Annual Report from the Pastor 2011

Date: December 31, 2011

To: Members of the Congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church

From: Rev. Joshua D. Ebener, pastor

Re: 2011 Annual Report from the Pastor

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” – Hebrews 13:2

The year 2011 was my second full year here at Trinity Lutheran Church, Long Beach. The year began with one of the most memorable occasions in Trinity’s 105 year history. On Monday January 24th, Trinity had the rare honor of hosting Rev. Mark Hanson, our ELCA presiding bishop, for a special worship service. Over 200 people from Lutheran congregations across our Southwest California Synod attended the service. The people of Trinity came together and really rose to the occasion—serving food and beverages, directing traffic, ushering and assisting in worship, etc.—making it a wonderful event. I have received countless comments raving about how wonderful our hospitality was. Some commented on the beautiful diversity of our congregation. Others commented on the renewed life and vitality they see in our congregation.

Indeed, there is renewed life and vitality here at Trinity. We continue to worship each week at our Sunday 10:30am service. This year we started having a praise service for the last Sunday worship of the month, where song selections are more of an upbeat praise/contemporary genre. We continue to do the full communion liturgy on the first Sunday of the month and a healing prayer on the second to last Sunday of the month. I have been doing children’s sermons every Sunday now. The average worship attendance for our Sunday 10:30am service has risen from 43.75 in 2010 to 45.52 in 2011. Thanks to all those who serve as liturgists, readers, greeters and ushers. This was the second year holding a weekly bilingual (Spanish/English) worship service at 12:00n on Saturdays. The average worship attendance for the Saturday 12:00n Spanish/English service (based on the 40 weeks it convened) was down from 32.61 in 2010 to 28.4 in 2011. A special thanks to Luz Sexton for assisting in worship and translating various materials, to Wallace Johnson for ushering, and to Gabriela Vega Slaight for leading us in song. This put the total average worship attendance (Saturday and Sunday services) at 73.92 for 2011.

We had our first annual Appreciation Sunday (Jan. 23rd), where we recognized all of the ways people serve in this congregation. We had Bold Women’s Sunday on Feb 27th, where women led the service. We had mid-week soup suppers and services during Lent, which explored the theme of “by faith” in Hebrews 11, and had Holy Week services: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. We participated in the annual Greater Long Beach Conference (ELCA) Easter Vigil at Our Saviour’s Lutheran. Joan Hancock performed an organ recital on May 22nd. Trinity hosted the annual ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve service with St. Luke’s Episcopal and Second Samoan Congregational churches, with the offering (a total of $221.56) going to Christian Outreach in Action (COA). We also had mid-week suppers and services during Advent exploring the book of Isaiah under the theme “lost in the night,” as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. These mid-week and special services had an average attendance of 25.58 in 2011. The Trinity choir continues to grow and lead us in giving God praise. We thank Arline Walter for volunteering her skills and leadership as the choir director. Repairs and maintenance were made to the organ this year by Sean O’Neal (who played the organ at Trinity as a youth) and Robert David. We thank Freda Tyler for sponsoring the eternal candle in the sanctuary.

We continue to be enriched by God’s Word. We have bible study offered on Thursdays (10:00am) and Sundays (9:00am). I gave a presentation on my trip to the Holy Land on Feb. 13th. We studied the book of Acts (from February through November): we learned more about the challenges and joys of the early church, and applied it to our lives and church today. Then we started a study on the book of Philippians in November. In March, Gabriela Vega Slaight started leading a bible study on Acts in Spanish on Sundays at 9:00am. Raul Barrios enrolled in the ELM (Equipping Leaders for Mission) program, which is a two year leadership training program run through the synod. Trinity hosted the ELM class on May 14th and gave a presentation with Ruth Foelber (director of LSS) on our Saturday Outreach programs. A Sunday School for children taught by Kathy Glendening began in March with about four students who learn bible lessons and engage in games and crafts. Trinity started a summer camp fund to help send children to the LRCC (Lutheran Retreats Camps & Conferences) located in Frazier Park. Jennifer Slaight attended the music camp in July and had a great time. The teen group went on a trip to Knott’s on July 18th. *Please see the Discipling Committee report for more detailed information on the worship, education of this church.

