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On Sunday, November 1, we will light a candle and remember in prayer all those members of Holy Trinity who have died in the past twelve months.  We would like to include any of your deceased loved ones as well.  Please contact the church office at laura.hudson@engagedbygrace.org or 614-486-9433 with the name of the person to be remembered.

And now, Ladies & Gentlemen, our first book for Racial Justice is……………

 “Dear Church… A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S.” 

 Lenny Duncan, an ordained ELCA pastor, is the plain spoken and witty author.  “Dear Church…” is a quick, easy read with an intriguing and insightful perspective.  Lenny affirms the wonderful beauty of the Lutheran Church, while raising significant issues questioning how we can make the Church even better.

He reminds me of Martin Luther, who also loved the Catholic Church, but wanted improvement.  Both men desire us to reflect more accurately the heart and love of God to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Luther, in 1517, is frustrated about the Church taking indulgences, certain that God did not require our payment to forgive our sin.  Lenny, in 2019, is frustrated about recent current events, such as Dylann Roof (the mass shooter from Charleston, South Carolina) also being from the ELCA, as well as other incidents of violence, and certain that God does not require our bloodshed to love our neighbor.

In “Dear Church…” Lenny also discusses aspects of Church symbolism, as well as other related Church topics, even referencing Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, our presiding bishop of the ELCA.

We invite you to our “Next Chapter Book Discussion” on Monday, November 9, at 7:30pm, led by our own published author, Elizabeth Sammons.Please join us!  Via Zoom OR in person.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85312570324?pwd=UnNqVG1mSjd3bzErZm9KelBtdkV2UT09

Meeting ID: 853 1257 0324

Passcode: 308835

We look forward to interesting discussion together, from a variety of different perspectives, shared openly and freely in community, as we remain beloved siblings in Christ.

For any additional information or questions about the Racial Justice Ministry Team, please contact Vicar Sara at sara.wunsch@engagedbygrace.org

Many thanks for the healing prayers you offered on my behalf, and for the greetings of comfort you sent my way.  I thank God every time I think of you.  Fondly, Francine Buban

Long ago the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”  (Jeremiah 17:9)  We only have to look within to acknowledge that Jeremiah’s statement is still true today.  Fortunately, we have one who does understand it.  Beyond that, we have one who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15.)  So deeply does God sympathize with us that God came to us in human form in order to provide the cure for those weaknesses—our sins—in His body on the cross.  As Christ gave Himself for us, let us give ourselves in service to God.  For more information about stewardship, contact Max Buban.

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Holy Trinity’s Endowment Committee is pleased to announce we have $30,000 for the disbursement of grants for the 2021 funding cycle.  Once again, the funds will be applied across our three designated constituencies:

• Community Outreach efforts
• ELCA activities within synods, seminaries, colleges, or local social service agencies
• Holy Trinity program enrichment, ministry support, or capital improvements

Application materials are available at Holy Trinity’s Info Center or by clicking and downloading Endowment Fund Grant Application Instructions, Grant Application Cover, Grant Application (page 1) and Grant Application (page 2).  All materials must be submitted to Holy Trinity no later than Monday, October 26, 2020.  People are encouraged, however, to submit their materials as early as possible.  If you know of an entity that might be interested in submitting an application, please inform whoever would be responsible for completing the forms.  For anyone requesting grants for Holy Trinity ministries, organizational history, financials and 503(c) information is not needed.  Our goal would anticipate making grants that allow each to be of measurable impact.  Thank you for your interest and help.  If you have any questions, please contact Endowment Committee chair Tom Grabenstatter.

A “Church Work Day” has been scheduled for Saturday morning, October 31, beginning at 8:30 am.  Anyone interested in helping clean up the church grounds and building is invited to attend.  There will be a dumpster on site for large trash items and/or potential yard waste.  Please contact Doug Myser for more information.

As our Racial Justice Team continues…. again, I am reminded of the “Wizard of Oz” movie.  (I had previously compared our Racial Justice Team to Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion- so please look back at the archived newsletter article from the week of August 30, 2020 for more reflection on that).

As you might remember, even though the yellow brick road starts small and narrow, it gradually spirals and widens, to both invite and accommodate more people along on the journey.

There are also some points, while on the yellow brick road, when the characters pause.  The first pause is when Dorothy comes to a crossroads and she is trying to determine which way to go.  As Dorothy considers the options, the Scarecrow engages with her, by pointing out the different directions.  After more discussion together, they turn and choose a new path and both begin traveling together… going from 1 traveler to 2 travelers…

The Racial Justice Team has decided to follow this “Wizard of Oz” example.  We want to widen the yellow brick road, to accommodate more people along on the journey, and we want to choose wisely from the options in front of us.

As a team, we have discussed this together and decided, we are going to slow down our pace a bit, and widen our path, to invite and enable you all to engage and embrace this topic more fully with us.  So, instead of offering multiple racial justice events per month, we will emphasize one racial justice event per month.  We will highlight that event, make it bigger and broader.  There will still be much variety in our offerings, but we will no longer be running on the path, we will slow down to a stroll, and again, we extend our elbow to link with yours…

Additionally, we are going to head in a new direction at one specific crossroads.  We were planning to do our Next Chapter book group this Monday, but we have decided to take a different path from our chosen, original book.  So, we are pausing the book group discussion group for October, while we thoughtfully continue to discuss our wisest choice for a new book that we think will engage our congregation more fully and more meaningfully.

Thanks to all of you who have attended our Dynamic Dialogue and our FaithFlix events so far.  It was great to see you and we appreciated your engagement and thoughtful discussion at those events.  We continue to invite you to attend our Racial Justice offerings and we look forward to having even more of you all at our next events!  Stay tuned for more information soon…

For questions or more information, please contact Vicar Sara at sara.wunsch@engagedbygrace.org

Altar flowers are a lovely way to beautify the sanctuary as well as recognize or memorialize a special event or loved one. There are several open dates available in October and onward.  You can sign up at the usher stand near the Information Center or contact the church office at laura.hudson@engagedbygrace.org  or 614-486-9433 to make a dedication.  The cost is $30.  Check or electronic payments can be made payable to Holy Trinity with “flowers” noted in the memo line.  Thank you for supporting this ministry!