Page 4 - November 2019 Traveler

Greetings!!!

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A “hodge podge” of thoughts have been swirling around in my head since our 175
Anniversary celebration and our October council meeting… the power of the Holy
Spirit, innovative, reconnecting with God’s story, the presence of God, moving forward,
and gratitude. Whew! Bishop Jeffrey Clements left our congregation with two ques-

tions: “How is the Holy Spirit at work at Trinity and what more can we do with the pow-
er of the Holy Spirit?

The council began brainstorming ideas from a thought-provoking video titled “What’s
Really Causing the Church Decline and What Can We Do About it” produced by Mi-

chael Binder and Dwight Zscheile of Luther Seminary. (Follow the embedded link to
watch). https://faithlead.luthersem.edu/whats-really-causing-church-decline-and-what-
we-can-do-about-it/

As we know, church attendance across all denominations is in decline. Thoughts
shared in the video suggest the church get back to basics – by finding creative and in-
novative ways to reconnect with God’s stories and their relevancy for our fast-paced

lives in this electronic age of the 21st century. How is the God of history in our midst
today? How can we cultivate an awareness in seeing God at work in our daily lives
and become comfortable in sharing those times with one another? After you watch the

video, let’s begin some dialogue. Watch for bulletin inserts or cards on the tables in
the narthex to begin answering some questions raised by both Bishop Clements and
the video?

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