It’s Trinity Sunday this week! You may not be as excited about this church festival as Easter or Christmas, which I get! But just like those other days, Trinity Sunday has its purposes. Once upon a time it was designed to fight against heresies (namely Arianism, which I will not bore you to explain), and some of you may even remember the Lutheran tradition of reciting the two-page Athanasian Creed. These days Trinity Sunday is more about learning about, worshiping, and experiencing our Triune God. So you might reflect on God in the traditional: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or in the relational: Creator, Redeemer, Comforter or in the concrete: God of manna, miracles, and mercy (as we will say in our confession on Sunday). This year, in light of the pandemic that has kept us so far apart I wondered in a new way, How close is God? As we have been socially-distanced this year, has God?
Admittedly in the depths of pandemic fatigue or personal crisis there have been moments when God felt distanced, even absent for a time, but thankfully in hindsight I could see that God was there though perhaps obscured by tears, back in my blind spot, or incognito as a friend or even a stranger. God comes to us in many forms. And in this strange year, our worship of God has taken many forms (WWYA, Awe+Prayer+Praise, “In & Out”)! So this week join us for a Worship Where You Are online service and then get ready for more new ways to worship! Next Sunday we will join with congregations across our Southwestern Texas Synod in a special online worship as voting members attend a Virtual Synod Assembly. Then on June 13th we officially kick off our In-Person, Indoor Fellowship Hall services (see below for details and to sign up) until our Sanctuary rebuilding is complete. These services will follow our regular worship times of 9 & 11AM but will also be livestreamed for those not ready or able to attend in person. How close is God? Tune in and show up… you’ll see!
The scriptures for this Trinity Sunday are Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, and John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15. As we celebrate, bring Spirit symbols (dove, flame, wind) to your worship space! We give thanks to this week’s WWYA Worship Leaders, Production Crew, and Musicians!