He walked into my office unannounced, a tall, muscular man who had agreed to give the prayer at a Sunday morning worship service. He couldn't read the confession from the bulletin, he reminded me, but "I'm ready to do whatever else you need, Pastor Deb. You know that."
He is big-hearted, talkative, amiable. But like so many of the people at Triune, his intellectual capacity is limited.
He saw my fingers worrying with a beautiful set of prayer beads with a silver cross.
"Can I have those?" he asked. "I like that cross."
"No, I'm sorry, but my sister-in-law gave me these," I said. "But I have some cross necklaces."
I searched the crowded credenza behind my desk and pulled out a wooden cross on a slim leather rope, something I give out at baptisms. He put it over his head, then tucked it beneath his sweat-soaked T-shirt. For the first time since he'd entered my office, he stopped talking. I looked closer, and saw that he was crying. I handed him a tissue, and his crying turned to sobs.
He was touched at the gift of the cross necklace, overcome at the meaning of the cross -- without years of theology classes to explain it.
I hope Triune will always be open to people like my friend. He needs a welcoming worship community even though he will probably never advance economically or educationally. (In fact, he missed the service in which he was scheduled to pray.) I would say our first priority is to minister to people like him.
But we see other people who are capable of improving their lives -- economically, educationally, socially, emotionally.
And for them, we are launching two brand-new initiatives in September. We hope you will be part of them.
The first is Support Circles, targeted at individuals and families who sincerely want to get out of poverty. We adapted and customized our program after reading this simple statement: A person in poverty often doesn't know a single person with a good job.
Can you imagine?
Each participant will be "encircled" by four trained volunteers from the community who agree to walk alongside him or her for at least one year. The idea is to equip and empower participants to identify needed life changes, tackle obstacles and set goals for the future.
And who are these trained volunteers? You, of course -- Triune supporters and members of our 60 partner churches who want to go deeper with a hurting brother or sister. An informational meeting will be held Thursday, September 5, at 6:30 PM in the Triune sanctuary.
If you'd like more information before then, contact our Support Circles director, Karen Eller, at 233-8020, ext. 170, or email her at karen@triunemercy.org.
The second initiative is Celebrate Recovery, a support group that rehab counselor David Gay and I have been hoping to attract to Triune since 2006. Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-based support group for whatever hurt, habit and hang-up is infecting your life. Each weekly session begins with worship and testimony at 6:30 PM in the sanctuary, followed by small-group break-out sessions
We will still have our 12 Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings each week. They provide unmatched support for those with drug and alcohol addictions.
Celebrate Recovery is slightly different in that it deals with more issues -- gambling, pornography, past trauma, sexual addiction, overeating, etc., in addiction to substance abuse.
It begins September 11 at 6:30 PM.
We hope you'll make us a part of your autumn.
Blessings,
