Your Trinity Herald Newsletter!

April 2024

We are so blessed to live in this season of Easter with the knowledge and assurance of new life in Christ! I pray that all of you will receive the gift of new life and share it with others! During our Bible Study time on Wednesday evenings, we recently have been considering ways to become more faithful disciples while also inviting others to become disciples. Please join us for the Wednesday night discussions this month as we focus on Jesus’ call to make disciples. Our resource is Fresh Expressions (by Bishop Ken Carter & Audrey Warren), and we are joining an effort throughout the UMC to offer the message of Christ’s hope and salvation in new places throughout the community.

I’m grateful for your many contributions to local and global missions. You have given generously to UMCOR, Bridge Refugee Services, Wesley House, and to the children’s Easter Egg Hunt. Thank you for being thoughtful and generous with your gifts! We are going to have three additional opportunities this month to support missions. 1) Peter Green, the assistant director of Bridge Refugee Services, will be our guest speaker on April 10. 2) Rev. Mary K. Briggs will be with us to preach and share about the New Voices Campaign. Our CMC is hosting a Bake Sale/Auction that Sunday to help in raising funds. 3) Our Missions Team is going to send a box filled with gifts representing Trinity and Knoxville to our missionaries, the Revs. Christina & Joe-d DowlingSoka, for their fundraising auction at our UMC mission in Willow, Alaska. The Lord is blessing us with many opportunities to share his love and grace!

I wish you the joy of the Lord as we serve in new ways together this Easter season.

Blessings,

Barbara

April 7: John 20:19-31

April 14: I John 3:1-7

April 21: Acts 4:32-35

April 28: John 15:1-8

Scripture Readers

April 7: Wally Gillespie

April 14: Samantha Johnson

April 21: Deb Glenn

April 28: Greg Drinnen

Dear Holston Churches:

On behalf of the New Voices design team, I want to thank you for all the ways you are working to help us meet our 2024 Annual Conference goal of $1.5 million. These funds will go to equip the next generation of Holston leaders by supporting our 5 Conference Wesley Foundations, 5 Holston Conference Camps, and 2 Conference Colleges. Together we can make a difference in the Holston Conference as we continue participating in ways to "make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

Blessings,

Tim Jones

Director of Communications for Holston Conference

*Trinity UMC will host a guest speaker for the New Voices Campaign on Sunday, April 14. Rev. Mary K. Pope Briggs is the Director of the UTK Wesley Foundation, and we plan to collect a special offering that Sunday for the campaign. We also are planning to hold a Bake Sale/Auction to raise additional funds for this worthy cause! Please sign up on the form in the Gathering Space to indicate your willingness to provide a cake or baked goods. Thank you!

Have you surveyed Trinity’s cross? When you enter the Sanctuary and see the beautiful cross on Sunday morning, do you stop to appreciate the visible glory that it represents? Can you picture that cross in your mind right now? Do you see the cool colors of blue and green, the vibrant reds, pinks, and purples? It looks so random and maybe represents the many random people in our congregation, brought together in this place to worship God and praise His name. Our worship space is unique and special because of this cross.

The colored pieces of glass seem random, but they are not. Each side and arm of the cross has a mirror…the right and left are exactly the same. The artist has carefully put the colored pieces together, perhaps to remind us of the beauty of the whole earth and how it all works together to create the perfection of nature. What seems random is not.

The sides of the cross seem to mirror each other until the tips of the arms, but if you look closer, they are still a mirror diagonally at the ends, so the organization is still there. Our eyes are drawn to the tips, by this mirroring of the pattern on each end. Perhaps the artist wanted to pull our vision to the ends of the cross where we are reminded of Christ, who suffered there for our sins.

But now the cross is empty. This colorful magnificent cross is a beautiful reminder of the divine love sacrificed for us. So, when we survey this colorful, vibrant cross and when the light filters through it on Sunday mornings, then we see Easter and we lift our hearts in praise. Praise be to God.

Pat Gillespie

Worship Co-Chair

Young In Heart will meet at 11:00 am on Thursday April 11. The program will be presented by The Grace Noters, a musical group consisting of 6 dulcimer players, a bass guitarist, and an Irish whistlelist. There are also 2 or 3 vocalists. This group has been entertaining folks in our area for many years and this promises to be a great toe-tapping, sing-a-long, and listening experience for all of us! Trinity's very own Linda Williams is a member of the group. The title of the program is "Play Me Some Mountain Music." Program immediately followed by lunch with a suggested donation of $8.00. Please join us for some great music, fellowship, fun, and lunch! Please RSVP Linda Wallace at 865-207-2907.

Operational Fund Balance as of the close of February:

$67,990

For those 70 ½ or older with retirement accounts that require an annual minimum withdrawal, there is an option to make a direct distribution to a qualified charitable organization (QCD) and have that amount count toward the minimum distribution but not count toward taxable income. Trinity UMC is a qualified 501 (c) 3.

This option may be appealing to some since the 2018 changes to our tax law made it more difficult to have a charitable donation deduction. Please check with your brokerage /account manager to see if this is an option that might be beneficial to you as you meet your annual commitment to Trinity.

IRA owners age 70-1/2 or older may now make a one-time qualified charitable distribution (QCD) of up to $50,000 from an IRA to fund a charitable life income gift vehicle (CGA or CRT). Payments can be made to a donor and/or donor’s spouse. This is great news for individuals who do not need their Required Minimal Distribution and non-profits/churches who need funding and welcome this new opportunity to support their mission. (Source: Holston Foundation)

We distribute food on Wednesdays 10 am to 12 pm at the main entrance.

For Those In Need

We have no qualifying requirements. If you are in need of food, just ask! Food is available on a first-come-first-served basis on Wednesdays. We suggest that you call the church office at (865) 588-5763 before you arrive to make sure we still have food available that day.

For Those Who Wish To Help

Prayer: Ask our Lord to help us have the resources we need, the people to volunteer, and an end to hunger.

Time: Our Food Pantry gives every church member an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. On a weekly basis, we take inventory, shop for groceries, pack the food bags, and distribute the food bags. If you have the time to help with any of these tasks, just ask and we’ll find a place for you.

Donations: We have a large collection box located at the entrance to the Sanctuary. Below is a list of the items we routinely need!

Food Pantry Shopping List

Canned Tuna or Chicken

Canned Fruit & Vegetables

Boxed Breakfast Cereal

Peanut Butter

Jelly

Boxed Mac & Cheese

Spaghetti Noodles

Pasta Sauce

Rice

Club or Saltine Crackers

Mike Ooten is looking for a few good people who are interested in learning to video the Sunday morning worship and then edit the video and upload the service to Facebook and YouTube.

If you are interested in learning the processes and volunteers, please talk to Mike or email him at [email protected]