Beloved of Christ,

Labor Day is past and we are now in unofficially in Fall. It seems to be cliché, but things look different then in the past. Specifically, I wanted to mention Faith Formation. You can look for ways to form your faith in three primary ways this fall. The details are being worked out still, but the following should give you an overview of how to participate in what is going on here at Holy Trinity.

Sunday School – We are going to partner with Luther Crest Bible Camp to bring you faith formation activities for children up through 6th grade. They will produce a weekly Children’s Sermon for worship (while we are still online) and also “Sunday School Lessons” that will include a skit, bible story and song. These will be in video form and made available on our website. This will begin the first week in October and look for more information to come.

Confirmation – In the past, we met monthly for food, games, learning and meditation. This year, we are changing gears and will use the “6 Marks of Discipleship” for the youth to practice their faith weekly and then gather virtually to discuss how things went each month. The “6 Marks” we will be using are: Pray, Worship, Read/Learn about Scripture, Serve, Give, Encourage. If you have a youth in 7th grade and older that would like to participate, please contact me. We meet for the first time this coming Sunday, Sept. 13th at 6pm, here at church, under the tent.

Intergenerational – A weekly email will be produced by our Faith Coordinator, Faith Bygd, that all people are welcome to subscribe to. It will consist of links to the content provided by Luther Crest along with other questions/activities/ ideas to form faith at home. This could include a weekly meal grace, bedtime blessing, craft or activity, weekly question, daily scripture reading, book suggestions, podcast and article recommendations. As with “Sunday School” this will begin the first week in October. Look for more information to come. Also, we will meet weekly on Tuesdays at 5pm, for as long as the weather allows, under the tent, to learn camp songs, practice the FAITH 5 and eat dinner together (BYOD, Bring Your Own Dinner).

Adult – Multiple opportunities on a variety of topics will be offered for people to meet via zoom to learn about and discuss. This will include a continuation of BYOB^2 (Bring Your Own Bible and Beverage with Pastor Tim) and other books or relevant ideas let by other members of the congregation. Also, don’t forget, while the weather permits, we are meeting on Tuesday evenings at 7pm, under the tent, for music, scripture and prayer. These have been well attended and well received.

I believe there is some silver lining to all that is happening right now, concerning the pandemic. We are forced to think about faith formation in new ways, which in all honesty, has needed to happen, for all churches. We are being forced to come up with ideas that we may not have considered before and might have been resistant to. We are no longer dependent on people coming to the building to learn, but rather, will learn in our homes and throughout the rest of our lives.

Some of what we attempt and try will work out great. Some will go “fine” and require some tweaking. Some will fail miserably and we will move on from it. Who knows? We won’t know unless we try. Thanks for being willing to try.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Tim