Trinity Topics The Newsletter of Trinity Lutheran Church, Riverside CA

Sharing God’s love, hope and forgiveness

Trinity Lutheran Church

Since 1893

Kent Tuohino, Pastor Volume 23, Issue 4, May, 2020

Christmas Cantata Sunday, December 15, at 9:30 am

The coronavirus pandemic has affected every facet of our society, including churches. Due to the prohibition of large gatherings that began in March, our worship ser-vices have moved online. Our worship service videos are available to watch on our YouTube channel. Go to YouTube.com and search for “Trinity Lutheran Church of Riverside” to find them. New worship services videos can be seen every Sunday morning at 9:30 am, but they can also be viewed any time after that.

On Sundays at 10:30 am we offer a fellowship time using the Zoom video conferencing app. This is for those who would like to spend some time visiting with others in our church. To participate, you will need to use a computer with a camera, a smart phone, an iPad or similar tablet device. To join in, click on the link contained in the weekly email from Pastor Kent. If you are not receiving those email messages and would like to, send a message to pastor@trinityriverside.org and he will add you to our list.

Spring Fundraiser for Casa Hogar Sonrisa de Angeles Even though our world has changed so drastically at this time, we need to take a moment to remind ourselves of our promise to walk alongside the children’s home in Tijuana, Mexico, in supporting the nearly 50 children who live there. Without be-ing able to physically go to visit and deliver dona-tions, we may feel as if there is nothing we can do right now. However, this year’s annual spring fund-raiser is one that could still begin, and when the blessed time arrives for us to be reunited again with our angels in Mexico, we’ll be able to share with them the generous bounty of our thoughts and prayers and donations during this difficult time.

Sister Liliana Camacho Angulo, Director of the children’s home, relies primarily on donations from groups who visit to support her children. However, with COVID-19 restrictions in place, her donations from this side of the border have ceased. They are surviving and managing to keep everyone healthy, but they are not having an easy time of it.

We are sharing the flyer on the next page with you, which lists the items that we had planned to gather for them – not to raise your stress level, but with the hope that you can keep them in mind when you do the shopping for your family.

Please contact Christina Reza if you purchase items for them; they can be delivered to the church office or she can collect them. If you would like to get additional food items that are not listed, such as rice, beans or cereal, that will also be in great demand to restock their pantry when we are able to deliver the donations.

Thank you for your support and continued thoughts and prayers for the health and safety of all the res-idents of Casa Hogar! – Christina Reza

Our Current Weekly Schedule During the public health stay-at-home order, worship services and meetings are not being held at our church. BAT meals are served in bags “to go” only. Here is our current schedule of weekly activities:

Sundays at 9:30 am — Online Worship Service

Sundays at 10:30 am — Fellowship Time via Zoom

Mondays at 5:30 pm — BAT Dinner To-Go

Thursdays at 7:00 pm — Bible Study via Zoom

Saturdays at 8:00 am — BAT Breakfast To-Go

Mon.-Fri., 8:00 am to 12 pm — Church Office Hours

Apply Now for a Trinity Scholarship! It’s time for students to apply for a Trinity Educational Scholarship. This scholarship is for any student who is a member of Trinity and plans to attend a secondary educational insti-tution (community college, university, trade school, graduate school or seminary). There is an application that needs to be completed, along with a letter of recommendation and a short essay. Application forms are avail-able from the church office. Don’t delay – the deadline to apply is May 31st!

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Help us support the “casa hogar” (children’s home) in Tijuana! Although we cannot deliver supplies at this time due to border crossing restrictions, we plan to resume visits to Tijuana as soon as possible. We will store all donated items until that time comes. Contact Christina Reza for more information.

TRINITY’S GIVING REPORT (1/1/20 through 4/30/20) Goal for regular offerings in 2020: $ 73,839.88 Regular offerings received in 2020: $ 72,519.11 Difference: - $ 1,320.77

Your faithful giving will help us reach our goal!

Scrip income received in 2020: $ 247.39

Century Club donations received in 2020: $ 480.00

Wow! So much has changed in the past two months. Although we knew the coronavirus pandemic was com-ing, few of us comprehended the many consequences it would have for our society. All of us have now had to adapt to this new situation — this “new normal” that we are told we will have to live in for quite some time yet.

Medical experts tell us that, until a vaccine for COVID-19 is developed, tested, and becomes widely available, the kinds of social gatherings we took for granted earlier this year will either be impossible (such as large crowds at concerts or sporting events) or will be conducted dif-ferently than before (such as in-person worship services).

