Coming home

Dear Trinity friends,

You will have received on Wednesday the summary results of Trinity's Holy Cow Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT). We had a very robust response so the results are a significant and valuable to guide your Vestry, Clergy, and Strategic Planning Team as we move forward with Vison150--our communal vision for Trinity now and in the future. Thank you all who participated in the survey and those of you who will participate in the upcoming Listening Sessions. We hope to hear from people of all ages. (see below in the Window to register for an in person Listening Session).

I return from vacation, come home to you, with a spirit of hope and enthusiasm for our life together in faith at Trinity Concord. We live in a complicated and unsettling world. The tragic events of sickening violence just this week break my heart for those who died, their loved ones, and for all of us as we watch our country filled with increasing violence and hatred.

As people of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to hold fast to Jesus, to live as those with hope and act as those who know and trust in the redeeming power of the Resurrection to new life. Our hope and faith is in God's great mercy and love for all whom God has created. Each one of us. All our neighbors, our friends, and every human being. The questions we face are hard ones, and challenging ones:

• How do we live?

• How do we pray?

• How do we witness to a vision of wholeness and peace in such a broken world?

As human creatures, we do not know the answers by ourselves. We rely upon the God who created us and calls us "Beloved" to sustain us in our troubles. We rely upon each other as we gather in worship to sing and pray together. We receive the bread and the wine each week as Holy Sacraments to strengthen and heal us. We step out into the world as people of faith, proclaiming the Good News of God's love with courage and hope. We sorrow but "we do not sorrow as those without hope" as that lovely BCP prayer says. We come home to God when we give up our illusions of immortality and being in control. We come home to God when we pray "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

The photo above is about coming home! This was my beach bag for the past two weeks in New Jersey. This morning it was repurposed as the perfect way to bring all the supplies to celebrate Holy Eucharist with our friends at Newbury Court in the Duvall Chapel. Coming home from the beauty of the Jersey Shore, to the beauty and sacred community we share as followers of Jesus is a gift and a blessing. What a beautiful way to come home.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday as we "come home" together for the forum about Faith Formation, launch of Sunday School, worship, song, and a wonderful picnic!

Peace and blessings, with gratitude for our ministry together,

Nancy+

Photo: Just for fun photo--N. Hagner