This year a fellowship committee was assembled to provide leadership for the fellowship hour and other fellowship related activities. We’ve had several potlucks following our Sunday worship which are always a great time. Thanks to all who volunteer so readily in the fellowship of this church. *Please see the Fellowship Committee report for more detailed information on the fellowship ministry of the church.

Trinity welcomed a total of 8 new members in 2011. There were 6 members welcomed via Affirmation of Faith: Maria Moore, Sande and Larry Rice, and Gabriela, Aaron and Jennifer Slaight. They attended new member classes in March, where they learned or about the Lutheran Church and theology. They were formally welcomed on New Member Sundays on March 27th. There were 2 members welcomed via baptism on April 24th (Easter Sunday): Marilyn Ortiz and Fidel Martinez. New members are full of passion for God and the church, and are already engaged in serving in a variety of ways.

I made many pastoral visits to hospitals and homes this year as members were sick and ailing and listened to and counseled others. People at Trinity are good about praying for, writing cards, sending flowers, preparing food, and visiting members when they are sick or going through a tough time.

Trinity said farewell and Godspeed to 3 members who moved out of the area. Steve and Gwen Sliger moved to Dallas, Texas, and Freda Tyler moved to Greeley, Colorado. We will miss them and the ways they blessed our congregation, and we wish them blessings in their new homes.

Trinity mourned the deaths and celebrated the lives of two beloved members and matriarchs in 2011. Funerals were held for: Olivia Dager (Aug. 6th) and Nadine Smith Johnson (Nov. 12th). Olivia was a long time member who sang in the choir and was a leader and mother figure for the youth. Nadine was active in everything from helping with Saturday Outreach, choir, council, and discipling committee and would always say to all she met: “Have a blessed day.” The loss of Nadine hit our congregation hard, but I was moved by the way we supported one another in our grief. I led a burial service for Bryan Soriano Gutierrez (brother of Diego Algarin) on Aug. 31st, who fell victim to gun violence. We miss these faithful servants and commend them to the eternal care of our gracious Lord.

Our staff continues to work faithfully and diligently to keep our ministry running. Thanks to office secretary Kathy Glendening and sexton Dalerond Smith for their hard work and faithful service to this ministry. In September, Joan Hancock gave notice that she would be retiring after 15 years of service as our organist. We give thanks to God for Joan and for blessing us with the gift of music and leading us in worship. On September 11th, Joan’s last Sunday as organist, she was given a standing ovation, words of appreciation and a gift. A search committee (Kistyn Gritney, Arline Walter and I) was formed and held interviews and auditions for several candidates. Sean O’Neal helped the committee in evaluating the auditions. By year’s end the position had been offered but not filled. Special thanks to Arline Walter and Shannon Johnson for providing accompaniment for our services during the interim.

Our congregational council continues to provide leadership and discernment of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In July, Steve Sliger resigned as council president after accepting a job offer in Dallas. We thank Steve for his faithful service. Vice president Kistyn Gritney graciously assumed the role of acting president at that point. *See the council president’s report for more information.

At Trinity, we can always count on people to step up and give of their gifts in stewardship of time, talent, and treasure; to keep our ministry thriving. And every person comes to the table with a unique gift to share, and the gifts complement each other: whether it be finance, music, cooking, translation, or unclogging a toilet. As you’ll see in the financial report, member giving was up slightly from $58,609.46 in 2010 to $58,955.76 in 2011. Total income for 2011 (which also includes rentals, etc.) was 221,606.45. We will continue to rely on faithful stewardship and God’s provision in 2012 as our expenses will go up. Our stewardship campaign for next year (2012) was introduced by the synod’s theme they introduced at the Bishop’s Stewarship dinner. The theme is “Let the river flow.” The river illustrates the way God’s blessings flow into our lives and into our church, and then flow from us in love for one another and outreach to the community. When the river is flowing, plants and trees can grow and fish can swim. A large painting of a river was displayed in the sanctuary. As the estimate of giving cards and the time and talent commitment surveys were returned, the children colored and posted fish in the river to symbolize life and vitality in our church. Our goal of 30 fish (commitments) was surpassed with a total of 32 (an increase of 7 compared to last year). The commitments received amount to $47,654 (up $4,000 from last year) and people are pledging to give of their time and talents in new ways as well. We thank the Finance Committee for all their hard work. A special thanks for the dedicated service of Hermine Burg, Marilyn Bohl and Jan Laser. They volunteer hours on end in matters of financial administration and keeping everything in order. It is thanks to their hard work that we find ourselves doing so well financially. *See the financial reports for more information.