Although Lutherans aren’t known for embracing change easily, I’m amazed and grateful for how well and how quickly we have managed to adjust the way we do things as a church. Worship services and meetings and Bible studies are being conducted online. We have learned how to use Internet-based tools, such as Zoom and YouTube, to do these things. Our BAT meal ministry con-tinues to provide an essential service to the homeless, elderly and low-income families in our community.

But our hearts still ache for what we are missing — time together with family and friends at church and elsewhere, human contact with hugs and handshakes, normal work and play, and the many other activities that were part of our lives up until a few weeks ago.

All of these things will be part of our lives again, although we don’t know yet when that will be. Only God knows. As I have often said, we don’t know what the future holds, but we know the One who holds the future. And that can give us strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

So far, the members of our church family have been spared from serious illness due to the coronavirus. For that we can be thankful. We have done well by following the advice of epidemiologists. We will need to continue to stay vigilant and take appropriate precautions. But we can hold each other in prayer even when we can’t hold each other’s hands. And we can rest in the knowledge that we are all held in the gentle hands of our Savior.

Pastor Kent

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding

them close to his heart.” – Isaiah 40:11

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Pastor’s Paragraphs

Tithes & Offerings Your tithes and offerings are needed to help contin-ue the ministry of our church. You can mail your offerings to our church, or use the online giving op-tion available on our church website at http://trinityriverside.org/giving/. To set up a recurring do-nation, you can also enroll in our “Simply Giving” program or use your bank’s automatic bill payment program. Call our church office if you have any questions.

If you have received a stimulus payment from the federal CARES Act economic assistance program, please consider giving a tithe from that as an offer-ing to our church or one of our ministries. It will help us continue to proclaim the good news of the Gos-pel and help our neighbors in need.

Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. – 1 Peter 4:10

Bible Study Our Thursday night Bible study is meeting online at 7:00 pm week, using the Zoom app. If you’d like to participate, let Pastor Kent know. He will send you an email with the weekly Bible study discussion questions and a link to the Zoom meeting. The study focuses on the upcoming Sunday’s Gospel.

Sunday Readings

May 3: 4th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23 & John 10:1-10

May 10: 5th Sunday of Easter Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 & John 14:1-14

May 17: 6th Sunday of Easter Psalm 66:8-20 & John 14:15-21

May 24: Ascension of Our Lord Psalm 47 & Acts 1:1-14

May 31: Pentecost Sunday Psalm 104:24-34, 35b & Acts 2:1-21

2020 Riverside CROP Walk On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Trinity Lutheran Church (aka “Team Trinity”) participated in the annual River-side CROP Walk to raise money for local and world-wide efforts to fight against hunger. This year, each of the eleven teams hosted their own walks around their neighborhoods rather than gathering together to walk the traditional course down Victoria Avenue. Lucky for Team Trinity that our neighborhood includes the picturesque Wood Streets! Our walk was a respectable two-mile round-trip course to Eden Lutheran Church.

This year’s walkers were Wes Krashin, Mike McMi-chael, Stacy Wheeler, Brenda M. Lussier, Pastor Kent Tuohino, Cherie Guillow, Kelly Krashin, Neon Garcia, Laciee Tito, Itzy Villanueva Caldera, and Christina Reza. Neon and Laciee made our event exciting by racing each other to the finish line!

Our generous supporters donated a total of $712 this year, helping the overall event raise a total of $13,210! Church World Services (CWS) will use these donations to help fight hunger and poverty around the globe, sharing 25% of our event total with local programs, such as Trinity’s BAT (Banquets at Trinity) program. If you would like to learn more about the work being done by CWS and how you can contribute, please go online to crophungerwalk.org.

Shopping with Michael By Michael Myers

I want to thank all who have responded and are helping me find homes for all of the fresh produce we have received dur-ing these crazy times. I thought I should let you know how these products have made their way to us here at Trinity. Eve-ry Wednesday for the past five years or so, I have had the privilege to cook at First Congregational Church in downtown Riverside for their meal that is made available to the broader community, called Project Food. Through this contact, many resources have been made available to me for use in our Banquets At Trinity (BAT) program from time to time.

Since the Order from the Governor about less than 10 gather-ing, both BAT and Project Food have had to serve “to go” meals, which left both meal programs with the dilemma of how to keep our supplies coming in the future, when we can open our doors again to serve hot meals. The idea of offering the fresh produce to both congregations and friends was born, and Trinity had the more user-friendly facility. I do have to give my daughter, Anna, a big SHOUT-OUT for helping me get it organized and helping to prepare the orders.

