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Dear Friends, Oh, how good it is to be able to reach out to you and call you friends. So friend, we ask one another: what would we do – for a friend? Would we be willing to attend worship together? Not for our sake but out of gratitude, longing to be community, and humbly to witness love for one another? Would we be willing to CHANGE THE TIME OF WORSHIP on Sundays to 9:00 a.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. so that we could gather together and ALL would feel a sense of belonging? Would we be willing to be a community where we dwell with one another’s stories as God dwells in our own real lives this very day? Would we be willing to be a friend who will take up the call to be a voice piece and a witness through our acts so all will know God’s mercy, compassion, and grace? Let’s take this journey together through prayer, scripture, sharing of the meal, and the lifting up of our voices. If you haven’t been in worship for a while, come this Sunday or Wednesday. Say "yes" to the nudge by the Holy Spirit to engage in worship and fellowship together with hearts of gratitude. Gather with hearts that are confused, hurting, or outraged. Come if your heart is longing and/or searching to belong. God is with you, now and always. Blessings to you all, Pastor Katie

This week we are highlighting and honoring the graduates in our midst, including well over a dozen who are completing their high school education. This fall, they will be scattering to join the work force or continue their education, from Iowa City and Ames, to Oklahoma and Las Vegas. But for the moment, we have the chance to celebrate their achievements. While some were (will be) honored at Wednesday night’s WYN worship service, others will be part of worship this Sunday. We hope that you’ll join us! Meanwhile, a host of serving opportunities beckon on the near horizon. We eagerly hope that you’ll step forward for one or more ways in we live out our calling to “share Christ.” Our spring Blood Drive with Impact Life takes place this Saturday (5/14 - note the date clarification). We still have several open slots to sign up for donating! Go to their website at https://login.bloodcenter.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/113265 to claim your appointment! The Catherine McAuley Center is continuing their vital work to resettle Afghan refugees. Only three volunteers offered to help last week; we need to rectify that if we can! Visit their website at https://cmc-cr.org/ (near the bottom of the page) if you have a couple of hours to spare this Saturday, 12-3pm. Next weekend (May 20-21), voting members from across southeast Iowa will gather in Coralville for our first in-person Synod Assembly in two years! Unfortunately, both of our registered Council members now have conflicts that prevent them from attending; we are seeking other eager volunteers who would like to attend and learn with us! Interested? Please contact me at tim@holytrinityNL.org if you’d like more info! We need you! Meanwhile, we are still significantly shy of willing worship assistants to help us staff our Sunday morning services in ways that are welcoming, warm, and evident of a shared ministry. If you’d be willing to serve as an usher, greeter, welcome station host, “busy bags” renewer, communion assistant, or reader, please let the office know ASAP at office@holytrinityNL.org. And last but not least, the Facilities Team is seeking helping hands to assist with scattering some mulch on our raised berm and mowing our Detention Pond this summer on a rotating basis. If you’d be willing to help with either project, please contact Bill Gelhaus at 319-325-6641. Hope to see in worship meanwhile and don’t forget our engaging current Adult Forum series, “Listening in Love,” being offered again this weekend! Another pilgrim in faith, Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, Oh, it seems like, on every blog, newsletter, magazine cover, and so on and so on, folks are talking about busyness, time spent, time lost, and how we invest our time in general. We don’t need to compete, shame, or challenge one another on how we spend time. Honestly, that is rarely inspiring or helpful. But rather, together we give space to and for one another as we celebrate that God gave us all the same 24 hours and calls us to pause and give thanks for the gift of this very day. In our passage this Sunday, we will talk about a lovely passage from the Gospel of John 21:1-19. Jesus told this small group, “Come and have breakfast.” (v 12), meaning “come and spend time with me.” He invited them, in their own ways, to trust God to be with each of them in the everyday and the extraordinary moments of their lives. After the meal, he tells them to “Feed my sheep.” (v 17). Jesus doesn’t say some sheep; he says, “feed my sheep.” He ends his message with this invitation, “Follow me.” (v19) In our busyness, in our calm, in our fear, in our burdens, in our joys, and in our every ordinary day and the extraordinary ones too, God is with us! This is our very Good News! I invite you to make the time this Saturday (rain or shine) and join the Mental Health Advocacy Team as they walk for NAMI (see more information at the bottom of this message). I want to thank Pastor Tim, our amazing team of adult youth leaders, tech and praise team for a year of heart-soaring Wednesday Youth Night Worship. Thank you to our parents for keeping WYN on the family calendar! Today, with arms raised, arms around one another, loud noises, quiet moments, one last servant project and lots of sharing of highs and lows, we bid farewell to yet another amazing year together. Please go to our website and check out the summer Children, Youth and Family opportunities. Pastor Katie

