Clunky Questions

In our monthly Faith, Friends, & Fellowship discussion group we have begun working through the "Clunky Questions" online resource from Reconciling Works. Come join us on the 2nd Sunday of each month, immediately after services, to join in on the learning and discussion. You can also take a look at their website for yourself if you'd like to learn more.

"We often hear people with good intentions feel they aren’t able to ask questions about what it means to be LGBTQIA+ because they are afraid of offending someone or they don’t have the right words with which to ask. If this sounds familiar, or if your faith community is interested in how to better support LGBTQIA+ Lutherans, then the “Clunky Questions” series is for you. Visit the ReconcilingWorks website to watch some short videos where Lutherans answer some of the most common questions asked about their LGBTQIA+ identities."

Watch Clunky Questions - Season One: LGBTQIA+ Lutherans and Season Two: LGBTQIA+ Lutheran Pastors HERE.

Who Is Trinity? - A list of art, imagery, and objects that represent our faith community

 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.

Discussion topic: "For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies"

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.

Article: For Our White Friends Desiring to be Allies

Who Is Trinity - a list of hymns that represent our Faith Community

April Ministry Moment - Beginning a new phase in our RIC journey

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!

What scripture passages or Bible stories do you think best describe our faith community at Trinity Lutheran Church?	Scripture Reference	Scripture Text
Ethiopian Eunich	Acts 8: 26-39	Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch 26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing.
40 years in the desert (staying together in times of adversity)	Deuteronomy 8: 1-20	A Warning Not to Forget God in Prosperity 1 “The entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 The clothes on your back did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these forty years. 5 Know, then, in your heart that, as a parent disciplines a child, so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, 9 a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. 11 “Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes that I am commanding you today. 12 When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them 13 and when your herds and flocks have multiplied and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous[a] snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you and in the end to do you good. 17 Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. 19 If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Galatians 3:28 NIV	Galatians 3:28 NIV	28 There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
John 1 - In the beginning was the light.. I vividly remember Pastor Chip reading this on Christmas Eve and at the end of the reading it was midnight and the end of the service and he said Merry Christmas. It reminds me that it all began with Light and the Word… we as Trinity are that light and that word.	John 1: 1-5	The Word Became Flesh 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
The woman at the well	John 4: 7-30	7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)[a] 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir,[b] you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir,[c] give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir,[d] I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you[e] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you[f] will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You[g] worship what you[h] do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[i] the one who is speaking to you.” 27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,[j] can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
The Good Samaritan Parable	Luke 10: 30-37	30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Good Samaritan- The unclean Samaritan "broke" the cultural rules and cared for the robbed and beaten Jew in the ditch by the road, even when the respected Jews walked on by. I'd like to think that the Trinity community follows the Gospel's Golden Rule and helps others, even those society turns their backs on.	Luke 10: 30-37
Feeding of the many with fish and loaves	Matthew 14: 13-21 Mark 6: 30-44	Feeding the Five Thousand 13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Matthew 18: 19-20 - "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."	Matthew 18: 19-20	19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Love one another	Matthew 22: 34-39	The Greatest Commandment 34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:39 - "...you shall love your neighbor as yourself."	Matthew 22: 34-39
"Love one another." I think the members of the Trinity family for the most part, do a great job of loving and supporting each other; and I think that, through projects like the Thrive garden, the red food box, and the RIC initiative, we're getting better at spreading that love and care beyond the walls of the building and beyond our members.	Matthew 22:39
Sermon on the mount	Matthew 5: 1-12 (The Beatitudes)	The Beatitudes 5 When Jesus[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he began to speak and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Romans 12: 4-5 "Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are the one body in christ and individually members of one another."	Romans 12: 1-8	The New Life in Christ 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Romans 15:7 NIV	Romans 15:7 NIV	The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike 7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

February Ministry Moment: Who Is TLC? - a brief history

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.

- - - - - - - -

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!

January Ministry Moment: "Your Questions Answered" segment

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.