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I can’t begin to understand the story of my giftedness for ministry without noting the influence of other brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the persistent planting of the seed to consider pursuing ordination by a host of pastors I worked with in outdoor ministry over several summers, I surely would not be serving as one of your pastors today. Thankfully, “ministry” takes a host of forms that go far beyond that of a pastor. This weekend, we find ourselves at the pinnacle of our “Stories to Tell/Gifts to Share” series as we reflect on many of the stories we’ve heard from members in recent weeks (also found on our website in case you missed them!) and the ways in our experiences in and through Holy Trinity have furthered the mission of Christ. First, November 14 is “Commitment Sunday,” when you’re challenged and encouraged to bring forward your “Faith Promise” you’ve been praying over, offering it as an act of worship. These commitments have proven to be essential to ministry, consistently providing over 90% of the income upon which we carry out our ministry. As we’ve noted, this next year will likely prove to be particularly challenging, so it’s essential that we all put our “best feet forward!”. Please share yours in a timely way so that our Visioning has the very best information in crafting an initial proposed ministry budget for 2022. If you’re unable to make it to worship in person, drop your card in the mail this week, if you would! It makes all the difference in determining what we can do! We’re going to be focusing on “spiritual gifts” this Sunday and the unique ways in which God has designed and equipped each of us for playing a vital role in God’s story! We’ll be sharing conversation with Angie Weiler, who has helped us focus on gift discernment as an important element in our ministry together. I’m intrigued about that dialog and hope that you may find it to be a refreshing and grace-filled approach to discerning how you might best serve as Christ’s disciple! I’m humbled by a spirit of Thanksgiving in this season of gratitude. I am thankful for each of you for the ways in which you love and serve your neighbors both within and beyond the congregation. I regard it as a high honor to share this journey of faith with you. Thank you for risking the vulnerability required to do so! Hope to see you Sunday (or Wednesday)! Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, Do you wonder what your church is up to especially when you are not in the building?? Just in the past month … We celebrated the gift of sewing, crafts, and compassion with the donation of quilts to Lutheran World Relief. Thank you to the Crafts at the Table for guiding and teaching us! Premise Keepers have faithfully continued to assist our custodian, Alex, to keep the building shining. Join the team on Monday Mornings at 8 a.m. for cleaning and conversation! Facilities Team is coordinating the installation of a new automated handicap entrance for the main doors. There was an anonymous donation to cover the entire cost. The use of this door will benefit so many people of all ages and capabilities. We are scheduled to have electricity wired to the doors next week. Men’s Small Group met on Thursday evenings. EVERYONE is invited to join them for a special servant event on November 11 from 1-3 p.m. They will be serving at Houses Into Homes. Please contact Pastor Ron Schardt at (elrons62@gmail.com) so they have an idea of how large the team will be! 15 Students were Confirmed as Members in a special Worship Service on October 24. Family Ministry has grown! We have learned about our Neighbors, carved pumpkins in the sanctuary with a special prayer, and had a special visit with Pastor Dirk from Free Indeed. Wednesday Youth Night (WYN!) Club 56 continues to grow! Family Ministry and Club 56 alternate curriculum so we can maximize our resources. High School Ministry continues to grow! Three of our members are on the North Liberty Volleyball Team and brought the team to Youth Group. We have an amazing team walking alongside our youth including Kent, Deb D., Deb B, Rachel, and Suzanne. Confirmation is led by Pastor Tim and his team as they study the Year of the Bible. WYN Worship has grown to be fairly consistent with 40-70 people each week. We had 16 households who hosted a Trunk for our first Trunk or Treat on October 31 We have stories of children, youth, and adults who had an afternoon of fun and outreach. Youth brought their friends to host a trunk, a grandfather brought his grandsons, children of all ages hosted, families went from trunk to trunk and collected a lot of treats, launched a stuffed pumpkin or two off the observation deck and celebrated amazing fellowship! Each week we have worshipped, prayed, walked along one another in our joys and our challenges. This coming weekend we will dig into a story about the beloved woman and her handful of coins as she shared her treasures! Intentional Discipleship opens up our hearts to joyful giving! Praise the Lord, Holy Trinity is vibrant inside and out! Blessings to you and your household, Pastor Katie

