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Trinity Lutheran Church 2018 Annual Report 1

2200 Broadway Street Boulder, CO 80302

303-442-2300

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of the 2017 Ministries of Jesus Christ

at

Trinity Lutheran Church Boulder, Colorado

2018 Annual Report


2017 Table of Contents Pastor Mark’s Message 3

2017 Council President Report 4

Ministry Spending Plan 5

Worship

Worship Committee 6

Music Ministry 6

Adult Choir 7

Youth Choir 7

Altar Guild 7

Faith Formation

Adult Education Committee 8

Trinity Lutheran Church Women 8

Youth Education Committee 9

Youth Ministry 9

Youth Vision Team 11

Stewardship Committee 12

Missions

Missions Committee 14

Social Ministry Committee 14

Trinity Horizons Construction Committee 15

Trinity Commons Housing 16

Outreach

Evangelism Committee 17

Fellowship Committee 17

Trinity Second Century Endowment Fund 17

Loving Care

Stephen Ministry 19

Memorial Committee 19

Supporting Ministries

Personnel Committee 20

Property Committee 21

Financials & Statistics Reports

Youth Fund Financial Report 22

Memorial Fund Financial Statement 23

Second Century Fund Value 23

Trinity's Statistics for 2017 24


by Pastor Mark Twietmeyer

There are three NFL football teams for which I cheer. The

Broncos, Bears, and any team playing the Minnesota Vi-

kings. Not sure where that comes from, but it probably has

to do with a pastor friend of mine whose affection runs so

deep for the Vikings that his purple stole is not so much for

Lent but for the Vikings.

That said, I recently read an article written by David Lose,

current senior pastor of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in

Minneapolis, former president of our Lutheran seminary in

Philadelphia, and Vikings fan. In his article he admitted

that the Vikings should not have been in the playoffs. No

one expected it, but they were there.

last season’s record was mediocre (8-8),

their starting quarterback was not expected to play

much, and the quarterback

brought in to replace him got

injured,

they traded away their fran-

chise running back, and their

promising running back got a

season-ending injury.

No, as Lose says, the Vikings

should not have been in the

playoffs, let alone as the #2 seed

of the NFC. But they were. Lose

goes on to suggest three reasons

they were there.

1. Each player matters. Absent

any superstars, every player

stepped up his game. Essentially, everyone on the

team knows he has a critical role to play. Absent any

superstars, each person has to be a star, or at least

give their ultimate effort.

2. Selfless play. By not depending on any one superstar

player, there’s a whole-hearted commitment to the

team. As a player, you play your best and sometimes

you’ll make great plays, and many other times others

will. It doesn’t matter. As long as all the players are in

it together. When each person trusts in and plays for

the rest of the team, greatness is possible.

3. One game at a time. Each game is its own challenge.

No need to worry about the post-season until you’re

there. The key is to focus and take care of the chal-

lenge in front of you, live and work in the present which

will allow you to build the foundation for taking care of

the future when it comes.

Well, we know that the Vikings took a beating in the play-

offs. The Eagles got the better of them. But that doesn’t

negate what got them there.

So, what can we learn from the Vikings?

1. Each member matters. St. Paul compares the Body of

Christ to our own human bodies. Every body part is im-

portant and necessary for the body to function at its best.

In the same way, every person at Trinity is important and

necessary for us to function at our best. Every person has

her/his own critical role to play. We are where we are to-

day as a result of the whole body and not just a few. We

are better together.

2. Selfless play. It’s not about the individual but the whole.

When there’s a whole-hearted commitment to the whole

body, we are more able to accomplish what we are about -

being God’s mission outpost. As a member, it’s not about

“me,” it’s about “us.” We are in this together and when

each person trusts and works for the rest of the team and

our mission, great things are possible.

3. In the present. (One game at a time.) It is absolutely im-

portant that we have a vision and goals. If we don’t, then

as Lawrence Peter said, “If you don’t

know where you’re going, you’ll prob-

ably end up somewhere else.” We

have a vision and we have goals. We

know where we are going. But, we

need to focus and take care of the

challenges that lay before us. We

need to live and work in the present

which will allow us to build the foun-

dation needed for living into our vi-

sion and achieving our goals. (Maybe

that’s what happened to the Vikings.

Were they so focused on the future

Super Bowl Game that they didn’t

stay focused on the Eagles game and

take care of the present?)

As I look at our life together here at Trinity, there are so many

examples of all this.

Worship - so many people, doing so many things, working in

concert together, especially behind the scenes, to provide

and lead us in good worship.

Sunday School - so many moving parts working together to

share the good news of God’s love with our children.

Feeding the hungry - a beehive of activity entirely for the

purpose of providing a wholesome meal to those who are

hungry.

Building houses - we couldn’t finish a Casas Mission Trip

house in 2 days without everyone jumping in to get all the

work done.

Trinity Horizons - just look across the alley.

And the list goes on and on.

So, thank you for what you do. Thank you for your commitment

to this adventure we call “Trinity Lutheran” - a mission outpost.

Thank you for your trust in each other and the vision. Thank

you for being who you are by the grace of God. Thank you for

taking your part seriously. It is a privilege to be in this with you,

and I look forward to this next year

of greater things.


Council President Jim White, 2017 Council President

Welcome, and thank you for taking some time to look

through the Annual Report of Trinity Lutheran Church.

As you will see in these pages, we are church of action.

Rooted in a strong faith, and guided by a loving God, we

have traveled the world to build homes for those who

need shelter, our youth have donated their time and their

own funds to help the Front Range community, the con-

gregation as a whole has committed their financial re-

sources in a visionary effort to build badly needed af-

fordable senior housing in our own community, and

many, many other examples of Trinity members making

a God-shaped impact on our troubled world. We have

been blessed this past year with a fantastic staff, and as

some of them have retired or moved on, we have been

blessed with fantastic new staff that have joined our

family.

To all of the members of TLC, our most profound

thanks from your Council for all that you do. To our

guests, please have a look at what Trinity has been up to

this past year, and we look forward to seeing you regu-

larly and welcoming you into our family of God.

Jim White

Council President


2017 Year End Financials Mark Scheitlin, Treasurer

As we close another financial year at Trinity Lutheran

Church, I am thankful for your generosity in ending last

year with a bang! Your tithes and offerings in December

closed our year-long deficit and the Church Council is ex-

cited to report that 2017 ended with a balanced budget!

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the gifts which fund

the operating budget for our church, your generosity also

embraced the Trinity Horizons Special Appeal to the tune

of $282,000; $37,000 more than the goal of the appeal.

But wait, there is still more! Sunday School, Casas, Piece-

makers, Hunger, Memorials, Second Century, Youth and

the Building Fund (Mortgage Fund) were some other

grateful Trinity recipients who benefited from your gener-

osity.

Trinity is truly blessed by your gifts and we thank you for

your continued prayers and your support to the ministries

of Trinity Lutheran Church.

Ministry Spending Plan

2017 Actual Spending Plan Difference

Income $584,984 $613,284 -$28, 300

Expenses $584,984 $613,284 -$28,300

Difference $0 $0

Our 2018 Ministry Spending Plan

As we look at Trinity’s 2018 Ministry Spending Plan, it

tells a very compelling story. It says that the most important

thing we do together is Worship. We gather weekly to give

praise to our Triune God who calls us, gathers us, forms us,

empowers us, and sends us back into the world from which

we came to be the presence and love of God. Our spending

plan says that we understand that faith in God is relational;

relational with God and the people with whom we have

been placed into relationship.

Informed in our gathering around Word and Sacrament, we

as a congregation have placed our remaining ministry prior-

ities into four relatively equal parts:

§ Faith Formation – To provide learning opportunities that

transform us into the image of Christ for the sake of others.

§ Missions – To direct dollars to address specific needs, as

well as sending people to work alongside others to make

life different.

§ Outreach - Building and nurturing our faith community

and then telling the story and inviting others to join us.

§ Loving Care - Sent forth to be the presence and love of

God.

The story of our Ministry Spending Plan says we believe

that God does not call us to "make a difference in the lives

of others," but rather, that God calls us to "make life differ-

ent for others." That means that the main character in the

story of our Ministry Spending Plan is God. For as we look

at the bold and exciting goals of our Spending Plan to be

God's mission outpost, we realize that it takes God work-

ing through us to make life different for others.

