Music on the Blacktop 2010 -
Wednesday - August 25 - 6:30 p.m.
Live Music • Free Ice Cream • Christians Having Fun
*And join us for our Preschool Book Fair and Blood Drive
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
TiM Farewell
Farewell Letter from Pastor Emmy
When my time began here, many of you said two years would go by quickly. I didn’t believe you, but you were right. These past two years have been filled with learning and growing. You warmly welcomed me and encouraged me during my time in your midst. At a recent retreat, a presenter invited our group to think about experiences using our five senses. As I prepare to leave Trinity Lutheran Church, here are some of sights, sounds, smells, feels and tastes I will carry with me.
Trinity Lutheran Church…
• looks like sleepy 6th-8th graders tromping into the building on dark Wednesday mornings for release time, an overflowing sanctuary on Christmas Eve, hands creating quilts and small groups of people gathered together in a variety of places throughout the week.
• sounds like children in the daycare playing, the buzz of caring conversation, laughter, organ music, the Worship, Too! Band with saxophone riffs and two-hundred people praying the Lord’s Prayer in unison.
• smells like Easter Lilies, coffee brewing, 9th graders piled in a bus on the way to Camp Emmaus, fresh winter breezes and warm summer sunshine.
feels like solid handshakes, caring hugs, tears of compassion, soft prayer shawls and baptismal water droplets.
• tastes like Music on the Blacktop ice-cream with many toppings, open faced cheez-whiz sandwiches with a green olive in the middle, Wednesday night pizza with youth and Sunday morning bread & wine.
Through you, the people of Trinity Lutheran Church, I experienced Christian community in new ways. You make the good news of Jesus Christ come alive in vibrant, life giving ways. Words of thanksgiving fall short in expressing my gratitude for the time I have shared in this community. I can simply say - what a joy it’s been to share life with you! I wrap up my time as your pastor in the middle of July. Later this summer, I will begin sharing in ministry with Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Valley City, ND as an associate pastor. In these bittersweet days, I give thanks for my time with you and look forward to engaging in mission with a new community, knowing that my experiences created a solid foundation for me as I continue in ministry.
Pastor Emmy
When my time began here, many of you said two years would go by quickly. I didn’t believe you, but you were right. These past two years have been filled with learning and growing. You warmly welcomed me and encouraged me during my time in your midst. At a recent retreat, a presenter invited our group to think about experiences using our five senses. As I prepare to leave Trinity Lutheran Church, here are some of sights, sounds, smells, feels and tastes I will carry with me.
Trinity Lutheran Church…
• looks like sleepy 6th-8th graders tromping into the building on dark Wednesday mornings for release time, an overflowing sanctuary on Christmas Eve, hands creating quilts and small groups of people gathered together in a variety of places throughout the week.
• sounds like children in the daycare playing, the buzz of caring conversation, laughter, organ music, the Worship, Too! Band with saxophone riffs and two-hundred people praying the Lord’s Prayer in unison.
• smells like Easter Lilies, coffee brewing, 9th graders piled in a bus on the way to Camp Emmaus, fresh winter breezes and warm summer sunshine.
feels like solid handshakes, caring hugs, tears of compassion, soft prayer shawls and baptismal water droplets.
• tastes like Music on the Blacktop ice-cream with many toppings, open faced cheez-whiz sandwiches with a green olive in the middle, Wednesday night pizza with youth and Sunday morning bread & wine.
Through you, the people of Trinity Lutheran Church, I experienced Christian community in new ways. You make the good news of Jesus Christ come alive in vibrant, life giving ways. Words of thanksgiving fall short in expressing my gratitude for the time I have shared in this community. I can simply say - what a joy it’s been to share life with you! I wrap up my time as your pastor in the middle of July. Later this summer, I will begin sharing in ministry with Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Valley City, ND as an associate pastor. In these bittersweet days, I give thanks for my time with you and look forward to engaging in mission with a new community, knowing that my experiences created a solid foundation for me as I continue in ministry.
Pastor Emmy
Farewell Letter from Valerie Nielsen
Dear Trinity Friends,
When my husband Ron and I moved to Moorhead, we visited one church that fall… Trinity. We joined soon thereafter. It was a good decision! Little did I realize the wealth of blessing in store for both of us, but especially for me after being hired to work on Trinity’s staff with Small Group Ministry and the Transition into Ministry Program. Working alongside the people of Trinity, the many gifted leaders, the pastors and staff has been among the greatest of blessings in my life. For this I am very grateful and I will forever treasure the people and the memories that I will carry with me.
At the end of July, we will be moving from the community to our new home in Plymouth, Minnesota. We will be nearer our children and our precious grandchild, and this part of our plan gives us great joy! It is with a heavy heart, however, that we leave Trinity. There are few words that could truly express my gratitude for the tremendous support, enthusiasm, and caring concern shown over the years for Small Group Ministry, TiM, and for me personally. So I simply say thank you for the privilege and thanks be to God! I will miss you!
Peace and Joy,
Valerie Nielsen
Pastor Marsha
Farewell Letter from Pastor Marsha
Dear friends in Christ,
As you all know too well, two years go by quickly! I can hardly believe I am saying farewell to all of my dear friends and colleagues here at Trinity. As I think back on our time together, I think of so many ministries and so many good times we had together. I think of traveling to Haiti, building a Habitat house, selling fair trade coffee, hunger banquets, small groups, meals together, chatting in the hallways of Trinity, worshiping together, and being united with all of you around the communion table each week. With all of that and more running through my mind and heart, I am full of gratitude. Thank you for welcoming me into this community and for helping me figure out what it means to be a pastor. Thank you for your hospitality to me and for your continued hospitality to first-call pastors. Supporting first-call pastors is an important ministry for which Trinity is uniquely suited, and I hope you will continue to nurture young pastors for many years to come.
As for what is next for me, my last Sunday at Trinity will be June 13, and then I will return to Moorhead for the TiM farewell celebration on Sunday, July 11. And on a happier note, I will be married on June 19 to Brian Ballantine. We are incredibly excited to begin this new chapter of our life together and to finally live in the same city! I will be moving to Berkeley, CA, where Brian is pursuing an MDiv at the Jesuit School of Theology, and I will serve as a hospital chaplain at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley for at least one year. After that, who knows!
Life is truly an adventure, and I am so glad I got to spend part of my adventure with all of you. Thank you for being a blessing to me and to many others. I carry you with me as I go – full of lessons-learned, joy and struggles shared, and full of the love of our Lord Jesus, which brings us together and then inevitably sends us out to live our faith boldly in new and exciting ways. I will miss you, but I know that whether we are in Minnesota or California, we are there with God who unites us in the body of Christ.
Grace and peace to you all,
Pastor Marsha
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