“O Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:3)

Mar. 11, 2021

Dear Friends and Members of Trinity,

I love how the refrain, “for his steadfast love endures forever,” repeats throughout Psalm 136. We who know God’s steadfast love have been shaped by that love. The Holy Spirit transforms it into the neighbor love which has guided and continues to guide us. We could be guided by greed, fear, anxiety. Sometimes those emotions have impacted us individually, but collectively we have intentionally chosen neighbor love as our guide.

Our COVID Task Force (Jeff Henderson, Sharon Jones, Randy Miller, Steve Ward, Kim Mills, and I) continues to watch Canyon County’s status according to Southwest District Health. As I write this we are in Yellow. Following CDC guidelines, we can have up to 30 people in the sanctuary (we have measured and done the math). It is impossible to decide which 30 people for a Sunday service and asking the question seems inconsistent with our guiding principle “all are welcome.” When we get to Grey, we will still need to practice physical distancing between families and wear masks. For some time into the future, worship indoors will not include assembly singing (because we spread the virus so much further when we sing). We have many members who have been vaccinated and the state is opening vaccines up to more people weekly. Still, some of you may not be vaccinated until April and youth vaccinations will probably begin in the fall. In addition, we are reading about the variants and watching to see if and how they spread. So, where does that leave us? 

We have chartered a hybrid plan back to in-person worship, the event that grounds our faith. But life at Trinity has always been about more than worship and so our return to in-person events also includes service, fellowship, and pastoral care. Please see the back of this letter for a timeline. Our sound system/streaming team, led by Bryce Quarve, has been hard at work. We will keep streaming, with better equipment soon, going forward. 

If you are vaccinated and/or staying isolated, please consider huddling up with another household or two when you watch Sunday worship, especially for Easter Sunday. 

Peace,

Pastor Meggan

• St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, the sanctuary will be open from 5-7 PM for three stations (including Holy Communion). 

• Clean-up day, March 20

• Palm Sunday, March 28, we will worship on the patio/lawn at 10 AM. We will record worship and it will be on YouTube later. 

• Easter Egg Decorating for our youth (and accompanying adults), March 30

• Maundy Thursday, April 1, we will allow 30 people to sign up for worship (look for a link sent via email or call the church office). This worship will also be shared via Facebook Live. 

• Good Friday, April 2, the sanctuary will be open from 5-7 PM for Stations of the Cross (some art created by Trinity members). 

• Easter Sunday, April 4, we will have a prerecorded worship service incorporating many readers and musicians from Trinity. 

• Easter Sunday, April 4, we will also have a sunrise service with Holy Communion on the patio at 7 AM. This will be a simple 20-minute service. 

• Earth Day S’Wine Swap, April 22 (read more on the website and in the Epistle)             

• We have two more outdoor worship services planned: April 18 and Pentecost, May 23. 

• In May or June, we plan to start having a monthly Sunday morning indoor in-person service and a monthly Wednesday evening indoor in-person service. These, like Maundy Thursday, will be limited in number and will require you to sign up in advance.