Speaking of bold and exciting, we are now in the home

stretch of our path to transform a portion of our property

into 1) affordable senior housing, 2) a new building where

we will gather in faith and fellowship and 3) parking for

our faith community and the community at large. As we

move forward we know that everyone’s generosity is

needed! Together, inspired and empowered by the Holy

Spirit, we will continue to be an amazing and generous

people who have a story to tell about an awesome God

who dearly loves all people.


Worship Committee Tim Gulsrud, Chair

" To provide the atmosphere and

structure for worship that raises the

hearts of the assembled in praise of

the God who gathers us and sends us

out."

Worship is at the core of our community at Trinity. It is

from our corporate worship that we remember and confirm

our identity as Baptized Children of God, which then in-

forms how we live our lives in relationship and communi-

ty.

The Worship Committee provides leadership and planning

for the specific liturgies, music, and artistic elements in

our services. It is also an important forum for discussing

what works and what doesn’t work in leading the congre-

gation in worship, and provides an essential link between

church staff and the congregation by including both staff

and non-staff-members.

In addition to supporting the activities of the Adult Choir,

Worship Team, and Handbell Choir, we encourage our

youth to be active participants in worship. Our youth are

learning to be worship leaders through boldly singing the

good news of God's love for us through the Youth Choir,

serving as Assisting Ministers, reading prayers, helping to

serve communion, acolyting, and marking our foreheads

with a water cross and blessing us during communion. Be-

ing reminded that “you are child of God” with the sign of

the cross given by a young person in the congregation is a

powerful experience.

As always, we give thanks to the numerous volunteers

who have blessed our worship with their gifts and labor:

choirs, soloists, musicians, assisting ministers, readers,

ushers, greeters, altar guild, acolytes, communion assis-

tants, bulletin folders, flower providers, those who donate

lilies or poinsettias, worship coordinators, nursery attend-

ants, and Via Coordinators – our worship life continues to

be blessed by all that you do for us. Please know that you

are necessary and greatly appreciated!

The Worship Committee members are: Tim Gulsrud

(chair), Greg Dieter, Leila Heil, Jeanine Marsh, Kathy Ko-

shi (council liaison), Jo-Ann Garavaglia, Marilyn Van

Roekel, and Pastor Mark.

Music Ministry Jeanine C. Marsh

Coordinator of Music Ministries

On February 12, 2017, after 20+ years of incredible ser-

vice to Trinity, Valerie Hess played her final postlude as

our church's organist. Also serving as the Coordinator of

Music Ministries, she nurtured and shaped our music pro-

grams and worship in ways that will be felt for years to

come. Following Valerie's last Sunday, Jeanine Marsh

took over as Music Coordinator and played organ until

Trinity warmly welcomed Marilyn Van Roekel as our new

organist in September. Marilyn has proven to be a great

asset to the staff and a joy to work with.

Leila Heil continues to lead the Adult Choir. Leila in-

vests a great deal of thought and time in her selection of

music that reinforces the themes of our worship. Her ef-

forts have resulted in increased participation that consist-

ently includes more than thirty singers on the choir roster.

For the late Christmas Eve service prelude they presented

John Leavitt's cantata, What Sweeter Music accompanied

by harp and flute (Trinity’s own Rebecca Eastland).

The Youth Choir continues to meet on Wednesday nights

to sing of their love of the Lord and learn about liturgical

worship. They sing approximately once a month in wor-

ship.

Kitty Jarvis continues to be our faithful music librarian,

caring for all the

choir music and

robes. Her quiet and

untiring service, be-

gun many years ago,

is to be commended.

Thank you.

Worship Trinity’s ministry tells a story about people, ministry, mission, and how we as a congregation plan to be God’s mis-

sion outpost in a troubled world. And as we look where Trinity spends the most time, talents, and treasure (dollars),

it becomes clear that the most important thing we do together is worship. We gather weekly to give praise to our

Triune God who calls, gathers, forms, empowers, and sends us back into the world from which we came to be the

presence and love of God. We understand faith in God to be relational. Relational with God and the people with

whom we have been placed into relationship. Informed in our gathering around Word and Sacrament, we then

move into our other ministry and mission areas.


Worship Team is a hearty and fun group, assembling eve-

ry Sunday morning at 7:30 AM to prepare for leading wor-

ship. They are a delight to work with as they and Marilyn

collaborate on the best way to lead the 8 AM music.

Thank you.

In the fall, new member Emily Witt volunteered to direct

the Trinity Handbell Choir which, at the time of this writ-

ing, involves nine

people. We are ex-

tremely fortunate to

have such a capable

person leading our

ringers. Thank you.

Trinity is blessed

with many gifted people who contribute through the Trini-

ty Consort (our recorder group), or as soloists and in-

strumentalists for summer offerings, or accompanying

choir anthems throughout the year. We appreciate your

generosity with your time and talent. Thank you.

On October 28, Trinity participated in the Reformation

500 celebration at Mt. Calvary in Boulder. Several minis-

ters from the area participated and a mass choir comprised

of singers from several churches was directed by our own

Leila Heil. Trinity's Fred Renken on trumpet added to the

jubilant celebration.

The members of the Worship Committee gather faithfully

each month to help craft worship that deepens our

knowledge of and experience with God. They take their

role of guiding worship here at Trinity seriously and have

a good feel for what is and is not working. Thank you.

The organ was under repair for a large portion of the sum-

mer having to have a great deal of leather replaced. While

organs generally have a long life there are parts and pieces

that can fail.

As I have permanently assumed Valerie's responsibilities

as Coordinator of Music Ministries this past year I thank

Trinity for the opportunity to serve. I greatly enjoy work-

ing with the staff and volunteers that contribute so much to

the music ministry of our church.

Adult Choir Leila Heil, Adult Choir Director

Trinity’s Adult Choir consists of 35 singers who joyfully

volunteer their time and musical gifts on Wednesday

nights from 7:30-9:00 pm (rehearsal) and on Sunday

mornings at the 10:30am service. Our choir is committed

to supporting congregational singing on Sunday mornings

and helping to enrich each Sunday service through our

musical offering. This past Christmas Eve, the choir of-

fered a Christmas Cantata entitled "What Sweeter Music"

arranged by John Leavitt, as a prelude to the 10:30pm Ser-

vice. We look forward to continuing our music ministry

as we walk together through the reflection of the Lenten

Season and the fulfillment of the Easter Season. Our choir

is always open to new members and we welcome anyone

who would like to join us in community through music.

Youth Choir Jeanine Marsh, Youth Choir Director

The Youth Choir continues to be an energetic group of

young people that love to sing and praise God every week

in rehearsal and when we contribute to worship. In 2017

we sang approximately once a month. We led the 4pm

Christmas Eve service preparing and singing two anthems

and leading the carol-singing. While the choir lost three

singers to "graduation" we also gained three in the Fall so

we maintained participation of nine singers. We have fun

every week as we devel-

op good singing tech-

nique. We enjoy learn-

ing about our own voic-

es, our hymnal, worship

and its liturgy, and the li-

turgical church year. We

are open to first through

fifth graders and would

love to have more friends to join us in our joyful service to

the church. We rehearse in the Chapel every Wednesday

from 6:00 – 6:45pm.

Altar Guild

Kitty Jarvis & Jane Deutschmann, Co-Chairs

The Altar Guild currently has 21 members who have the

privilege and responsibility of seeing that the Communion

Table of our Lord is set properly for Sunday services and

all special services throughout the Church year. In addi-

tion, we care for the linens, paraments, banners, candles,

acolyte robes, and silver & gold altar service. A member

of the Altar Guild is responsible for coordinating the bak-

ing of the communion bread.

We appreciate our dedicated volunteers who give their

time so faithfully every Sunday.

Worship


Adult Education Committee Randall Rutsch, Committee Chair

Some of us grew up in the Lutheran church or in other

church traditions and attended Sunday School as children.

We may have been confirmed as early teenagers but if our

understanding of being disciples of Christ stops there, how

can we expect our faith and relationship with a loving God

to actively support us throughout the different stages and

challenges of life? All of us, whether life-long Christians

or recent disciples, need to be actively involved in faith

formation through study and service. Trinity Lutheran

Church offers many opportunities to explore what it means

to follow Christ in today’s troubled world.