Dear Friends, In my very first seminary class, my professor was teaching in front of a crowded room and I was taking it all in. Out of the blue, she said something like, "See, Katie wears a cross." All eyes went directly on me. I quickly put my hand to my neck and covered the small golden cross that I had worn for years. My face went hot, my cheeks red, and I looked up at her with shock. Had I done something wrong by wearing a cross in a seminary? As she continued to teach, it became clear that she was in the midst of a teachable moment, not at my expense, but to get the class to focus on our intentions. Her lesson was on intentional discipleship. She taught about how Jesus' life and death wasn't then, nor it is now, a transaction for our lives. A life with Jesus isn't about fame and power; it is about a heart that is transformed to live like Jesus. She concluded her lesson by asking me why I wore the cross. I replied "When someone looks at it, it is a cross. But when I turn it up at me, it is the letters J and C, for Jesus Christ. It reminds me to whom I belong." If I had been able to think it through, I would have added that wearing my cross is a reminder to strengthen and humble me. I respond to a hurting world with courage and conviction that I am saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. I am loved and forgiven forever. Our Scripture for this weekend is Mark 10:35-45. This passage talks about knowing Jesus, following Jesus, and ultimately having a heart like Jesus for our neighbor. That has been our journey together for the past several weeks of "God's Word, Our Hands." I want to challenge you and me to go beyond the limited sermon series and ask ourselves daily: "To whom do I belong?" How will my neighbor know by my response to the hurts and joys of each day that Jesus is at the center of my world always (Mark 10:43-45)? We ask just as the disciples did: "What can I do?" We have provided for you in the newsletter, our bulletins, our website, and in the decór inside the building many ways to respond to the needs of our community. I invite you to take immediate action on yet another way to be part of the community. On October 31st from 3 to 5 p.m., Holy Trinity will host a Trunk or Treat. We will have cars lined up in the parking lot filled with simple decorations and lots of goodies to hand out. Children will go "Trunk or Treating" safely and as a community. How can you help? We need Trunks and we need Treats! Contact the church office or Pastor Katie if you can volunteer to host a trunk. Be on-site with your vehicle by 2:30 p.m.. The event runs from 3 to 5. We have a limited number of decorations if you need some help! We will see you on-site for Family Sunday School or worship on Sundays or at Wednesday Youth Night (WYN). Stay intentionally connected! Blessings to you and your household, Pastor Katie

I draft this post as a new chapter of life is due to unfold. My son and his wife, Evan and Beth, are now at the 40-week mark in their pregnancy; that means this old man is about to become… a grandpa! Thankfully, I don’t find that label to be the least bit threatening to my vanity. I am certainly looking very forward to welcoming a new generation within our family, even if they are a half a continent away. We plan to visit them before the end of the year, God willing. This blessed news had me reminiscing about Evan as a boy and marveling at how he has evolved through the years. Along with our gospel text for Sunday, it had me recalling his most frequent companion through much of his childhood, a teal green blanket that eventually had so many holes in it that it’s a miracle that it held together at all! Its shape became completely unrecognizable, even if its identity was sure. I don’t know in which drawer or closet it resides today, but I do know that, until not so many years ago, you couldn’t pry it out of his hands if you tried to. For him, that blanket was every bit the sign of security that you might imagine! We begin our new sermon series and Fall Stewardship Emphasis with this week’s story of “Blind Bartimaeus” from Mark 10. While scholars often categorize it as either a “miracle story” or a “call story,” I might risk defining it as a “courage story” instead. I do so because the last thing that the still-blind Bartimaeus does before leaping to his feet is cast off his “cloak,” or the beloved blankie that he has spread out on the path before him daily to receive alms or offerings from passersby. It is his only source of income or security. Yet his trust in Jesus and in Jesus’ ability to restore his sight is so great that he seems not to think twice about leaving it behind. Oh, that you and I would be so bold to turn our stories into “courage stories” in this season. As of this week, we begin a new journey under the banner of “Stories to Tell, Gifts to Share,” utilizing “ID tags” to represent an acronym that helps us highlight “Intentional Discipleship: Talents, Abilities, Gifts. Whether we recognize it or not, our mission and ministry are wholly dependent upon the courage with which we are willing to share these assets - which, I understand, are no less precious than Evan’s blanket was to him. Perhaps for many, they represent something akin to Bartimaeus’ cloak. As we hear the stories which those within our ranks will be sharing on coming Sundays, let’s together ask what we might need to “cast off” in order to trust that Jesus will invite us into a new and fruitful, even if challenging, chapter of life together? Join us in worship and in serving as we discover that together! Pastor Tim P.S. Keep in prayer the fifteen youth who will be affirming their baptisms at a special afternoon service this Confirmation Sunday!

