Page 4 - August 2020 Traveler

Grace, peace, and mercy from God who was,

God who is, and God who will forever be.

As I sit upstairs at my makeshift desk sitting in front of

windows overlooking our back yard, I am in a quandary
of what to write. I’m feeling so many emotions – fatigue, uncertainty,
and honestly, about ready to call it quits as the SAM of Trinity.

For the last year and a half, I have poured my heart and soul into Trinity providing
weekly worship, participating in team meetings, teaching confirmation, doing pastoral

care, attending various synod and continuing ed meetings while working alongside a
committed and dedicated Council, Parish Administrator and Director of Christian Edu-
cation. COVID-19 added a new layer of challenge and now the dissention and un-

healthy communication of a letter being sent to congregational members without
knowledge of the council has added more stress.

The writers of the letter stated they were alerting you to the facts; however, not all
facts were stated correctly. The letter stated terminating Pastor Pat’s contract would
result in saving significant dollars. While true, I want to remind you my contract would

be terminated at the same time. I can only serve under the leadership of a rostered
pastor. The cost of a tenured roster pastor supervising me would be the same.

Maureen, our council president, called a meeting Wednesday night with the signers of
the letter to clarify the intent of their letter. Maureen prayed for a spirit of unity and

prayed that we each listen to understand. Unfortunately, it was not a good meeting
and I will confess my emotions got the best of me when we continued to hear how the
council wants to sell the church. Again, I want to reiterate, the Council does not want
to sell the church. I am discouraged.

Our council has worked extremely hard in being transparent in Brian McCorkle’s ex-
pressed interest in purchasing the building. We have kept you informed of the plans;

perhaps we should have been more specific in stating an informational congregational
meeting will be held once the appraisal is complete and council has Trinity’s financial
data together. We continue to ask each of you for ideas in weathering the financial

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