Adult bible studies are offered between the Sunday wor-

ship services at 9:15am during the academic year and

throughout the week in a variety of formats. The Sunday

study is structured around presentation and discussion and

is generally led by Pastor Mark. Aligning with the 500th

anniversary of the Reformation, recent studies have looked

at Luther’s life and journey, and at the 95 Theses he wrote.

Pastor Mark also leads the mid-week Wed. evening dis-

cussion, which is generally based on readings related to a

book of the Bible or an aspect of the Christian Faith. This

fall, the group read and discussed “The Shack,” a power-

ful book wrestling with themes of anger, faith and for-

giveness.

The Thursday morning Men’s Breakfast Bible Study start-

ed as a Lenten

discipline more

than twenty

years ago with

bagels and cof-

fee. The mean-

ingful conver-

sation and deep

support offered

through trials and illnesses, along with high quality cook-

ing, makes this an important hour of the week for partici-

pants. The group meets at 7:00am on Thursdays and wel-

comes all for an oftentimes freewheeling discussion of the

scripture readings for the week, generally led by Pastor

Mark. The Faith and Issues Discussion Group meets later

Thursday mornings at 9:15am at Frasier Meadows, with a

focus on discussing current events and writings from a

faith perspective. The women of Trinity generally meet as

the Afternoon Circle one Wednesday of the month for dis-

cussion on a common lesson.

Lent is a particularly powerful time for reflection and Ash

Wednesday invites us to struggle against everything that

leads us away from the love of God and neighbors. Build-

ing on this, members of the Adult Education Committee

produced a Lenten study encouraging action in the Lenten

disciplines of Repentance, Prayer, Fasting and Works of

Love. Weekly themes explored these topics and provided

a daily thought and action challenge for that theme to en-

courage members to deepen their Lenten journey through

these disciplines.

Trinity Lutheran Church Women Kimberly Matney, Annie DiGennaro,

and Melanie Nehls Burow

All women are welcome to join us! Afternoon Circle is held in the conference room upstairs

on the fourth Wednesday of the month at Trinity unless

someone invites the Afternoon Circle to their home.

Meetings start at 1:30 p.m. with refreshments afterwards.

The Bible studies center on those provided in Gather with

leadership alternating on a voluntary basis with the group.

Offerings are collected at each Afternoon Circle meeting

for four funds: paper bills or checks for Trinity’s Wom-

en’s Fund, silver coins for Mosaic/Bethphage Home for

the ELCA Home for the Disabled in Axtell, NE, and pen-

nies for the Least Coin Offering for Leprosy & Other Mis-

sions. We are currently offering support for New Begin-

nings Prison Ministry & Pastor Terry Schjang with our

Other Missions offering. Other ideas are welcome for the

Other Missions offering!

In addition, Trinity hosted a spring Women’s Day Out at

Crackpots in Longmont on February 25, 2017. We paint-

ed bowls to be used for their Empty Bowls event raising

funds to fight hunger. Many stayed around in Longmont

afterwards

for fellow-

ship and

fun. 25

women of

all ages at-

tend. In

2018, we

Faith Formation

Faith Formation are the learning opportunities that Trinity provides to transform us into the image of Christ for the sake of others. This includes Sunday School, Confirmation classes, Adult Education, Bible studies, Day Camp, Rainbow Trail, youth groups, men and women's study groups, and retreats.


have an Accessory Swap for another Women’s Day Out

activity.

Youth Education Committee Youth Education Committee Members

Youth Education Committee Members: Rebecca Eastland

(2017 Council Liaison), Matt Bethune, Peggy Brooks,

Amanda Chan, Chad Nelsen, and Mark Twietmeyer.

The Youth Education Committee is charged with support-

ing families and their youth as they grow in their faith and

relationship with God. To that end, Trinity offers a variety

of programs aimed at all ages.

Youth Sunday School: Most Sundays during the school

year, a group of dedicated teachers and youth of all ages

gather for Sunday School to learn, share and experience

the love of God in Christ. The theme for the 2017-18 Sun-

day school year is “The Body of Christ.” By using this

theme, we aim to teach our youth not only how their indi-

vidual talents can serve God and enable them to act as

Christ’s body here on earth, but how powerful and even

more impactful it can be when we combine gifts with oth-

ers to share Christ’s redeeming love.

Opening: On Sunday mornings from 9:15-9:30am, our

faithful music team (Elise Delaware, Bill Erhardt, Chad

Nelsen, Gary Reed, and Mac Ritter) lead us in song by

teaching the words and actions. Matt Bethune, Director of

Youth and Household Ministries through August and cur-

rent Sunday School Superintendent, and Chad Nelsen, our

current Director of Household Ministries as of September,

share their talents in song, prayer, sermonettes and cele-

bration as we open Sunday School in the Fellowship Hall.

Classrooms: For the 2017-18 Sunday School year, class-

rooms are led by 18 wonderful, dedicated, faith-filled

teachers and one superintendent. Youth meet in their indi-

vidual classrooms from 9:30-10:20. We averaged 28 stu-

dents each week.

Sunday School Teachers are:

Preschool : Kristine Dieter, Susan Twetten

Kindergarten: Jean Anthony, Carol Carlson, Kathy Koshi,

Diane Schmierer

1st and 2nd Grades: Peggy Brooks, Jessica Grover, Sabina

Schill

3rd Grade: Sarah Bethune, Martha Wichman

4th and 5th Grades: Matt Bethune, Lois Greer

Middle School: Elise Delaware, Brent Sandau

High School: Chad Nelsen, Mac Ritter

Events: A 2016-17 year end party was held in the Spring

with fellowship, food, singing, a puppet show, and an ac-

tivity designed to get our youth to continue bearing the

fruits of the Spirit throughout the summer. Students, par-

ents and teachers met for Rally Day at North Boulder Park

to kick-off the current Sunday School year in August. One

highlight of the event was a team building exercise where

students and teachers worked as one body to build a pyra-

mid by picking up cups by strings tied to rubber bands.

$175 of the Sunday School offering money collected at

Opening was used to purchase Giving Tree gifts for 5 chil-

dren. The students wrapped these gifts at our annual

Christmas party and attached cards for each. They then

watched the 2nd annual Christ’s Crew Christmas Movie,

took part in an interactive telling of the Christmas story

from Chad Nelsen, and enjoyed Peggy Brook’s fabulous

Christmas cookies.

Rainbow Trail Day Camp: Trinity hosts an annual Day

Camp providing a

week of Bible study,

prayer, singing,

games, crafts, field

trips and service pro-

jects for youth enter-

ing 1st grade thru 6th

grade. The counselors

are college students

from Rainbow Trail

Camp. PUNKS are

helpers who are Trinity middle and high school youth.

The 2017 camp brought together 34 campers and 19

PUNKS.

Confirmation: Through their middle school years, our

youth participate in weekly school-year confirmation clas-

ses to grow their faith by studying the Bible, the Ten Com-

mandments, etc. Teachers for the 2017-18 year are An-

drew Burow, assisted by Chad Nelsen in 6th grade, Eliza-

beth Erhardt, assisted by Kathryn Kowalczyk in 7th grade,

and Pastor Mark Twietmeyer in 8th grade. In the spring of

2017, 8 confirmands affirmed their baptism.

Youth Ministry Chad Nelsen,

Director of Youth & Household Ministries

It was yet another year of transition for the youth of Trini-

ty. After starting to get adjusted to a new Director of

Youth and Household Ministries last year, the youth have

now transitioned to another new person in that position. I

am so very grateful for how warm and welcoming the

youth have been towards me, and want to praise them for

Faith Formation


their flexibility and resiliency with the changes to the

youth ministry program. One of my goals is to bring con-

sistency to the youth here at Trinity so they know that I am

constantly here for them and will continue to be here for

the coming years. I pray that I might be a pillar of support

for the youth here that they are confident they can rely on.

To the parents of our young people, thank you for trusting

me with your dear young ones and for welcoming me to

this place. I cannot tell you how much it means to be given

such trust and faith and I already feel that I am a part of

this place. Thank you!

Time and again, I am blown away by the youth here at

Trinity. Whether it is incredibly deep and reflective com-

ments during devotions at youth gatherings, or just simply

being willing and excited to serve as water-crossers on

Sunday mornings, the young people of this congregation

bring a life and energy that is so fun to witness! It has

been a major blessing to each of us who has had the op-

portunity to engage the youth over this past year.

