Food and Funds on the Fifth Sunday - Collection this weekend
This weekend is the fifth Sunday in March! Trinity sets aside the fifth Sunday for a collection of canned goods to donate to a local food pantry (Prince of Peace this time) and for cash donations to replenish the Pastoral Discretionary Fund which serves to help those dealing with an immediate financial crisis. Your support to both of these ongoing needs is greatly appreciated. Please bring in your offering this weekend! Thank you.
LAST CHANCE: Thrivent Choice Dollars - Deadline March 31
Eligible members can recommend where Thrivent distributes a portion of its charitable funding by directing Choice Dollars®. Members become eligible for Thrivent Choice based on insurance premiums, contract values and Thrivent volunteer leadership. Trinity is a participating charitable organization to which you can direct Choice Dollars. These gifts, above and beyond, are a great blessing to Trinity. Please consider. For more information contact your Thrivent rep or go to:
Fellowship with Your Trinity Family before Lenten Worship
Lenten devotions on "People of Prayer: Esther, Elijah, and Jesus" will continue at 12:10 and 7:00 pm every Wednesday until Holy Week. Soup and Bread Suppers will be hosted each of those Wednesdays from 5:30-6:45 pm in Fellowship Hall. This coming Wednesday Rich Poole will make Tomato Bisque, and the Music Ministry Team will host and serve. We hope YOU will join us next Wednesday evening for fellowship with your Trinity family before midweek worship. Would you like to host/serve on April 10? (Food is provided). Call the office at 407-488-1919 x101 or
TLC@TrinityDowntown.com.
Campus Work Day
Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 13, from 8:30 to 11:30 am to get things spruced up for Easter. We will concentrate on yard work and a few cleaning projects around campus. Coffee, water and donuts will be available. Feel free to bring your own snacks too. Thank you.
Voters Meetings Summary from Pastor Doug and Ted Lange
Dear Trinity Family: Very difficult and emotional decisions have been made at Trinity over the past several months. During Special Voter's Assembly meetings on March 3 and 17, the congregation was informed on a projected end-of-year budget shortfall (our fiscal year ends June 30) and financial projections for our ministry and school operations. Ultimately, the congregation prayerfully decided to close the K-8 and its associated Extended care programs at the end of the current school year.
The decision to close the K-8 and Extended Care programs in our school as certainly not an easy decision but one borne out of a decades long financial trend. Please continue to pray for the staff, students, and families who are part of our K-8 ministry at Trinity. The Leadership Council and administrative Staff are committed to supporting our school families and our staff in their transitions to new schools and new employment opportunities.
Our administrative Staff have determined that Trinity can and will provide extended care services for Trinity's staff this summer. Trinity values Christian education and child care; therefore, we are working to determine the feasibility of an expansion of our Child Development Center. We will bring our final recommendation to the congregational voters at the next regularly scheduled voter's assembly on May 5, 2019.
Trinity's Leadership Council is committed to inform and seek congregational input throughout this period of change. Change can be challenging, even downright scary at times, but we know that together we can make decisions that will advance Trinity's ministries in downtown Orlando. We continue to work with our admin staff to find solutions to the end of the year budget shortfall by focusing on operational expense reductions and opportunities to increase revenues.
We have witnessed a joyous response from Trinity's congregation in pledges and gifts to support this shortfall. Financial gifts over and beyond faithful giving have been prayerfully provided. To date lead gifts and pledges totaling nearly $130K have been received.
Trinity's Leadership Council has started the process of developing a ministry plan that we will bring to the congregation in June. We recently spent a day at a Leadership Council retreat in fellowship to condense down the results of our congregational Cottage Meetings into core values. You can expect to hear much more on these subjects in the coming months.
God works his mission through us. These decisions we have made together, though difficult, will allow us to take positive steps toward Trinity's future in this, the 100th year of ministry at Trinity, so please continue to pray. We have so much to look forward to!
If you would like a copy of the minutes from the March 3 and 17 Special Voters Meetings, contact the office at
TLC@Trinitydowntown.com or 407-1-488-1919 x101.
Servant Saturday
On Saturday, April 27, Trinity will be hosting another Servant Saturday event. We will be at Our Savior Lutheran Church for our second phase of cleaning the computer trailer used by the Rebecca's Garden of Hope (RGOH) ministry. RGOH at Our Savior Lutheran Church is located off of Bruton Street in Orlando. We will meet at 9am in the front parking lot and work until 1pm. Afterward, the servant team can go for lunch together for some fellowship time (optional). Volunteers are needed to help to makes this event a success. Please contact Terry Boggs for more information at
mammierocks@yahoo.com.
CDC Students Sing in Church
The PreK3 and VPK children from Trinity Lutheran School's Child Development Center will be gracing the 9:30 am worship service on Sunday, April 7 will their adorable presence and joyful song offerings. Following the service, all Trinity families are welcome to join these CDC students in the courtyard for a snack and a Christ centered craft. Let's plan to warmly welcome these school families who will be visiting us with their children that morning.
