04/18/21 Weekly Congregational Updates

/in , /by

Dear Members and Friends of Holy Trinity,

A couple of things to pass along to you:

  • The Church Council, at its meeting Monday night, approved the following changes to our current COVID safety protocols for the congregation:

Beginning May 2:

    • We will begin singing the Kyrie and Psalms each Sunday morning (as we continue to wear masks).

    • All congregational groups may return to in-person meetings, including:  Sunday School, LMM, WELCA, Quilters, etc.  (Please note that these groups are still not permitted to have meals and folks are still encouraged to wear masks at their gatherings).

    • Church Council will resume in-person monthly meetings in Fellowship Hall (wearing masks).

    • The Lutheran Men in Mission has been given to meet in-person for their May 26 meetings in Fellowship Hall (with masks and no meal).

  • Don’t forget our Operation Inasmuch Projects will be completed this weekend.  They include:

    • On Saturday, we have 13 members of the congregation who have signed up to clean up litter in Anderson.

    • We have already taken a dozen casseroles over to the Calvary Home for Children and you have until Sunday, if you still plan to help with this project.   Even if you signed up or not, simply drop off a casserole in the Fellowship Hall freezer and they will be delivered on Monday morning.

    • You can bring your homemade cookies up until Sunday morning as they will be delivered to our local First Responders on Monday morning.  There is a box in the room off the narthex for the cookies.  Whether you signed up for this or not, you can still participate.
    • Attached is a photo of the azaleas currently blooming around the front oak tree, to the left of the church.

 

See you Sunday!

Pastor Fischer

Cross of Flowers Easter Sunday

/in , /by

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CROSS OF FLOWERS
Again this year the cross will be outside in front of the church.
Your Easter flowers may be placed into the cross.
This is a great opportunity for family photos.
What a beautiful way to celebrate our risen Lord!

Butterfly Tree

/in , /by

BUTTERFLY TREE
Throughout the 40 days of Lent, our sanctuary hosted a “dead” tree, covered with caterpillars.
On Good Friday the caterpillars went into their cocoons, but today and throughout the season of Easter, they have been gloriously transformed into butterflies, symbolic of the Resurrection of our Lord!

4/4/21 Weekly Congregational Updates

/in , /by

Dear Members and Friends of Holy Trinity,

 

Here are some updates to pass along to you about upcoming events in the congregation:

 

  1. Operation Inasmuch Update: To date we have 9 people signed up to bake casseroles for Calvary Children’s Home, 8 signed up to bake cookies for local First Responders and 14 signed up to pick up litter.  If you are interested in taking part of any of these projects, please see your April Messenger for the details and then sign up in the room off the Narthex.

  2. Little by little folks are trickling back to worship.  This past Sunday, Palm Sunday, was our largest turnout yet since COVID struck.  We had 46 at the Early Service and 51 at the Late Service for a total of 97!

  3. From the Church Council Call Tree, here are the numbers of those who have indicated they are planning to attend one of Easter Sunday worship services and some thoughts:

    1. 7:00 a.m. – 44, 9:00 a.m. – 65, 11:00 a.m. –65

    2. Using every other pew, and spreading out the seats, we have figured our seating capacity to be around 50-55, give or take, depending on the size of the families attending.

    3. We would like to shift some of our numbers from the 9:00 a.m. and the 11:00 a.m. service over to the 7:00 a.m. service.  If you would be willing to change your worship time, please send me an email.

    4. We will not be turning anyone away from worship.

    5. If you have any concerns about being around others, you should not be in attendance on Easter Sunday.

    6. All of our COVID safety protocols will continue to be in place for worship, until further notice.

    7. One of our Easter worship services will be recorded and placed onto the church website.

  4. For those returning to worship for the first time since the pandemic began, the question is usually, “Where do I sit?”  The answer:  all the pews/seats we will be using for that particular service will be marked with bulletins.  We use both ends of the pews, leaving the middle unoccupied, and we use every other pew.

 

Looking forward with eager anticipation to celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord on Easter Sunday with you,

Pastor Fischer

Advanced Care Directives forms and instructions from Mens Group Speaker March 2021

/in , /by

These links are now permanently placed on church website on our documents download page

https://htlc-anderson.org/church-documents-for-download/

Advanced care Planning document from Men’s group speaker in March 2021

ACP Overview for Patients

Anmed health Advanced directives directions PowerPoint

AH ACP Directions PPT

Five Wishes Document

https://fivewishes.org/shop/order/product/five-wishes

Desire for natural deahttps://fivewishes.org/shop/order/product/five-wishesth document

https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/student_health_services/documents/sclivingwillenglish.pdf

03/28/21 Weekly Congregational Updates

/in , /by

Dear Members and Friends of Holy Trinity,

 

Some things to pass along to you this week include:

 

  1. Don’t forget, this coming Sunday is Palm Sunday.  We will NOT gather outside on the sidewalk before the worship service as we have done in the past, due to COVID.  When you arrive, come inside and find a seat.  Palm branches will be given out inside.

  2. Next week, we begin Holy Week, offering two choices of worship times for Maundy Thursday (12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m.)
    and Good Friday (12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m.).

  3. Each member/family should be receiving a phone call from a Church Council member sometime this week asking if you are planning to attend an Easter worship service, and if so, which one (7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m.)  We are using this information to help spread out our attendance numbers.  If you do not receive a call by Sunday afternoon, and wish to
    attend, please contact me.  I am tallying all the information.