One of the quite common refrains that I’m hearing from members, colleagues, citizens, and the media in general is just how much pressure individuals are feeling these days. From the ramped up demands of a new school year to the disciplines of a COVID-19 era to the financial barriers many are experiencing and, simply, the frequent need for so many to choose between vital necessities when they can’t afford both, one can certainly appreciate that we find ourselves in a trying time. I’ve certainly felt some of that stress myself. Still, I can hardly say that my own nerves have quite the cause to be so rattled as those around me, working and serving in public places much more than I currently do. Nor have I had to juggle the growing responsibilities that many of you face daily. So it’s amid that backdrop that I’ve been mindful of the responsibility we have to walk beside one another, listen carefully, and take the time to invest in and feel one another’s reality. At the same time, I’ve been relieved and thankful for the perspective gleaned from stories of courage and hope that have also filtered into my newsfeed or consciousness. I am hopeful this morning, for instance, for the news that Pfizer is now ready to submit its COVID vaccine for approval for use in younger children and that another (though admittedly difficult) vaccine has now been developed to combat the scourge of malaria that impacts millions of lives each year. I’m encouraged by the examples of teachers exhibiting deep care for their students long past the hours they have left their classrooms, even though their burden is already heavy. I’m moved by the stories of families who have prioritized time to serve their community together with no less commitment than they have made to their child’s sports team and by that of Saleema Rehman, a 29-year-old Afghan refugee gynecologist serving displaced Afghan women in Pakistan and the first woman from her community to become a physician, despite the significant obstacles for displaced women to do so. There are ample signs of resurrection around us when we take the opportunity to notice. As with so many things “Lutheran,” our calling seems to be another incidence of “and” (as in “saint and sinner," "law and gospel" e.g.). We are moved once again both to feel the weight of our neighbors’ reality and to point to the hope that lies beyond. Let’s commit ourselves to both aspects as we seek to live out “God Work/Our Hands” this week. Sharing the call, Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, Ah, for the first time in over 35 years, this week we did not have any children to come home to, wait up for, or pray with before eating dinner and sitting down at the table. Now, I ask you to avoid the temptation to do the math (I was a young mother!). Although we still have one more child to graduate from college, basically everyone has moved out or onward. We have lived in eleven different homes and for years that home was a foundation for joy, challenges, fresh starts, re-launches, and leaving the nest once or twice. This week, our house was quiet except for what I perceived was the super neediness of our dogs! I love a noisy and full house. I also know that, in this next season, there will be more times I will go to our adult children than they will come home. It’s a season I have been readying and steadying myself for as well as celebrating. In our scripture this week, we will dig deeper into the disciples’ objection to the families who were bringing children to Jesus. “People were bringing little children to him (Jesus) in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them.” (Mark 10:13) We may speculate all sorts of reasons as to why the disciples acted this way. Maybe they simply didn’t want to or weren’t ready to share Jesus. Maybe they didn’t like children or the pushing of children at Jesus. Maybe it was that when they were little they were taught to be ‘seen but not heard’ in public spaces. Or maybe, they simply didn’t get what Jesus was saying when he preached that the Good News, the love and mercy of our God, was for all people of all ages in all seasons of life on earth and forevermore. In this season of our life here and now at Holy Trinity, our children are all over the place sharing their many gifts of time, abilities, and energies. Just this week, the house was jumping at Family Sunday School and at Wednesday Youth Night (WYN). But our children were also in parades, contests, performances, and studies. Our children of ALL AGES, were in small groups, sharing coffee, worshipping, laughing, serving, praying, and doing life together! Being a child of