Our property continues to go through upkeep and maintenance. I receive many positive comments from various people as to the good condition of our church building. Our property continues to be utilized by community groups. I continue to know the various church and recovery groups who rent space here at Trinity. We thank Bob Pedder for serving as property manager, coordinating renters, work projects and to the property committee for keeping the property so well maintained. *See the Property Committee report for more information.

Trinity continues to be engaged in outreach to the community. We thank Marilyn Bohl and Kathy Glendening for their hard work to publish the wonderful Trinity Trumpeter on a monthly basis to keep us all informed. Our website www.tlclb.org and our Facebook page are updated regularly with sermons, newsletters, events, pictures, etc. Ads are placed in local papers for Christmas and Easter services. I continue to encourage you to invite people to church, and continue to welcome and encourage new people when they come. We thank Jim Young for continuing to purchase and distribute materials for the welcoming packages for the first-time guests. We continue to engage in outreach events at Trinity. For a second year Trinity held a Summerfest where people in the community came to Trinity’s parking lot to enjoy live music and barbeque. At Halloween, Erica Park, Paula Costa, and I handed out hundreds of packets with candy and information about Trinity to trick-or-treaters. At Christmas time a group of 18 from Trinity went around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols.

2011 was the second year we have been running our Saturday Outreach programs at Trinity. The Lutheran Social Services (LSS) tutoring for children and computer class parents at 1:00pm continues to go well. An average of 25 children receive tutoring from LSS teachers and volunteers. Meanwhile an average of 15 parents receive computer training in the computer lab (the class has a waiting list due to limited number of computers). This year was the first full year that Foundation 101, under the leadership of Adam Hass, has taught art classes for an average of 10 children at 10:00am on Saturdays. The Living Love Foundation also worked with the kids on doing planting around the church. Foundation 101 had a promotional event called ARTstravaganza (Oct. 15th) in Trinity’s parking lot. It was attended by over 200 people and featured artists painting on large canvases, art projects for the kids, barbeque, live music, and a raffle. Trinity was awarded the Mission and Ministry grant ($4,000) from the Southwest California Synod for the second straight year in order to fund the lunch on Saturdays. We also received a $4,000 grant from the Connected Corridor to purchase eight more computers (which now gives us a total of 12) and expand the computer lab. A special thanks to Amy and Tim Duprey, Wallace Johnson, and Kathy and Fenton Glendening for cooking and for Roland Johnson and Aaron Slaight for tutoring every Saturday.

This year Trinity was working with a food box program called Treasure Box. The program allows people to save money on groceries by offering a box of food for $32 a box. Trinity became a distribution site this year for families to order and receive their boxes once a month. Unfortunately, Treasure Box could not afford to continue their operations, and in September they had to close all operations. Therefore, we looked for another program and found Golden SHARE Foods, who also offers affordable food boxes. We became a distribution site for Golden SHARE in October and continue to take orders from people in the community and distribute the boxes once a month. Thanks to Kathy and Fenton Glendening and Amy and Tim Duprey for coordinating this program.

A group from Trinity volunteered for a Habitat for Humanity build (July 29th) and provided financial support for the projects as well. Trinity also had groups from Trinity go to volunteer on three occasions (Oct. 17th, Nov. 23rd, Dec. 22nd) with Meals on Wheels assembling meals to bring to people’s homes. Trinity continues to serve those in need with a Food Bank of food donated by Trinity members. In September, backpacks were assembled and distributed to children as they embarked on the new school year. In December, thanks to a grant of $1,200 from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Trinity was able to assemble 387 supply kits (razors, lotions, socks, kit caps, toothpaste, candy, etc.) for the Lutheran Maritime ministry at the Port of Long Beach. Thanks to Bob Pedder and Hermine Burg for coordinating this project. Holiday food gift certificates (totaling $230) were donated and distributed.

