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Trinity Tidings JULY 2017

STAFF Interim Pastor — Alan Saatkamp Cindy McGinnis Administrative Assistant [email protected] Laurie Jackson Music Director Marcy Carlson Custodian [email protected]

OFFICE Trinity Hall, 725 SW Buchanan St. Office Hours: 10:00AM-3:30PM Mon.-Thur. Telephone: (785) 233-0767 WORSHIP SERVICE Sundays, 10:30 AM liturgical service of Holy Communion celebrated every Sunday BIBLE STUDY 9:15 AM Sundays in Trinity Hall Lounge SUNDAY SCHOOL Trinity Hall-725 SW Buchanan Street 9:00-10:15 AM (September-May) Ages 3 through Adult

The mission of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church is to: worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, serve those in need, and reach out to share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ!

Together in Community Living with Christ Caring for Neighbors

Nothing prints in this area—barcode will be applied here.

TRINITY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH 725 SW Buchanan Street Topeka, Kansas 66606-1426

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAID PERMIT # 838 TOPEKA, KS

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Trinity Tidings JULY 2017 Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Page

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

Trinity Tidings

Special Items of Interest:

July 29 Birthday party for Barbara Apps. See invitation on page 6.

SWOT analysis report on page 4.

Diane’s report from the Synod Assembly is on page 7.

Personal Care Kit items for LUTHER-AN WORLD RELIEF are being collected by Priscilla Circle this year. Everyone is welcome to participate in the project. You can bring items to the Quilting Room or office anytime before October 1. Items to bring are: •One bath towel (light weight, dark color) •Two bars soap (bath size) •One toothbrush (original package) •One sturdy comb •One nail clipper

JULY 2017

Have you made your plans yet for the Fourth of July? Soon we again will celebrate another In-dependence Day. That’s the an-niversary date from 1776 when the Continental Congress adopt-ed the Declaration of Independ-ence. For many Americans, it’s a holiday--a day for parades, fami-ly picnics, outings, and a chance to relax. We recall how our na-tion came to this point in its his-tory and the freedoms we con-tinue to enjoy today--including that of worshiping in the tradi-tion we choose. Nearly 500 years ago (in 1520 to be exact) Martin Luther also was busy writing. His composition “The Freedom of a Christian” stands out as an important docu-ment too. Luther wrote “a Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Chris-tian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Sounds

contradictory, doesn’t it? But Luther went on to explain why that’s not true: “These two the-ses seem to contradict each oth-er. If, however, they should be found to fit together they would serve our purpose beautifully. Both are Paul's own statements, who says in 1st Cor. 9[:19], ‘For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all,’ and in Rom. 13[:8], ‘Owe no one anything, except to love one an-other.’ Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection, we have the gift of grace, of forgiveness, of salvation because of what he did to make us righteous, or right with God. As the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 130 ‘If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.’” Knowing God’s love, God’s for-giveness, the gift of grace allows us the opportunity to reach out to love and serve one another as Jesus commanded. May this holi-day be a joyous and healthy one for you and your family in our journey of faith. Interim Pastor Alan

725 SW Buchanan St. Phone: 785-233-0767

E-mail: [email protected]

Interim Pastor Alan Saatkamp

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Date Greeter(s) Usher(s) Musicians Lector Altar Guild Coffee Host(s)

