Beloved Friends-
It is wonderful to be back among you after a time of sabbath rest. Some of you know this ended up being a different kind of “time away” for me- it included coming back to work for a couple of weeks as we continued staffing transitions and then recalibrating some time away to participate in a recent production of the wonderful musical Godspell. Thank you for all of it- for the unexpected and anticipated- I was and am grateful for the way we have moved together during this continued season of shifting, changing and re-imagining how to move through this time and place together. Thank you to everyone who picked up many different pieces of this shared ministry in my absence- our curate Megan who filled this blog space offering the “Curate’s Corner”, the staff and the members who all came together and didn’t miss a beat. I love, as we say in the lyrics of my favorite Godspell song- how we are building a “Beautiful City.”
And now our landscape is getting ready to shift yet again, as we prepare to continue with Trinity@Home on Sunday mornings at 9:00am while also adding Trinity@316 at 11:00am- our in-person service in our beautiful building that has been waiting for us to come back for 18 months. Am I excited for Sunday? Yes, of course. Am I a little nervous? Yes, as well. Who will come? How do we begin again? What will be different?
In some ways, and perhaps most important to remember, nothing will be different.
- We will still open our doors and hearts ready to welcome all “home.”
- We will remind each other from the moment we begin that “Wherever you are on our spiritual journey, you are welcome and wanted here.”
- We will jump into the stream of living water through our ancient/modern liturgy as once again we sing and pray and reflect on what it means to live the Way of Love Jesus came to model and inspire.
- We will lay all of who we are and desire to be on the altar, ask for God’s blessing and then be sent back into the world to be the blessing the world needs.
Yes, all of that will still be who and how we will be together this Sunday.
In other ways MANY things will indeed and necessarily be different.
- We will require masks for all who join us in-person.
- We will have a smaller group of musicians leading the music rather than the full choir.
- We will ask that people sit as comfortably spaced out as possible (reserving the balcony for those who need/want extra distance.)
- We will not have a “soft space” for our children, but instead offer individual “busy bags” to gift them as they sit with their families.
- We will receive only bread at communion via a standing station and not at the altar rail.
- We will not offer the Peace to each other physically nor pass the Offering plate to minimize contact.
- We will not offer Coffee Hour following the service but invite people to visit outside.
And none of that will feel natural to us, and yet does feel right and necessary at this time. Thank you in advance- for the grace this will require of all of us as we take this small AND beautiful first step back towards a time of being together in person.
I want to end with a word addressed to those who have and/or will continue to worship primarily through Trinity@Home. In short- “Thank you as well.” A year and a half ago we could never have imagined our new service being one conceived and grown out of a pandemic! What we have discovered is we can indeed, with God’s help, do hard things, and in fact, what has been born during this time is something far more beautiful, sustainable, brilliant and inspiring than anything we could have imagined on our own. So, thank you for giving us a chance, for finding your way “home” and for staying with us this way. We commit to doing everything possible to keep you engaged and supported as we move into this new season of both in-person and online services. For indeed, however you come to this community of faith: “YOU are welcome and wanted here!”
WELCOME HOME!
May you never forget that you are loved.
Lisa