Trinity Together | January-February 2019

REACHING OUT WITH MAINLY MUSIC

BY LORA KELLEY

Little giggles and the patter-stamp sound of tiny feet reverberate down the hall, and from a distance you can hear the clamor of bells jingling, a mismatched drumbeat, and children’s voices singing.

This is Mainly Music. For the last 12 years, Trinity has hosted this music program in the gym every Friday during the school year.

Each week Mainly Music offers two sessions, and moms, dads, and caregivers bring their children (0–5 years old) for a one-hour class filled with community, music, rhyme, and movement. The cost of the session is only $4 per family per week, and scholarships are available.

Once the music ends, the children sit with their caregivers on floral sheets and eat a tasty snack. Playtime follows this, where children are free to play with boxes of toys set around the room. During playtime, adults are treated to coffee and tea, as well as tasty cheese and crackers or homemade breakfast breads.

The majority of the families who attend are not affiliated with Trinity, and many of them do not attend church at all. So you might ask what draws these people, who normally would never set foot in a church? Mainly Music.

This program provides a great time for fellowship where parents and other caregivers connect with and give support to one another. It is also a time for Trinity members to reach out to our non-churchgoing visitors from the community. As one mom recently commented to us, “I love coming to Mainly Music because it gives me a chance to meet families I wouldn’t otherwise and to actually build relationships in the community.”

If you have wanted to reach out to our community but have not known where to start, we are making it very easy for you: these folks from our community are literally begging us to come in! We receive pleading emails from moms and dads begging to be let in off the waiting list. These are our neighbors with real challenges in their lives—struggling marriages, children with medical challenges, and more. This is a great opportunity to show Jesus' love for them—we just need your help to make it happen.

Attend: If you are a parent/caregiver, we’d love to have you sign up to attend Mainly Music, be part of the community, and offer friendship and connection. You can register for the spring semester by clicking here.

Volunteer: We need volunteers to keep Mainly Music going strong. Here are some areas of need:

Coffee setup (30 minutes from 8:30–9am)
Greeters (30 minutes from 9–9:30am; 10:40–11:10am)
Session cleanup and tidying (30 minutes from 11:30am–12pm)
Session singer leaders (9–9:45am; 10:45–11:15am)
General help (whenever you can offer it!)

Please consider donating 30 minutes or an hour or two of your time on Friday mornings to offer hospitality to this tender group of people who need a space to feel warm and cared for.

Please contact Lauren Thompson with your questions or interest. Please pray for us as we seek to follow God's lead in this growing ministry.

session summary: december & JANUARY

DECEMBER
As we move into the new year it seems good to share from the year-end ministry reports  made by our Ministry Directors.

Isaac Wardell reported on Worship Ministry. He introduced his team members and described the charge of his worship team. He explained that enriching and deepening the worship experience is a major focus. Another focus has been hospitality to people who come to worship. He talked about the recent service of remembrance and feedback from attendees. Pastoral care will be a focus of 2019.

Kevin Sawyer reported on Missions, presenting the structures of Global, National and Local Missions. Missions is both outward to the community and the world and inward toward the church. He reviewed the programs existing under each category and talked about the medical missions trip to Burundi to visit Dr. Randy and Carolyn Bond. He forecast activities for 2019, including better connection of mission strategies to Trinity congregants. He presented a proposal to reduce the number of missionaries we support in order to go deeper with the ones we do support.

Heath Saltzman presented for Tim Jones, who was out of town, on Community and Care. He explained the scope and services provided by this ministry, including chronic care, community care (small group ministries), crisis care, and counseling. Parish structures are critical to community and care.

Lane Cowin presented the Spiritual Formation ministry. She explained that our spiritual formation practices include common worship, education, small groups, structured morning and evening prayer, daily Bible reading, Sabbath observation, confession and spiritual mentoring, retreats, service, and giving. Renewal of our minds, hearts, and behavior is the result of good practices. Children’s Ministry, Mainly Music, preschool, adult education, Women Together in the Word, Faith Seeking Understanding Forums, and the Resource Center are all programs under this ministry umbrella.

Teaching Elder Joe Magri reported on the Mercy Ministry. Faith and Finance is a ministry of this group. WorkLife also involves many volunteers. Adoption support has been initiated, and two families have been served. Mercy goals and activities for 2019 depend on year-end giving in 2018, so those initiatives will be determined in January and February. There is a need for more volunteers.

JANUARY
We received a wonderfully encouraging report from Stu Scott about your tithes and offerings for 2018. Please see the Finance Report above.

Todd Johnson, Pastor of Hope Crozet, reported on the Hope congregation and developments there. Hope has about 60 members and regular attenders and Todd reported a sense of momentum in attendance growth. A task force is forming at Hope to help determine if is time for Hope to “particularize”; that is, to become an independent church. Former Trinity pastor Tony Giles has been consulting with Todd and will supplement the work of the task force. Please pray for the work of the task force as they consider this important question.

Several elders gave their impressions from the latest Parish Sunday gatherings. We also received a list of prayer requests from congregation members who participated in the meeting on December 9. We are grateful for your willingness to share concerns and to be able to pray for you. As a regular part of future Session meetings will pray through this list and follow up with those requesting prayer.

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