Dear Companions in Christ, Standing in the wake of the first in-person Easter Sunday service we’ve had in almost three years, it’s hard not to be grateful for the opportunity to once again celebrate the resurrection with you - all amid the sounds of trumpets, the aromas of Easter breakfast, and the delightfully colorful flowers of the season! I don’t know about you, but I was ready for such a morning! Yet year after year, on the Sunday following this mountaintop experience, we find ourselves back in an uncomfortable, even if familiar place. John’s gospel shares the story of “Doubting Thomas,” which some of you certainly recognize as a misnomer. I even go as far as saying that Thomas is something of our patron saint. I can’t quite put it in a better form than many writers already have, including Miguel de Uanmuno, who said “those who believe they believe in God, but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God himself (sic).” That’s a pretty complex statement to unpack and appreciate, but suffice it to say that this Sunday, I hope to explore some of the many faces of “doubt, disillusionment, and despair” as nearly inevitable aspects of a discipleship journey. Many of you will recognize at least one of these attributes as a contemporary companion. During the Lenten season, I’ve joined many of our members in appreciating Kate Bowlers’ “Beatitudes” as found in her new volume, “Good Enough.” So perhaps it’s fitting to this “teaser” in the form of Brian McLaren’s equivalents which conclude his volume “Faith After Doubt.” “Blessed are the curious, for their curiosity honors reality. Blessed are the uncertain and those with second thoughts, for their minds are still open. Blessed are the wonders, or they shall find what is wonderful. Blessed are those who question their answers, for their horizons will expand forever. Blessed are those who often feel foolish, for they are wiser than those who always think themselves wise. Blessed are those who know their unknowing, for they shall have the last laugh. Blessed are the perplexed , for they have reached the frontiers of contemplation. Blessed are they who have become cynical about their cynicism and suspicious of their suspicion, for they will enter a second innocence. Blessed are the doubters, for they shall see through false gods.” Hope to see you in worship, in our engaging new Adult Forum series, in “Family Sunday School,” and/or at next weekend’s NAMI Walk (4/30)! Another pilgrim in faith, Pastor Tim

In the Gospel of John, chapter 13, we pause as we listen, each with our own on-going story in this very life we live right here and now. We lean into the message of sorrow that breaks free into a new life with great joy. Jesus was nearing the end of his three years of ministry on earth. Jesus was participating in the Hebrew celebration of freedom from slavery called Passover (v1). Judas was already determined to betray Jesus to the soldiers (v2). Jesus washed their feet (vs4-17). Jesus was known to the people as rabbi, teacher, Lord, and Son of God (vs. 13-14). He told this small group of disciples, followers, his pupils, who were also his friends that he had come to serve, to glorify God in him (v32). He revealed to them that everything he had done and will do was out of love for all of the children of God (vs 34-35). Let’s stay in that moment of truth for a bit longer. The truth is that, in every step of this journey of Holy Week, Jesus did and does out of love for all the children of God. That includes you and me. On this very day, in a world that seems to be aching for hope, we listen to the scriptures as Jesus gives of himself to wash the filth off of the feet of his followers, off of your feet, off of all of our feet. Then he takes on the greatest act of grace; he offers his own body and his blood, all of out of an act of selfless love. We hear this message and we are invited to know first-hand the love our God has for all of God’s children. Oh, how this is a story we need to hear over and over again! We give it space in the busyness of our day so it can resonate with our longing to hear of God’s gift of compassion and mercy. God’s promise of life-everlasting is now our very own story of grace. You were made for a time just like now, to pause, to be a witness, and receive the love from and through Jesus. We are called to share this story of God-size hope with those who have not seen, nor tasted, do not yet know, and yet they long to hear the Good News. Our response to this timeless and unlimited amazing story of grace is, “thank you, Jesus.” Imagine that space of silence; and in the noise where you truly listen to God’s message of hope—that you were made out of love to be loved, to love one another now and always. Amen Pastor Katie