Assisting Minister

Presiding Minister

July 2, 2017

Junior & Liz Utech

Diane Bottorff

Marcia Dahlman

Betty Quarnstrom

Pam Kobbeman & Team 3

Curt & Jane Lewis

Ted Murphy

Interim Pastor Alan

Saatkamp

July 9, 2017 Ted Quast Diane

BottorffLaurie

JacksonDiane

Bottorff

Pam Kobbeman & Team 3

Howard & Loni Reece

Vickie Jacobs

Interim Pastor Alan

Saatkamp

July 16, 2017

Julie Reeves

Diane Bottorff

Laurie Jackson

Linda Longren

Pam Kobbeman & Team 3

Laurie Jackson

Interim Pastor Alan

Saatkamp

July 23, 2017

Larry & Mary

McGinnis

Diane Bottorff

Mitchell Bean Loni Reece

Pam Kobbeman & Team 3

Duane & Debbie

Pomeroy

Walt Laughlin

Interim Pastor Alan

Saatkamp

July 30, 2017

Howard & Loni

Reece

Diane Bottorff

Laurie Jackson LaVell Winsor

Pam Kobbeman & Team 3

Donna Allen,

Marilyn Heckman &

Carol Marker

Marsha Ridinger

Interim Pastor Alan

Saatkamp

Worship Assistants

JULY 2017 WORSHIP LEADERS

Office Hours

The church office is open Monday thru Friday, 10:00 am to 3:30 pm. To be removed from the mailing list, please call 785-233-0767 or email [email protected]. Prayer Requests

To share a prayer request please con-tact Barbara Apps at 249-7244. She will get the prayer chain started. If you want your prayer request included in our wor-ship service prayers, please let Barbara know that as well.

Altar Flowers

If you would like to donate one or two vases of flowers for our worship service, please see the sign-up chart on the nar-thex bulletin board or call the church office, 233-0767. Each vase is $25. Please note “flowers” on your check and put it in the offering plate. Should you have questions or con-cerns, please contact Cindy in the church office, 233-0767. After worship, you may take live flowers only home or to a friend. Please let Cindy know if you will not be picking up your flowers after worship but sometime during the week or if you do not want the flowers and prefer we donate them for you.

Regular Blood Pressure Checks are good for you!

Come to the kitchen after worship to have this important health check.

Blood Pressure Checks July 9, 2017

Note: July blood pressure checks will be done on the second Sunday of July, in-stead of the first Sunday, due to the July 4th holiday weekend.

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Birthdays 2 Donna Southerland 4 Bridget Hiltgen 8 Andy Winsor 12 Trisha Welch 14 Janelle Meredith 15 Curt Lewis 16 Edward Emmons 16 Marilyn Hypse 20 Katelin Cain 20 Rhonda Webb 21 Barbara Apps 22 Ted Quast 24 Don Longren 25 Kade Welp 26 Hudson Ralph 27 Audrey Horton 28 Kathryn Axelton 28 Lucille Falley 28 Alex Nichols 29 Parker Jackson 30 Brooke Ralph

Baptisms 3 Marsha Ridinger 7 John Carlson 9 Tyler Tunnell 13 Cindy McGinnis 18 David McGinnis 22 Jennifer Grubb

Wedding Anniversaries 2 Al & Susan Carpenter 20 David & Brooke Ralph 26 Andy & LaVell Winsor

JULY Celebrations JULY Readings

Adult Bible Study meets on Sunday mornings at 9:15 am.

July 2 — 4th Sunday of Pentecost Jeremiah 28:5-9

Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18 Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42

July 9 — 5th Sunday of Pentecost Zechariah 9:9-12

Psalm 145:8-14 Romans 7:15-25a Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

July 16 — 6th Sunday of Pentecost Isaiah 55:10-13

Psalm 65:[1-8]9-13 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

July 23 — 7th Sunday of Pentecost Isaiah 44:6-8

Psalm 86:11-17 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

July 30 — 8th Sunday of Pentecost 1st Kings 3:5-12

Psalm 119:129-136 Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Youth Group is scheduled to meet July 9 and July 23, 5:30-8:30 pm.

When we meet in July we will continue the topic “All Anew!...ready or not”, about renewal that takes place in Christ's Church. We'll consider how this renewal takes place among the people of God. Come join us in the cool Trinity Library at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 19, to take part in the lively discussion. Please pray for three important gather-ings that will take place in the Women of the ELCA organization in the com-

ing months. The first is the Tenth Tri-ennial Convention (30th Anniversary), July 11-13 in Minneapolis, MN. The next is the Sunflower Cluster gathering of our area Women of ELCA. to be held September 9, at Grace Lutheran, Osage City, KS. And the third is the Synodical Women of the ELCA gath-ering to be held at McPherson, KS on September 29 through October l. For more information on these events, contact Helen Laughlin, 266-9357.

