10/01/20 Tidings

Dear Trinity,

In October, a dozen students will be confirmed. (We’re still working out the logistics of it all.) The Rite of Confirmation is actually called an Affirmation of Baptism. I tell the students it’s their chance to stand up and say, ‘Yes! I believe those promises my parent(s) and sponsors made for me at baptism!’ At their confirmation the promises get summed up like this.

Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:

To live among God’s faithful people,
To hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
To proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
To serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
And to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

The first two lines get covered by attending worship but the last three are done outside the church by being a disciple of Jesus in the world. If we aren’t living out our baptismal identity beyond the walls of the church, then we aren’t truly following the way of Jesus Christ. As it happens, there are copious opportunities in the world for us live out our baptismal identity.

Our faith is Biblical. We feed the hungry. We speak out for the oppressed. We welcome the refugee. All of this is repeatedly commanded in the Bible. One might wonder how to decide what to follow in Scripture when there are things we disregard. For example, I don’t know anyone who follows the passage in Leviticus that commands us to take our disrespectful children to the city gates and stone them to death. So how do you know what to follow? What to do?

Jesus sums up all of scripture by saying, “Love God and love your neighbor.” This guideline forms how we raise our children, even when they’re sassy. It forms how we live, serve, and give. We have to ask ourselves if our actions,
our words, even our social media posts reflect our love of God and love of neighbor.

Striving for peace and justice by loving God and neighbor looks different for different people. Every action counts and adds up – like reusable grocery bags or fair-trade coffee or shopping at local businesses or voting. These are
the ways we live out our baptismal identity by loving God and loving our neighbor.

Thankfully the young people being confirmed are energized to work for justice and peace because the world needs them. We need them.

Grace + Peace,

Pastor Amy

Hiking/Fellowship Social Distancing Events

Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., 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/crosscountry-skiing/pdf/map-nordic-trail.pdf

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020 at 10:00 a.m., 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.

This hike is to support our Trinity Youth Group in the Virtual 5K Your Way. Registration is $20 and you get a cool T-shirt. To register, go to https://tinyurl.com/y4sjw82b

Log in your 5K anytime the weekend of Thursday, Oct. 22 thru Monday, Oct. 26. All proceeds will go to Youth Programming at Trinity. Send pics of you and/or your group. They will be posted on the Trinity Instagram and Facebook pages.

Caravaning is available for those who want to meet at Trinity Lutheran Church. It will take about 30 minutes to drive to the trail head parking lot, so plan to be at the church parking lot no later than 9:15 a.m. 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 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 on the Oct. 10, the 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 call 262-490-4923.

Additional Hiking Opportunities

Here’s some information for those who want more hiking and are
available on weekdays.

We meet Tuesdays at 4 p.m. for a 3-mile hike at the DNR parking
lot on U.S. Highway 12 about 4 miles east of Whitewater
(Sherwood Forest Rd.) We meet at the same place on Wednesday
mornings at 10:00 a.m. Those hikes usually are 6 to 8 miles or
about 3 hours long. Shorter, 3-mile hikes, also are held on
Wednesday mornings starting at the same time, as well.

Any questions or interested folks should contact Steve
Larson at 920-650-0570.

New Devotionals are Here

The devotionals for October-December are here and ready to be picked up! Stop by the church between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Monday-Thursday to pick up your copy!

Feed Your Soul Volunteers Needed

Feed Your Soul at First United Methodist Church provides meals for those in need every Thursday afternoon. They are asking members of the community to volunteer with providing desserts for the meals each week. Here is a message from the organizer, Jen Lowry:

“A little about what we’ve been doing since March…By the grace of God, we have been able to continue serving the weekly FYS meal since March. We only missed serving one meal, the week the lockdown began. We are
managing the program on a takeout-only basis. The majority of people are coming to the church, and we are bringing the meals to their cars (no one comes inside the church). There are a number of people we also deliver
meals to, which makes up about 20% of the total.

