Last spring we put out a survey asking the Trinity congregants to provide some examples hymns, scripture, and imagery that they felt represented our faith community. This was done in an effort to help TLC understand more about who we are and who we want to be as a faith community. At our next FFF discussion group on Oct 13th, we will review the third and final category: art, imagery, and objects. Here is a list of what our congregants submitted.
Our Faith, Friends, & Fellowship group met in September to discuss the article "For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies." Take a look and discuss what you think with someone you think would find this topic engaging.
For the last year and a half, Trinity’s Welcoming and Inclusion Team, as part of the ELCA’s Reconciling In Christ program, has been leading our faith community on a journey to see, name, celebrate, and advocate for people of all races, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
We are now entering a new phase of our journey as a faith community, where we will be walking in tandem with the visioning process that Trinity began in January. To kick off this next phase, we’d like to invite each of you to a new monthly faith study and discussion group called “Faith, Friends, and Fellowship.” There will be coffee, snacks, and informal discussion about topics that help us explore who we are, where we’ve come from, and who we are called to be in our greater community.
We will meet on the second Sunday of each month, immediately after service, in the church library. Our first Faith, Friends, & Fellowship group will meet on Sunday, April 14th. We plan to read and discuss each of the scriptures that you all recently submitted via the “Who Is Trinity” survey and talk about how we feel they represent our Trinity faith community and our goals for the future.
As Lutherans, we believe that God values and embraces each person as a beloved child, that the Spirit gives a diversity of gifts for the common good, and that Jesus Christ calls us to work for justice. As Pastor Tina preached to us on Palm Sunday, let us not be prisoners of hope. Let us be Christ’s warriors of the change he calls us to be in this world. I hope to see you next week, or in the months to come, at our new discussion group.
Faith, Friends, and Fellowship
Second Sundays, after service
Church Library
Coffee, snacks, discussion!
RIC Ministry Moment for February 25, 2024.
During our recent visioning session with Pastor John Wertz, those in attendance shared their experiences and perceptions about Trinity.
To provide some context for our reflections about who we are as Trinity Lutheran Congregation, and how we envision our future, the RIC Team thought it would be fascinating to explore Trinity’s Roots. Who better to help with this endeavor, than the Archives Committee.
This brief history of Trinity’s first 74 years was made possible with the enthusiastic support of Sandy Cobb, Judy Hunt, Anne and Cliff Obara. We found that they welcome questions about our history!
Trinity’s Roots
In 1881, under the leadership of Collis P. Huntington, the C&O Railway was completed. This “modern” transportation connected the coal reserves of West Virginia to Newport News, thus opening foreign trade to our port. Among the new residents arriving from abroad were a few North Germans and a few Scandinavians who were sailors par excellence of the world, and, also Lutherans.
In 1887 Collis P Huntington founded the shipyard, and people seeking work from the Valley of Virginia, and from Pennsylvania, added to the number of local Lutherans.
In 1898 Trinity Lutheran congregation was organized, as a mission of the Virginia Lutheran Synod. Trinity had 30 members. As a Lutheran Church in non-Lutheran territory, Trinity’s history was one of struggle to keep pace with the other denominational groups that were more indigenous in this community. A quote written in 1939 explained: “While the congregation is forty years old, it is one of the younger, if not the youngest, of the denominational groups in Newport News. It has such a polyglot membership that it has been necessary for it to spend much of it time and energy integrating its own members. In a survey of the congregational roll we find people of almost every national origin, and members from almost all the major groups of Christians. These have had their own ideas about the church life, depending upon their origins. But withal, each in his own way has made some valuable contribution to the life of the congregation. Thus, Trinity Lutheran Church becomes both a center of Christian culture and an Americanizing force for those who enter its membership.”
In 1939 the church interior was conducive to worship and beautiful. However, one of the great needs of Trinity was a more suitable building for the Sunday School and better location with reference to the residences of the members. The membership at that time was: 250 confirmed members and more than 100 in the Sunday School. These members’ residences were scattered throughout the Peninsula from Williamsburg to the lower end of the territory. (Daily Press) So the congregation set out to buy property, hire an architect, and build a new church and Sunday School building.
In 1954, (15 years later) the congregation was attending consecration services in a splendid new red brick building on a most imposing site—the triangle of land at 68th Street between Huntington Ave. and River Road. At this time this land was in Warwick County. The site, as described in the Daily Press: “seemed predestined to provide an unusually attractive setting for the steepled house of worship.” By the way, the total cost for the building was estimated at $240,000.
