Trinity Together | December 2017

session summary: november

Season’s Greetings, sisters and brothers! November was another relatively quiet month for your Session. We approved minutes from the last meeting and received several letters from members and attenders, many of which concerned racial issues. If you feel inclined to write us, we would welcome your input on any matter and will respond personally to everyone who writes.

After Pastor Wade led us in evening prayer and we prayed for congregational concerns, we heard an update from Pastor Joe on the then-upcoming seminar for church officers  on race, which was held November 12.

In one of his last official duties as Director for Executive Leadership, now Pastor for Executive Leadership Walter Kim reported from Chapter some encouraging progress in his learning the ropes. An early objective will be to help enhance and improve communication between Chapter and Session, encouraging each body to "weigh in" with the other more directly. He also suggested more regular leadership meetings, similar to the ones on race held on the 12th.

Teaching Elder Drew Trotter reported for the Officer Development Ministry Team. We have a robust group of elder candidates doing well in the training/discernment process. We have a single deacon candidate this year, who is likewise doing well. But (to paraphrase) we urge you to look out among you for men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, so you can nominate them for the office of deacon next year.

We closed our meeting expressing our appreciation and thanking God for Elder Fitz Green’s worthy and faithful service as Session Moderator. He will soon pass the baton to Pastor Walter. When you see Fitz, thank him for his work.

Have a question about our Session? Email session@trinitycville.org.

meet deacon doug jensen

Three years ago Doug Jensen retired from his second career as a physician. This has given him more time, as a member of the “sandwich” generation, to meet needs of aging family along with children and grandchildren and, as a deacon, to serve others through his church. Doug’s first medical career was as an ENT surgeon in private practice. By the time his four children reached the ages of 4 to 13, he knew he needed to make a change to better accommodate the family’s need for his time and attention. With wife Carol’s support, in 1994 he moved his family from Michigan to Charlottesville to enter a three-year residency program in anesthesiology. They settled in Johnson Village and, having heard from friends in New York about Trinity, they visited and were convinced it was a church they wanted to join.

After completing his training Doug began work at Augusta Medical Center where he practiced anesthesiology until his retirement. Carol had received her BS in nursing before their move; she worked first in a local family medicine practice then switched to outpatient surgery at UVa. She also retired at the same time as Doug, caring for her mother for an extended time before her death from Parkinson’s disease earlier this year. Carol and Doug look forward to the birth of two more grandchildren in the new year.

All four Jensen children attended the Covenant School and took part in the student and children’s ministries at Trinity. They knew first-hand the challenges of careers in healthcare and heard frank advice from their parents, but all have entered the field. Lisa and Mark are both UVa grads working as physicians. Lisa is completing a fellowship in neonatology in Cleveland as she and her husband juggle care for their two children with another on the way. Mark, an anesthesiologist, and his wife live in Rochester, NY and are expecting their second child. Their younger sisters are both advanced practice nurses—Katie, mom of one, is an ER nurse practitioner in Richmond, and Valerie is completing her certification as a nurse anesthetist in Orlando.

Doug speaks of coming to faith in a family where he had both strong Christian faith and frank agnosticism displayed. He believes the simmering disagreement helped to strengthen his faith as he saw sacrificial love displayed. Along with serving as a Trinity deacon since 2009, Doug has enjoyed having the opportunity to sing with our choir and in small acapella groups. He chaired the Mercy Committee for several years and served on the board for Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries. He has been involved with both Faith & Finances and our work with PACEM.

Doug has seen a renewal of his calling to serve as a deacon in his retirement years and asks others in or nearing that stage of life to consider it as well. He emphasizes the fact that God made us for work, and those who retire without a plan for how to stay actively involved with meaningful tasks often experience difficulty. Not only does the office of deacon need mature Christians, but there are numerous ways to serve without becoming a deacon. Doug feels that anyone willing to serve behind the scenes and without seeking credit will find great blessing. He would love to talk with anyone willing to consider these opportunities or wanting to find out more.

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