Another Angel Tree Thank-You
Although we do our best to contact the caregivers on our Angel Tree list every year, disconnected phones, wrong numbers, and incorrect addresses sometimes make that impossible. Every incarcerated parent on our list receives a letter saying either that their child received gifts through Trinity on their behalf or - sadly - that we were unable to make contact and could not provide the gifts. One inmate who received the unable-to-make-contact letter still took the time to write the following:
Thank you very much for having the courtesy of writing me to explain the situation...I still appreciate your kindness on what your church does for me and others behind these walls where we can't provide that gift to our kids on Christmas. I pray for all your church members, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, and hope that this year I will have the luck to again fall in the hands of a nice church through the Angel Tree Program to bless my kids with gifts...may the Lord bless you and all your members of the church.
IDignity Lenten Can Project
Collection cans for IDignity are in the Narthex. Each family is encouraged to take one home, and throughout Lent you can use it to collect funds in support of IDignity. On Palm Sunday, all the individual cans will be collected and the proceeds will be given to IDignity, a non profit that helps to restore dignity and hope by providing identification to those in need. Once a person has restored their identity with IDignity's assistance, doors open to numerous opportunities that were not available to them without identification.
Youth Gathering Update
Trinity's 7 youth and 3 adults continue fundraising efforts for attending the National Youth Gathering (NYG) that is now only 4 months away. Our group has begun Bible study and fellowship time. Please keep the group in your prayers as they get to know one another and bond as a group. The group will fly out on July 10 and the Gathering activities begin on July 11. The group will return on July 15. THANK YOU for your generosity already! We have been able to cover airfare and a few other expenses already. This is a huge blessing! Our hotel costs should be made known soon and that will be another large expense to help these kids get covered.
We have a few more fundraising opportunities.
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GIVE and GIVE BACK: Check out the display board in the Narthex with a little bit about each participant and an envelope with the opportunity to give a donation to help cover hotel and food expenses. Here is where the YOUTH GIVE BACK! Through the month of March we will collect donations. When we reach $250 the NYG participants will host coffee hour! YUM! When we reach $500 the NYG participants will work with Trinity administration and give time to help with some duties on campus. When we reach $1,000 the NYG participants will host a FREE car wash one Sunday in May!
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Car Parking for Downtown Events: Youth will park cars on campus during the Spring Fiesta in the Park at Lake Eola on Saturday and Sunday, April 6 and 7.
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Easter Breakfast: Plan on coming to our PANCAKE BREAKFAST on Easter Sunday, April 21! We will serve hot pancakes along with topping bar, fruit, juice, and coffee from 7:00-10:30. Come support our youth and have a great breakfast treat to start your day. We will also have chocolate pretzel pails for sale ($15 and $22 each)!
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Event Car Parking One final push for funds will be to park cars again on THURSDAY, July 4 for Lake Eola event.
The NYG participants will also host a coffee hour in thanks for your support this summer where they will share stories and photos of their experience. If you have any questions, please see Jennifer Blackwood (team fundraising coordinator) or email at
jenn.blackwood@outlook.com
Buy One Get One Kids Book Fair
TLS is hosting a Buy One, Get One FREE* Book Fair! This special event offers a great opportunity for you to add twice as many children's books to your home. For every item you buy, you get another item for FREE! It's that simple! Our fair will be held at the school on Thursday, April 11th, 8am-6pm - Friday, April 12th, 8am-5pm! *All free items must be of equal or lesser value than the ones you buy.
Please let us know!
Please let your Trinity family know of any scheduled surgery or hospital stay. In addition to scheduled procedures, please give the church office a call to let us know about extended illness, unplanned hospital stays, or even the birth of a child. You can call the office at any time and leave a message-no need to wait until business hours (407-488-1919 x101). During business hours, that information can then be forwarded to the appropriate caregivers. For an emergency that requires the care of a Pastor after hours or over the weekend call or text (text preferred) us at 407-490-7339 and leave a message. We'll get back to you ASAP. We want to be sure to know when you need us-whether to pray with you before a scheduled procedure, sit with you during a loved one's procedure, pray for you while you recover, visit you in the hospital/at home or to share praise and thanksgiving prayers for good news/results. Just let us know. Thank you.
Urgent Prayer Requests
If you have an urgent prayer request that can't wait until you fill out a yellow prayer card during worship, please submit it via email to
Pray@TrinityDowntown.com. While submitting a yellow card during worship is still the preferred way to share prayer requests, sometimes a prayer need can't wait until Sunday. Your prayer request (first name and basic details of the prayer requested) will be shared with a team of committed weekday prayer warriors and will also be added to Trinity's regular printed prayer list for the congregation. All prayers are kept on the printed list for a period of three weeks, so please resubmit long term prayer needs regularly so that they stay on the printed list. Thank you.
LCMS Missionary Updates
Important Dates
Through April 10 Wednesday Lenten Devotions 12:10 and 7pm
Soup and Bread Supper in Fellowship Hall 5:30-6:45
April 13 Campus Work Day
April 18 Maundy Thursday Worship 12:10- and 7pm
Confirmand First Communion at 7pm
April 19 Good Friday 12:10 and 7pm Worship
April 19 Good Friday -- offices and school programs closed
April 20 Easter Eve 6pm worship
April 21 Easter Morning 6:30/8/9:30/11am Worship
April 21 Easter Pancake Breakfast by the Youth
April 22 Easter Monday -- offices and school programs closed
April 27 Servant Saturday
Attendance and Finances
