Friday Email using Mailchimp

Every Friday we send out an email with information about what is going on at Trinity that weekend and the following week and beyond. The email also includes a link to that Sunday’s bulletin…..an easy way to access it for using when watching worship online.

If you’d like to be added to our Friday Email list click here to send us an email or give us a call, 498-5291.

If you’re already receiving the email, but can’t figure out why it’s not showing up in your inbox? Here are a couple things to try….

• Add our email address (trinityspringgrove@gmail.com) to our contacts
  

• For Gmail users — Move our emails to your Primary tab
  You can teach Gmail where to deliver your messages. When you move one of our emails from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, Gmail asks whether it should always deliver our emails there…..if you answer yes, it will then teach Gmail where to deliver emails from Trinity.

Listen. Respect. Pray. Pledge.

Listen. Respect. Pray.

The ELCA is providing links to numerous resources for us to learn more about the history of racism and inequality in the U.S. But the best things we can do are to listen to our neighbors, be respectful of their experiences, and pray for guidance.  

Click here for a link to a list of books, movies, TV series, and podcasts.

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ELCA Anti-Racism Pledge

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 
~ Colossians 3:17

In 2019, at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members adopted a resolution designating June 17 as a commemoration of the martyrdom of the Emanuel 9—the nine people shot and killed on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer. As church we are called to confess the sin of racism, condemn the ideology of white supremacy, and strive for racial justice and peace. Beyond statements and prayers, we are called to also act and respond to injustices. We invite you click here to visit this page where you can learn more about committing to doing actions to help stop racism.

How to -- YouTube & Facebook

Trying to watch videos on our YouTube channel or find us on Facebook? We hope the following steps will help make that easier!

Click here to go to our YouTube channel.

Click here to go to our Facebook page.

Lend your voice to the choir!

Our choir sings an anthem each Sunday morning September through May. They also present a concert in December. We would love to have you join us! Practices are Wednesday evenings at 8:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. All ages from 7th grade through adult are invited to come and be a part of this vocal group. Don’t worry if you can’t commit to every single Sunday; we’d love to have your voice when you can be here!

Questions about Choir? Contact Scott Solberg, 498-5472, or sjsol@springgrove.coop.

Trinity Boutique

Trinity boutique gift shop is back! Are you looking for a baby gift? Or bridal shower gift? Or a birthday gift? Trinity Boutique is a great place to shop! The items are hand-made and one-of-a-kind — they make wonderful gifts! The Boutique is in the Fellowship Hall and has a variety of homemade articles and gifts to purchase during the upcoming year. With many members having special talents to make unique items, WELCA decided to offer these items for sale year-round. Anyone who makes an item may drop it off at the church office. Please price items when dropping them off. Anyone can purchase these treasures, simply put the tag and the money in the cash box by the items.  Questions? Contact Boutique coordinators, Yvonne Krogstad, krogstad@springgrove.coop, or Jacque Wennes, jacquewen@aol.com.

ELCA Sanctuary denomination

And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’  Matthew 25:40

On August 7 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), through its Churchwide Assembly, voted to become a sanctuary body. 

The ELCA has a long history of advocating for immigrants and working to welcome and resettle refugees. In fact, several congregations in our synod sponsored refugees in the years after World War II and again after the Vietnam War. In line with our historic understanding and action responding to the needs of immigrants and those seeking asylum within our nation’s borders, the ELCA has declared itself to be a sanctuary body.

This is a declaration of our continued commitment to “welcome the stranger.”  As a sanctuary church, the ELCA is committed to serving and supporting migrant children and families in communities across the country (https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/8000).

How each congregation lives into this commitment will vary. Some members will volunteer or donate to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS), others may wish to host our synod’s AMMPARO team to learn more about immigration (more information can be found at http://semnsynod.org/ammparo/), still others may find ways to support immigrant families in their own communities.

As a denomination, we are still living into what this designation means. Part of the action the Churchwide Assembly took was to direct the ELCA Church Council to provide guidance and resources related to the question what does it mean to be a sanctuary body?.

To be clear, this action does not require congregations or individual members to engage in any particular activity and nothing in this action binds synods or congregations.

It is our hope that as individuals and congregations you will thoughtfully engage in prayer, discernment and conversation in light of this declaration. As you do so, a centering question might be: how can we best live into our identity as the people of God in this place?

May peace and courage be yours, 
Bishop Steven H. Delzer and Bishop-Elect Regina Hassanally

Links to more information about what this means:

Talking points from the ELCA
Letter from Bishop Suarez of the Florida-Bahamas Synod
Biblical texts on being a sanctuary church

MN Farm & Rural Helpline

New and Updated Policies

Various Teams at Trinity and the Council have been working on updating policies for the church. Below are links to these policies. Click on the name to view that policy.

Safe Church policy

Family / Medical Leave policy

Definition of Offerings

Winter Weather Policy

Services will be held at 9:15 a.m. each Sunday unless conditions are so severe around Spring Grove that travel is unsafe.

Announcements about the Sunday service will be made by 7:30 a.m., and broadcast on KVIK-FM 104.7 FM, KQYB 98.3 FM, as well as KTTC-TV Channel 10, and WXOW TV-19. We will also post updates on our Facebook page, Instagram, and website.

Decisions about the Saturday service will be made by 3:30 p.m. that day and broadcast in the same places.  

Remember our Sunday service is audio-streamed on KVIK 104.7FM. Please stay safe when considering traveling in bad weather.

Convenience of Electronic Giving

We want to remind you that Trinity offers electronic giving as a way to automate your regular weekly offering. Electronic giving offers convenience for individual congregation members and provides much-needed donation consistency for our congregation. 

Direct Debit Giving is used to automatically transfer funds from your checking or savings account to the church’s bank account. 
Credit & Debit Card Giving lets you make offerings automatically on a predetermined schedule using a credit or debit card. 

Online Giving lets you go to www.trinitysg.org at any time to set up an automatic donation plan, change your donation plan, make a one-time donation or view your online donation history. As you contemplate future contributions, please consider electronic giving. 

Simply follow these easy steps: 
1. Visit the church website at www.trinitysg.org
2. Click on the [Contribute] button, then [Contribute Online] button
3. Click on the [Create Profile] button, then 
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to create an online profile and to schedule your recurring contributions or give a one-time gift.
5. Please note that you can change your schedule at any time.

Hearing Loop System Installed

We’re in the Loop!
Our new hearing loop system was installed in the sanctuary on April 28.  Anyone with a hearing loss will be able to clearly hear the spoken word during church services.  If you have a T-coil in your hearing aid, switch it on during services.  If you do not have a T-coil but need some hearing assistance, we have T-coil loop receivers (headsets and receivers) available when you pick up your Sunday bulletin.  Either way you will receive a direct signal straight from the microphone directly to your ear, free from reverberation and ambient noise interference.  We will be sharing more information about the loop system in May.

Bread and Soup Recipes from Trinity's Empty Bowl Events

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger and was created by The Imagine Render Group. Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a cash donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. The money raised is donated to organizations working to end hunger and food insecurity. The money we raised at Trinity went to the Houston County Food Shelf and to ELCA World Hunger.

At our annual event, we serve homemade breads and soups. Theyare delicious! Thank you to our bakers and soup makers! We have asked our chefs to share their recipes, which they did, and they are compiled here. Thank you to all who make these events successful, the donations for the meal were very generous.

Click here for recipes