I just have to pause and reflect on this past weekend at Trinity. It was crazy-fun. There was so much stuff happening here that it was hard to keep straight what was going on and when.
Let me just share with you the brief rundown:
On Thursday, the setup in Fellowship Hall began for the Feed My Starving Children packing event the next day. All of the tables, equipment and food ingredients were moved into Fellowship Hall.
We also hosted a memorial service Thursday afternoon. Because of the Feed My Starving Children set up, the luncheon for the memorial service was served upstairs in The Gathering Room and on the Mezzanine. It all worked wonderfully.
And, while this was all going on upstairs, Husky Pantry was distributing food to high school young people whose families are in need downstairs.
On Friday, the Feed My Starving Children food pack event took place. It was awesome. Over four shifts, 132,192 meals were packaged to be shipped somewhere around the world to help feed children in need. At the same time, somewhere around 25 Wildcat Pantry families came through to pick up their meals for the weekend.
By Saturday morning, Fellowship Hall had been cleared, flipped, cleaned and re-set and decorated to host the confirmation breakfast for our 10th graders who are affirming their baptismal promises this weekend. It was a wonderful meal and a great time for the 10th graders to reflect on their faith journey. After breakfast they rehearsed the worship service and then took their group photograph.
Saturday night we had our regular weekly worship service.
And again, the Fellowship Hall was flipped, cleaned and reset for worship.
Sunday morning, of course, we had our regular worship services. And afternoon, we held two special confirmation services for those 10th graders. The services were designed by the young people. 45 of them affirmed the promises their parents had made for them when they were baptized.
And Sunday night, the Fellowship Hall was again re-set (really, the whole building was) for the “Trick or Treat at Trinity” event which brought 760 children, parents and volunteers together for a wonderful family event. While this was going on, our weekly “Meals of Hope” event was serving families in need in the Fireside Room.
While we know that it’s not “all about numbers,” we do pay attention to numbers. They help us to plan and dream. So the brief summary is this:
- Feed My Starving Children and Wildcat Pantry event: 616 participants
- Confirmation breakfast including volunteers and mentors: 100 participants
- Weekend worship total: 566
- Confirmation worship total: 542
- Trick or Treat at Trinity event total: 760
- Meals of Hope: 78
The grand total of people through the building this weekend: 2,662
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” – 1 Corinthians 3:16
I talk a lot (especially this time of year) about Trinity being a “church in motion.” This weekend past weekend it was a kind of a sprint! But it was amazing. The presence of God’s Holy Spirit was clear.
I’m grateful to all involved. And I’m especially thankful for our amazing custodial and building team. Dave, Matt and Ben do fantastic work, and this past weekend was a challenge. But they were right on top of things. Thanks to them.
And thanks be to God for the work of the Spirit in this place!
God’s blessings!
Pastor Todd
PS – As I write this, there is a huge crew in the Kitchen prepping for the Lutefisk and Swedish Meatball dinner tomorrow night to benefit Rachel’s Light. (Tickets are available at the church office). I guess that goes to show: “Churches in motion tend to stay in motion!”
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