God is a statement of being claimed by God now and always, not a statistical number beginning with newborn and so on. I wonder how different this passage from Mark would go if we read it more like this… PK’s wonderings - People were bringing children of all ages to Jesus so that he would touch them, because they had been taught that Jesus healed the broken and hurting. The disciples of the church told them to go away. Meanwhile, Jesus opened his arms and said, "Bring to me ______ (fill your name in), for the kingdom of God belongs to _______ (fill in your name)." And he took _________ (fill in your name) into his arms, blessed, and laid his hands on ______(fill in the word "me"). Now, read it again out loud to yourself. And if you have children or grandchildren at home (blessings on you), read it aloud to each of them putting their names in the blanks. Blessings to you and your household in whatever season of life you find yourself in! See you soon! Pastor Katie P.S. PLEASE, please bring in food items to be donated to the Food Pantry! Feed all God’s children.

If “you’re muted” was declared the “Phrase of the Year” by more than one recent publication and “resilience” has laid claim to “Word of the Year” for 2021, I’d like to nominate “pivot” as worthy of a place on the podium. “Pivot” had already been an overused Silicon Valley buzzword for a while before becoming the darling of business, politics, and, yes, churches as we all learned to operate in ways distinct from a pre-pandemic era. It was a way of describing the adjustments we had to make to a new “normal” that wasn’t “normal” at all. One can understand pivoting’s obvious appeal. If “flip-flopping” was weak, pivoting was powerful! A more frank observer has noted that, even prior to all of last year’s closures and cutbacks, pivoting was used in the tech sector as the equivalent of “failing gracefully.” I appreciate the honesty. In many ways, pivoting is what educators and health care workers have been forced to do in light of the way our country is stiff-arming the implications of COVID-19. In so many ways, we have failed one another; and the sooner we can readily admit it, the sooner we can chart a different, if still wounded, course. I pray daily for us as a church that we can appreciate where there are still such lessons that we have to learn in this arena. To “pivot” might then also be an apt expression for our response to the reality of climate change. I have been struck by a series of articles in the most recent edition of Christian Century which have challenged me to re-think radically how the biblical notion of “stewardship” is upended in a time when the implications of a warming planet are no longer a future threat, as much as a very current reality. Images from a powerless New Orleans to a flooded northeast to a fiery west come to mind. How might we use a growing awareness of having failed to act in a timely manner to respond more humbly, more faithfully, and more honestly in the days and years ahead. Where are you and I being called once again to “pivot” more than we’ve been willing to do in the past? See if you don’t note some parallels to “pivoting” amid the avalanche of hyperbole within Jesus’ teaching in this Sunday’s gospel! We will be venturing back into an especially tough section of Mark 9 that seems intimidating for even the most avid disciple! Join us for worship at 8:30, 10:30, or on-line and let’s see how we might discover a word of grace within it. And while you’re at it, I invite you to join me on the northside patio at 9:30 as I share a few more insights from my summer sabbatical. If you have younger children, we hope that you’ll join Lyn Peterson in the sanctuary at 9:40 for our “Family Sunday School” launch! Meanwhile, after a host of apparent scheduling conflicts, I am pivoting to re-launch our new “Next Steps” series tonight at 6:30 for anyone interested in learning more about Holy Trinity and our ministry! Hope some of you can meet me there! Sharing the Mission, Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, With the recent beautiful weather, have you had an opportunity to be outdoors to watch a sporting event or pull over to behold the white pelicans dwelling at the reservoir? Maybe you have been taking a stroll on one of the many trails or sidewalks or sitting on your patio in your favorite chair. Maybe you have been dining outside with family or friends nearby and connecting and chatting about a variety of topics! Hold that thought for a moment and envision this… Jesus was walking with his disciple into a city called Capernaum. Along the way they had chatted about many