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Trinity Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Towanda PA
September 2008
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September
Brings New Possibilities
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Sunday, September 7th
will start out a new round of
Sunday School and Christian education.
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The children will
begin learning about Jesus, the foundational Bible stories, and our faith
at 10:00am Sunday mornings. Adults
and Youth will have the opportunity to talk about the Bible, brush up on
the Lutheran Basics, study the faith indirectly through the lens of
modern novels and movies, and study sexuality and the faith. We look forward to a great year of
growing in faith with one another.
Watch for study dates & times.
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In
This Issue:
September
Ministry
The
Man Trip
Pastor’s
Message
The
Question Box
Parish
News
Worship
Highlights
Adult
Education
Parish
News Cont.
Thank
You
Parish
News Cont.
Carings
& Sharings
Capital
Campaign
Capital
Campaign
Synod
News
Calendars
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church
908 S Main Street
Towanda, PA 18848
(570) 265-5322
trinluth@epix.net
www.trinluth.com
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Ryan
Hart, Pastor Jira, and The Man Trip
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(Ryan lines up a golf
shot during a break in interviewing for the ELCA Book of Faith.)
As a way to complete
his confirmation, Ryan Hart set out on the road with Pastor Jira to learn
around God and to serve the ELCA.
“The Man Trip” was a classic road trip, with no
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destination, no
housing, little food, and a lot of faith.
However, there was a mission: to learn about the Lutheran faith
and to create a video blog for the ELCA Book of Faith initiative. During their journeys, Ryan interviewed
many people (bishops, pastors, lay people, and seminary professors) about
the Bible and what they do to open up the scriptures. “This was a great way to do
confirmation,” Ryan commented after talking about the faith of the people
he encountered on the road. The
video blog is in the process of being edited and will be posted on the
synod’s website very soon: www.godslove.org.
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Do
Not Forget To Forgive
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A Message From Pastor Jira
Albers
“For if you forgive
others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”
Matthew 6:14
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Helplessness is the only way to
describe the feeling. When you
have wronged someone, and have tried to make things right, but they turn
their back on you and refuse you the forgiveness you seek; the only way
to describe the feeling is helpless.
We read in John 20:23 the powerful words, “If you forgive the sins
of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained.” Typically, these words
have been interpreted as permission for the church to forgive or not
forgive as the church sees fit when trying to set someone straight. However, I wonder now if it is not more
of a description of reality rather than permission to wield the power of
forgiveness. When someone refuses
to forgive you, it is hard to move on in life. Your mind becomes consumed with ways to
try to make things right. Your
life literally feels like it has been retained behind a wall. Lives have fallen apart because
forgiveness was retained.
Forgiveness is certainly a
difficult thing to offer. In some
cases
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the offense was so bad
that forgiveness seems to be the wrong thing to do. Yet, continuous resentment is also
unhealthy for the soul. Often, the
unforgiving person becomes so wrapped up in justifying their inability to
forgive that they too retain themselves behind a wall and cannot truly
live a healthy life.
Jesus seemed to understand
this dynamic well. He knew that
healing and freedom comes to both parties when forgiveness is sought and
forgiveness is offered in return.
He staked his life on this notion.
He died that sin might die with him and God’s forgiveness might be
offered to all. Jesus is very
explicit: “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matt. 6:14-15).
Forgiveness may be difficult
to offer, but it is the power to heal broken relationships. Forgiveness may not always be logical,
but it is what sets the people of God apart from the rest of the world.
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The Question Box
(Questions About Our Lutheran Life)
"Do I have to forgive?"
Jesus
was asked this very question by Peter.
“Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often
should I forgive? As many as seven
times? Jesus said to him, “Not
seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Matt. 18:21-22). Of course, we do not count up the times
until it reaches seventy-seven. In
the ancient world, the term seventy-seven was the same as saying a
billion times. If someone truly
seeks forgiveness, we must forgive; even if we have forgiven them before
for the exact same thing. It is
the way of God through Jesus Christ, and it is our way also. – Pastor Jira
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Parish
News
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Worship Highlights
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Building
Room For Faith Sunday
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Sunday,
September 28th
the congregation will finish turning in the pledges for the “Building
Room For Faith” capital campaign, and we will celebrate the
results. Please note that you do
not have to wait until the 28th to turn in your pledge. The campaign team would appreciate
receiving the pledges at your earliest convenience.
