Navigators Conference

Westminster Presbyterian Church in Downtown Minneapolis

Today I was blessed to work with Trinity’s Intern of Pastoral Ministry, Charlie DeZiel, at the Navigators 2010 Upper Midwest Conference in downtown Minneapolis.  We did one of the City Life Elective Groups on church planting, and had about 12 folks come out to Rock Bottom to eat and discuss the work of Jesus in starting new churches.  Pray that the talk will inspire students to be invovled in church planting near their campuses, and after they graduate!

- Bryan

____________________________

Image above from wikimedia.org.

Tonight @ Macalester Christian Fellowship

Weyerhauser Chapel @ Macalester

Tonight from 8pm to 9pm, I will be speaking at the weekly Macalester Christian Fellowship meeting.  The topic of discussion will be spiritual poverty.  Should be a good time, and it is a blessing to be able to serve this important campus ministry.  Please be praying for us tonight!

- Bryan

_______________________________

Picture above from wikimedia.org

Switching to Launch Mode

A couple scheduling announcements as we move toward the big day on 10-10-10.

Today, Sunday, January 17th will be the last weekly Launch Gathering.  Launch Gatherings are weekly times of singing songs, praying, hearing a message, taking communion, and growing together as a church community.  These weekly gatherings have provided a consistent time to invite new folks to see Trinity, to set a rhythm of corporate worship, and to equip the Launch Team for ministry.  The size of the Launch Team has doubled as a result of this meeting.  However, we want to start switching our focus from these weekly gatherings to monthly gatherings, and to use Sunday evenings for Launch Trainings.

Launch Trainings are a time where we learn and discuss how to start and launch a new church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.   Theological and practical areas of church planting are addressed in order to build a solid foundation for this new church as we prepare to launch a Sunday service on 10-10-10.  Launch Trainings will move from Tuesday evenings to Sunday eveings from 5:30 to 7:30pm.  Anyone is invited to come and participate during this time.

This Sunday provides a natural transition for the plant since most of us will be out of town next weekend (from 01/22 to 01/24) on Trinity’s first retreat.  The following Sunday, January 31st, we will start meeting from 5:30 – 7:30pm for Launch Trainings.  In the month of February we hope to provide two venues for corporate worship.  One is a Concert of Prayer, and the other is a Ash Wednesday service.  Each month leading up to the 10-10-10 launch we will be providing many monthly venues for corporate worship.  More information on that to come.

In review, here are the the transitions that is coming up:

• Sunday, January 17th is the last Launch Gathering (at 1982 Iglehart Avenue in Saint Paul from 6:00 to 7:30pm).
• Tuesday, January 19th is the last Tuesday night Launch Training.
• Friday, January 22nd to Sunday, Janaury 24th is Trinity’s Winter Retreat.  No evening meetings on Sunday, January 24th.
• Sunday, January 31st is  the first Sunday evening Launch Training from 5:30 – 7:30pm.
• Wednesday, February 17th will be an Ash Wednesday service.  Location and time TBA.

Continue to keep updated on the latest events with Trinity’s calendar at www.trinitycitychurch.org!  Any questions?  E-mail life@trinitycitychurch.org.

9 Months to Go!

This evening as Trinity City Church gathers for a Launch Gathering, we are excited that today (Jan. 10, 2010) we are only 9 months way from our offical public launch on 10-10-10!  Please be praying for us in these coming months that God will be glorified, that more people will start to follow Jesus, and that the Holy Spirit will gather more people to be a part of this growing new church.

__________________________

Picture above is from a Sunday evening Launch Gathering at Trinity.

Moving on Up

October marked a pivotal point in the life of our church plant.  We have been meeting in Ryan’s home since July, and his living room progressively filled during this time.  We hatched a plan to transition from this place to a more public facility with more room in October.  Two events marked this transition. The first was closing down our House Gathering on Sunday, and participating in all three of Hope Community Church’s services on Sunday.  Ryan Thom and Luke Rupnow helped Tim Johnson (Director of Music at Hope) with the music, I was able to deliver the message, and many from our Launch Team connecting with folks from Hope after each service.  The message at these three services is the first of a series we are doing at Trinity called God’s Glory in His Story:  how God shows himself off in Jesus from Genesis to Revelation.  This time was such an encouragement as we worshiped the Lord Jesus together!