I’ve got a few people I’d like to lift up that have been ma-

jor supporters since I’ve stepped onto this staff and into

this new role. First, a huge thank you to Matt Bethune for

the work he did in this role, for planning events for the

transition, and for being so open and willing to help an-

swer my questions and give insight from his own experi-

ence with this same transition. It’s not that often that you

get such great access to the person who held your role be-

fore you, and I’m very grateful to Matt for his willingness

to offer support to me! Next, I’d like to lift up Pastor Mark

Twietmeyer and Melanie Nehls Burow for their wisdom

and shepherding as I’ve transitioned into the Director of

Youth and Household Ministries role. Pastor Mark is a

great source of advice, experience, and wisdom that I am

so fortunate to have. Thank you, Pastor Mark! Melanie has

trained several people in my role in the past few years, and

I am so very appreciative of her openness and willingness

to show another new person the ropes and answer all of

my questions, even when I’ve asked the same question a

few times already. She holds this place together and has

been a steadfast source of support for me in my transition

to Trinity and the larger Boulder community. Thank you,

Melanie!

Without further ado, here’s what happened in Youth Min-

istry at Trinity in 2017:

Daring Triniators In 2017, the Daring Triniators continued meeting monthly

for all sorts of fun and fellowship. There was a Cinco de

Mayo party, ice skating, movie making, a day to jump out

their energy at Jump City, and bowling, to name a few.

During the time of transition between Matt and myself,

Matt and Michelle Anderson stepped in to plan and lead a

climbing event at ABC Climbing which was big fun and a

great success. Thank you so much, Andersons, for keeping

our youth active and en-

gaged! Thanks also to Erik

Park and Kathy Kowalczyk

for hosting the Daring

Triniator Lake Party! The

Daring Triniators also got

to share the Christmas spir-

it with all of Boulder by

dressing up as Mary, Jo-

seph, angels, and shep-

herds and riding on Trini-

ty’s float in the Lights of December parade.

Thank you, elementary students for the joy you bring to

our activities and your willingness to come have fun.

You’re kind, enthusiastic, and supportive of one another,

and I’ve loved getting to be a part of your group. A huge

thank you also to all of the parents and grandparents for

bringing their kiddos, and sticking around to make sure

everyone is having a great time. Your commitment to hav-

ing your kids be part of our community makes Trinity

lively and wonderful.

Christ’s Crew: Our middle schoolers had a great year filled with an awe-

some variety of events. They were able to experience and

learn about hunger and poverty through the 30-hour

planned famine, serve the Trinity community and help

with confirmation camp costs through the Easter Break-

fast, serve our community’s kids by being PUNKS at Day

Camp, and helped set up a memorable Halloween Carni-

val. I’ve really come to notice that they are such a willing

and excited group to jump in and serve! They’re able to

make a service project impactful and meaningful, but also

a ton of fun. Speaking of fun, there were lots of opportuni-

ties for them to just enjoy themselves. There were trips to

Waterworld, Laser tag, snow tubing, and really fun lock-

ins! After the great success of the first Christmas movie,

the kids followed up with another fun movie this year! I

was so impressed by the energy the youth brought and

how willing they

were to embrace

the movie mak-

ing process. Big

shout out to Matt

Bethune for or-

ganizing the de-

tails of the script,

and filming and

Faith Formation


editing the movie, and to Vicki Grover for assistant direct-

ing! Movie making is not a skill in my wheelhouse, but

with awesome people like Matt and Vicki stepping up, to-

gether we can present amazing opportunities for fun and

ministry in so many ways!

Big thanks go out to Michelle Christenson and Rebecca

Eastland for their leadership during Easter Breakfast. They

also provided our delicious Halloween Carnival food

along with Jean Anthony, so double thanks for that.

Thanks also to Andrew Burow and Melanie Nehls Burow

for organizing Christ’s Crew’s trip to a CU football game.

Finally, thanks to our youth for bringing your energy, cre-

ativity, and kindness to Trinity. I am amazed at the incred-

ible people of faith, fun, and service that you are! Thanks

for letting me join in all the fun!

LOFT: Our high schoolers continued doing what they always do –

serving, playing, and praying hard. One of the first events

of the year was assisting with the donation of food to

EFAA through the Souper Bowl of Caring. Their efforts

resulted in over 1,800 pounds of food and $430 donated to

families in need! Our awesome youth stepped up and cre-

ated a super fun Haunted Hallway for our youngest kids at

Trinity. I was blown away at the passion and energy the

high schoolers brought into serving the younger kids.

They also attended the

Senior High Youth Gath-

ering at Rainbow Trail in

November and thought

deeply about how God is

moving in their lives and

how the stories of their

lives meet, cross paths

with, and join God’s sto-

ry. There were a lot of

purely fun events as well, like paintball, and the ski re-

treat.

Big thanks to Mac Ritter for giving of his time to engage

our high school youth in awesome conversation on Sunday

mornings. He brings deep faith, great perspective, and a

fun attitude that is just contagious! They have a real pas-

sion for each other and for faith that is amazing to witness.

I am so looking forward to the leadership I’ve seen from

this group and where that can take us as we vision what

the high school group can look like into the future here at

Trinity. Big thanks to you all!

It was a packed 2017, and I look forward to seeing what

we accomplish in 2018!

Youth VisionTeam Chad Nelsen,

Director of Youth and Household Ministries

The Youth Vision Team (YVT) is made up of parents,

adults and youth with a passion for engaging Trinity’s

youth in meaningful youth ministry. This team strives to

support the strength and energy of Trinity’s youth ministry

by checking in with the Director of Youth and Household

Ministries. They walk with the director through the year

reviewing the goals of Trinity's youth ministry, as well as

maintaining the quality and safety of the ministry. This

team continues to be creative with ways to sustain and en-

courage the youth ministry at Trinity. The team has strug-

gled to find consistent meeting times, and we are hoping

to change that in this new year. However, I have greatly

appreciated the support I’ve received from the YVT in my

transition to Trinity and into this new position this past

fall. YVT, your commitment to making Trinity a wonder-

ful place for youth is a testament to your faith and it’s

wonderful to see the joy you take in your work.

A big part of the year was spent revising and crafting new

policies around CU parking and how the money raised

will be allocated. One decision that made a big impact was

raising the cost of parking from $15 per vehicle to $20.

Despite this price raise, we are still very competitive for

the prices around town, and this raise allowed us to bring

in significantly more funds for the youth at Trinity. Due to

a very successful year with CU parking (more below), we

have decided to cover a significantly large portion of each

youth’s costs to attend the National Youth Gathering in

the summer of 2018! Each youth that wants to attend the

gathering and assists with fundraising will only be re-

quired to provide $150 of their costs, which total around

$1000 per person. This is a huge blessing! A goal for the

coming year is to analyze and update policies surrounding

youth events and trips to continue to assure the safety and

comfort of all involved.

The Youth Vision Team also oversaw a highly successful

year (I believe it was our best yet!) of CU parking as the

primary youth fundraiser. We completed our tenth year at

the Basemar Shopping Center at Baseline and Broadway.

We parked cars for CU Football home games and raised

$15,387. We tithe $2,000 of that into the Trinity Youth

Community Fund to help our 8th-12th graders spread God’s

love through grants to non-profits. Youth and adults who

helped park contributed around $1,500 into individual ac-

counts for each youth to use for Trinity youth events, and

close to $1,400 into a general trip fund which assists with

Faith Formation


the cost of large trips like the 2018 National Youth Gath-

ering. CU Parking continues to be a very essential fund-

raiser for the youth group, so the YVT strives to adjust and

implement necessary changes to ensure the lot runs

smoothly. The team is also very mindful of our obligation

to the Basemar merchants and works to maintain those

positive relationships!

The faithful participants on this hardworking Youth Vi-

sion Team team in 2017 included: Tim Farrell, Karsten

Gulsrud, Soren Gulsrud, Tom Marsh, Nancy Smith, Matt

and Michelle Anderson, and Terry Hilkemeier (council li-

aison). Matt and Michelle Anderson joined late in the year

and we are very excited to have them with us! Welcome!

As 2018 begins, we’re sad to see Nancy Smith and Terry

Hilkemeier leave us, and thank them for all of their hard

work. We welcome Christian Meyer as our new council li-

aison. I look forward to working with our committee in

this upcoming year, and can’t wait to see the places our

youth ministry will go.