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RUMMAGE
SALE
Thursday &
Friday, September 25 & 26 from 9AM
until
3PM, the Vesper Guild/WELCA will hold their
sale in the Parish House. There will also be a bake
sale on both days and baked goods are needed.
Proceeds will benefit needed church projects. They
Will also apply to Thrivent for their “Care In
Congregations” program.
Please
note: Cut-off for bringing in rummage is
September 7th.
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Child’s Faith
Sept. 21st
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On Sunday, September 21st,
through dramatic readings, special prayers, and great music, we will all
have the faith of a child.
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Building Room For Faith
Sunday
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On Sunday, September 28th
we will celebrate the future of our congregation!
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Ryan Hart’s Affirmation of
Faith
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On Sunday, October 26th,
we anticipate confirming the faith of Ryan Hart. Please support Ryan as he grows in
faith & personal ministry.
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Adult Education Opportunities
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Afternoon Fellowship
Studying the
Gospel of Mark while enjoying each other’s company.
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Sept. 16th and 30th
at 12:30pm
In the Parish House With Pastor Jira
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Tuesday Night Book Club
Reading and talking about faith issues from “A Door
Into Ocean” by
Joan Slonczewski
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Oct. 7th and 14th
at 7:00pm
In Pastor Jira’s Home – Rt. 220, Box 86A
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Human Sexuality – Studying the
ELCA Draft
You are invited to
study, discuss and comment on the ELCA Human Sexuality Draft.
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November 2008
In the Parish House With Pastor
Jira
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More
Lutheran Basics From
The
Lutheran Course II
“How To Tell The Difference
Between The Theology Of The Cross And The Theology Of Glory”
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Sept. 15th at 7:00pm
In
the Coldren Home – Call church for directions
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Parish
News Cont.
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Sunday School Begins September 7th
As difficult as it is to believe, summer is almost
over. That means it’s time to gear up for another year of Sunday School,
and September 7th will
be Rally Day Sunday. During Sunday School that day, we will take a
look back at what we learned during VBS. We will also practice some of
the songs from VBS so that we can share them with the congregation when
we join them. As always, children ages 3 and up are welcome and
encouraged to join us.
Several people have offered to help teach this year,
so we will be having a meeting following the service on the 7th
to discuss how best to make this work. If you think you might be
interested in helping, please feel free to join us at that meeting. You
will not be asked to sign a contract, I promise!J
We are simply exploring ways to make our program stronger. If two heads
are better than one, then many heads put together should provide lots of
great ideas!
WILLING
WORKERS
Will resume on
Tuesday, September 2nd at 9:30AM. Fellowship and Bible study
with Pastor Jira will be on the 16th and 30th at
12:30PM.
They will attend the
Wysox luncheon at noon on the 9th.
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Columbarium Space Available
As you make your end of life arrangements do not
forget that the church has columbarium space available.
Call (570) 265-5322
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Thank You Members Of Christ!
*Thank you to Chris Grant for all of his hard work
preparing estimates and generating ideas for the building project.
*Thank you to Ryan Hart for his hard work on the video
blog. Pastor Jira says that “The
Man Trip” was a great time because of his enthusiasm.
*Thank you to Maureen Engelhard for all of her work
with the “Building Room For Faith” capital campaign. It has been said that congregations
cannot conduct a campaign on their own.
She has proven those professionals wrong.
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Parish
News Cont.
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VESPER
GUILD/WELCA
Will
meet on Tuesday, September 30th.
The Scranton-Wilkes
Barre Cluster of WELCA will have a fall cluster meeting on Saturday,
October 4th at St. Matthew’s Church, Scranton. Coffee hour and fellowship
will be at 9:30AM and a business meeting at 10:00AM, followed by a Bible
study by St. Matthew’s Pastor. Following a noon lunch, there will be a
special speaker from the Attorney General’s office who will tell us how
to keep our identity from being stolen. Contact Marian Feathers for more
information and transportation for a day of inspirational fellowship with
our Lutheran sisters.
CARINGS AND SHARINGS
Congratulations
to Scott & Karen Bracken on their marriage August 17.
