Welcome to Trinity Lutheran Church!
A “mission statement” is a way of not only telling people who you are, but also who you are striving to be. In the fall of 2013, we at Trinity adopted the following statement of our mission —
“Trinity is a diverse, vibrant community of forgiven sinners sharing the unconditional love of Jesus with all.”
Let me briefly share a few thoughts about what this means, as a way of introducing you to who we are here at Trinity Lutheran Church.
“Trinity is…” To be honest, we know that we’re not there yet. But this statement reflects who we want to be and in that way, provides us with guidance, with a measuring stick, with which we can plan and make decisions.
“Trinity is a diverse …” As Christians, we strive to take seriously the mission of the Church, given to us by our God “who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy 2:4) The Cully neighborhood in which we live is the most ethnically diverse part of Portland. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the church in Corinth, compared the diversity of the Church’s spiritual gifts to the diversity of the organs and limbs of the human body, which exists “for the common good”. In the same way, we at Trinity value the diversity of our community and seek to reflect that diversity in our membership. For that reason we will strive to be welcoming to all who come within the shadow of the cross of Christ.
“Trinity is a diverse, vibrant … ” By “vibrant” we mean that we aren’t simply doing “the same old thing” because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” What we do is always tied to our mission. As such, we prefer, not to wait for people to seek us out, but to be constantly reaching out to others, striving to make a difference in the world around us.
“Trinity is a diverse, vibrant community of forgiven sinners …” We are sinners. As Christians, both as a body of believers and as individuals, we know that we have said and done things which belie our profession to be followers of One who calls us to love others as he has first loved us. Yet we are also forgiven sinners, not because of anything that we have done, but because of God’s gracious love revealed in the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ
“Trinity is a diverse, vibrant community of forgiven sinners sharing the unconditional love of Jesus with all.” As Lutherans, we see the good news of that forgiveness as the very heart, the center of our identity as God’s people. It’s because that unconditional, forgiving love which God has first shown to us is such good news, we want to share it with others who may not know it.
We invite you to join us as we seek to serve God together here at Trinity. You’re always welcome!
Pastor William Shimkus, retired 2017