At this writing, our next shipment arrives on April 30th with the produce being made available on Friday, May 1, 1:00-3:00 pm, and on Saturday, May 2, 9:00 am till 12 pm. Beyond that, May 15 and 16 will be the next distribution dates. It is always a surprise as to what we will receive; it’s kind of like a box of chocolates.

DAILY BREAD MATCHING GRANT During the stay-at-home public health order, our “Banquets At Trinity” (BAT) food ministry has been continuing. It is considered an es-sential service to homeless and low-income people in our community. To comply with health concerns, all meals are handed out to our BAT guests in a “to go” bag instead of being served indoors.

We are truly grateful to all those who donat-ed to the recent Daily Bread fundraiser for our BAT meal program. We received a total of $2,250 in donations for our BAT ministry from friends and supporters, plus a $500 Daily Bread Matching Grant that we have received from ELCA World Hunger. This funding will help our BAT ministry continue to serve our neighbors and truly provide daily bread. Thank you for your support!

– Brenda S. Lussier

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A New CEO for Lutheran Social Services of Southern California

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PRAYER LIST The changes to the prayer list are read each Sunday during the Prayers of the Church. In order that the list be timely, we ask you to update any name(s) you have submitted on a monthly basis.

MAY BIRTHDAYS

Ann Herring (1), Willy Miller (2), Patricia Bayne (4), Jacob Custode (5),Owen Shelton (12), Danielle & Miranda George (14), Heather Conn (17), Wes Krashin (17), Laciee Tito (18), DeEtte Allert (21), Nancy Irwin (22), Jim Miller (24), David Beaver (28), Ava Custode (29), Abby Brunka (31), Robbie Clarke (31), Christopher Gallego (31), Brandon Medvec (31).

If we missed your birthday, please let us know so that we can add you to our list!

Buy Scrip Cards Online & Help Support Our Church

Willy Miller is continuing to sell scrip cards as a way to help our church. You can call or email her to place your order (her phone number and email address are in our church directory). You can send a check to the church office or pay when it’s delivered (checks should be made payable to Trinity). All scrip orders will go in on Sundays so that we can receive the cards by the following Friday afternoon. Willy would like everyone to know that scrip is still available and is a way to help support our church during this time when we cannot meet together in person.

Community Blood Bank If you are healthy and able to give blood, consider donating blood for the Trinity Donor Club. We thank those who have donated recently. Please let the church office know that you have donated so that we may recognize you. For more info, visit www.LStream.org or call the church office.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection

and the life. Those who believe in me, even though

they die, will live .” — John 11:25

Please pray for Dana Reupert and her family upon the death of her husband, Roger, on April 13.

Frances Zander, age 95, also entered eternal life on April 13. A memorial service for her family was held via Zoom on April 25.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” – Psalm 116:15

A Prayer for These Uncertain Times O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet un-trodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love sup-porting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

— From the service of Evening Prayer in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal

Out of respect for privacy, the names on our prayer list have been omitted from this

online edition of our newsletter.

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 5969 BROCKTON AVENUE RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA 92506 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAID RIVERSIDE, CA PERMIT # 380

TRINITY TOPICS is published monthly by:

Trinity Lutheran Church, 5969 Brockton Avenue, Riverside, CA 92506

Ministry Staff Kent Tuohino, Pastor Dana Reupert, Congregational President Willy Miller, Office Manager Jerri Mendivel, Director of Music Ministries Michael Myers, Admin. Assistant Christina Reza, Director of Youth Ministries

Rev. Hitoshi & Satoko Adachi, ELCA Missionaries in Japan

Vision & Mission Statements The vision of Trinity Lutheran Church is to provide a community of faith where all people are challenged to reach their full potential in Christ.

Our mission is to represent our Lord Jesus Christ in this time and place. We will do so by: • INVITING people to know God and His message of grace, love, hope and forgiveness. • ASSISTING people to grow in their relationship with God. • EQUIPPING people to serve Christ’s church. • ENABLING people to share their faith through what they say and do.

KNOW, GROW, SERVE AND SHARE

COVID-19 Notice: Due to the current stay-at-home public health order, worship services and meetings normally held at church are temporarily suspended or take place online. Our Sunday services are available to watch on our YouTube channel. New worship videos become available to view every Sunday at 9:30 am.

Church Office Hours: Our office is open 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, Monday-Friday