Pastor Tracey’s sabbatical will begin on April 25. There are some special congregational gatherings related to the
sabbatical.  Read below and mark these dates on your calendar!
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Leave-taking Reception on April 7
April 7, following morning worship will be a “leave-taking” reception for Pastor Tracey.  Join us in the Great Room for a time of snacks and fellowship.

Congregational Retreat May 17-19
The weekend of May 17-19, Rev. Dr. John Whitaker, a United Methodist pastor serving in the West Ohio Conference, will lead a retreat and preach for Sunday morning worship.  Rev. Whitaker serves as Senior Pastor at Shiloh United Methodist Church in Cincinnati.  He is trained in spiritual formation and has a D.Min. from United Seminary focused on the topic of Christian Community.

Pastor John will lead a retreat Friday evening and Saturday morning entitled The Choice for Community.  The retreat will take place in the Great Room and will begin with a light dinner on Friday evening, May 17, at 5:30 p.m. and conclude around 8:30.  It will resume at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning and conclude at noon.  The retreat will focus on topics such as: 
· Definitions of community,
· obstacles to community,
· community strengths and weaknesses,
· spiritual practices that strengthen community,
· inclusive community, and
· foundations of community.
This retreat is for the entire church.  It is not limited to formal church leadership.  Lily clergy sabbaticals encourage events for the congregation to grow during the pastor’s absence.  This retreat will be a wonderful opportunity for learning and growth.

Rev. Whitaker and Pastor Tracey served together at Church of the Cross United Methodist in Kettering, Ohio in the late 90’s and have remained good friends.  You will certainly be blessed by Pastor John’s leadership and teaching.

June Story Suppers
During the month of June, the congregation will have two opportunities to craft our “congregational narrative” as Morris DuBose, our narrative consultant, facilitates two story suppers.  The entire congregation is encouraged to participate; but you only need to attend one of the two story suppers.  The first will include a light lunch and will take place following worship on Sunday, June 2.  The second will include a light dinner and will take place on Wednesday, June 19, at 6 p.m.  Morris and table facilitators will lead us in celebrating and “cataloguing” memories of such things as: past pastors, our music program over the years, our missions and community outreach, how our surrounding neighborhood has evolved, memorable holiday traditions, etc.  This will be an enjoyable, interactive experience and will allow us to craft our congregation’s narrative in preparation of celebrating our 200th anniversary in 2027.

Communication during Sabbatical
Keep in mind that Lilly sabbatical expectations are for there to be no contact between the pastor and congregation during the sabbatical period in order for clergy to completely “unplug” and rest and renew.  Pastor Tracey’s church email will be forwarded and will be responded to by either Melissa or Rev. Jack Hartman.  Many of you have Pastor Tracey’s cell phone number but calls and texts to the cell phone number will also not be responded to during the sabbatical time. 

Pastor Linda will be in town and you are welcome to contact her with any pastoral emergencies as well.  A full listing of how clergy duties will be divided will be available on April 7 at the leave-taking reception to assist you in determining who can best field specific questions or concerns.

Pastor Tracey’s sabbatical will include multiple opportunities with religious communities.  As mentioned in a prior newsletter, there will be time with a Bruderhof community in the UK.  A week will also be spent at
Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky.  Thomas Merton is this monastery’s most famous monk.  Trappist monks are cloistered Benedictines, meaning that they are strictly focused on prayer and work.  Each day they observe the seven prayer times – Vigils, Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.  The abbey is in a remote setting, very quiet and includes many trails through the forest.
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In May, Britt and I will spend a few days in Portland, Oregon seeing the sites.  It will be my first time in the
Pacific Northwest.  Then, Britt will return home and Tracey will drive to Great Vow Zen Buddhist monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon.  This monastery also follows a strict communal schedule with three one-hour meditation times each day.  Like Gethsemani, it is in a beautiful setting surrounded by walking trails.  At both
monasteries, nearly all of the day will be spent in silence.

Please join us for an after-worship “leave-taking” reception on Sunday, April 7, at 11:30.  Although Pastor Tracey’s sabbatical does not officially begin until April 25, the reception is being planned earlier in the month so as not to conflict with Holy Week and Easter.