Trinity is also committed to mission on a global level. Trinity members rallied to contribute funds toward the Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) efforts of earthquake relief in Japan ($766.70 raised) and drought and famine relief in Eastern Africa ($968 raised). We continue to serve “Fair Trade” coffee on Sundays to ensure fair wages for the coffee farmers. *Please see the Outreaching Committee report for more information.

I continue to participate in our Southwest California Synod and the various ministries of the ELCA. I meet monthly with the Greater Long Beach conference (ELCA) pastors. I attended the conference Spring Assembly (April 4th) and the 2011 Synod Assembly in Burbank (May 21st & 22nd) along with our two congregational representatives: Nadine Smith Johnson and Chris Iverson. I attended a retirement luncheon (June 26th) for Rev. Hartley Lee at Our Saviour’s Lutheran. I attended the Synod Boundaries Workshop (June 28th). Trinity hosted our conference’s annual Bishop’s Stewardship Dinner on Sept. 19th. I attended the ELCA “Glocal” Mission Event at Our Saviour’s Lutheran on Oct. 21st & 22nd. I co-presented a workshop at the Synod day of learning event “Gather, Grow, GO!” on Oct. 29th in North Hollywood. I attended the installation of Rev. Steve Beckham at Gloria Dei Lutheran, Long Beach on Oct. 30th. I attended the annual New City Parish dinner on Nov. 5th. I attended two First Call Theological Education events for new (first three years) ELCA clergy and the annual Bishop’s Colloquy. I attended a seminaries event called Open Space for people discerning a call to ministry (Mar. 5th). I joined the board of the Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministry (LECM) at CSULB. In addition to the Saturday tutoring program, we continue to partner with Lutheran Social Services (LSS) in other ways as well. We provide food and clothing for their office on 1611 Pine Ave and raising $315 in the annual LSS Walkathon. John Carroll volunteers at the LSS office on a weekly basis. I participated in the Christmas event at First Lutheran where nearly 1,500 children were given Christmas gifts supplied by Lutheran congregations (including Trinity).

I continue to work with neighbors, community leaders, pastors, etc. I meet monthly with downtown pastors. We continue to collaborate on our programming for youth, and to meet with councilmember Garcia and local principals. A press conference was held outside St. Luke’s Episcopal on June 29 to publicize the efforts of our eight downtown churches offering programs for the children and youth in our community. I helped lead a monthly spiritual discussion group at the Sura Korean restaurant this year. I continue to serve on the board of the South Coast Interfaith Council (SCIC). I attended the SCIC annual assembly (Mar. 24th), the September 11th ten year remembrance service at First Congregational and the annual interfaith dinner on Nov. 13th. Trinity hosted the SCIC annual benefit concert on Nov. 6th. We continue to partner with Pastor Vivian Martin of the Mental Health in America (MHA) Village by hosting their computer classes. I attended a Homeless Assistance Training (HAT) on Feb. 13th. I attended the California Coalition for Equality and Justice (CCEJ) breakfast (Feb. 15th) and the annual YMCA Good Friday Prayer Breakfast (April 22nd), hosted by Mike and Arline Walter. I also participated in a Blessing of the Animals service on Oct. 1st.

Whew! To conclude, I want to give thanks to God for continuing to guide each of us and as a community of faith. United by the Holy Spirit, we continue to grow in faith, understanding of scripture, and grow together as a community through the joys and the sorrows. We continue to be a loving community that “shares, cares, and dares to witness” (our mission statement). We continue to welcome and offer hospitality to all and share God’s love to our community and world. I want to thank all of you for giving of your unique God given gifts, and for serving so faithfully and supporting and trusting me in my call as pastor. Remember that I am always here for whatever you may need, whether it is an ear, a hand or prayer. May God continue to bless you in your lives and through the ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church.

In Christ,

Rev. Joshua D. Ebener, pastor