wisconsin state parks pass for your vehicle ($28) or you will have to purchase a day pass ($8) for your vehicle. The trail head has potable water and toilets. Bring your face mask, if you’re more comfortable, for using the toilets.

Bring a water bottle, trekking poles or walking stick if you have/want them, snacks in case you need an energy pickup, bug spray, light jacket, hat and/or sunglasses. If you are more comfortable, you may also wear a face mask.

The Nordic Trail is an overlapping, stacked loop system with seven named trails; three are rated as novice and four are rated as intermediate. Trail distances range from 1.1 km to 15.9 km. The most challenging terrain occurs on the Green Trail and on portions of the Blue Trail where there are several fun, hilly stretches.

We’ll be hiking the Green Trail, 3.7 mile moderately trafficked loop trail that features a variety of terrain and scenery. The majority of the terrain is flat to gently rolling and meanders through a nice variety of scenery that includes stands of mixed hardwoods, pine plantations, and open fields within the South Kettle Moraine State Forest. It is marked as a Moderate/Intermediate trail. Any questions, please contact Aurelio at callopeAnD86@gmail.com or 262-490-4923.

Ruth Circle

It has been a year of challenges and changes, trying to find our way back to gathering as people of faith. Ruth Circle would like to invite anyone who would be interested in joining us for Bible Study starting on Wednesday, September 15 at 1 p.m. in the Hearth Room.

We will follow the guidelines set by the CDC and Trinity Church. We will also make available the study guide for our Bible Study.

We look forward to gathering again to study and being together.

We hope that you would consider joining us in September. Any questions you may contact Stephanie Beran at sfberan@charter.net or her cell phone 920-723-4867.

UPAVIM Quarter Jar

Off to a good start! We collected $181 in the Quarters Can Make a Difference bank in May. Thank you! Can we match that in June? One of the original Upavimas was Dina. Her story shows how much education matters in Guatemala. She began working in the health clinic, but she couldn’t read. She wanted to show her children how vital an education is, so she learned alongside her kids. She now teaches in a Montessori class at the school, and one of her daughters teaches 1st grade while another teaches a preschool class at the UPAVIM school. They don’t seek riches. They just want to help their community! And they do. Your donations make scholarships to the school possible.

REGISTRATION FOR FALL 2021
GRADES 4K – 6

Click here to register

Finance Committee Looking for Members

The Finance Committee is looking for more people to participate in the financial management of our congregation. We meet the second Tuesday of the month, our meetings rarely exceed an hour; duties include perusing the monthly financial statements provided by the treasurer, initiating stewardship in the fall, and introducing the budget for the next year to the church council. If you might be interested, feel free to contact Amy Duffrin, Bob Chady, Brian Armstrong, Vicky Ghislain, or Chris Cluver.

Click here to register

Patio Furniture Wanted

Church Chicks is looking to freshen up the patio of the church. They are in need of gently used patio furniture. If you are interested in donating or have any questions, contact Lorrie Godfrey at brilorgodfrey@yahoo.com or 262-497-3380.

Call Committee Survey

The Call Committee needs your help! In order to build our church profile as part of the call process, we need congregation members to fill out a brief survey about our church. Please fill out the survey either online or on paper by June 30. Paper copies of the survey are available at in-person services. The link to the online survey can be found here, and has also been emailed out.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Prayers Requested For . . .

Terry Badura, Wayne Behselich, Ron and Marian Capek, Don Clark, Cheryl Deloach, Ethel Fischer, Kay Hesselbacher, Christopher Hulstein, Sara Jones, Bob Kyle, Phyllis Lange, Alan Lindberg, Barb Manwaring, Dan Morrow, Debbie Pierce, Violet Prust, Chris Rattray, JR Rinden, Harold Rumppe, Timmie Sawyer, Ruth Smithback, Olaf Stokstad, Mike Wendt, Kay Woods, Keith Woods.

Do you have a prayer concern? Email the prayer force at prayerforcetlc@gmail.com. People will gladly pray for you or your loved one with their whole hearts!