Dear Holy Trinity Friends,
Over the past months, the Church Council together with the Call Committee have been praying, studying, and discussing how to best prepare for the next chapter of our congregational journey. We are all beginning to understand that we are living in a world that is not the same as our pre-pandemic world. Despite frequent references in the media to “getting back to normal” after the pandemic, we know the normal of years ago will not be returning. We have seen changes in our church, our nation, our world view, our neighborhoods, our work, and our play. Seeking out ways for our church to thrive in this new world that is still evolving is indeed challenging.
We believe we have a plan that will help us to best thrive in this new world, and meet the challenges it poses. Our plan doesn’t look like a “typical” call, but one that we are convinced will provide Holy Trinity with a firm foundation for the future. The Call Committee has unanimously recommended that we call Pastor Luther Zeigler as a part-time, “three season” pastor. We believe most of you will join us in enthusiastically affirming that over the past year Pastor Luther has provided us with spiritual direction and growth to us individually and collectively. The model we are suggesting is having Pastor Luther with us on Sundays and Wednesdays as we have up until now, with additional time to expand his ministry to provide leadership in areas such as faith formation, worship, property use and management, and administration. He will meet regularly with a Mutual Ministry Team to ensure that both his needs and those of the Congregation are continually evaluated and met. Pastor Luther will be continuing his work with the summer congregation in Massachusetts, which includes summer Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Christmas Eve, and Easter services. We will be working to determine how best to maintain our worship schedule at HTELC when Pastor Luther cannot be with us. During the summer of 2023, Pastor Don Larsen will be with us on Sundays and Wednesdays. Next summer, Pastor Luther has said he could be with us for a mid-week eucharist service and work with us to design alternative worship formats.
This is certainly not a “normal” call, nor has it been a “normal” call process but these are not the “normal” times of before. We can say with certainty that the Synod has walked with us on this journey and is supporting this effort 100%. Council and call committee are embracing this venture and believe it will provide an avenue to lead us to a new era of spiritual growth, love and service at Holy Trinity. The specifics of how this arrangement will evolve will change over time. It will require many of us here to become more involved on Committees and Teams. Pastor Luther will guide us, but we will need to do much of the work. We have all had many questions as we started this journey, as most likely do you. We will hold a meeting to answer questions on April 16 after worship. Pastor Luther will be worshipping with us at the service on the 16th and will join us for the discussion. On April 30 Pastor Steven Wilco from the NE Synod will be with us at the vote to call Pastor Luther Zeigler to Holy Trinity.
We look forward to being with you during Holy Week and at the meeting on April 16, and formal Call process on April 30. We will be providing more specific information in the coming weeks.
With Joy and Hope,
Dick Topping, Chair Call Committee
Judy Evans, President, Congregation Council