The next Sunday, October 18th, we moved to our new site in Saint Paul.  The congregation of the Evangelical Formosan Church of the Twin Cities meets in this building at 1982 Iglehart Avenue in Saint Paul, by the intersection of Marshall and Cleveland Avenues near the north end of the University of Saint Thomas.  At this location, we have started Launch Gatherings every Sunday evening.   The purpose of these gatherings are to meet together in order to sing songs, pray, hear a message, take communion, and grow together as a church community as we gather moementum to start “preview services” this summer, and do a big launch on 10-10-10.

Please rejoice with us and continue to keep Trinity in your prayers!

Bryan

Our First Baptism

 

Our Baptimal of Minnesota's Boundary Waters

The first weekend of October was an exciting time for Trinity City Church.  A member of our Launch Team decided to get baptized.  He did not come to the Lord through the ministry of Trinity, but we did get the privilege of baptizing him.   Only this event was not your typical baptism.  He wanted to be baptized in the boundary waters of northern Minnesota during the fall.  So during a cold morning of about 40 degrees, we entered into the waters of Clear Lake and had a baptism to the glory of God!  The baptism itself was certainly more of a rush than the cold waters.  I thank God and feel honored to have baptized this member of our Launch Team.

Bryan

____________

* The picture above is from www.backpacker.com

IV Event at Hamline University

Ryan at IV Hamline Event

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog.  Fall is going to be a busy time in the life of Trinity.

One of the exciting things we were able to do this fall is to partner with the InterVarsity Ministry on the campus of Hamline.  This ministry, in addition to the IV at Macalester, is led by Dan Stirratt.  Dan organized a Worship Event at Hamline University in September and asked Ryan Thom to lead the time of worship through song.  We were excited to serve IV in this way and pray that Jesus would be glorified through their ministry!

Bryan

The Logo of TCC

After a long process, and much help and work, we have finished the logo for Trinity City Church (see last image in post).   First, Jen DiQuattro, who made the Between Two Cities logo, had the first conversations with us to get TCC thinking about this logo, and made some initial rough drafts.

Next, Ceallaigh Anderson, the Director of Administration at Hope Community Church, put together the foundational drafts of the logo based on a simple vision for the plant.  From the words of this vision, she put together the following:

From this foundation, Nick Wiesneski, who owns Vantage Point Design and is part of the Launch Team, added some detail to the logo and finalized it.  Some of this detail included adding the colors of the Wabasha Street Bridge in Saint Paul, and making a vector image of the triquetra (Trinity symbol).  Here is the final draft:

This logo would be impossible without the help of those mentioned above, and in light of that fact, I want to give you all a huge thank you!

- Bryan

Meet TCC’s Ministry Intern

Our mission at Trinity City Church is to glorify Jesus by igniting a movement of the gospel for the joy of our city and all nations.  Part of applying this vision is to raise up future leaders who have a passionate love for God,  have a compassionate love for all people, are on mission to spread the gospel, and follow Jesus Christ with devotion.  It is a joy to see this vision (what we call our ethos) being applied in our first Intern of Pastoral Ministry.  Here is a little info on Charles DeZiel:

Charlie is the Intern for Pastoral Ministry at TCC. He works part-time as a software engineering contractor, and is a Master of Divinity student at Bethlehem Seminary in downtown Minneapolis.

After growing up in Michigan’s glorious Upper Peninsula, Charlie then moved to the wilderness of New Hampshire, where he graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in computer science. Since college, Charlie has acquired a mix of ministry and computer science experience. He has served on staff with the Navigators Christian Fellowhip at the University of Minnesota, and currently volunteers as a Shepherd for the Navigators’ nationwide college ministry staff training program. He has also worked as a software engineer for Accenture, and as a computational biology researcher for Microsoft and Dartmouth College.

In addition to ministry and the nerdiest of computer research, Charlie enjoys the outdoors, food, people, controlled fires, sweet books, and Batman.

Groveland Night Out

On Wednesday, August 12th, I was blessed to volunteer for the set up and tear down of Groveland Night Out.  It was a good time to work for the community of MacGrove, and to meet new neighbors, all for the honor of Jesus.  Here is a description of the event from the MacGrove Community Council website, and some pictures that I took of the event:

Join us at Groveland Park (at St. Clair and Prior) for live music, children’s activities, root beer floats, local businesses and organizations information tables, and a viewing of the movie Madagascar 2! Activities begin at 6:00pm and the movie begins at dusk (around 8:00pm).

- Bryan