Stewardship Committee

Stewardship. What is it really and how does it affect you,

Trinity and the ELCA? It is the gift of your time, talent

and financial support to further the mission and ministry

of God’s word in the world. Your giving is a reflection of

your commitment to your faith and to the church. Each of

us has different circumstances so what you give is less im-

portant than what your giving means to you.

This year our Stewardship emphasis is “A Mission Out-

post - Praying and Paying It Forward.” We have spent

time with remembering whose we are by God’s grace,

what our character is as Children of God, and how we can

be a part of ushering in the fullness of God’s kingdom of

love. During our Fall Campaign 117 members pledged

$510,128. This is the highest number of people pledging

and the highest total amount ever pledged. Thank you!

You are marvelous people!

What are our gifts used for? Whether it is our time or

money, there are numerous things that are supported by

our gifts. Echoing and continuing some of the things our

treasurer Mark Scheitlin shared with us earlier:

WORSHIP We give praise to our Triune God who

calls, gathers, forms, empowers, and sends us back into

the world from which we came to be the presence and love

of God.

Everything that goes into providing worship for our

faith community from the planning, coordinating, and

leading; from the supplies (ie., elements for Holy

Communion, candles, music, bulletins, the building)

to the personnel (pastors, musicians, office staff,

nursery attendants).

MISSIONS/BENEVOLENCE Dollars sent directly to

address specific needs, as well as sending people to work

alongside others to make life different.

Mission Trips: Casas, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,

Dominican Republic, Youth Service Trips.

Neighborhood Missions: hosting a weekly Day Shel-

ter, feeding the hungry, providing assistance for pre-

scriptions and bus passes to those in need, collecting

socks and boots for the most vulnerable.

New Beginnings Congregation, Youth Community

Fund, Bridge House, ELCA World Hunger, Campus

Ministry, Rainbow Trail, Bread for the World, Luther-

an Family Services, ELCA ministries, Rocky Moun-

tain Synod, supporting individual young adults from

Trinity on mission trips, as well as other world mis-

sion opportunities.

Building Affordable Housing in downtown Boulder

for seniors

FAITH FORMATION Learning opportunities that

transform us into the image of Christ for the sake of others

(character development).

Early Communion Classes: Introducing our children

and youth to the grace of God received in the body

and blood of Jesus through Holy Communion.

Sunday School: Teaching our children and youth the

fundamentals of God's love in Christ Jesus through

scripture and the stories of God's people.

Confirmation Classes: Intentional in-depth study for

our Middle School Youth to help them make their

faith their own.

LOFT: Gathering of our high school youth for faith

formation.

Day Camp and Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp : A

week-long faith learning experience of song, Bible

study, prayer, crafts, service, and fun.

Adult Education (Sunday morning, Mid-week, Men's

Breakfast Bible Study, Faith and Issues, Afternoon

Faith Formation


Circle, retreats): Continuing faith education opportu-

nities to help adults live their faith in their daily life

and experiences.

OUTREACH Building and nur tur ing our faith com-

munity and then telling the story and inviting others to join

us.

Encouraging our members to share their faith with

others inside and outside our community

Sharing information through our web page, Facebook,

Google Ads, etc.

Providing fellowship activities for our members to get

to know each other better, as well as activities to

which to invite others.

LOVING CARE Being the loving presence of God

with others.

Pastoral care in times of crisis, surgery, hospitalization

illness, as well as in times of joy and celebration,

Stephen Ministry: Trinity members trained to listen

and to "be there" as a caring Christian presence and

friend,

Intentional fostering of caring for each other in our

faith community.

FACILITIES Spread over each of these categor ies is

the support for the upkeep of our buildings, van, and prop-

erty in which we can gather to be sent out into the world to

be the presence of God.

As we move into 2018, in response to many who have

asked how they can share their time and talents for the

sake of our ministry together, the committees and minis-

tries will be offering a Time and Talent packet.

All of this, Time, Talent, and Financial Support, are pur-

posed to help us be God’s mission outpost, and for your

partnership and support, we are blessed and appreciative.

Faith Formation


Missions Committee Rudy Deutschmann, Chair

The Missions committee is made up of Sue Mead, Sarah Mc

Nichols, Jen and Eric Wright, Lynn and Mark Twietmeyer,

Diane Foote, Council Liaison Michelle Christenson, and

myself, Rudy Deutschmann. As has been our practice for

many years, we try to spend our time and resources between

local, national, and international issues.

Jen Wright heads up our “Toolbelts” outreach. This effort

tries to co-ordinate the solving of needs that some of our

members have with other members that have the ability to

fix those problems. This program has been in existence for

many years and has been a wonderful help for some of our

members. Our Mission partner church in Denver is Cristo

Rey which is a Spanish startup congregation. In addition to

sponsoring our very successful annual Giving Tree Christ-

mas present gift program, members from Cristo Rey came to

Trinity this fall, and taught 30 of us how to make tamales. It

was a great experience for the teachers and the students.

Nationally, missions sponsored our summer series “Mission

Moments” which, among other things had presentations on

the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge reservation, Young Adults in

Global Mission, and needs specific to our Veterans. Mis-

sions has set up a fund designed to help Veterans in need in

various ways. A number of Trinity youth requested help in

funding their efforts at various missionary projects (most re-

cently Katharine Jones,

who is in Jerusalem

with YAGM). Because

of the faithful giving of

our members, we have

been able to make do-

nations to these very

worthwhile ventures.

Efforts that seem to go

on without much no-

tice, but are very im-

portant, are the Equal Exchange coffee/tea/chocolate pro-

gram and the making of the weighted quilts for challenged

children.

In addition to the normal (nothing about building in Juarez is

normal) trip to build a house in Juarez for a very needy

family, we also sponsored and built a house in the Domin-

ican Republic in 2017. That experience was probably as

much or more impactful for the 15 builders than it was for

the family that received the house.

The Missions committee works very hard at trying to un-

derstand what God has asked us to do, and then figure out

ways to complete that work. I believe all the members of

Trinity are part of the work that the Committee undertakes

and we continue to try to understand that we are “A Mis-

sion Outpost in a Troubled World”.

Social Ministry Emily Barnak, Chair

Dozens of TLC members worked during 2017 to help the

Social Ministry committee fulfill our mission of feeding

the hungry, providing basic medical and other services to

the homeless, and working to meet the needs of under-

served families in the greater Boulder area. The Social

Ministry team works through a number of programs.

The Second Sunday Lunch program continued in 2017 by

serving well over a thousand meals to people who are

homeless or hungry. Four families served as managers of

the Lunch program: the Burger family, the Barnak/

Burnett family, the Greer family, and the Strobel fami-

ly. Sue Rancis and Kay

Aitchison stepped in to

cook in July. They were

assisted by tens of doz-

ens of dedicated volun-

teers who give 2-3 hours

of their day to help with

set-up, with cooking and

serving food, and with

clean-up chores. Second

Sunday Lunch volunteers are excited to be in our new

building soon for two reasons: to have more space for our

guests and a better kitchen layout. Social Ministry has do-

nated $10,000 to help supply our new kitchen with sup-

plies that will be used to serve the hungry and for other

church uses.

Social Ministry also provided other types of food assis-

Missions dollars at Trinity are sent directly to address specific needs, as well as sending people to work along side

others to make life different. This includes Second Sunday Lunch for the Hungry, hosting the Tuesday Day Shelter,

Casas Trips, Lakota Nation Mission Trips, Youth Service Trips, support to Bridge House and the Homeless. It also

includes our Trinity Horizons project, our intention to build senior affordable housing right here in downtown Boul-

der!

Missions


tance for those in the Boulder area. We provided medical

“respite” meals to 30 indigent individuals who were re-

leased from area hospitals on a Friday -- too late to sign up

for weekend Meals on Wheels delivery. In these situa-

tions, Social Ministry stepped in to provide easy-to-

prepare meals to help these patients with food assistance

through the weekend. These meals helped speed these pa-

tients’ recovery after their surgeries or other medical pro-

cedures.

We continue to donate money to “sponsor” refreshments

at the New Beginnings Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve

services (held at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facili-

ty). Leveraging a Thrivent Action Grant to finance this

need, we served over 200 women seeking spiritual guid-

ance and comfort at these services. In addition, Social

Ministry has supplied 24 bibles for new members of New

Beginnings congregation. When New Beginnings was in

need of a new CD player, a TLC member funded a new

CD player with Social Ministry's help.

