Resurrection is an important part of our Lutheran faith and represents the gift of rebirth from sin into the salvation of Jesus and our opportunity to be saved and see our journey end with an eternity in Heaven.
As lead of the Education Team at Trinity, I’ve been honored to work with a group of dedicated individuals along with Pastor Lane intent on “resurrecting” our youth education program – to breathe new life into Confirmation, Sunday School, and Release Time.
We know that we cannot do this alone and need valuable feedback from parents, youth, and the congregation to help guide us in carrying out the important mission of educating our youth and setting them up with a lifetime of faith.
Because we do not have a youth director, Trinity will need to return to its roots – parents and the congregation will need to work with our pastors to fill the role of educating our youth, providing leadership, and celebrating the great message of faith given to us through the Bible. We know that we can do this as we did it for 93 years before we had a youth director!
Before we have you embark on the following questionnaire, some background is important: 1) Trinity’s confirmation program is returning to a three-year program this year. It will be for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students with confirmation in the fall of their ninth-grade year. We are seeking mentors for sixth and seventh grades. Look in this newsletter for information on what a mentor’s role and responsibilities are. Sixth-grade students will have a three-year program. Seventh graders will embark on a two-year program Eighth graders will complete the second year of their two-year program. There will be a resumption of a traditional program doing away with TrinityU, the point system, and other individualized learning programs.
2) Sunday School attendance has declined significantly at Trinity. Last year, we averaged 3 to 5 children ages 3 to sixth grade per Sunday. We have heard many reasons why, and some of these numbers reflect the lower number of children in our school district. We want to “resurrect” these numbers! We want to build excitement into our programming and invite families back to Trinity Lutheran Church. We will need teachers to instruct our youth and lead singing. Even though formal confirmation starts in 6th grade, Sunday School or Wednesday Night School is needed to prepare youth for confirmation. For example, this year the first few confirmation classes will be teaching youth how to find passages in their Bibles.
3) Release Time is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024! Think of it, for a full century, Trinity Lutheran Church has been educating thousands of young people. In 1924, Rev. Johnson appointed a temporary parochial school committee to organize the school, rent a room, and hire a teacher. Dues were 15 cents per week for one child with a maximum charge of 50 cents per family. No child was barred from religious instruction through 14 elementary students were celebrated. Students came from Trinity, Black Hammer, Riceford, Waterloo Ridge, Wilmington, and Highland congregations.
Can Trinity continue the program? Last fall 125 students from Kindergarten through sixth grade were enrolled. The program provided 35 minutes of non-denominational instruction each week led by Pastor Len Liptack of Black Hammer Lutheran Church and Pastor Lane Zaffke. The program returned to the Trinity Center. The students rotated allowing each grade level 35 minutes of instruction per month.
Many in the congregation have expressed strong sentiment to keep the program and expand it to every grade K-6 receiving class time every week. While that is a great goal, it would take four people teaching three hours each week September through April to provide that level of instruction. Are you willing to volunteer? There is funding available to pay teachers if we can find those willing to commit to weekly teaching.
Obviously, our church will experience a lot of change over the next 12 to 18 months as we begin the process of calling a pastor and work on self-reflection and study with our interim pastor. But this time is a great time to try new things and prepare for our new pastor.
In that light, we want you to think and pray about a Wednesday Night Fellowship. It’s an alternative that larger churches in metro areas have tried with some success. Is it time for a small rural church to try it? Many congregations have found it as a time for families to squeeze in worship and education and still participate in their school and sport activities. The larger churches are holding these services during the school year (September through April).
This survey will allow you to contemplate the concept and indicate if you would be interested in participating with your children. A tentative outline for consideration and discussion: 6:30-6:40 p.m.— Gather at Trinity Center, start with singing, prayer of the day, a Bible reading 6:40-7:00 p.m.— Lesson/message by Pastor followed by prayers of the church 7:00-7:30 p.m.— Confirmation with mentors, classroom instruction (ages 3 to 5th grade) aka Sunday School, and Adult Bible Study, Adult Lesson or parent group discussions 7:30 p.m. — Come back together for Benediction and Send Off
Now we need to hear from you! Please complete the survey.Please have it completed and turned in by Friday, August 16. Thank you!
There are several ways to access the survey: - click here for an online version - find it in the August newsletter - click here for a pdf of the survey to print - pick up a copy in the office or at the sanctuary entrances..
If you are called to help in any of the areas listed above, please contact Heather Gray at 507-459-1948 or 4grays.sg@gmail.com or Pastor Lane at 507-273-3385 or cyf.trinitysg@gmail.com.
Thank you for prayerfully considering how we can resurrect our youth education programming and filling out the survey. Your Education Team: Heather Gray (lead), Deanna Solum, Hope Turner, Bonnie Solberg, Bev Nelson, Tammy Petersen, Jessica Sherburne and Jessica Kraus.