While Tracey is gone, Trinity will have the opportunity to celebrate life together in community through two Story Suppers.  These will be led by Morris DuBose, our narrative consultant.  Through the story suppers, under Morris’ leadership, Trinity members and constituents will craft the story of Trinity through the decades from the 1950’s until now.  This congregational narrative will be shared and celebrated with Pastor Tracey when she returns from her sabbatical and will also become a resource for Trinity’s 200th anniversary celebration of our faith community in 2027.  The first story supper will be held on Sunday, June 2, immediately following worship and will include a light lunch.  The second will be held on Wednesday, June 19 at 6 p.m. and will include a light meal.  Select the date most convenient for you.  Whether you joined Trinity in the 1970’s or 2010’s, please come to share your perspective and experiences on our church family through the decades.  Please RSVP to the church office (info@trinitylafayette.org). Direct any questions to Morris DuBose (motres+story@gmail.com).

The five UM churches in Lafayette (Christ, Grace, Brown St., Congress St. and Trinity) have received a grant to fund a cooperative youth ministry. This ministry will provide a full youth program experience for all students in 4th-12th grade, focusing on discipleship, missions and relationship building. Pastors Ryan Traeger (from Brown St.) and Kurt Freeman (from Christ) are the two lead pastoral mentors overseeing the cooperative youth ministry and providing assistance to the youth leaders. Aaron Osbourne (worship and youth director at Christ) and Trinity’s Director of Congregational Ministries, Melissa Kramer, have already started working together to co-lead the ministry and oversee volunteers. Each church participating in the cooperative youth ministry is being asked to provide one “lead” volunteer to be on the leadership team, assist in recruiting other adult volunteers from their church, promote the ministry, and be in communication with Melissa and Aaron.

The cooperative ministry, now called “The 167” (for the number of hours in a week spent outside of church), will meet weekly, from 5pm-8pm and will rotate meeting locations. To allow Melissa some more time and flexibility in her schedule, we will be asking volunteers to manage the church office on Wednesday mornings, from 9am until Noon. All that is required of office volunteers is a friendly face, answering calls and taking messages.

For anyone interested in participating or volunteering in The 167, please contact Melissa Kramer at melissa@trinitylafayette.org.

Volunteer opportunities include:

• Assisting with a weekly meal
• Being Trinity’s Lead Volunteer
• Discipleship focus volunteers (typical youth group nights with worship and small groups)
• Missions volunteers (needed on mission-focused nights)
• Fellowship night volunteers
• Providing transportation

For the past several months, a small team of Trinity and community members led by Ruth Smith have been meeting to form a nonprofit to manage the historic preservation projects at Trinity. The purpose of forming a separate nonprofit is twofold: 1) to apply for grants that Trinity is currently ineligible for as a religious institution and 2) to charge rental fees for the use of our space. The team has named this new nonprofit Living Stones Historic Preservation. Through Living Stones, we strive to build a welcoming community by preserving the solid foundations of the past. The mission of Living Stones is to support preservation and encourage use of historic religious structures in Lafayette. More at www.livingstoneslafayette.org. 

In addition to determining the mission and vision, the Living Stones team has identified strategic options utilizing the strengths and opportunities at Trinity to address its weaknesses and threats. Some of these options include:

• Continue to offer “experiences” in our historic space, both cultural and religious, and opportunities for Millennials to “show up” by hosting young professional groups in the GREAT Room in exchange for a short presentation about Living Stones and the work we do at Trinity.
• Connect with historic organizations in town, economic development office, Friends of Downtown
• Emphasize re-use of structure, sense of community, and authentic experiences
• Develop communication and testimonial pieces that share stories of how the community uses Trinity and why its historic structure is unique in fostering relationships and connections.

Over the next year, Living Stones will focus on completing two historic preservation projects:
1. South Lawn Landscaping
2. Stained Glass Window Restoration.
Living Stones will apply for grants and in order to provide matching funds, Living Stones will enter a cooperative agreement with the Trustees to rent out building space owned by Trinity to individuals and organizations, raise private contributions (individual and corporate) and utilize Trinity’s Building Endowment funds as authorized by the Trinity Endowment Bylaws.

In addition to the two projects, the Living Stones team is also focusing on developing a strong board and operating plan. During this first year, Trinity will provide administrative support and the Living Stones team will write grants and recruit board members. Trinity does not currently have enough available resources to support the financial management of Living Stones. Until Living Stones can acquire the resources to maintain a financial administrator, Friends of Downtown has offered to provide fiscal support. Friends of Downtown is interested in seeing Living Stones succeed for the vitality of the downtown Lafayette area and is offering their support and services at no cost. This fiscal agent support is already offered to many local non-profits in Lafayette like Grow Local. By the end of 2019, Living Stones team will prepare a plan for rental management, accounting and grants management, and fundraising. The Living Stones team is excited to move forward with year one!