July 2020

Trinity Lutheran Church

Villa Park, IL


	*Always Growing in Christ*

A Letter From Pastor

Dear Christian Family,

As we enter the heart of summer, we have come through the worst of the pandemic and lockdown, and we are seeing things slowly return to normal. Be sure to take time to thank God that he has seen our congregation through this crisis. His blessings are amazing and he just continues reigning them down upon us. Many business, hospitals and restaurants were damaged beyond recovery by the “shelter-in-place” order, but as I speak with pastors around the country, the Church seems to have weathered it quite well. Our Lord is amazing and we need never doubt his guiding hand.

I am thrilled to see so many of you returning to worship now. We never closed during the pandemic because our Lord calls us to worship him on the Sabbath and that is what we did regardless of civil authorities who tried to legislate the Church. They discovered, as many rulers have in the past, that some of God’s ministers do not recognize their authority to tell the Church when she can hold worship services and when she cannot. I know that there was risk involved in continuing to have services and we took all reasonable precautions against the virus. Praise God that we were spared from any negative repercussions from worshiping together during the worst of the pandemic. A pandemic lasts for up to two years and there is a great chance that there will be no vaccine, so the Church cannot put public worship on hold for that amount of time. On March 15th, I asked, “What will be different on March 31st?" Nothing was different, nor on April 30th nor May 31st. Finally, when churches made their way to the United States Supreme Court, Governor Pritzker withdrew his mandates with regard to worship services and we could worship again without threat from the government. That was a great moment in religious freedom and we attribute all glory for that and for keeping us safe to Jesus.

Now, we continue to worship and the virus is still with us as it will be for another 18 months. We are taking reasonable precautions and have not yet restarted social events. I am hopeful that by fall we will be okay with starting Sunday School back up and Confirmation will restart in the Fall as well. Confirmation Day for last year’s class will be on Reformation Sunday, October 25, 2020.

Remember to keep thanking God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon us and remember that our worship is and will continue to be live-streamed every Sunday for those who need to continue worshiping at home. I think we will continue live-streaming forever. That was one of the really good things that came out of this experience. Also remember that I will begin live-streaming a Bible Study on Psalms and Acts beginning October 27th at 6 pm. For those who would like to attend in person, I will be live-streaming from the Trinity Center at Trinity Lutheran Church.

May we all enjoy some rest this Summer as we relax in the palm of God’s hand, knowing that he has all things under control as he always has.

In His Service,

Pastor Rogers

Livestreaming

The 8 am Sunday Service continues to be livestreamed via facebook live, twitch and youtube. It is also placed on the Trinity website after the fact. If you cannot attend in person, we look forward to you joining us virtually.

Vacation Bible School

School is out for the Summer, and COVID-19 has changed many of our plans, but Trinity is still able to offer an alternative Vacation Bible School (VBS) format for the youth of Trinity and TCNS. This year's VBS will be an at home event! This online format is titled Armor of God and we will kick-off the series the week of July 20. While we're still working on the exact details, we plan to include ready-to-go crafts, science experiments, and activities for you to pick up ahead of time on July 18th, along with links to videos, songs, and bible stories to support our themes. We even hope to do some live Zoom read-alouds / bible studies with the older kids throughout the week. If you would like to sign up your child(ren), please use the link below. VBS is for children age 3 - entering grade 5. Register here: https://forms.gle/WxenchzBrtdTsY327 Once you are registered, the VBS Director will contact you with updated details for picking up materials, participating in Zooms, etc. as those details are made available. For more information, contact Lisa Ticaric at lisa@firepipes.org


	Other Christian Education News... Sunday School Teacher Needed. For Fall, 2020, the Trinity Sunday School Program needs a teacher for grades 6 thru 8. For details, please contact Heidi Alvarez at 630/715-2139, or Henry Meier, Jr. at 708/386-2897 or hmeier404@yahoo.com. We, and the children of the Trinity Sunday School, thank you for your consideration. Board of Christian Education Board Member Needed. A member of the Trinity Board of Christian Education recently resigned. The Board is seeking a Trinity member to fill this position. The Board is responsible for the Trinity Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Adult Bible classes and the Trinity Christian Nursery School. If the Lord so leads you and for details, please contact Henry Meier, Jr. at 708/386-2897 or hmeier404@yahoo.com. Trinity thanks you for your consideration.

TRINITY CHRISTIAN NURSERY SCHOOL

TCNS is looking for a qualified sub to add to our list! If you have a background in early childhood education and availability, please reach out to Tracy at directorTCNS@trinityvp.com

Love Your Neighbor Day

Saturday, Sept. 19th, 2020 To Be Held With Safety Precautions

Again this year, Trinity will join The Christian Church of Villa Park, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lombard and other area churches for the 6th annual Love Your Neighbor Day.

Applications are now being accepted from homeowners in the Villa Park/Lombard area who are having difficulty keeping up with work around their homes because of financial or physical limitations and who could benefit from a group of people volunteering at their home for a day. This year, all work will be in the yard or on the exterior of the home to protect both the homeowner and the volunteers. The work will be done by small groups of volunteers from local churches and the community who sign up to work together. Homeowners can rest assured that no one will be going into their home and all volunteers will be practicing social distancing. On Love Your Neighbor Day 2019 over 90 volunteers provided assistance to 24 homeowners.

If you or someone you know could use help from your neighbors, you are encouraged to apply now. Applications and more information can be obtained on the Christian Church of Villa Park website at www.ccvponline.net, by sending an e-mail to loveyourneighbor15@yahoo.com, or by leaving a message at 630/833-7262. The deadline for submitting homeowner applications is August 28, 2020.

Trinity will sending a group to help as well. A sign-up sheet will be placed in the narthex next month or contact Marna Rundgren for more information at marnarundgren@gmail.com.

Directory Updates

We are sending out the sermon, worship folder & announcements each week via email. If you are not receiving this email from the church, please provide your email address to Margaret. You can do this via email: margaret@trinityvp.com or call the office, 630-834-3440. Also, please remember to advise the church office if you have a change of address/phone/email or if your birthday or anniversary are not appearing in the bulletin. Thank you.

Growing in Prayer

Our prayer group continues to meet Wednesdays at 6:30 pm in the Trinity Center.

Join us as we learn about prayer and gather together to pray.

Save the Date

October 27th at 6pm

Book of Acts & Psalms Bible Study - Live at the Trinity Center and Streamed Via Facebook Live

Worship Services

Saturdays 4:30 pm

Sundays 8 am & 10:30 am


	Each month you will receive a newsletter from Trinity in your email. If you have any upcoming news, events, photos or other information to share, please email Marna Rundgren @ marnarundgren@gmail.com