Dear Companions in Christ, After making our way through almost the entirely of the Lenten season, it’s good for me to look back and reflect on the fruit that has been harvested from it. Some of you engaged in disciplines of “giving up” or “taking up” a 40-day challenge. Some of you elected to serve in a new way over these past few weeks. Some of you utilized our seasonal study guide within your families, while others, including our “Agape” small group, pursued a humbling and reflective study together based on the recent writings of Kate Bowler. Whatever the nature of your own investment, I’m humbled and encouraged to be in your midst. I’m a bit chagrined as to how “spotty” my own practices have been over these weeks. I could point to all kinds of competing obstacles, make any number of excuses, or exercise a host of ready defenses; but each of those would miss both the point and the opportunity that has been before me. This week, we enter yet another distinct chapter together - Holy Week with Jesus. We begin this weekend with the pageantry of a Palm Sunday celebration, marked by hopes being high and passion for justice and deliverance most evident. Yet the day marks just how quickly and effortlessly the mood suddenly shifts with that passion now being re-directed to naming a scapegoat for all of the frustration, oppression, and exasperation that the crowds in Jerusalem were feeling. My hope is that we’ll experience firsthand - at least in a formal sort of way - just how inevitably our own excuses, defenses, and rationalizations of such temptations become part of our own story today. We’ll continue to walk with Jesus through this most distinctively uncomfortable week by recalling his last Supper with his disciples on Maundy Thursday (7:00 p.m.), when he modeled the nature of his leadership by washing their feet. We then gather again on Good Friday (once more at 7:00 p.m.) to experience the darkness of that Jerusalem garbage dump where the crucifixion took place, perhaps trying to appreciate anew how God was able and willing to take the ugliest of evil circumstance and to use it as a vehicle for establishing hope. Our Sunday School youth will be taking a related journey through these events starting at 9:40, attempting once more to grasp a fresh perspective on what their own experience of forgiveness has cost Jesus and what has been possible as a result. Meanwhile, our new Adult Forum series on “Listening with Love” provides an excellent opportunity to be able to grow in our appreciation for and ability tobe the kind of neighbors, companions, and fellow pilgrims of faith that we long to be. Wherever you are on the path of following Christ, I hope and pray that you’ll join in helping us to create and to experience all that this week can be. Another pilgrim, Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, In these days where winter and spring are enmeshed into one another, I find myself reaching for my phone to look at the weather app wondering (a) what to wear, (b) how will the roads be today, and (c) is it a coffee or ice water kind of day? It is during this season I find myself most comfortable being uncomfortable. There are days I am content to remain in my winter hibernation. Meanwhile, I am welcoming the hint of joy that comes when all things are lovingly made new! In these winter/spring days, in this very day, are you thriving or surviving? Is this a day where you have stepped in your own way or the way of others and your actions have caused disappointment, hurt, or confusion? Is this a day that you have enjoyed and, with a smile, you can’t wait until the morning shine on a new tomorrow? We are invited this week to hear the words from Psalm 51. The passage is credited to the heart-wrenching act of King David in which he begs God for grace assuming that his transgressions, his sin, will only result in a forever broken relationship with God. But that’s not how the story ended for King David then and we are promised it isn’t how it will end for us today. Together we will live in the tension of conversations that seem at times repetitive as we ask for forgiveness. Here are a few things we will talk through: The energy it takes to confront issues we thought we had already tackled. “That issue” and yet, here we are – again! How strength can be oppressive unless it is strength fueled by and through Jesus Christ with grace. How our act of asking for grace doesn’t make it happen. It is God’s gift freely and abundantly poured upon us time and time again. How experiencing radical grace through the loving gift of life from God through Christ, that goes beyond our understanding, opens up the window for us to let in a new season, a new life, and a new hope. How is your story of a life of grace going today? Come to the place, this place known as Holy Trinity, and experience love that sings out in our hearts – forever! Blessings to all, Pastor Katie