The Social Ministry team worked to meet the medical

need of our community, as well. We worked with Clinica

Family Health Services (the People’s Clinic) in Boulder to

sponsor our 3rd annual waterproof boot and sock

drive. All boots and socks donated to TLC through Social

Ministry were sent to the People’s Clinic, where they were

given primarily to patients who were homeless and in dan-

ger of frostbite injuries. To kick start this drive, Social

Ministry provided $250 which was matched by People's

Clinic. With this $500, and the immense generosity of

many TLC families, we were able to donate about 100

pairs of boots and 280 pairs of socks to medically vulnera-

ble people. In addition, we continue to provide medical

equipment (walkers, canes, crutches, wheelchairs) as have

supply and People’s has clients with need.

Social Ministry continued providing for one-time needs

for patients at People’s Clinic. These needs included pay-

ing for summer camp for an overweight depressed young

boy, covering the cost of diaper ointment for homeless

parents, helping with co-pays for physical therapy costs

for a homeless woman, buying 2 buttondown shirts for a

homeless patient having shoulder surgery. These one-time

actions provide directly to those in need in our communi-

ty.

In summer 2017, Social Ministry attempted to enlist the

congregation in another form of direct service with our

S.M.A.R.T. (Social Ministry Action Response Team)

grants. The hope was that congregants would submit pro-

posals for a hands-on project engaging the communi-

ty. We were able to fund one S.M.A.R.T. grant for $250

which helped someone maintain their healthcare coverage

for a month. Given the low response to this idea, we will

be meeting at the beginning of 2018 to discuss further

ways for our money to benefit those in need around us.

The work of the Social Ministry is financed in part by

TLC’s benevolence donations -- which means your gener-

osity supports our work. Thank you. In addition, Social

Ministry receives money through the sale and use of

“reloadable” grocery cards. Each year we raise approxi-

mately $5000 from the sales of reloadable grocery cards.

Thank you again to all those who worked on behalf of or

donated to the Social Ministry. Your prayers and support

help make life different in this mission outpost.

Trinity Horizons Construction Committee Mike Moore, Chair

In January 2013, the New Horizons Pre-Construction

Committee received approval from the Trinity Lutheran

Church congregation to proceed with the development of

plans and funding for the construction of 16 affordable

senior housing units, a fellowship and meeting hall, church

office space and underground parking to be placed on the

current church parking lot. Over the next three years Ele-

ment Properties was hired to assist in the overall project

development, architectural plans were developed with the

help of Erik Hartronft and Associates, contractors were in-

terviewed and Fischer Construction was hired for con-

struction. Additionally, the church reached an agreement

with the Boulder Downtown Management Commission

and CAGID (Central Area General Improvement District)

to proceed with the development, construction and owner-

ship of the parking structure as part of our proposed devel-

opment. As a result these partners are covering the costs

of building the parking garage.

Funding for this project has come from multiple sources.

As mentioned above, CAGID is funding the lower parking

garage. A loan from First Bank to help cover the cost of

the Fellowship

Hall was closed in

November of

2016. The amount

of this loan results

in monthly pay-

ments that are con-

sistent with the

monthly payments

of past construc-

Missions


Missions

tion projects at Trinity. The additional funds needed for

the Fellowship Hall were raised from the successful

church capital campaign of $1.2 million. The cost of the

senior affordable housing is being partially funded by a

grant from the city of Boulder of just over $1.2 million.

The remainder of the cost is being covered by another loan

from First Bank; the payments of this loan will be covered

by rental income from the housing units. In addition, we

have received a 0% interest loan from the State of Colora-

do available to organizations in Boulder after the 2013

flood. The result of this funding and the Capital Cam-

paign means our project is completely funded!

In 2017 a Trinity Horizon’s Special Appeal was initiated

on Ash Wednesday. $245,010 was pledged, and as of De-

cember 31st $281,981 was received! These funds were

designated for a new air conditioner in the sanctuary, to

complete the new offices over the Fellowship Hall and to

help offset our new mortgage payments. The construction

team and the church council have agreed to wait on the of-

fice completion until we have a firm understanding of the

total project cost.

Construction began in late November 2016 with a sched-

uled completion date of May 2018. We reported last year

that the completion date would be March 2018 but the

construction contract was amended due to our agreement

with the contractor that 29.5 days were lost. Most days

were lost due to the activities of the archeologist present

during the digging and inclement weather.

Our contractor, Element, architect, and construction team

have worked diligently to assure we will have a beautiful

end result that stays on budget. With the dramatically in-

creased pace of construction throughout the area and the

country, and the resulting increases in material and labor

costs, maintaining schedule and costs are a constant strug-

gle. But, to date, we have not exceeded our hard cost

budgets. Hopefully all church members have been able to

observe the construction firsthand when at church and/or

through the construction cam on the church web site.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to talk to

one of the Construction committee members: Mike

Moore, Jim Topping, Erik Park, Marv Dehne, Mark

Scheitlin, Terry Hilkemeier, Melanie Nehls Burow, or

Pastor Mark.

Trinity Commons Housing Submitted by Jim Topping

Trinity Commons housing is the fulfillment of a twenty-

year vision for our congregation. Planning started in ear-

nest in 2014 with the kick-off of a $1.2 million fund drive

and the hiring of Erik Hartronft as our architect and Ele-

ment Properties as our development firm. Financing and

City approvals were secured in 2016 and construction got

under way in late 2016. By the end of 2017 a City fi-

nanced parking garage, 16 units of affordable senior hous-

ing and a new fellowship hall for the congregation had be-

gun to take shape. Construction is due to be completed in

May of 2018 with move-in for our new senior population

scheduled for summer of 2018. Thistle Communities has

been contracted to handle all leasing and day-to-day man-

agement responsibilities. Overall responsibility for the

housing site and associated parking spaces resides with

Trinity Commons Housing Board, made up of members

Tom Kopf, Nancy Smith, Nora Steenson, Pastor Mark

Twietmeyer and Jim Topping. Each board member, ap-

pointed by Church Council, is scheduled to serve a five-

year term.


Outreach Outreach is building and nurturing our faith community and then telling the story and inviting others to join us. This

includes evangelism, fellowship, web page, and all our communications of God's love and grace both inside and

outside our community.

Evangelism Committee Lonnie Hilkemeier, Committee Chair

Your financial support allows the Evangelism committee

to successfully communicate and extend a welcoming

hand to our own internal faith community as well as going

outside the walls of our church to reach out to our

“troubled world” community, of which we are all socially

connected through our Lord.

Through non-tech means we evangelize through welcome

flowers and packages for new visitors, banners around the

construction fences of Trinity Commons (inviting others

to participate in our “Building of Community”) and by be-

ing one of the few churches who build a float for the

Lights of December parade. By you being such an inviting

congregation, we had 7 new members join our faith com-

munity in 2017 through New Member Classes.

By using technology, we reach a sizeable yet targeted

number of people with our messages. We strive to edu-

cate, inform and invite all to join us through Google, web-

site www.trinityboulder.org , Facebook

www.facebook.com/trinityboulder and Instagram

@trinityboulder . We proactively advertise on Facebook

and Google during high visitor seasons such as Holy

Week/Easter and Advent/Christmas. We always appreciate

you liking and sharing on all of Trinity’s social sites!

How are we doing as evangelists? In 2017, our social me-

dia fan base grew to about 300 followers. We reached

over 18,500 people in the Boulder area from paid and non-

paid online marketing. What attracts people? The most

seen Facebook post without payment featured a "Welcome

Chad" message...and reached 2400 people! Advent adver-

tising gained Trinity nearly 4600 views. Reviews are high-

ly important to those "shopping" for a faith community.

On Facebook we enjoy a fantastic 4.8 of 5 rating. On

Google, we earn an amazing 5.0 out of 5.0 rating. We en-

courage you to share your thoughts on Trinity - review us!

Fellowship Committee Stephanie Smith, 2017 Council Liaison

The Fellowship committee has a great time organizing fun

events throughout the year. We organized the Church Pic-

nic at North Boulder Park in early June, which is always a

big success, and we provided food for the January Annual

Meeting, Christmas Tree Decorating Day, and after the

Lights of December Parade. We also organize Lenten

Soup suppers, which is a dinner before the Wednesday

night Lenten Worship services. In addition, this group or-

ganizes a yearly outing to a Colorado Rockies baseball

game and Summer Fel-

lowship Hours between

the services.

