Topics-2021-May
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Trinity Topics The Newsletter of Trinity Lutheran Church, Riverside CA Sharing God’s love, hope and forgiveness Trinity Lutheran Church Since 1893 Kent Tuohino, Pastor Volume 24, Issue 5, May2021 Worship In Person on Technology Grant Pentecost Sunday, May 23 for Livestreaming We are planning to resume in-person worship services at As we prepare to transition back to gathering in Trinity on Pentecost Sunday, May 23. The service will begin person, we know that some people will continue to at 9:30 am in our sanctuary, and will include Communion want to watch our worship services at home, for a and the Rite of Confirmation for Noah Gundrum. variety of reasons. During the past year of making Details on resuming in-person worship are still being de- our services available online, we have also been termined and will be announced in the coming weeks. We able to reconnect with members of our church will follow recommendations from the ELCA and from pub- family who are now living in other parts of the lic health officials. For indoor services, this means that country. And we know that newcomers will want to face masks must be worn and we will follow social distanc- be able to “visit” our church online before they do ing guidelines. Also, because singing can spread the virus so in person. For these and other reasons, we more than talking does, we will ask worshipers to refrain want to continue to make our worship services from singing in church. This includes anyone who has available for viewing online. been fully vaccinated. Music will still play a central role in Our church has recently been awarded a $5,000 our worship services, but we plan to use a smaller worship matching fund technology grant from the Pacifica team, instrumental music and pre-recorded videos. Synod. This grant is to be used to purchase cam- eras and other equipment needed to livestream our worship services effectively. This equipment will allow us to make our worship services availa- ble to watch online “live” on Sunday mornings. Our services will also be recorded and available to watch later on our YouTube channel. Since it is a matching grant, we need to provide $5,000 from our church to meet the grant require- Due to the pandemic, worship services and most other ments. If you would like to make a donation to help meetings are held online. Here is our typical schedule: with this, please indicate on your donation that it’s Sunday at 9:30 am: Worship Service (on YouTube) for the “technology grant” and make any checks payable to Trinity Lutheran Church. Thank you! Sunday at 10:30 am: Fellowship Time (via Zoom) Monday at 5:30 pm: BAT Dinner To Go Thursday at 7:00 pm: Bible Study Saturday at 8:00 am: BAT Breakfast To Go Mon.-Fri., 8:00 am to 12 pm: Church Office Open To watch our services, go online to YouTube.com and search for “Trinity Lutheran Church of Riverside.” Apply Now for a Trinity Scholarship! It’s time for students to apply for a Trinity Educational Scholarship. This scholarship is for any student who is a member of Trinity and plans to attend a secondary educational insti- tution (community college, university, trade school, graduate school or seminary). There is an application that needs to be completed, along with a letter of recommendation and a short essay. Application forms are avail- able from the church office. Don’t delay – the deadline to apply is May 31st! Foster Youth Graduation Event This year the 19th Annual Foster Youth Graduation Event will be held on June 9, 2021. This year’s event theme is “The Tassel was Worth the Hassle” and its goal is to celebrate the accomplishments of the youth in Foster Care with a special event that recognizes their achievements and to assist in pre- paring them for the next step in their lives. The Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) is asking for our help to make this graduation event an important and fun time. They are asking for donations of gift baskets, such as College Study Success, Kitchen Startup, Dorm Move-in, or baskets with an activity theme, such as Here is the title and description for the book for our May fun reading: a Movie Night or a Trip to the Beach. They are also requesting gift cards for Walmart, Target, Game The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules Stop, Best Buy, Forever 21, Amazon, and fast food A novel by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg or mid-range restaurants. Martha Andersson may be seventy-nine-years-old and Help us continue to support this great event by con- live in a retirement home, but that doesn’t mean she’s tributing items to include in a basket, or an entire ready to stop enjoying life. So when the new manage- basket(!), or gift cards. If you prefer, you can make a ment of Diamond House starts cutting corners to save cash contribution to assist in purchasing items for money, Martha and her four closest friends — The Ge- the baskets. Information on how we as a church can nius, The Rake, Christina and Anna-Gretta (a.k.a. The support this program is available in the office, in- League of Pensioners) — won’t stand for it. Fed up cluding a suggested list of items to include in each with early bedtimes and overcooked veggies, this basket, or by contacting Brenda S. Lussier by email group of feisty seniors sets about to regain their inde- or phone. pendence, improve their lot, and stand up for seniors everywhere. Their solution? White collar crime. What begins as a relatively straightforward robbery of a nearby luxury hotel quickly escalates into an unsolvable heist at the National Museum. With police baffled and the Mafia hot on their trail, the League of Pensioners has to stay one walker’s length ahead if it’s going to succeed.... The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules is a de- lightful and heartwarming novel that goes to prove the adage that “it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” Read it and then join us for our discussion on May 25 at 6:30 pm. Contact me with any questions. — Brenda S. Lussier “The good of a book lies in it being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in turn speak Here are some examples of graduation gift baskets. of things.” ― Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose Steve Anderson Update Many Trinity members know Steve Anderson (he is a member of Eden Lutheran Church). He has been studying to become an ELCA pastor and is nearly finished with his seminary education. He is completing a year of internship in West Virginia. On April 15 he posted this news on his Facebook page: Praise God from whom all blessings flow... Today the Pacifica Synod of the ELCA approved me for call and ordination in Word and Sacrament Ministry. We are also returning home to Pacifica for my first call, and I’m excited to see what God has planned. Many thanks to all who have prayed tirelessly and offered so much support over these past many years. May you each be blessed ten-fold. 2 Thursday Night Bible Study Pastor’s Paragraphs This weekly Bible study meets online at 7:00 pm Our church has been through many changes this past each Thursday, and focuses on the upcoming Sun- year, and now we are getting ready to change again. day Scripture reading. If you’d like to participate, let Public health restrictions are gradually easing up, and Pastor Kent know. He will email you the discussion we are preparing to resume in-person worship services questions along with a link to the Zoom meeting. on Pentecost Sunday, May 23. The piano in the sanctu- ary will soon be tuned, and we have recently installed a Your word is a lamp new video projector to replace the one that went kaput to my feet and around the time the pandemic began. We are also plan- a light to my path. ning on installing new cameras and other video equip- — Psalm 119:105 ment for livestreaming our worship services. But even as we look forward to gathering again for worship in our sanctuary, I must remind you to expect Sunday Readings things to be different. The pandemic is not over, and unless health guidelines permit otherwise, we will ex- May 2: 5th Sunday of Easter pect people to wear face masks when we gather in- 1 John 4:7-12; Acts 16:10-15, 40 doors and to refrain from singing. I know for some folks who don’t like to sing, that won’t be a problem — but for May 9: 6th Sunday of Easter the rest of us, it’s hard to think of not being able to sing Psalm 98; John 15:9-17 in church! But that is the recommendation from our bishop and public health officials. Music will still be an May 16: Ascension of Our Lord important part of our worship service, but we will listen Psalm 47; Acts 1:1-11 and hum along with the song leaders instead of belting May 23: Pentecost Sunday out the words. And don’t forget that clapping along with the music and moving your feet are still permitted! Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Acts 2:1-21 I also expect that there will be people who won’t feel May 30: Trinity Sunday comfortable coming to church just yet, and may not feel Psalm 29; John 3:1-17 comfortable for quite a while.