"Now things get interesting..."

As we enter into the busy fall season short an associate pastor, I would ask your patience and understanding, and most importantly, your support and 
assistance.  Your congregational leadership will continue to maintain nearly all the same programs and activities that we have enjoyed in the past.  However, the need for leadership, planning and involvement in Trinity will really increase if we are to continue the growth in mission that we have been experiencing.  If you hear of something that interests or excites you, volunteer to help.  Even take a leadership role!  If you can be of assistance in any way, approach the head of the board involved and offer your assistance.  It's that simple, but isn't it always the simple things that are most important in the end?

Rally Sunday and Church Picnic
We begin our new Sunday School year on September 10th with the first day of classes.  The children get to meet their teachers and find out about their new  curriculum for the year.  We will hold the congregational picnic on the next Sunday, September 17th beginning at 1:00 p.m.  Further details about the picnic will be announced in the church bulletin.

COW & Confirmation Re-begin September 20th
Our next 8-week session of Church On Wednesday begins Wednesday, September 20th for all grades.  Pizza ($1 a slice) and subs ($2 a sandwich) continue to be available at 6:00 p.m.  For confirmation, I plan to meet with 6th, 7th and 8th grades in the youth room at 6:15 p.m. for a joint class.  Then at 8:00 p.m. I will meet with the 8th grade class in my office, while the younger kids have some supervised recreation.  Both sessions will end at 8:30 p.m.  Because of scheduling problems, until we find a way to have me be in three places at once, there will be no EVENING adult COW study during this session.  There will, however, be a MORNING adult study at the usual 10:00 a.m. time.

One School/One Church Welcome Dinner
All church, school and preschool families are invited to come to a special evening meal and evening of entertainment at our 2nd annual One Church-One School dinner.  This will be held on Friday, September 8th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall.  This intends to be an opportunity for church and school/preschool families to meet, get to know one another better, and for school/preschool families to find out more about Trinity Lutheran.  We will share with you some facts about the distinctive mission of our church, and there will be tours of the facility (including the Pastor's office! OOOH!!).

New Member Class
Our next class will be held on Sunday, September 24th from 2:00-5:00 p.m.  We invite all who desire to grow closer to Christ and become a part of our ministry here at Trinity Lutheran to contact the church office or me to sign up for this opportunity.

Update on Episcopalian Action
As many of you know, the Episcopalian church voted in early August to ratify the "Called to Common Mission" document and enter into full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (our national church body).  This could only happen because the leadership of the ELCA engineered a vote to compromise parts of our primary theological documents - the Augsburg Confession (specifically Article 7), and subject us to some of the more dubious aspects of the Episcopalian church (notably the Historic Episcopacy).  The leadership of the ELCA would vehemently disagree with this assessment of the situation, but MANY theologians (both Lutheran AND Episcopalian) are fearful of the consequence of such a theological and ecclesiological left turn.

I have written/spoken about this at some length previously, and now it is upon us.  As our leadership cuts yet another tie to scripture and our confessional documents, it is only a matter of time before the church loses the gospel message of forgiveness in Christ and becomes an advocate for the political
correctness of the most vocal forces of secular culture.  I fear that our denomination will begin to follow the path that the American Episcopal church is already falling down: decreased membership, loss of mission, disabled congregations and laity, and a loss of scriptural integrity in its proclamation.

What does this mean for us now?  Actually, "not much" (the ELCA tells us) -- unless we need to call another pastor and are concerned about his/her theological integrity.  "Not much," unless we want to participate in a dwindling mission outreach.  "Not much," unless we want to be a part of a church that has a witness to the world based in the scripture instead of the winds of culture.  I will try to keep you posted.  Keep us in prayer as we seek to be faithful stewards of this message of Love and Forgiveness that God has entrusted to us.

In Hope, Love and Joy as we begin a new year of service together,
 

Pastor Larry