Six years after moving to this site, Trinity embarked upon another innovation. Shortly after the arrival of Pastor Elmer Bosserman, Trinity opened a day school for children. The hope at that time was to begin with Preschool and Kindergarten, and then to expand the school eventually to include the sixth grade, following the standard curriculum approved by the state. Pastor Elmer Bosserman said the school was “just another function of the church and is not slanted to denominational religious teaching. ...We do have morning devotions, and on Friday mornings I conduct a chapel service, but we are careful always to take a general approach that cannot be offensive to anyone. After all, we are happy to have Catholic and Jewish children among our students.”
On February 1, 1960, Trinity Day School held its first classes from 9 a.m. ‘til 12 Noon. Students were Pre-K Ages 3 – 4 1⁄2 years, and Kindergarten ages 5 and 6 years. Tuition was $15/month. There were 29 students and two college trained teachers. Student transportation was furnished by Trinity Guild Ladies. After summer break, First grade was added in the Fall of 1960.
In 1964 Pastor Elmer Bosserman was asked how funds had been raised for the church, its expansion, and the purchase of two adjacent residences. He replied: “It was raised by faith, which is the greatest strength of Trinity’s congregation. This is the only church in the Virginia Synod to follow what is known as the Grace Movement. There are no pledges. Giving is based entirely on the concept of free will. Our annual budget is always made on faith—we invariably have the money we need and a little more, without asking for pledges or sending out statements or reminders. I am deeply inspired by the Grace Movement which only asks that people follow their consciences in giving according to how God has prospered them. Faith allows us to go ahead within reason—it is Trinity’s warm spot.”
By 1972 (12 years amer its opening), Trinity Lutheran School had 435 students in grades Preschool through seven.
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So here, in a nutshell, is 74 years of Trinity’s history. You may have nooced that there is a historical gap of 50+ years from the end of this history unol today. That’s where YOU contribute to the story of Trinity. So, we invite you to consider the quesoon: Who is Trinity Lutheran Church? We suspect that the answers will be as varied as we are, and that’s why it is important that each of US shares.
We are handing out a brief quesoonnaire in worship this morning. If you are worshiping by FaceBook, Sharon will send a copy this week through Constant Comment to everyone on that list. Once completed, we ask that you submit your responses electronically or that you put your hard copy responses in the offering plate, or in any RIC boxes at the church entrances.
We will compile all responses and give you a summary of who our Trinity Lutheran Community is in 2024!. Thank you!
Question received:
What is the official stance of the Lutheran governing body over Trinity on welcoming and including LGBTQ people in the Lutheran faith? The questioner wanted to know if this is a Trinity-specific quest, or if we are one of a larger body of churches all working toward the same goals.
(Full question text: What is the official stance of the Lutheran governing body/bodies over Trinity on LGBTQ people being welcomed and included in the Lutheran faith? Specifically, do they condone or require all Lutheran churches to perform same sex marriages, baptize LGBTQ persons, and allow them all the same rights and sacraments afforded to non-LGBTQ members? I'm supportive of this RIC process but I wonder if we are going beyond what the Lutheran church says should be the standard, not only in our state but in our country and in the world. I want to know if I belong to a religious affiliation that is truly trying to become "radically welcoming" in these areas that the RIC committee says we are working towards, not just at Trinity. When I hear about other churches breaking away from their affiliations because of divergent views on various ideological topics (Methodists, Episcopals, Catholics, etc), I wonder where we fall on that spectrum?)
Response:
The best way to answer the first part of this question, if the RIC process is a part of the ELCA, is to give you a little background on Reconciling Works, who are the main, governing body of the RIC process for congregations. Reconciling Works was founded in 1974, with their full name being Reconciling Works: Lutherans for Full Participation. When the ELCA was founded in 1988, Reconciling Works became one of our partners in working towards full inclusion of all of God’s children, and it has been a partner with us ever since, with the goal and vision of “liberating those who are forced to live on the margins, to keep dismantling barriers and building bridges, and to keep working until all of God’s beloved have equity.” Reconciling in Christ reaches out to people in all communities, seeking to make God's house truly open and welcoming to all. RIC encompasses gender, racial equality, poverty, immigration, and the indigenous community, as well as the LGBTQ community. Long story short, RIC is a part of who the ELCA is, and has been from it’s very foundation.
Now, this is not to say that the ELCA hasn’t been through its own journey, similar to other denominations, particularly when it comes to the welcome and inclusion of our LGBTQIA+ siblings. When it comes to our sacramental life, communion and baptism, we were founded on the principle of an open table. All, all are welcome to share in God’s grace given through our sacraments. However, it took us a little bit longer to journey down the path of inclusion when it came to our non-sacramental life, things like marriage and ordination. In 2009, the ELCA approved the Faith and Sexuality social statement which was our first step in becoming a welcoming and affirming denomination. With the advent of this statement, the door of ordination was opened to LGBTQIA+ folks who felt a calling from God, people like my sister who thought they could never pursue their calling because of who they loved. From that moment on, ELCA pastors were also given the authority to bless and perform marriages of all forms. The hope would be that they would inform their congregations of all ceremonies performed so that the congregation could also join in the welcoming and acceptance of this gift, but ultimately the decision lie with the pastor of the weddings they would participate in.