things. Jesus overheard them and asked, “What were you arguing about on the way?” (Mark 9:33) According to the scriptures, the disciples were silent because what they had been arguing about was who of them was the greatest. Jesus once again scratched his head, sat down, looked at them, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) I think Jesus could have simply scolded the disciples and possibly even turned them away. Instead, he invited them once again into a mission to be a compassionate servant by using the example of inviting a child into his loving arms of mercy. He said then and still says today, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcome me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:36-37) Jesus invited the disciples to take on the role of a servant, not for their sake, but for the sake of one another, like that of a child. What would you do if Jesus was right here, right now, asking you to love all the children of God with your hands, your feet, and your voice? This is Week 2 of our series, God’s Work, Our Hands. Together, we consider the many ways we are invited to stand up and step into a servant-hearted role here inside the walls of the church known as Holy Trinity and the Church that has no walls at all! The invitation is clear; the time is now! You are invited into a God-size opportunity to serve in ways that may seem unfamiliar but are so needed for the sake of God’s children. Please, check out the many ways to serve on this link. WE NEED YOU! We pray for you, your household, our medical professionals, our educational teams, co-workers, family, neighbors, strangers, and friends. We pray for healing and compassion for all who are ill and those who have yet to join in the miracle to prevent the spread of COVID in our homes and communities. Lord, in your mercy, hear our Prayers. Blessings to you always, Pastor Katie

How is that for the title of a provocative marketing campaign?! While one may understandably doubt its effectiveness, that’s the nature of what Jesus shares with his disciples in this Sunday’s gospel lesson - “…those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:35) There are places and seasons, of course, where individual disciples have been asked to pay such a price on a literal level. Thankfully, most of us today, I suspect, may not be faced that kind of choice. Yet it begs us to ask ourselves about the choices we are called to make. “Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus asks, then and now. Our answer is shaped not just by our words, but by our lifestyle and willingness to “die” to our own comfort and self-preservation. Let’s explore this theme together on Sunday! We kick off a new “God’s Work / Our Hands” sermon series in a new fall worship schedule - 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. this week. The hope is that each of us will be willing to ask ourselves how our witness is being challenged to move between “head” and “heart” and “hands” in coming days and weeks, such that all of us embrace an opportunity to “get our hands dirty” for Jesus and perhaps even “lose” a bit of ourselves in the process! Hope to see you in person or at least on-line this Sunday! I look forward to sharing some additional reflections from my sabbatical during our first Adult Forum of the year at 9:30 a.m. in Room 1. Pastor Tim

Finally! After returning to worship and the office last week, I was immediately hit with a case of vertigo which left me unable to stand, balance, focus, or read for much of last week. Thankfully, a discipline of some physical therapy has since done wonders; I feeling at least 95% back and incredibly thankful for the healing that has occurred. It’s a fresh Sunday and we’re continuing our “For Our Sake” theme with a two-week focus on the Letter of James. As many of you may recognize, James was not among Luther’s favorite Scriptures, as it didn’t have enough emphasis on grace for his taste. While James’s urging of “good works” may have little to do with our justification in God’s eyes, it has plenty of application in regards to how we respond to being “saved” and what we believe. ‘Be doers of the Word, and not only hearers,” is the way that the letter puts it. I certainly appreciate the author’s focus on integrity when it comes to living the gospel. Yet, as we’ll explore further this Sunday, it’s not just what we do, but how we do it that characterizes our witness. We’ve all been around others who may take a stand for what they feel is right, yet do so in a way that is more off-putting than encouraging. Our task, if James were to speak to us afresh today, is to not