WELCA News

Luther Says… God does not need your good

works, but your neighbor does. Martin Luther

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Transition Task Force Update:

TLC S.W.O.T Analysis Trinity’s second of three town hall meetings was held June 4th, led by Brett Henry and the Transition Task Force members. What is a SWOT analysis? This is a process where we ask what you see as Trinity’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, both internally and externally. The meeting was well attended with around 40 participants gathered in small groups. Brett explained the pro-cess as we filled out Post-It notes re-lated to our Internal environments -things we own, our Strengths and Weaknesses and External environ-ments - our Opportunities and Threats, of which we do not have direct control. Here are some of those responses: Strengths (approx. 90 responses) Members - committed active members although few in number, welcoming, devoted, care for each other, longevi-ty, family, active volunteers, caretakers of the property, respectful of each other Leadership - clergy, office staff, leader-ship Building/Facility - worshipful sanctu-ary, building large enough for growth, beautiful church/sanctuary Worship - liturgy, traditional service, prayer, spirit Music - strong organist, instrumental volunteers, music, beautiful organ Miscellaneous - good location to serve people, fellowship, potlucks, inclusive, Doorstep, Tomah Shinga support, social acceptance Weaknesses (approx. 90 responses) Neighborhood/Location – location not desirable, location, fear of immediate neighborhood, inner city church, un-safe Fewer members/Attendance - few young-er generations, low membership, at-

tendance, number of people to share responsibilities, people aren’t coming, declining membership (younger), ag-ing members Youth/Young Families - too few chil-dren/youth, not enough young fami-lies, disconnect with younger genera-tions, church does not relate to mil-lennials (nationwide problem). Lack of Church Activities - no sports like we had, no choir Lack of Outreach - community involve-ment (lack of), don't look beyond each other, TLC doesn't want to reach out to the neighborhood Change/Acceptance - resistance to/fear of change, clannish, families stick to-gether, not welcoming to visitors, not open to people not like us Money/Financials - financially strug-gling, not enough money coming in, lack of stewardship, financial chal-lenges Miscellaneous - communication, stuck in the past, lack of purpose, no trans-portation, history, divided congrega-tion Opportunities; (approx. 60 re-sponses) Neighborhood involvement/Outreach - pro-vide resources/services to struggling people in church neighborhood, a community in which they will be ac-cepted, empty building space to be used/rented, work with Ronald McDonald house/Doorstep/Governor’s Row House/Cair Paravel, work with other area neighborhood churches, partner with ELCA church-es, involve Washburn students, ex-pand Baker Outreach, community garden, youth programs for neighbor-hood, reach out to inactive/past members Facility/Building opportunities - utilize the building more, be open more hours, use as music recitals, market the build-ing for use Miscellaneous - use new technologies, advertise, adult forums to educate

members, stewardship, make changes to attract more people, threats are really opportunities (dressed different-ly) Threats (approx. 60 responses) Location/Neighborhood - neighborhood - high crime zone/not safe, declining neighborhood, location of building Members and Trends - New and young members are not coming, decline in attendance local/nationwide, death of members, losing younger generations Competing with other activities - outside activities compete for attendance, sports, church is not a priority Financial - decrease in monetary gifts, death of giving members, aging facili-ty is costly Trinity Miscellaneous - Trinity closing, no need for change, heritage (Swedish) no longer relevant/isolating, lack of mission (engaged members) Miscellaneous - shooting, hate in the world, electronics/social - multi me-dia, decline of service/Christianity, larger congregations/TV evangelist elsewhere, stagnation The compiled results from the SWOT analysis will help guide us as we look to the future of Trinity. Knowing what TLC is good at (our strengths & opportunities) helps us look to the future. Weaknesses & threats will help us identify what is lacking. This data will take time to review before we plunge into the future. The task force will keep you informed as we move forward in discerning where God is at work here at Trinity and leading us as we call our next pastor.

