I’m sure you remember the well known phrase above from the lips of “Tiny Tim” in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” It may seem like a strange title for an article in the July “Trinity Tidings,” I suppose. It’s not one of those ‘Christmas in July’ attempts, I assure you. Actually it is a reflection on a couple of responses from recent visitors to our worship services recently. Ironically, both of them were from Lutheran pastors. This past week we were visited by a Canadian pastor and his wife, and several months ago a local pastor joined us for worship. Both of them remarked at the enthusiasm and excitement they experienced before, during and after the worship service. They especially noted the joyful presence of so many children and younger families. They also made it a point to compliment the wonderful music and service projection on the screen.

Brothers and sisters of Trinity, we are truly blessed as a church. Our weekly attendance is up a little, approaching 200 many weeks (not quite the average yet). Our school enrollment was up to 100 this past year. The school passed its accreditation review with flying colors and has been recognized as one of the highest quality programs in the Buffalo area. As a congregation that supports a Pre-K thru 8th grade school we are meeting our budget! Beyond that we have grown in our mission mindedness and support in the West Seneca community, Pioneer Camp and Retreat Center, Southtowns Care Center, the Upper Room Orphanage and School, Buffalo City Mission and other new mission trips. We’ve been good stewards of our Trinity campus in repairing and upgrading the church stained glass windows, the leaking basement wall, the school restrooms, enhancing the church cemetery, and technology upgrades in the school and church. New programs have been added and are making good strides: the Children’s Church program; Stephen Ministry; a variety of studies sponsored by our Women’s Ministry and the Men in Ministry. Our website has been revamped and is increasing in the number of ‘hits’ it’s receiving. Our Youth Ministry has received new attention and is growing. And our music program is outstanding! That’s the comment I have heard from a number of visitors. Our Praise Teams each have their own character and style, but are of high quality and do a great job! The adult choir is down in numbers, a sign of the times I suspect, but still sounds great. The bell choir is a real gem that we are so blessed to enjoy. As we head into the summer months, we are also blessed to worship outdoors on Saturday evenings. And, Trinity is blessed with many quiet yet dedicated volunteers behind the scenes offering all kinds of service to the Lord in the ministry of His church.

We at Trinity are truly blessed, everyone! Let us give thanks to God – to Him be all the glory! Let us also dedicate ourselves in the Lord’s service to preserve the joy and harmony of our mission and ministry together in Jesus’ name!

~ Pastor Dennis Krueger