For a printable PDF version of this week’s newsletter, please click Engaged Weekly 052619

As Vicar Andrew concludes his internship with us in the next several weeks, we look forward to affirming and celebrating his learning and serving among us at a single worship service on Sunday, June 2 at 9:30 am.  The service will be followed by brunch for the whole congregation.  Please RSVP for brunch at the Collection and Sign-up Corner in the Gathering Space or contact the church office.

On Saturday, June 1 from 6:00-7:00 pm, Vicar Andrew will be performing a concert of the Christian children’s music he’s written.  CD’s will be available for purchase at that time as well. Everyone is welcome and invite a friend!

Concerts at Holy Trinity Patron Concert 2019
You are invited to a concert in your honor on Friday, May 27 at 7:00 pm.  Artist in Residence Joshua Brodbeck will play the organ with Philip Sotak, a special guest.  A champagne reception will follow.

Holy Trinity’s next opportunity to serve breakfast at First English is Sunday, May 26.  We love new faces!  Join us at First English, 1015 E. Main Street, at 7:45 am to cook and serve breakfast to our neighbors and friends.  No previous experience is necessary!  As always, donations of fresh fruit and baked goods are welcome.  Please contact Becky Warnement for more information.

As another school year comes to a close, Holy Trinity would like to recognize our members of the Class of 2019.  Graduating high school seniors will be affirmed during worship on Sunday, June 2.  Those graduating from college or graduate school will be recognized in the newsletter. If your family includes someone graduating this year, please list his/her name, institution from which they’re graduating, degree received, and post-graduate plans on the back of the All Good Gifts card or send an email to laura.hudson@engagedbygrace.org so we might share their good news with the rest of the Holy Trinity family.

Holy Trinity will provide our hamburger and hot dog meal for the families at the YWCA Family Center on Saturday, June 1. You may help by serving food or by making a donation for purchasing the food.  If you make a monetary donation, please make checks payable to Holy Trinity and mark the check or envelope for the Y-Center.  If you’d like to help serve, please meet at the Y-Center (900 Harvey Ct., Columbus, 43219) by 5:00 pm.  Please contact Chris Pryor or Danielle Gonsiska if you have questions.

The whole congregation is invited to celebrate the start of Vacation Bible School with a pizza food truck dinner on Sunday, June 23, 5:00-7:00 pm.  We’ll be blessing our new church garden that will be planted and tended during VBS to grow pizza vegetables and herbs that we’ll use for a congregational grilled pizza party in the fall.

Fired Up Pizza (https://fireduppizza614.com) will be wood-firing pizza of fresh tossed dough loaded with fresh vegetables and meats.  Kids and adults are welcome at this event for the whole community.  Bring a friend too!

Please RSVP at the Collection and Sign-up Corner or contact the church office so we know how many are attending.  Freewill donations will be accepted to defray the cost of this event.

According to the commitment that Holy Trinity makes to all the children baptized among us, we support the faith of our second grade students by presenting them with Bibles engraved with their names.  If your child is in second grade or older and has not received a Bible from Holy Trinity, please contact Pastor Steve so they can be included.

Concert and Hosting

The St. Augustine Bell Choir comprised of 16 youth and director Matthias Eichhorn from Gotha, Germany will be playing in worship and offering a concert on Sunday, July 14.  As part of their tour through Ohio, Holy Trinity will be hosting them on Saturday and Sunday nights, July 13 and 14.  If you would be available to host two or more guests, please sign-up at the Collection and Sign-up Corner in the Gathering Space or contact the church office.

The choir was founded in 1987 through the efforts of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Dayton.  To make the founding possible, money was raised from Lutheran handbell choirs throughout the United States for the purchase of the gift set of Malmark handbells.  Permission was requested of and granted by the East German government in order that Epiphany could transport the bells across the Iron Curtain.  Matthias Eichhorn, then 8 years old, was one of the original ringers.

In the ensuing years, the choir has developed a wonderful reputation for musical excellence and was chosen by the State of Thuringia to be its representative at the World’s Fair—Hanover 2000.  The congregation now has six bell choirs involving over 100 ringers.

The St. Augustine Lutheran Church was built as an Augustinian Monastery in 1331.  It early allied itself with the teachings of fellow Augustinian—Martin Luther.  In fact, it is documented that Martin Luther preached in the Gotha church on four occasions.

St. Augustine Lutheran has long been known for its music.  One of its best-known directors of music was Johann Pachelbel, yes, that Pachelbel, the composer of Canon in D.

The congregation is best known in recent history for the lead role it played in the peaceful revolution in the fall of 1989 when Eastern Germany overthrew the Communist regime and later reunited with Western Germany to become the Germany we know today.

Gotha lies between Erfurt (where Luther was a university student, a monk and later ordained as a priest) and Eisenach (where Luther attended elementary school and was later given safe-keeping in near-by Wartburg Castle.)

On Sunday, May 26 at 9:30 am, Dr. Donald G. Luck will wrap up our exploration of the world of religious pluralism and a Lutheran response to it.  He will first compare the present situation with past Christian responses.  Then he will speak out of his experience as a participant in Buddhist/Christian dialogue. Finally he will reflect on the official ELCA policy statement: A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment.

The Rev. Dr. Donald G. Luck is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology of Trinity Lutheran Seminary where he taught for twenty years.  A native New Yorker, he received his basic theological training at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.  After graduate studies at the University of Edinburgh he was ordained and served as a pastor in Metropolitan New York for seven years before entering full-time studies at Union Theological Seminary from which he received the degrees of STM (Master of Sacred Theology) and PhD.  He attended inter-religious conferences in Madras (now called Chennai) India, Hong Kong, Kyoto and Purdue and became a member of the Society for Buddhist/Christian Studies when it was founded in 1987.