Please join us for a Holy Trinity Tradition ~ following our Ash Wednesday 6:00pm Worship.
Baked potatoes, Salad, and lots of fun toppings highlight our annual Ash Wednesday Meal.
Attendees are welcome to bring their favorite salad or potato topper to share.
For more information please contact Mary Samios childrensministry@holytrinityleesburg.org
SNOW SABBATH
Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
Fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command.
Psalm 148:7-8
We are having a snow Sabbath this weekend.
As I write this, Snowzilla, (as the Capital Weather Gang has christened this winter storm) has blanketed the Metro D.C. area with more than a foot of snow and more is on the way.
I imagine most of you will be digging out Sunday morning and for many of you, the roads will be impassible. While I hate to do this, the staff, the council and I have made the decision to cancel Sunday worship.
For me, Sunday worship is a blessing that disrupts the weekly routine, the daily grind of work. It reminds me that life is about more than drudgery. Life is God’s power at work in us, calling us to be fully human, to fulfill our destiny as the baptized people of God. Sunday worship also reminds me that I am not the center of the universe, that there is One greater than I, ordering and caring for creation.
Snowzilla has disrupted our weekly routine—and perhaps that is the point. God has called a snow Sabbath, a disruption to our busy, self-absorbed Washington D.C. way of life. Snowzilla puts us in our place. Snowzilla reminds us that we are not in control of the universe.
Yet, while Snowzilla reminds us of our limitations, it does not diminish in any way our call to be the baptized people of God. Snowzilla may even provide opportunities for us to be the people of God, to care for our neighbors, to care for those in distress and for those less fortunate.
Finally, while Sunday worship may be cancelled, Snowzilla does not cancel the Sabbath day. Exodus reminds us that the God who created heaven and earth, the God who created hail, snow and frost, and stormy winds, is the One who consecrates the day.
So wherever you are this Sunday, and I hope you are home, safe and warm, surrounded by loved ones, take some time to remember the Sabbath day. Take time to pause and praise the Lord, the One who created the heaven and the earth. Give thanks for your life. Pray for God’s protection on first responders and others who serve in these treacherous conditions. Then, make it your intention to carry God’s gracious love out into the world this week.
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy…For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
Exodus 20:8 & 11
Blessings,
Pastor Margrethe
On a Sunday when so many congregations will not meet for worship, let us be united in prayer. Please remember all those for whom this weekend is actually life threatening – the homeless, the hungry, the ill, first responders and transportation workers. If you have the chance to do this (or ask others to do it), pause at 11am on Sunday. Pray for yourself and those in need. And pray the Lord’s Prayer.
Separated and alone as we may be, prayer unites us. And God will bless and keep us this weekend and always.
The Rev. Richard H. Graham
Bishop
Metropolitan Washington, DC Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
prayer adapted from SE PA Synod
If the weather prediction for this weekend holds true, we will experience significant snowfall beginning on Friday, January 22, and extending into the evening of Saturday, January 23.
Due to safety considerations, we strongly encourage groups that use Holy Trinity to refrain from meeting in the church during inclement weather.
In case we need to adjust our Sunday worship and education schedule due to the weather, the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Staff will
1) post the information on our website,
2) change the message on our auto attendant,
3) notify WTOP.
Check our website or call Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for the latest updates.
Extra offerings to help us dig out are joyfully accepted. Simply click on the “Online Giving” button at the bottom of our web page.
Please stay safe and enjoy the unique beauty of the snow.
Early bird registration for the 2016 Grace Gathering ends in just two weeks, on Jan. 31, so reserve your spot today!
The Grace Gathering will be held in partnership with the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in New Orleans Aug. 10-13.
The gathering will bring people together from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Participants will see the church in action, worship with Churchwide Assembly voting members, engage in experiential learning, and attend a variety of workshops that will equip congregations and synods with tools to prepare for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
The partnership of the Grace Gathering and the 2016 Churchwide Assembly will provide a place for all members to prepare for the Reformation anniversary – which is an opportunity to rejoice in the life-giving, liberating power of the gospel – by connecting, reflecting on and discovering ways the Reformation continues to guide us today.
Learn more and register at www.ELCA.org/GraceGathering.
Our Youth Choir and Joyful Noise Choir will combine to perform a beautiful hymn tune, in both English and Swahili, for the “Lift Every Voice” Hymn Festival, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event, featuring many area church and community choirs, is coordinated by the Loudoun Chorale, with a grant from the Leesburg Commission on Public Art. Six of our adult singers will also perform for the occasion, as members of the Loudoun Chorale. A turn – out of 600 is expected, in what now is a traditional event, after its start at Holy Trinity three years ago. Plan to attend this lovely and meaningful festival.
Reception to follow. (Freewill offering.)
Baptism marks the beginning of our faith journey – a journey that will last a lifetime. On Sunday, January 8, our fifth graders will have a special time to remember and reflect on their baptism and look forward to their middle school years when they will have the opportunity to participate in our confirmation program. This program helps to equip them for a life of discipleship and culminates with the Affirmation of Baptism at the end of eighth grade, where each child affirms the vows made by their parents at baptism.
On January 8, parents are invited to join their fifth grade student and are asked to bring items of significance from their child’s baptism to share with the Sunday School students. These items can be baptismal candles, the cloth used to wipe the baby’s head, photos, baptismal gowns or outfits, or any other special remembrance of that special day. We hope and pray that this event will serve as a bridge to your child’s confirmation years.