Dear Partners in Ministry, I am looking forward to a most eventful weekend at Holy Trinity! Among other things, we will be hosting our second “Men’s Gathering” on Friday (you’ve already registered, right?). On Sunday, we’ll be welcoming a host of new members into our community of faith, including a special reception for them after the 10:30 a.m. service. We’ll be giving thanks for the capable and generous ministry of Rebecca Pape, our piano accompanist for the past five years, as she prepares to move on to new and further adventures. While we hope to welcome her back to our congregation at some point, we’ll make a point of wishing her godspeed for now! Make a point of both introducing yourself to our newcomers and to expressing your gratitude to Rebecca! Meanwhile, we will return to our “Go into the World” series with a focus on “reconciliation,” especially as it is represented in Luke’s familiar story of the Prodigal Son. That the parable is so widely known has often led me to feel that I have to get creative with it; so I’ve preached it from every possible perspective I can imagine - the younger son’s, the older son’s, the father’s, and even the fatted calf’s (OK, so I haven’t yet done so from the pigs’ point-of-view!). I’ve even retold it with an old Garrison Keillor sketch that included a talent sound effects creator and reference to characters in Jesus’ other parables! But at the end of the day, we’ve still got a classic parable that Jesus told to make a basic point - that the work of reconciling broken relationships is inherent to what the gospel is about. A little more than 25 years ago, a youth walking by the old log Muskego Chapel on the Luther Seminary campus in St. Paul, Minnesota, peeped in its window and noticed a beautiful chalice sitting on the altar. He broke into the chapel and stole it. Naturally, the young boy didn’t know that this chalice had been a gift to Luther Seminary in 1936 from Norway’s King Olaf. In October 2006, the pastor of a congregation neighboring the seminary called Luther President Rick Bliese, asking for a meeting to discuss “an interesting matter.” The boy who had stolen the chalice, now a grown man, had visited his congregation. He was dying of cancer and had one request: He wanted to return the stolen chalice to the seminary. He had kept the pewter chalice in perfect condition. It had sat on his mantel for 25 years. Finally, its presence had become a source of discomfort and disease. Before the man died, he wanted it returned to its rightful owner and place, Luther Seminary and Old Muskego Chapel. President Bliese received the gift of “the prodigal chalice” with surprise and delight. Letters were written to this dying man expressing appreciation, as well as forgiveness for his deed. The lost had been found; now the blind were gaining their sight. The man received the letters with gratitude and died soon afterward. Now this chalice has become doubly special because it was returned after serving the purpose for which it was really intended: calling sinners to repentance, forgiveness, and the difficult yet essential work of reconciliation. It’s become a powerful sign of Luther Seminary’s mission. Where do you still experience brokenness that is unresolved? What might you do to help see that it can be? I hope and pray that you can join us for worship this Sunday at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m. and again on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. as we consider anew what it is possible in Christ. Sharing the Mission, Pastor Tim

Dear Partners in Ministry, Last weekend, Lisa and I ventured west to complete a postponed goal of visiting her mother in Colorado and our new granddaughter in Portland. We were fortunate to be able to make the connections work and thoroughly enjoyed our time with each of them. Yet it was a really hard weekend to be away. Awful scenes from Ukraine continued to beg the asking of hard questions that I longed to discuss with you. New state legislation that felt oppressive begged for a timely response. Then the tragic news of a student taking his life, preceded by the death of a former firefighter killed while assisting at the scene of a crash. Accounts of the deadly tornadoes came next, along with an awareness that several from within our community were wrestling with significant challenges to their mental wellness. Needless to say, I felt as I though I was a planet away and felt largely helpless to be present in the way I felt called to be. Indeed, landing a cold upon my return, which cost me the use of my voice, only added to my sense of inadequacy. It helped to humble and remind me all over again about the power of prayer and that, sometimes, it seems to be one of the few actions we can intentionally pursue in such circumstances, regardless of our location or circumstance. You were all in my prayers! Meanwhile, I found myself feeling incredibly grateful for the obvious presence and support that so many of you were able to share with one another amid such deeply troubling circumstances. Indeed, it seems that a wide web of “stepping into the gap” was quietly taking place. That was duplicated once again on several fronts last evening, as we gathered for worship amidst a whole new set of challenges. I am humbled once again to witness the gift you are to me and to one another! Throughout the week ahead, we are continuing our Lenten focus on “Go Into the World”, and on Paul’s appreciation of community in particular. As he addresses the beloved congregation at Philippi, he speaks of our having our “citizenship in heaven.” To my ears, this is a potentially rich metaphor that helps us to celebrate and recognize the ways in which fellow disciples frequently reach beyond what might be expected of them to engage each other with compassion, empathy, and concrete expressions of love. I hope and pray that you can join us for worship this Sunday at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m. and again on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. or 6:30.p.m. as we recall with new thanksgiving the distinctive privilege of our calling in Christ. Sharing the Mission, Pastor Tim

Dear Friends, We are sharing news and reflections this week. Please read through the entire e-news today. Together we pray and reflect on the happenings in our community and in the lives of those who are hurting from war and fleeing to safety around the world. Peace to you always, Pastor Katie and Pastor Tim A Litany for Lent by Franciscan Mission Service We fast from judging others, but feast on patience. We fast from apparent differences, but feast on unity of all life. We fast from the words that pollute, but feast on words that affirm. We fast from complaining, but feast on appreciation. We fast from bitterness and anger, but feast on forgiveness and mercy. We fast from discouragement, but feast on hope. We fast from suspicion, but feast on trust. We fast from idle gossip, but feast on purposeful silence. We fast from problems that overwhelm, but feast on prayer that strengthens. Pastor Katie used this prayer with her sermon on Ash Wednesday. It is presented here as you contemplate your Lenten discipline and how you might respond to the salvation God has prepared for us.