  4. The April Messenger was mailed out earlier this morning.

  5. The sign-up sheets for Operation Inasmuch were placed in the room off the narthex this afternoon.  We are aiming for three projects: Project #1 – Cooking casseroles for the Calvary Home for Children, Project #2 – Baking home-made cookies for our local First Responders, and Project #3 – Litter Pickup.  Please look at your newsletter for the details and begin to sign up. 

In Christ,

Pastor Fischer

Lutheran Men in Mission recognize Dave Korn

/in , , /by

The Lutheran Men in Mission recognized Dave Korn’s service this morning by presenting him with a lifetime membership.


 

03/21/21 Congregational Weekly Update

/in , /by

Dear Members and Friends of HTLC,

 

Below are some updates with the congregation you may find helpful:

 

  • Beginning on Monday of next week, the Call Tree will be put into place, whereby you will be receiving a phone call from a member of the Church Council.  With Easter Sunday quickly approaching, we are in the process of determining the anticipated Easter attendance so that we can spread out our numbers, due to COVID (similar to what we did for the Christmas Eve Services). You will be asked if you/your family is planning to attend a worship service and if so, which one.  With that in mind, the following information may help you in your decision:
  • We will be offering three worship services on Easter Sunday:  7:00 a.m. & 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

  • Each service will be identical to each other.

  • Even though we will not be singing hymns, there will be a soloist and a trumpet player at each service.

  • We will be observing the same COVID safety protocols we have been following all year, including the wearing of masks and using every other pew.

  • The sanctuary will be sprayed with a disinfecting fogger in-between the services.

  • A nursery will NOT be available.

  • The traditional meal after the first service will NOT be taking place.

  • If you have any concerns being out in public, you should not be attending the service.

  • One of the worship services will be recorded and placed on the church website later in the day.

  • If you have any questions/concerns about the Easter worship services, please do not hesitate to give me a call on my cell phone (864-933-7434).
  • Sunday, I will be preaching on John 12:20-33 as we explore the notion of searching for the Lord, specifically, John 12:21, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

  • The congregation is invited to participate in the Lutheran Men In Mission meeting on Monday evening, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Our topic will be Advanced Directives and will be led by Tamara Flinchum, a chaplain at AnMed.  To join the Zoom meeting, please click on the following link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85908351764?pwd=U0tQdGRVZGplOURZRTdQTjBabldsUT09

Meeting ID: 859 0835 1764

Passcode: MARHTLCLMM

 

 

COVID or no COVID, Easter is approaching with the opportunity to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord.

 

In Christ,

 

Pastor Fischer

03/14/21 Weekly Congregational Updates

/in , /by

Dear Members and Friends of Holy Trinity,

 

Here are the weekly updates on congregational happenings:

 

  • Our attendance in Sunday worship continues to grow each week.  The past Sunday we had our highest attendance yet with 83 (36 @ the 8:45 a.m. Service and 47 @ the 11:00 a.m. Service.  When you return, please make sure and seek a pew marked with a bulletin as we continue spacing out and using every other pew.

  • As the availability of COVID vaccines become more wide spread, the temptation is for us to let down our guard. The Church Council continues to have discussion concerning the coronavirus and the safety of the congregation. Until further notice, we continue to encourage you to wear a mask to worship.

  • As your pastor, I thought you should know that I am scheduled to receive my first COVID vaccine tomorrow.

  • If you have suggestions of organizations to receive grants from our Endowment Committee, the deadline is March 21.  Please contact Dave Rasche or a member of the Endowment Committee to submit the needed information.

  • Meals on Wheels is hosting a Drop in from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 16.  Behind the scenes tours will be given, a Question and Answer Session with the Executive Director, as well as refreshments.

  • The Congregation is invited to the next Lutheran Men in Mission meeting to be held using Zoom on Monday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m.  Our speaker will be Tamara Flinchum, a chaplain at AnMed.  She will be talking about advance directives which is especially timely during this COVID time.  To join the meeting, simply click on the following link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85908351764?pwd=U0tQdGRVZGplOURZRTdQTjBabldsUT09  and type in the Meeting ID: 859 0835 1764 and the Passcode: MARHTLCLMM

  • Sunday, I will be preaching on the theme of “The Greatest Gift,” based on all three scripture readings: Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10, and John 3:14-21.  Thoughts to ponder:
    • How often are you offered gifts?
    • How many of them come attached to strings?
    • Looking back on your life, what memory do you cherish of some gift you have given somebody?
    • What was the occasion?
    • What gifts do you still treasure/use that were given to you years ago?
    • If you had to describe God using one word, what would it be?

 

I hope to see you Sunday, either in person, or through the recorded worship service.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Fischer

3/10/21 Wednesday Lent service

/in , /by

Dear Members and Friends of Holy Trinity,

I will be preaching on “The Road To Capernaum” in both Matthew 4:12-22 and Mark 1:21-31.  Here are some related thoughts to ponder:

 

  • What were the main emphases of the ministry of Jesus?

  • What qualities did Jesus bring to His ministry?

  • How do we as Christians today embody these same qualities?

  • What was the authority behind the teachings of Jesus?

  • How do we allow the message of Christ to be incarnational for us?

  • What does it mean to have compassion?  What are some ways we can do this?

  • What new levels of service might be open to us as a result of our commitment to our Lord?

 

 

Don’t forget that if you are unable to make it to our Mid-week Lenten service, it will be recorded and available through the church website.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Fischer