Something New! The church season of Lent begins on Wednesday, February 22 with Ash Wednesday. Typically at Holy Trinity we have a soup supper (a simpler meal this year), followed by worship on Ash Wednesday, and then on the following Wednesdays right up until the week before Easter, we follow up the soup supper with…
We woke at 6 a.m. to the crow of a distant rooster. Local coffee was enjoyed out in the yard, where tomorrow’s projects await us. The view across the valley to the mountains was breathtaking and the tropical sunshine soaked all the way into the soul. After breakfast we got the orientation from our Strong Missions Coordinator, Brianna. There were directions on…
Our first day was a travel day, significant hours on planes and longer hours in the airports, a total of 21.5 hours from meeting at the church to our arrival at STRONG Missions in Grecia, Costa Rica. In addition to flying and waiting in lines we told stories about our lives, read and shared notes from our prayer partners, ate, stretched, and…
We sometimes wonder, why is Holy Week so important? Why do I need to be present on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday? The services are so dark and gloomy. I love the upbeat and spirited. Why can’t I just wave my palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday, and then return the next week to sing “Alleluia!” and celebrate the empty…
Have you noticed them? I’m talking about all of the new faces in church. They’ve been here. New folks. First-time guests. Maybe a better question would be, have you met them? There is a difference, you know. Noticing simply takes observation. All you have to do is watch with your eyes and you notice things. We all notice a lot of things…
We closed the book on VBS 2016 on June 16th, and it was a great week, full of fun, learning and the Holy Spirit. I think the kids might have gotten something out of it, too! Our theme was Surf Shack: Catch the Wave of God’s Amazing Love, and our key verse was, “Remember that the Lord is great and awesome.” Nehemiah…
It’s really hard for me to believe that we’re in the middle of April already. It seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas and turning the page on the calendar to a new year. But I’m fully aware that the calendar keeps turning and that we not only have Christmas behind us, but Easter, as well! The upside of this fast-paced…
This is a picture of me from when I was twelve or thirteen years old. I had just gotten my braces complete with headgear, and was wearing my new eyeglasses with the awesomely trendy oversize frames. You can see my favorite t-shirt, which (in case you can’t make it out) says Superklutz across the chest.…
The season of Lent continues! Last Wednesday evening we kicked off the season of Lent as we gathered for the first of our Soup Suppers at 6:00pm. Liz Weninger provided the soup and the Core Team served. Worship followed at 6:45pm – a traditional Ash Wednesday service with the choir singing, the imposition of ashes, and Holy Communion. We heard the first…
(First published in the SAIL newsletter February 5, 2016) I have been thinking about the approach of Lent for some time now. Traditionally, one of the things Christians do between Ash Wednesday and Easter is practice some kind of fasting to help us grow closer to God. If we frequently indulge in something we don’t need, for instance chocolate, then denying chocolate helps…