The
beautiful mums they left for the church from their wedding were planted
in the rock garden. Thank you for them.
Thank
you to Pastor Baer and Alice for their memorial contribution to the
building fund in memory of Pastor Baer’s mother, Lillian M. Forred.
Thank
you to David Sherwood for his memorial contribution to the building fund
in memory of Mary Strickland.
A
“women’s” service was held on Sunday, August 24 while Pastor Jira was on
vacation. Kay Champluvier did an excellent job in arranging the special
music. Our choir quartet of Mary Beth Coldren, Marian Feathers, Dot Korb
and Mary Lou Vanderpool sang the beautiful hymn, “She will be called
blessed”, with Bonnie Stoudt Johnson, narrating. Marian Feathers sang a
beautiful hymn during the offertory. Mary Lou Vanderpool did the
assisting, Korrie Kunkle was the 1st reader, Lois
Carrington-the 2nd reader, Bree Carrington-the prayers and
Cindy Estelle-the sermon. Maureen Engelhard, who was scheduled to give
the gospel, asked visiting Jane Gingerich to do it. It was truly a
beautiful service!
Thank
you to Molly Hartman for sharing her beautiful talents on the clavinova
during service on August 10th.
The
Monroeton Yard/bake sale brought in $777.00. Thrivent helped through”Care
in Congregations” and we were able to give $603.00 to Grace Connections
and $574.00 to TACO. Thanks again to everyone who made this possible.
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Capital
Campaign
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Dear Fellow Members of Trinity,
As directed by Council, the Capital Campaign Committee
continues to investigate the feasibility of pursuing a building project. To
that end, several cottage meetings have been held to gather your input
and try to answer any questions you have. We would like to share our
findings to date with you and fill you in on some ideas we have come up
with.
When asked what you thought were the main needs or
wants for a new building, the list included a nursery area, Sunday School
rooms, kitchen/social hall/storage area, office space, and expansion of
the narthex area. The biggest question/concern was, “What are we going to
do about the Parish House?” This is a very important matter, and the cost
of either demolishing or repairing the building certainly must be
factored into the cost of the project. Some of you also expressed a
desire to see a proposed floor plan rather than just a drawing of the
exterior of the building.
At our last meeting, we brainstormed some ways to
address your concerns and perhaps some ways to keep the cost of the
project down. Some committee members are attempting to get an estimate
for the cost of demolition. The idea of selling off useable parts of the
building, such as the woodwork and marble, was discussed. We are going to
look into the possibility of a modular building as a way of saving cost
per square footage. We also decided to check into a steel building.
We would like to thank you for your input so far, and
we encourage you to forward any ideas or comments that you have to any
committee member. Thanks so much to the people who have already turned in
your pledge sheets. We know some of you feel that you need more
information before making your decision, and that is fine too. Together
we will find the right path for our congregation to follow.
God Bless,
Maureen Engelhard, Pastor Jira Albers, Aubrey
Carrington, Dave Estelle, Maurine Gehring, Chris Grant, and Harold
Renninger, Capital Campaign Committee Members
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Trinity Evangelical Lutheran
Church
Concept
Floor Plan #1
Please note that these are concepts only and do not necessarily
represent the finished space in an accurate way. They are intended to present what is
possible. Also note that the
drawings assume that we raise extra money for a narthex expansion. The cry room/nursery could be placed
within the narthex space during worship (thus the “nursery” in the new
building would become a regular classroom.)
Upper Floor With Classrooms, Offices, and a
Counseling/Fireside Room
Lower Floor With Kitchen, Unisex Bathroom, Storage,
and Social Hall
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Trinity Trumpeter
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Trinity Evangelical Lutheran
Church
Concept
Floor Plan #2
Please note that these are concepts only and do not
necessarily represent the finished space in an accurate way. They are intended to present what is
possible. Also note that the
drawings assume that we raise extra money for a narthex expansion. The cry room/nursery could be placed
within the narthex space during worship (thus the “nursery” in the new
building would become a regular classroom.)
Upper Floor With Kitchen and Social Hall
Lower Floor With Unisex Bathroom, Storage, Classrooms,
and Offices
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Trinity Trumpeter
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