From the Church Council President

By Mary Nielsen |  March 31, 2014

Dear Friends,
 
This month we wanted to use this space to keep you updated as we enter this time of transition. At our last Council meeting on March 18^th we spent most of our meeting talking with Bishop Kirby Unti to help us understand the procedures needed for Trinity to move along in the pastoral call process.  Pastor Jocelyn will soon participate in an exit interview to help us with her perspective on the status and needs of our church. Next will be our farewell to her which will take place March 30^th at Worship and at a reception following Worship.  Then, Trinity will determine the qualities  that would be optimal in an Interim Pastor to match our needs.  The Synod Council will extend the Interim Call.  The Interim Pastor’s role is to help the Congregation through the transition process.  Transition will include defining our profile as a Congregation, outlining our most deeply felt values/beliefs, and identifying areas or issues that will need to be addressed in finding a new Pastor.  When the transition process is complete, a Call Committee will be named.  The goal is to call a Pastor with a strong alignment to our
Congregation.  It is anticipated that the process will take some time, as it did when we called Pastor Jocelyn.  Bishop Unti said that the Synod is ready to help with whatever we need during the whole process.
 
Bishop Unti had kind words about Trinity.  He was glad that we still have 11 Council members (there’s a trend to for smaller Councils recently).  He described Trinity as a caring place doing vital work in our community.  He answered our questions.  When asked if Pastor Diana Bottin (our current respite pastor) could be considered for the interim role, he said that she could be considered.  We thanked Bishop Unti for his visit.  It was decided to hold a special Council meeting on Tuesday April 1^st at 6:30 to work on the process for getting an Interim Pastor.
 
Susan Grazier reported on how TAB (the Trinity Aid Bank) money has been used in recent years.  Council was amazed at the needs that have been addressed by TAB through our office staff’s careful stewardship during this time.  We received a request from Christa Johnson for a substantial donation to TAB since the balance of the fund is presently only a few hundred dollars.  It was approved to make a donation of $2000 from our Local Benevolence funds at this time, and to revisit this request as part of our overall goals for Council for 2014.
 
These items could not be completed at the March meeting but will be items for our regular April meeting:

• There is a concern that we are using too much paper on Sundays to get messages across, that there are too many pieces of paper to wrangle in the bulletin each week.  If you have ideas about how to convey the information using less paper, we would be grateful if you would share them with the office or with a Council member.
• We have had a request that a tree be planted in our garden in memory of Virginia Rudge. 
• Staff and committee reports were received but not discussed.  Pastor Bottin’s report included a recommendation that our church staff should attend a workshop on “boundaries” to be held in May. 
• We received drafts of Council goals and other work generated at our recent Council Retreat.

 
I’d like to say how much I admire and appreciate the people currently serving on Council.  Lots of extra time and effort has been necessary to get things done lately and every Council member has been right there for our Congregation!
 
Yours in Christ, Mary Nielsen
 
 

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