If you might be interested

in helping out with any of

our events, please contact

Stephanie Smith, 2017

Council Liaison

303.653.5826.

Trinity Second Century Endowment Fund Deidre G. Farrell, 2017 Chair

The Trinity Second Century Endowment Fund was created

in 1996 to mark the 100th anniversary of Trinity Lutheran

Church. The Endowment Fund has three primary purpos-

es: (i) to provide for the receipt of extraordinary gifts

made to Trinity where the donor wishes to ensure the long

-term benefits of his or her gift; (ii) to promote the faithful

Christian stewardship of all resources by encouraging per-

sonal wills and estate plans that reflect a desire to provide

for the long-term support for God’s work; and (iii) to en-

hance the outreach of the congregation beyond that ex-

pected and supported through established operating ac-

counts, memorial funds, building funds, and other similar

short-term funds maintained or held by the Church. The

Endowment Fund is governed and administered by a com-

mittee of five members (the “Committee”).


The initial goal of the Endowment Fund was to raise

$100,000 in principal, which was achieved in 2004. Once

this initial threshold was met, the Bylaws of the Endow-

ment Fund permit the disbursement or distribution of the

income earned from the investment of the principal (i.e.,

interest, dividends, market

appreciation, etc.) to pro-

vide financial support to

ministries and other needs

identified by Trinity’s

Church Council. Funding

needs identified by the

Church Council that fur-

ther the goals of Trinity’s

mission and that are con-

sistent with the purposes of

the Endowment Fund (see above) are forwarded to the

Committee for consideration. The Committee then makes

the final determination regarding the disbursement of

available funds. The Bylaws of the Endowment Fund,

however, prohibit disbursements or distributions from the

Endowment Fund that will result in the reduction of the

Endowment Fund below the amount of the principal of the

Endowment Fund. And even in those years in which suf-

ficient income has been earned and accrued to support a

distribution, the Committee is not required to make a dis-

tribution if (1) the Committee has not received any fund-

ing requests from the Church Council, or (2) the Commit-

tee determines that a distribution is not in the best interest

of the Endowment Fund or a funding request is not con-

sistent with the purposes of the Endowment Fund.

Historically, the Committee has utilized the services of

Merrill Lynch to manage and administer the investment of

the Endowment Fund. Because of a change in Merrill

Lynch policy and the Committee’s belief that the Endow-

ment Fund can be managed more efficiently, the Commit-

tee terminated its relationship with Merrill Lynch and

moved the fund to Fidelity in 2017.

In response to a request from the Church Council, in De-

cember 2017 the Committee distributed $7966 from the

Endowment Fund to help pay for the columbarium in the

new building. Over the years, the Fund has distributed

nearly $50,000 to various community groups, including

Attention Homes, Aging Services of Boulder County, and

Boulder Change; to support various ministries within Trin-

ity, including the Trinity Youth Community Fund, the sign

language ministry, and the God’s Work Our Hands pro-

ject; and for capital improvements at Trinity, including the

church van, unanticipated property tax expenses associat-

ed with the Trinity Horizons project, and the columbari-

um.

The Committee that governs and administers the Endow-

ment Fund has five voting members with one member

elected every year to a 5-year term. Officers for 2017

were Deidre Farrell, Chair; Donna Schult, Treasurer; and

Phanny Chan, Recording Secretary. The President of the

Church Council and Pastor Mark Twietmeyer are advisory

members of the Committee.

Terms of Committee members are as follows:

Name End of Term

Donna Schult 2018

Glenn Smith 2019

Deidre Farrell 2020

Dick Pautsch 2021

Phanny Chan 2022

Pastor Mark Pastor Advisory Member

Jim White Council President Advisory Member

Phanny Chan was originally appointed to fill in for a pre-

vious board member. He was recently elected for a new

full 5 year term beginning January 1, 2018. The Commit-

tee has elected its officers for 2018 are: Deidre Farrell,

Chair; Donna Schult, Treasurer; and Phanny Chan, Re-

cording Secretary.

The Endowment Fund Committee sponsored Trinity’s

“Anniversary Sunday” on August 27, 2017. The purpose

of the event was to remind church members of Trinity’s

rich history stretching back to the close of the nineteenth

century and its many contributions to the Boulder commu-

nity. It also provided an opportunity for church members

to make an annual gift to the Endowment Fund.

Endowment Fund Balances. The total value of the En-

dowment Fund as of December 31st of each of the follow-

ing years is as follows:

2007: $157,494

2008: $140,331

2009: $161,304

2010: $178,153

2011: $178,372

2012: $186,039

2013: $212,660

2014: $222,086

2015: $216,927

2016: $219,154

2017: $228,833

We invite each of you to keep Trinity’s Second Century

Endowment Fund as part of your giving plan, both on an

annual basis as well as making a lifetime gift as part of

your estate planning. It is one way to perpetuate Trinity’s

mission into the 21st century and beyond.

Outreach


Loving Care Loving Care means to be sent forth to be the presence and love of God, and this would include pastoral care, Ste-

phen Ministry, as well as the intentional fostering of caring for each other in our faith community.

Stephen Ministry Jacque Johnson, Co-Leader

In 2017, 11 Trinity women and men served as trained one

to one Christian caregivers, with others participating for

part of the year. One of the 11 is a Stephen Leader, who has

attended a weeklong intensive session to learn to train and

lead others in becoming Christian caregivers.

Because Trinity, as a congregation, has supported initial

training and continuing education for Stephen Ministers,

skilled and prepared caregivers have been available to walk

with others through difficult times, lending a listening ear

and caring heart and being the visible presence of Jesus in

their lives. With the support of meeting together monthly,

Trinity’s Stephen Ministers are more prepared to give care

through attentive listening and encouragement, in their eve-

ryday lives, and to be fully present for someone going

through a tough time who has requested the help of a Ste-

phen Minister.

Stephen Ministers met regularly one on one with someone

during an illness, made hospital visits, or visited weekly

with one who was homebound, at the person’s own home

or in a care facility. Some met to listen to, care, and en-

courage a person grieving the death of a loved one or ap-

proaching the end of their own life. Some met with one

who is a caregiver for a seriously ill family member or with

one who had personal struggles and needed encouragement.

Stephen Ministry at Trinity is under the leadership of the

Pastoral Care Team, comprised in 2017 of Pastor Mark

Twietmeyer, Visitation Pastor Janet Kettering, and Stephen

Leader Jacque Johnson. Please contact one of these people,

if you have questions about what a Stephen Minister does

and how one could be helpful in your life or in the life of

someone you know.

Trinity Stephen Ministers and Leaders request your prayers

for our ministry, that God will bring forth those who need

care, and that we will bring the Lord’s healing love and

peace to those in need of encouragement. It is our honor

and privilege to walk with our Trinity sisters and brothers

and to serve our Lord in this way.

Memorial Committee Suzanne Reed, Committee Member

Every memorial to the church enhances and supports the

ministry of our Lord. These remembrances not only keep

alive the memory of God's loving grace among us, but al-

so keep alive the memory of the person in whose name

the memorial was given. From this fund this past year,

memorial gifts were able to provide:

An engraved pewter Baptismal medallion to each of

those baptized at Trinity,

A Yamaha P45 Digital Piano Keyboard for the first

service,

Altar Communion Linens.

Memorials has committeed to the cost of the "Date

Stones" in the new construction as well as is in discussion

regarding appointments for the Columbarium.

Memorial Committee Members are: Kitty Jarvis, Suzanne

Reed, Pastor Mark. This year Nancy Pautsch and Julie

Walker will be joining the committee.



Personnel Committee Terry Hilkemeier, Chair

The personnel committee provides oversight and review

of the programmatic (non-pastoral) staff at Trinity. At

the end of 2016 we thought we were done hiring for a

while, but the year turned out a little differently. 2017

evolved into a busy hiring year, but, with the Lord’s

guidance Trinity was blessed with wonderful new addi-

tions to the staff.

In 2017 TLC was blessed with a staff that sup-

ports our ministries and faith formation on a daily basis,

often behind the scenes. We have a wonderful staff

working hand in hand with the people of our congrega-

tion doing God's work through our collective hands.