WE NEED YOU ! ! ! Please add your thoughts to the S.W.O.T. data. [1] Next time you are at church visit the SWOT bulletin board in the basement. [2] Send us your thoughts by e-mail or U.S. mail. [3] Call the church office or visit with one of the Task Force members or Brett Henry.

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Council Meeting Highlights, June 13, 2017

Pr. Alan shared the time capsule that was given out at the CSS Assembly and asked that council members review the table of contents of the Reformation 500 flash drive & bring ideas for commemoration to the July meeting.

Bob Kobbeman said our new financial reporting system should be up and run-ning by August meeting.

Stewardship/Finance committee is re-viewing the Biblical Stewardship DVD.

Dean met with Memorial Committee; they will be asking committee chairs for ideas/needs to use memorial funds.

Pr. Alan shared materials for a perfor-mance evaluation.

Howard reported that roof repair has been completed; will be paid for out of Lundquist funds. Office carpet will be paid out of general fund.

Baker School of Nursing will have 55 new students this fall.

Dean gave a report on the SWOT analy-sis town hall meeting.

Debbie P. & Diane B. will begin review of the constitution.

Placement of a bracket on a pew to hold the processional cross was questioned. W&M will be asked for more info.

Removal of pews from choir loft was sent back to W&M for further review, other options.

2017 5th Sunday

Specials

July 30 Doorstep

October 29 Camp Tomah Shinga

December 31 ELCA World Hunger

Vacation Bible

School is planned for July 10

through July 14 at First Lutheran Church. This is

an evening program, 5:30—8:30 pm and

includes a meal. The registration fee is $15,

with a maximum of $30 per family.

The intergenerational theme is Galactic Starveyors:

Discovering the God of the Universe.

Registration forms (gold) are available outside the church office. There are

also volunteer opportuni-ties for many VBS duties, so you can also pick up a

volunteer form (blue)!

Doorstep —July, 2017

Last December, Doorstep assisted 259 house-holds with Christmas gifts and food. Each year we celebrate Christmas in July to get a jump start on collecting items for our Christ-mas adoption to alleviate some of the holiday strain by collecting some items mid-year. Doorstep will again adopt 250 households with 700+ individuals this December through the Christmas Bureau. July donations gives Christmas Store Chair Judy Neher a better idea of items needed in November and De-cember. Currently, the focus of Christmas in July is on non-seasonal items. Therefore, we request no clothing at this time. Instead, we need sheets and blankets, health kit items, household items, gifts for adults, school supplies and toys. These items should be new. School-age children receive school supplies and a backpack, if needed, to replenish sup-

plies used in the fall semester. Every house-holds receives a health kit filled with hygiene products, wrapped with a new bath towel, hand towel and washcloth! Each child receives one bigger toy as their gift along with other smaller items, such as games, books, stuffed animals, stocking stuffers etc. Typically, we are lacking in the main gift area. If you can help with toys for children ages 2-12 and gifts for the teenagers (make up and nail kits) we would be grateful. Please look over the Christmas in July flyer and see how you can help. Doorstep contin-ues to be successful in helping people in need because of our member congregations who are working together to provide for their neighbors in need. Please bring your Christmas donations to worship in July or to Doorstep, Monday – Friday, 8am – 3pm.

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Have you designated your portion of the

Dillons Community Rewards money to go to Trinity Evangeli-

cal Lutheran Church?

If you are a Thrivent member, have you designated Trinity to

receive your Choice Dollars?

This link will take you directly to the AmazonSmile page that di-rects the donation generated by your AmazonSmile purchase to

Trinity: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/48-

0697751

Call Cindy in the office if you need help getting signed up for

any of these!