Dear Friends, In our passage this week, we are going to hear a lot of advice. It is solid advice. It’s hard-to-hear kind of advice. But it is the direction and focus for which we have been longing and it comes directly from Jesus to you and to me. From the translation, The Message, we hear it like this from Luke 6:27-30: “To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, response with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” You may respond to this passage of truth like I have, "Uff dah! What do I do with all of this grumbling and anger that stirs up in me when I am feeling short-changed, hurt, wounded, unjustly treated or simply exhausted?" Jesus responds again, in Luke 6:31-36, “Here is the simple rule of thumb for behavior; Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them … I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give them without expecting a return. You’ll never – I promise – regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind, you be kind.” I wonder if we can find time in the busyness of our day, in fact, in the beginning of our day, to pause for a moment, to look around, and to see the beauty of the day that is unfolding in front of us. We intentionally hear that God is at work making all things new. We find hope from Jesus saying, "Let me be the influence on and in your life; let my love be your love for all people." God invites us to see that it is through Jesus we are reconciled to God and one another, especially the work that seems impossible. I’m thinking about responding to what typically brings out a reaction in me (and maybe you as well) whenever we feel wronged. How about a first step and then a next step? Step One. Take notice of God first and not the flaws of others. Step Two. Ask for forgiveness when you mess up and fail time and time again at Step One. Step Three: Welcome the gift that goes beyond your imagination, but is freely given. See and hear Jesus say we are being made new in the gift of God’s grace at the font and at the table. Oh, thank you, Jesus, for loving us first, loving us always, and inspiring and, yes, commanding us to love one another. Let’s be imperfect together while we watch and take notice of God’s gift of beauty of a sunrise and sunset day after day after day. With a big "ah ha," let’s gather together for worship in-person or online! Sign up and invite your friends to attend the 5th Annual Women’s Gathering on March 4 with online registration at holytrinityNL.org go to EVENTS or call the church office! Peace to you always, Pastor Katie

Dear Partners in Ministry, Thank you to all who made the time to attend our Annual Congregational Meeting last Sunday to learn firsthand about some of the specific challenges and opportunities we are encountering as we look to a new year of ministry ahead. There is much to consider; our staff and Visioning Council are working intentionally to ask how we might move ahead most faithfully. We appreciate your continued investment in our ministry as we do so! I am grateful for the willingness of both Lori Berry and Avery Riehl to serve as new leaders and am proud that we have such capable individuals willing to step forward! This Sunday, I look forward to sharing a new webinar in our Adult Forum recorded this week by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. It details how individuals and congregations can help assist with the resettlement of new neighbors in our midst. Hope that you can join us at 9:30 in Room 1! Meanwhile, we continue our “S.P.L.A.S.H.” sermon series on - specifically the second “S” this week, which represents the baptismal commitment to “Strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” I don’t know about you, but, if the previous elements might have seemed challenging in their own respect, this one sounds particularly daunting to my ears! Yet, as one wise mentor once put it, “For a neighbor you may never meet, working for justice on their behalf may be the only way you ever get to love them.” To be sure, when I am brave enough to reach beyond my indifference and put myself in another’s shoes, I risk a host of diverse emotions - guilt, fear, powerlessness, or outrage. Yet, as Susan George once put it, “Our task is to refine the raw ore of emotion and transmute it into the pure metal of competent, systematic - and successful - action. Moral or religious indignation, however necessary, is not enough. Emotion by itself never made anything… yet without our untidy welter of love, generosity, anger, outrage, we would never be motivated to change anything; we would be prisoners of the status quo.*” Thus, whether daunting or not, it seems that engaging the “powers and principalities (Eph. 6:12) of our age is no longer an option for Christians who seek to love their neighbors. The only questions are which issues will we address, what will we say, and then what will we do?*” Chances are that we may not all come to the same conclusions. It is my prayer, however, that we can learn much from one another and be encouraged by one another along the way. Hope to see you Sunday! Sharing the Mission, Pastor Tim *Beyond Guilt and Powerless, Augsburg Fortress, 1989.