Some Good News…
Dear Friends in Faith,
Good News! Trinity will be re-opening for in-person worship and ministry on the 27th of this month. We have been monitoring various metrics related to COVID, and have observed a consistent, rapid improvement that will allow us to re-open safely in just a couple of weeks!
We give God thanks and praise for the slowing spread of the virus. Not only will this improvement allow us to gather safely once again in the house of God, but we rejoice that it will mean so much less suffering in our community and in our world.
While it was a cruel irony that the explosive growth of Omicron in mid-December forced us to gather only virtually at the very time that we celebrate God coming to us in Human flesh, it will be sweet indeed to celebrate the blessings of Christian community once again, whatever the time of year!
You should know that we have a special service planned for our first Sunday back. Our own Dr. Dave Fodor will lead a talented ensemble of musicians in a jazz service written by Dan Keberle, originally for my congregation in Spokane, WA - St. Mark’s Lutheran.
In addition to worship, children’s programming will resume on the 27th. Lauren has already begun to communicate with our families regarding the re-start of Sunday school programming (which was paused during the outbreak) and confirmation instruction, which had not met in person during our most recent closure. We’ll share more details on all of this in the weeks to come.
Just a week ago, I sent a letter to the congregation sharing the disappointing news that our Director of Worship and Music, Beau Surratt, was leaving us to pursue other dreams. While we are saddened by Beau’s departure, we are continuing to move forward with our ministry, and have made good progress filling the many voids created by his departure.
With Beau’s help, we have been able to arrange musicians to play for all of our services through Easter Sunday. Our own Bob Bakke has very graciously offered to lead both our bell choir and vocal choir until such time as a permanent replacement for Beau is found. Rehearsals will begin Thursday evenings in March. My deep gratitude to Bob, whose commitment reflects a deep love for God, for Trinity, and for music! Be looking for more detailed information in the weeks to come.
In addition to what we’ve done to fill immediate needs created by Beau’s departure, we have also begun work on finding a new director of worship and music. We have re-constituted the Director of Worship and Music search committee, with Holly Ruch-Ross agreeing to reprise her role as chairperson of the group. All but one prior committee member signed on to help with the search. This time around we added another wonderfully talented member to our search committee - Vicki Donati.
The aforementioned committee met on Monday Feb. 7th and reviewed the position description we had crafted (with substantial congregational input) in early 2021. With that work complete, we expect to post the position yet this week. Hopefully, applications will follow soon thereafter! We ask your prayers for this process, that it might bring us a new partner in ministry who, like Beau, will be a great blessing to our church community, and a great fit for our congregation.
I look forward to seeing you all again very soon!
In Christ,
Pastor Brown
Trinity Lutheran Church
3637 Golf Road
Evanston IL 60203
847-673-8564
office@trintiyevanston.org
www.trinityevanston.org