Luther Sings —Luther Says We continue our celebration of Luther's hymns during July. Although some are more difficult to sing than others, they all give us insight into how Luther used hymn writing to make scripture more accessible and understandable to everyone. "Vater Unser" (Our Father, God in Heaven Above) is another of his paraphrases - this time the Lord's Prayer. "Aus tiefer not" (Out of the Depths I Cry to You), inspired by Psalm 130, was sung at Luther's funeral. "Erhalt Uns, Herr" (Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word) will be a familiar hymn. It was written as a prayer during a time of perceived danger. "Nun komm, der heiden heiland" (Savior of the Nations, Come) is a familiar Advent chorale.

You are invited to help Barbara Apps celebrate her 86th birthday in her new home. The party date is July 29, 2-4 pm. It will be at the Catholic Care Community Center, 6757 Parish Place, Bel Aire, KS. It is easy to get to this address; contact the office if you would like driving direc-tions. Need help driving? Contact Dean McGinnis or the church office, 233-0767, and car pool arrangements can be made.

Lutheran Campus Ministry

During March, Trinity sup-ported KU Lutheran Cam-pus Ministry by participat-

ing in EverOnward. Thanks to your generous donations,

KU LCM won first prize for the group with the most

donors. The $2,000 prize and more than $5,800 in donations will help feed students--through Ikigai

Noodles, the Campus Cup-boards Food Pantry, Sun-

day dinners, and more

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Highlights of the Central States Synod Assembly, June 8-10, Kansas City, Mo. Growing in Hope/Discipleship

Perhaps you have reviewed an email with highlights of the Assembly. It was sent out by Cindy on June 20 and is ti-tled Important News: Central States Synod. This email gives you an opportunity to hear two presentations by ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and Central States Synod’s Bishop Roger Gustafson’s sermon at the opening worship service and his report to the assembly. In addition, you can view the Festival Community Worship Service at Atonement Lutheran in Overland Park. This service commemorates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. I wasn’t able to attend the service because I wanted to return to Topeka on Saturday to participate in the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s, but I was able to watch it online. Helen and Walt Laughlin and Pr. Alan were there in person. What did I learn about Discipleship? We tend to treat discipleship as a list of obligations. That is, we tend to view it from the perspective of law, not gospel. We are invited to view discipleship as a way to express gratitude for grace. Discipleship is: Servant leadership Faith formation Works of love Reflecting Jesus to the world Striving for justice and walking humbly with God God’s Work/Our Hands God’s Word/Our Voice Following – carrying the cross Being Christ-like Seeing things the way Jesus does At our tables, each of us was asked to write one thing that

we identified as a stumbling block to discipleship. The responses were summarized and here are the top ten. 10. Negative attitudes toward children 9. Overvaluing tradition 8. Being inwardly focused 7. Individually self-centered 6. Devaluing church in personal lives 5. The pastor 4. Unhealthy sense of ownership 3. Fear of the stranger 2. Focus on finances 1. Fear of/ resistance to change Out of this the questions raised were: How might we grow in Hope in the coming year? What kind of experiments would we do in our congregations to grow as Disciples? The assembly isn’t just a dry business meeting. We did adopt some resolutions and a budget for calendar year 2018. There were a variety of workshops to attend. I chose one with information about the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering. Another I attended was KC for Refugees. Pre-senters included Bishop Gustafson, a Muslim physician originally from Pakistan, and several men who were refu-gees from South Sudan. There is a South Sudanese wor-shiping community in St. Joseph, MO that meets at First Lutheran. One of the men is preparing for ordination in the ELCA. There were also service projects. I participated in preparing lunch lags to be distributed by Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry (a social service agency similar in pur-pose to Doorstep). Next year the Assembly will be held at Bethany College. Each year Trinity can send two voting members, a male and a female. Others are welcome to attend as non-voting members. This year I was Trinity’s female voting member, but we had no male voting member. Perhaps you would like to attend next June.

Camp Tomah Shinga Six youth are registered for camp this summer. They are Parker Jackson, Jake Kennedy, Zoey Segenhagen, and Elania, Daniella and Bronwyn King. Thanks to the generous gift from the Reeves Foundation, each camper is responsible for just $25 of the camp fee.

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