only respond to the grace in which we stand, but to do so as “grace-fully” as possible. Let’s see if we can explore how that might happen together this Sunday! See you in worship at 8:30 or 9:45! Meanwhile, our need for worship assistants remains great at this time. If you haven’t already visited the Sign-up Genius link below to offer your assistance, please do so today! Liturgy is indeed “the work of the people.” Let’s make that evident in our service this Sunday! Sharing the Mission, Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, Listening to the news in the past few days has been absolutely overwhelming. I find myself turning it all off and simply being in silence. Then my mind spins a bit and all I can do is let out a huge sigh. "Lord, have mercy" are the words that come to my lips. In our passage this Sunday, we will hear from the book of Ephesians. It was the letter written to the early church in Ephesus, a town in present-day Turkey. Paul wrote while he was imprisoned in Rome. His purpose was to reveal a clearer understanding of the fullness of God: wise and full of grace. God has broken all the barriers through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This letter stands as a call for unity among all God's children. Paul wrote so that we would put our faith and trust in God who created all life, loves all creation, and inspires you and me to love God and one another. In these troubling times, we read his words: 10 Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18) Our strength comes from God the Creator, Savior, and Holy Spirit, three in one. Bringing all our prayers together, we pray to the Holy Trinity, one God, now and forever. Paul ends his letter with "Peace to you ..." This is a peace that goes beyond our understanding, but has the power to fill our very souls, every minute of every day. So we pray for all of God's children and all of God's creation. We pray for the joy of the Lord to rise up in the morning. Lord, have mercy, we pray, in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen Believing it more strongly every day, Pastor Katie

Dear Siblings in Christ, We are mid-stream into a summer of worship, fellowship, and daily service. For months, we have experienced a season personally and as well as a church community that has been surrounded and complicated by many unknowns. However, we have greeted this season with humility, with open hearts and hands, and together we have trusted the promise that we have been bathed with a confidence in and through the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ that all things are indeed possible. We have found ways to meet in person, to serve alongside of one another, to reach out to those who are lonely or in need of compassion, as well as prayerfully ask the question, "Lord, how are we 'the Church' in these uncertain times?" I believe we have answered the question together. We do all things through the One who strengthens us beyond our own understandings, but freely infuses our thoughts and prayers into action of compassion. In about a week, Pastor Tim and Lisa will return to us from their 3-month sabbatical of renewal and discovery. We look forward to pausing in the busyness of our lives and listen to stories from their travels as well as share in our time here at Holy Trinity. Together, we give thanks for God’s continued presence in each and everyone’s story of grace. On behalf of the congregation's Visioning Council, I am sharing with you the continued commitment to follow CDC guidelines for the safety of one another during COVID-19. We realize that the gift from God in science does mean that we trust that science is always gathering new information. Therefore, we adapt and are flexible with the practical guidance that is offered by the CDC for worshipping communities. Following CDC guidelines while monitoring the growing numbers of new cases of COVID-19, we will encourage the wearing of masks whenever individuals are inside the church building. We recognize the challenges may be difficult for very young children. We ask that all individuals do their very best in wearing a mask. Be part of the miracle and, if possible, get vaccinated. We will continue safe distancing. Pastors and readers will not wear masks when speaking from the carpeted area inside the sanctuary. We will continue to offer online worship. We will continue to make plans for Fall Ministries and will share those plans with you as they are made available. It is our prayer you will lift up the leadership of Holy Trinity as well our communities throughout this area and beyond. Trusting all the way, Pastor Katie