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.  You can heThis 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

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* 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

The Ethos of TCC

The community of Trinity City Church exists to glorify Jesus by igniting a movement of the gospel for the joy of our city and all nations. Just what does that look like? Consider the ethos of TCC.

The ethos of TCC is the values that are distinctive to our community as we seek to live out our mission.  We want to value what Jesus considers most important, and he is clear about what he values in the great commandments and great commission(s).  Here are the four values that make up our ethos:

Our passion is to love God.  Jesus commands: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38, ESV).  Jesus is quoting the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:8) in order to say that God is most important.  God created the universe and all humanity to show himself off, and we primarily glorify God by joyfully loving him with our entire lives.  Our passion is centered on loving God through Jesus Christ, and through his Son God gets the most glory.

Our compassion is to love all people. Jesus commands that in addition to the first commandment, there is a second that is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 33:39).  Jesus is quoting the Torah again (Leviticus 19:18) in order to say that the vertical command to love God cannot be separated from the horizontal command to love all people.  The love of God motivates his church to love every person regardless of their religion, economic status, race and gender.  It is a love so radical that it even empowers us to love our enemies.  Our focus is on “our city” and “all nations” because all people in both the Twin Cities and around the world matter to God.

Our mission is to spread the gospel.   Jesus said: “it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:46-48).  After Jesus rose from the dead, he commissioned his church to spread the gospel message that God has fully accomplished the forgiveness of sins through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus, God rescued us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and he not only forgives those who turn away from their sins but also restores the entire universe so that we can enjoy our new life with God forever.  That is why we are dedicated to starting churches locally, nationally, and globally.

Our devotion is to follow Jesus Christ.  Jesus also commissions: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).  Following Jesus is not only seen by a confession with our lips but also by the transformation of our lives.  If we love Jesus then we will be devoted to all his commands, and obeying thesecommands is a great source of joy.  We want to be known as a community that lets love be genuine, abhors injustice and holds fast to what is good, takes delight in honoring one another, is patient in suffering, is constant in prayer, contributes to the needy, and seeks to show hospitality, a community that blesses those who persecute us, rejoices with those who rejoice, and weeps with those who weep, a people that lives in harmony with one another, is not conceited or haughty but associates with the lowly (see Romans 12:9-21).  These are some of the marks of those who are devoted to Jesus.

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Image above from wikimedia.org

Mission statement above inspired by Antioch Community Church in NE Minneapolis

House Gathering

This summer marks a turning point in the life of Trinity City Church.  We have started to gather in order to worship Jesus together through singing the gospel with praise choruses and hymns, hearing the gospel proclaimed from the Scriptures, praying for the gospel to advance in our city and to all nations, and seeing the gospel as we take communion together.  These gatherings, which rotate from week to week with Prayer Gatherings, will give us momentum going into this fall for Launch Team Gatherings.  Take a moment through prayer to praise the work of Jesus thus far in this local community of believers!

Worship through song

Worship through reading Scripture

Grills and Trader Joe’s

Pastor Ryan at the Trader Joe's Grand Opening in Saint Paul

A lot has been going on since the last time I posted anything.  Allow me to give you some updates.

We have been taking advantage of summer in Saint Paul by getting people together for some grilling and outdoor entertainment.  At the end of June we grilled out, and at the beginning of July we celebrated Pastor Ryan’s birthday,  in order to connect with people who are interested in Trinity City Church (and interested in free food).  These events have been a lot of fun, and it is a blessing to hear excitement building about Trinity in the community we are ministering in.

Also, a Trader Joe’s opened in Saint Paul at the end of June.  What is the big deal?  Well, Pastor Ryan works there and played about 4 hours worth of music during the grand opening.  One of the decision we made as pastors of this plant is to work bi-vocationally so that we can connect better with this community.  It has been a blessing to do so.

I will post more about this in the future, but last night (Sunday, July 12th) we started our first gathering as Trinity City Church.  We did a gathering at Pastor Ryan’s home in Saint Paul, and worshiped Jesus by singing, praying, hearing a message from the Scriptures, and taking communion.  A larger than expected group showed up, and Jesus was made much of!  I am excited to share some more stories and pictures with you later!

Continue to pray for the work of Jesus through Trinity City Church for the joy of this city!

Preaching at Faith EFC in Austin, MN

Last Sunday (June 14th), I was blessed with the opportunity to preach at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Austin, MN.  The community there is extremely gracious and supportive of the Lord’s work through Trinity City Church.  The sermon was on Luke 24:36-53 and titled The Gospel Commission (you can listen to and download the sermon here).

- Pastor Bryan