From 2009 on, the RIC process has become a hallmark of ELCA churches and institutions around the country.
Groups of God’s children proclaiming that they want to openly commit to being welcoming and affirming to all of their siblings. So no, we are most definitely not alone, nationally or locally.
As of right now, there are 1,055 communities in the United States with an RIC designation, including 5 of our 7 ELCA seminaries, 50 campus ministries, and 2 Lutheran colleges. There are 303 communities, just like us in the midst of the process as we speak.
And if you’re wondering...well maybe that’s just on a national scale, you need look no further than the Peninsula itself to find partners in this process. Our siblings at Apostles in Gloucester and St. Andrew’s in Portsmouth have both achieved RIC status, and our siblings at St. Paul’s in Hampton and First in Norfolk are in the process just like us.
Now, if you want to explore more on your own, you can always navigate to the reconciling works homepage: reconcilingworks.org—their home page lists the most recent partners in the RIC process. The homepage statement reads in part: “You are not alone. Supporters of LGBTQIA+ people and families are not the minority in our Lutheran church, but are the growing majority.”
We know there have been a lot of questions about process and timeline, and RIC fully embraces the Lutheran mentality of gray areas because the RIC process is without a timeline. It is a process that allows for education and conversation with the whole community so that we can walk alongside each other and reach this point of welcome and affirmation together. We acknowledge that it takes time. There is an end goal toward which we are working, and when the time comes, we will vote as a congregation on becoming the next RIC church. We are focused in this current, dedicated way because we are in the process. Once completed, RIC will become part of our identity as a congregation. This is not something that we go through and never speak of again. This is a process of Trinity becoming something new.
We are all on the journey of following Jesus' commandments. None of us are at the end of that journey-we are just working on different areas, and this is one area on which Trinity is focusing at this time.
Below, find a version of the form that was distributed at church on Sunday, highlighting what the RIC team has done this past year. We look forward to doing even more in the coming year as we continue this journey. All are welcome to join our team and we are excited about where we're going and what we are doing for our congregation and the folks in our local, and wider, communities.
The form read as follows (edited to remove personally identifying information):
With thanks that our congregation is on this journey together, the RIC team would like to share a brief overview of what we accomplished during the past year. We continue to work together on a journey toward boldly and loudly welcoming all of our siblings in Christ.
December of 2022:
Described the RIC process to the congregation
Reintroduced everyone to what RIC is all about
Introduced the question and answer boxes and outline for Ministry Moments
February of 2023-Black History Month:
Outlined the history of several important Black figures in Lutheran history
Shared a brief history of the oldest Lutheran church
March:
Mindfulness activity-recall a time you felt different or excluded
Reflection activity
April:
Overview of terminology
May:
Responses to comments from the question and answer box
Addressed question regarding sex-ed
June-Pride Month:
Viewing of the documentary Disclosure
Discussion forum on texts frequently cited from Scripture to support exclusion of LGBTQIA+ siblings and how those texts are misinterpreted or used out of context
Guest Pastor
Rainbow potluck and tie-dye event
July:
Prideful Moments
August:
Prom (the musical) at local theater
September:
Critical appraisal of Prom, with awards
October:
I Am From poem activity introduced during Ministry moment and continued at the church's annual picnic
November:
Phil's talk: Growing Up Gay and Isolated
As always, you may contact us using the RIC email, using the anonymous question and answer boxes located around the church, or you can speak to any of the Core Team members. We are honored to lead our church on this journey and hope our work continues to be that of God's hands in the world.
Your RIC Core Team,
Tricia, Sarah, Pastor T, Sue, Wendy, Susan, Phil, Kathy
Please feel free to tear off this portion and use it to record any questions, comments, concerns, or praise you have for the Core Team. You may leave these in one of our RIC boxes, or use the anonymous online form available soon on the church website. If you wish, you may give them to one of the Core Team members. We welcome and value your feedback, and are available to chat in person, via phone, text, or email. Find our blog at https://becomingmorewelcomingtrinitynn.blogspot.com.
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Name (optional) __________________________
Everyone is welcome to join the RIC team. Our next meeting is December 17 after worship/bell choir.
Last spring we put out a survey asking the Trinity congregants to provide some examples hymns, scripture, and imagery that they felt repres...
