Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Newstead

Today we celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Let us give thanks for freedom and pray for an end to oppression everywhere, using the words of ELCA Worship's Juneteenth Observance Prayer of the Day.

Today, we remember the nine martyrs of Mother Emanuel Church with a day of prayer to end racism and white supremacy. The Emanuel Nine, of blessed and eternal memory, were nine gifted, loving, and faithful people who spent their lives striving for excellence, connection, and the presence of God, and spent their last moments in study of the word. They leave a legacy of grace, resistance, family, and faith. Please mourn, pray, and celebrate the Emanuel Nine's legacy with us. https://elca.org/emanuelnine

Trinity Pandemic Precautions Update Greetings Trinity, [Jesus said] You shall love your neighbor as yourself.... -Matthew 22:39 At our June 8th council meeting, we discussed the evolving CDC and New York State guidelines around pandemic precautions. While we know that many who come to church are fully vaccinated, there are some who are not, particularly our youngest people under the age of 12. While the pandemic is by no means over (despite growing vaccination and low infection numbers), there is good ventilation that we can provide in the sanctuary in the summer months. Keeping these things in mind, we are adopting the following updates to our worship pandemic precautions: Masks and physical distancing will continue to be required throughout the building for ALL persons vaccinated and unvaccinated. o There is an exception for fully-vaccinated persons and only in the sanctuary where masks may be removed once seated and physically distanced. When you leave your seat, please wear your mask. Singing as a whole congregation will begin again. Unvaccinated persons will need to remain masked to sing. Communion in the aisle (coming forward to receive the elements) will begin again. Everyone coming forward will need to stay physically distanced and wear a mask until you receive your communion elements, at which time you may briefly remove your mask. Masks will not be required for outdoor worship (ex.: Worship in the Park) but have a mask handy in case we need to move indoors or if you need to access indoor restrooms. These updates will take effect the weekend of our Sunday, June 20th worship service. The council and I feel that these updates are gradual but significant steps in moving towards life after the pandemic. We will still regularly monitor updates and adjust things as needed to best keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. Your faithfulness and honesty are greatly appreciated as we make these updates. I invite you to take a moment and reflect on what emotions this letter stirs in you. Some will feel frustrated that we are moving too slowly. Others may feel fear that we are easing restrictions in the slightest. My hope is that we all might give and receive grace. Grace for ourselves and grace for those who feel differently than we do. Grace for leadership that is trying its best to be faithful and grace for our community doing its best to proclaim the Gospel in thought, word, and deed. Let us love one another by extending the grace God has first given to us. We hope to see and sing with you in worship over the summer. There are several other opportunities for us to gather as community outdoors as well. And as always if you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to a council member or myself, so you can be heard, and we can address things as needed. Blessings, Pastor Rick MG & the Trinity council

[Jesus] said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is ...the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade (Mark 4:30-32). See more

Kids! Don't forget to join us tomorrow for Sunday School! Following worship at 10:30 am., feel free to bring a friend!

TONIGHT! Join us for an evening of great conversation, s’mores and devotions. Bring a lawn chair and your own snacks and drinks if s’mores aren’t your thing. All ages are welcome! Kids could play in the field and parking lot while adults hang out around the fire. Thursday Campfires will be from 7:00-8:30 pm on June 10 & 24. In the case of inclement weather, it will be cancelled for that week.... If things go well, we’ll set more dates for the rest of the summer. Hope you can make it! See more

BOO!!! Hope we didn't scare you too much! We're getting ready for Trinity's Online Halloween Party tomorrow evening on Zoom starting at 7 pm! Let us know if you want a party bag with our crafts and to participate! #wearetrinity #halloween #sundayschool

Oops! We recently discovered that the last three weeks' worth of worship services were not being carried on our YouTube livestream. We believe the issue has been fixed and livestreams will resume this coming Sunday, November 1, for All Saints Day. Our apologies to those of you who have missed our services on YouTube! Do check out our YouTube channel by searching for 'Trinity Akron' and give us a subscribe!

Here's a little something for youth-types to be a part of this week leading up to Halloween!

Hope you'll join us for Reformation Sunday tomorrow morning at 9:30 am! Wear read if you got it! AND... If case you weren't aware, we livestream all of our worship services to watch live or later on YouTube! Click on over, click on that Subscribe button (something really cool happens when we hit 100 subscribers!) and still be a part of our community even if you aren't physically there!... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMkf15eYF1YGMxA0HIUxfoA

Bags will be ready for pickup on Sunday! You can RSVP here, message us, or contact the church office at: [email protected] to let us know how many kids you have participating. (So that we know how many bags you'll need.) Looking forward to seeing your costumes! Everyone from the community is welcome.

It's officially food pantry week in Akron and Newstead! Grateful for the support of community partners!

Our new website is taking shape! One of the new things we can do is add blog posts, like this one...it's an update on the Congregational Vitality Training that Trinity has been a part of this fall. See our remaining schedule of sessions, and watch past session videos too! https://www.trinlc.com/post/congregational-vitality-training

https://fb.me/e/3zf6iA4ez

Last weekend was chowder weekend around Trinity. It was fantastic serving up some home cookin' for our community! Thanks so much to all who came out to help 24-7 to prep, cook and serve up some hardy goodness! #chowder #trinityakronny #newsteadny #lutheranchurchwny #buffalutheran #wny #upstatenysynod

We join our voices with our Presiding Bishop for the president, first lady and all affected...

Here's an update on our faith formation programs as we head into fall for our Sunday School, confirmation and youth group. There's even guest appearances from our Sunday School staff! https://youtu.be/SCsVXZifkXI

Every time we pray for God's will to be done in the Lord's prayer, and we love our neighbors as we live out Jesus' greatest commandment...this is a part of it. Every. Time.

Youth. Group. Is. Back. Grades 7-12 are invited...we'll be outside, physically distanced, but still connected in the Spirit!