Words like dedicated, talented, creative, caring, always

there with an answer, a solution, a smile, a Kleenex, no

matter the time of day, come to mind when describing

our staff.

Over the past few years, our busy downtown Boul-

der church has opened its doors even fur-

ther to serve as a warm haven and a wel-

coming refuge for the needy. Trinity’s

Coordinator of Congregational Life,

Melanie Nehls Burow, oversees these ef-

forts. Melanie is a wealth of experience

and knowledge and will find the answers to just about

any question: where can I park today, who is serving

lunch to the hungry today, how many concrete trucks in

the alley today, what time is my meeting, how many bul-

letins to prepare. If we want to know who, what, where

and when things are happening, Melanie is the go-to re-

source and “the face of the church.” Melanie also con-

tinues as an integral member of the Trinity Horizons

Construction Team and has worked diligently as the con-

struction and detailed project planning have progressed.

Her excellent planning, organizational skills and attention

to details are highly appreciated.

Following the departure of office assistant Brook

Englebretson-Horton to join her family business, a new

friendly face, Andrea Enochs, joined the

staff this fall as our office assistant. An-

drea has quickly learned the ropes,

bringing good experience from a similar

role at another church. Numerous volun-

teers graciously help out with adminis-

trative tasks from Holy Post assembly to

manning church telephones.

After a relatively short search, following the resig-

nation of Matt Bethune as our Director of Youth and

Household Ministries, we were blessed to have Chad

Nelsen join us in that role in September (just in time to

learn about CU football parking.) We are

grateful that we continue to have Matt and

his family’s great enthusiasm as members

of our congregation. However, Chad’s

love of people, his passion and his Rain-

bow Trail experiences with youth have al-

ready made their mark on our programs: Halloween carni-

val, Luther Day and lock- ins. Under Chad’s direction,

these activities contribute to the faith formation of our

youth and prepare them to go out into the world as leaders.

Imagine a worship service without the

“joyful noise” that gathers us and helps us

to engage with the liturgy and one another.

Leila Heil and Jeanine

Marsh lead and encourage

our adult and youth voices

(as well as sharing their own glorious tal-

ents). We can’t imagine Sunday services,

Easter morning or Christmas Eve without

the beautiful musical offerings. After 20

years of dedicated service to Trinity, Valerie Hess em-

barked on a new adventure in February. Jeanine assumed

the role of Coordinator of Music Ministry

and graciously filled in as organist during

our search. After a somewhat lengthy

search for an organist we thank God we

were blessed to have Marilyn Van Roekel

bring her musical talents to the team as

our new organist.

Christmas trees, candle globes

and ribbons go up and come down. Cookie and donut

crumbs on the floor of the narthex- not for

long. In his position as custodian, Bill

Rhode shows his love for the house of God

by making sure that our building is immacu-

late and is a welcoming place for us to wor-

ship, serve, learn, grow and change. Bill al-

ways makes that happen!

The care of our youngest members has been in the

capable and caring hands of Elizabeth Siverling and Tom

Dieter, our nursery attendants in 2017. The attention and

love they provide to the little ones of our community is a

blessing. At year end, we wished Liz well as she moved on

to the next chapter in her life. Tom will continue in the at-

tendant position and Mallory Farrell will join him as nurse-

ry assistant.

Through a year of heightened financial activity

with our Trinity Horizons project and fundraising, Monica

Plumb continued to diligently handle all aspects of payroll

and accounting for our ministries. She makes sure the bills

are paid on time, as well as preparing staff payroll (as much



as they love their jobs, they deserve their

pay!) Monica provides great experience

and assistance to our church treasurer and

continues to be a valuable assist for the

Trinity Horizons teams.

In 2017, we contracted with Janet

Kettering to be our new Visitation Pastor.

She is a member of Trinity and currently

serving a half-time call as Pastor at Shep-

herd of the Hills. Although we don’t get to

see Pastor Janet very often, she meets with

our home-bound and holds Holy Commun-

ion services at Golden West, helping them to

still feel connected to us.

Pastor Mark – what to say other than what

would we do or be without your guidance,

your passion, your wisdom, your faith –

YOU!! You are loved by your congregation

and we are so blessed.

We thank all of our staff for their dedication to our

ministry and community! They are indeed an integral part

of our faith formation and growth, and are foundational as

we strive to be a mission outpost in a troubled world.

2017 Personnel Committee members included Terry Hilke-

meier, Mary Beth Laughery, Brandi Schott, Ann Mord

(through June when she relocated to NJ), and Pastor Mark

Twietmeyer. The committee offers insight and guidance in

the annual Personnel Review process, the hiring of new

staff, and support of church Human Resources issues.

Property Committee Erik Park, Chair

The mission of the Property committee is to ensure the con-

gregation has a comfortable, safe, and attractive place to

gather as a mission outpost. Our building is important for

our congregation as the center of worship and ministry.

As a congregation and a committee we have worked hard to

provide an inspiring setting for Sunday morning worship,

Easter and Christmas. A place for community to come to-

gether for weddings, funerals, Sunday school, adult educa-

tion, day camp, youth groups, Stephen ministry, committee

meetings. Our church home also serves the Boulder com-

munity with the space for feeding the homeless, as a day

shelter, and many 12-step programs. Our building is in use

by non-profits almost every day of the week.

One of the problems confronting the property committee

is that we need to keep an 89 year old building operating

in a comfortable and efficient way. In 2015 we replaced

a 40-50 year old boiler that heats our building. This past

year we replaced our central air conditioning. Like our

own homes, there is always something that needs some

attention. Our committee meets monthly to take care of

maintenance, make recommendations to council for ma-

jor repairs, and anticipate future needs of our buildings.

2018 will bring big challenges with the addition of Trini-

ty Horizons Fellowship hall, the 16 senior affordable

apartments, as well as the underground parking garage.

We look forward to the challenge of maintaining and im-

proving our facilities. We welcome any members who

may be interested in joining.

The current Property Committee members are: Marv

Dehne, John Greer, Tim Mead, Mike Moore, Erik Park,

and Bill Rhode.


Youth programs 2017-18 $1,511.73

split amongst all youth groups

to pay for food and supplies for

ministry

Individual youth, family and friend

accounts $4,684.36

earned by youth (CU Parking)

to be used to pay for ministry

events

Trinity Youth Community Fund $1,036.50

Funds earned Luther Day

2017. Given to 8th-12th grad-

ers to grant to area non-profits

Spring 2018, will take an addi-

tional $2000 from General Ac-

count fund to add to this total

for distribution

Trip Fund $3,270.00

helps defray the cost of signifi-

cant trips. Trip to NYG in Hou-

ston this summer will cost

about $7,000.00 covered by

fundraising and this fund

General Account $15,565.12

Reserves used if necessary to

supplement cost of events, this

is excess from CU parking

Missions $8,036.15 Savings account from previous

years’ excess

$34,103.86

Trinity's Youth Fund Total Value as of December 31, 2017

$34,103.73

The Youth Fund balance breaks out in these ways:


Memorial Fund-Annual Financial Statement December 31, 2017

First Bank beginning balance Jan. 2017 18,169.18

Mission Plus beginning balance Jan. 2017 18,890.49

Total Funds Jan 2017 $37,059.67

Income

Mission Plus interest Jan. – Dec. 2017 86.61

Individual Memorial Gifts Jan.-Dec 2,260.00

Total Income 2,346.61 39,406.68

Expenses

January – December 2016 611.96 38,794.32

First Bank balance Dec. 31, 2017 19,817.22

Mission Plus balance Dec. 31, 2017 18,977.10

Ending balance 38,794.32

Fund Balances

Stained Glass 722.96

Senior Ministry 375.10

Music Ministry 308.66

Margaret Hillman Scholarship Fund 2,837.78

Library Fund 600.00

Individual Memorial Gifts 32,933.57

Undesignated Gifts 1,016.25

Total Funds Dec 31, 2016 $38,794.32

Trinity's Second Century Endowment Fund Total Value as of December 31, 2017

$228,833.00


Trinity Lutheran Church 2017 Statistics

New Members 7

Baptized 6

Members 3

Non-members 3

Youth Confirmed 8

Funerals 3

Members 2

Non-members 1

Weddings 4

Members 3

Non-members 1

As of December 31, 2017 601 Active Members, 206 Inactive Members

807 total members

276 Active Households, 98 Inactive Households

374 total households

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