The meals are all homemade casseroles, a vegetable or fruit or roll. There’s a team of five to seven people who come in every Thursday to prep food, pack the meals into to-go containers. Meals go out the door like clockwork! We have pretty consistently been serving 165 to 175 meals each week. In the last three weeks, I’ve seen a slow increase.

Here’s where we need your help: making desserts and spreading the word. Here’s the link to sign up for bringing desserts from October through the end of the year (the church remains closed for worship services, and so
we are also continuing with takeout meals only). https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b48aea72ca5fe3-feed

1) Dessert making details:

Desserts can be dropped off at the Fort Methodist Church (320 S. Main) from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. on Thursdays. I put a cart by the back door of the church where desserts can be left. Use the buzzer to the right of the door and you will be let inside.
There are no allergen issues.
Best desserts: cookies or bar-type cookies/desserts. Frosted cakes or bars don’t fare too well.
Packaging: please package 1 large cookie or 2 small cookies in Ziploc sandwich bags so they are ready to go.·
Special note: we are serving on Tuesdays the week of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, we would love to serve pie (no pre-portioning! We will do that). This is noted on
the signup.

2) Let others know!!

Thank you so much! Let me know if you have any questions! God bless each one of you!”

If you need help signing up online, please call the Trinity church office at 920-563-4145. Sarah would be happy to help you sign up.

Hats and Mittens for STAR

The STAR group will be collecting hats and mittens during the month of October. ALL sizes both small and large. Please check your winter gear to see if you have something to donate, maybe check the sales, or keep your hands busy.

THANKS for your kindness and caring.

More information will be coming on how to donate.

Thank you in advance for your help

Little Free Pantry

We’re ALMOST there! Thanks to those who have signed up to help so far!
Due to the current economic events, we are noticing a higher demand for food items in our Little Pantry. (It is located on the east side of the church, off Adams St., on the lawn next to the driveway.)

We would like to make sure it has items in it every day, but we can’t do it alone. We have come up with an idea that would require a SMALL amount of time, but be a HUGE help!

We were wondering who would claim one (1) day per week or every other week (i.e., 1st and 3rd Monday each month). Responsibilities would be to check on and add items to our Little Pantry. Items could be purchased by you, supplemented from collected food pantry items in the church or even collected from work places.

Volunteers still needed for:
1st and 3rd Wednesdays
2nd and 4th Fridays

Thanks to all who have volunteered so far!
Becky Tuttle: bjtuttle@charter.net
Polly Schull: pollya@charter.net

Third Grade Bible Sunday

As a part of our Christian Education Program at Trinity, we present the third grade Sunday school students with Bibles. This simple, yet meaningful gift from Trinity helps parents keep their promise made during Baptism “to place in their child’s hand the Holy scriptures.” This year, we will give out Bibles on Sunday, Oct. 18 during Trinity’s Drive Through Communion, which is held from 10:00-10:30 in the church parking lot.

Sunday School Updates

Sunday school will not gather in the church building on Oct. 11 because Trinity is not having in-person worship at this time. All students who have registered to receive Sunday School in a Bag can pick up their new set of lessons on Oct. 11 during Drive Through Communion from 10:00-10:30 a.m. If this timing does not work for you, materials can be picked up at the church beginning Monday Oct. 12 through Thursday Oct. 16. Trinity’s secretary, Sarah, is in the office from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Church staff often keeps afternoon hours; please call ahead to be sure someone is in the building.

Thank You

Please read this note from Gary Thom from the food pantry: “Once again the Trinity family has stepped up to fill in the schedule for the month. I sent out a notice asking who would be available and EVERYONE replied “I will, I will!”. #feelingblessed.”

Prayers Requested For . . .

Judy Almquist, Marsha Anderson, Sandy Anderson, Alberto Calderon Castro, Linda Doerr, Dean Hanke, Pat Kyle, Bob Kyle, Phyllis Lang, Steffani Liebel, Rick Liebel, Dan Morrow, Pam Nicholas, Debbie Pierce, Tom Pomraning, Violet Prust, Paul Reed, Shelley Scheurm, Ruth Smithback, Roger Strege, Donna Weeks, Donald Zuehlke

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!