Pastor Jim’s Blog
Leave it to the Amateurs
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Soffit… Webster’s, “the underside of a part or member of a building.” Soffits are not typically a topic of conversation. They are not a part of construction that typically captures one’s attention. They are the eaves for goodness’...
Embrace the Day
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. Psalm 57:8-9 My daughter, Lia, sent me the attached picture today. She...
Masks
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common...
Time is Precious
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... We arrived at our room, and I took off my watch. I had not taken that watch off for 16 months. I made the decision not to put it back on until it was time to go home. Felicia and I had left the island, all by ourselves. We were...
What Sweetness Awaits
Today's Word from Sheila Weidendorf... If you’ve read any of my missives about Old Tyme music—which I dearly love—you know that I’m NOT a big fan of what I have called “Pie in the Sky” Theology. It’s a kind of “It’s okay if we suffer now because we will be rewarded in...
A Servant Life
Today's Word from Karl Olsen... "…anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." Martin Luther King, Jr. "Vocation is the...
Hurt People Hurt People
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Luke was a physician, a second-generation Christian. Though he authored the third Gospel (and the Acts of the Apostles) he never met Jesus. Both of his works were addressed to the same individual, Theophilus. His name means “lover...
Marked with the Cross of Christ
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... When we are baptized in the Christian Church the pastor says to us, “child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” What a beautiful statement – we have been marked with the cross of...
Scholarship Thank You
Today's Word from Pastor Jim and Luc Gandarias... Luc Gandarias and his brother Gabe have grown up at TLC. Luc is a 2021 South Whidbey High School graduate and class valedictorian. Luc was awarded the TLC Ruby Scholarship. His name will be added to the long list of...
Serendipity
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 My daughters are busy preparing for the Whidbey Island Fair. After not having a fair...
A Tee Ball Kind of Church
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Felicia and I went to a Tee Ball game last night. It was a great opportunity to see our grandsons, and to watch preschoolers performing amazing athletic feats while wearing their finest baseball regalia. The sun was warm, the grass...
To Attain His Feet
Today's Word from Sheila Weidendorf... For today’s spiritual/musical exploration I want to go back to my beloved India. In a way, there is no such thing as India. The word “India” is derived from the Greek Indus, the name given to a great river that runs across...
Welcome Back
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. Pave paradise, put up a parking lot.” Week by week since April we have been easing back into worship. For thirteen long months the church had been empty...
Order of Allegiance
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Happy Fourth of July Weekend! The Fourth of July falls on a Sunday this year and I hope that you will be joining us for worship. We would invite you to wear red, white and blue to church. It will be a festive Sunday with songs of faith...
Touching the Future
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... His hair was long and white. He wore slim Western ties and cowboy boots. In years past he sat near the front at Trinity Lutheran Church with his wife, Clodagh. They had lived lives of public service working for the states of Alaska and...
Two Killers
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Ask people to tell you two things they couldn’t live without and the list can get pretty funky. “Air conditioning” makes sense, it’s hot right now. “Cruise control” would be on my list. Beyond the trivial we would find the heart...
A Change of Plans
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... Sometimes things don’t turn out the way that we hope they will. Sometimes we make promises that we fully intend to keep, but later discover to be unrealistic. Sometimes our plans and dreams are thrown off track and we need to make new...
Pastor Dennis & Jeri Hanson
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Pastor Dennis Hanson was ordained on the 9th day of August, 1964. Topping the music charts in 1964: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles, Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” and The Animals’ hit “The House of the Rising Sun.” The Summer...
This Sunday at Trinity
Tee Shirt Sunday & Holy Communion This Sunday and every Sunday, come and worship dressed as you are. There are no dress codes at TLC, and all are welcome. If you have a Trinity tee shirt, slip it on. If not, find your favorite funny, happy, or school colors tee...
Pike’s Peak
Today's Word from Karl Olsen... When an English professor, poet and writer finished spring classes at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1893, she headed west on a train, seeing sights including the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the plains of Kansas and the...
A Simple Golden Band
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... It was a simple golden band, safely nestled in the palm of my hand, waiting to be placed by a young bride on the ring finger of the man that she had chosen to spend her life with. This simple golden band had been resting silently in a...
Promises for Life
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... What do you know when you make promises for life at the age of 22? What does better, worse, richer, poorer, in sickness and in health mean when you are 20 years old? This promise to love someone and live with someone for 60 or more...
We’ll Understand it All By & By
Today's Word from Trinity Keyboardist Sheila Weidendorf... Farther Along is a very popular southern gospel song, covered by everyone from Ike Turner to The Byrds to Willie Nelson to Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris on their 1987 album...
A Part of the Lifecycle
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Sometimes I have serious conversations with God; beyond prayer, I find myself offering some advice. Sounds arrogant, does it not? I was never all that successful in school, not the most accomplished in my class, in fact, until...
Staying Connected
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Our staff made a promise to you 455 days ago. Our promise, at the beginning of the pandemic, was that we would stay connected though we were apart. We would continue to be the church together. We promised to produce content every day:...
Down the Hall and Out the Door Vol. 5
Today's Word from Felicia Lindus... Last Thursday night we had an outdoor graduation (of course!) for 10 students. Under blue skies and some wind (for an air of authenticity) we celebrated our students and this unusual year. As graduation began, I shared a few words...
Making a Difference
Today's Word from Arne Bergstrom... I spent 35 years working in international community development and disaster response with the Christian organizations World Vision and World Relief. It was a calling to be the hands, feet, and voice of God to suffering people in...
New Beginnings, Bittersweet Endings
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon on Whidbey Island. June had arrived, the sun-bathed green landscapes were accented by blooming flowers and the ever present yellow of scotch broom. In a brief four-hour period, I would take part in,...
The New Kid
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... Have you ever been the new kid? It can be pretty overwhelming. My daughter, Ava, finally got to bring her new kid home this week. You might remember me writing about this little goat a few weeks ago when Ava was trying to choose a name...
A Rose by Any Other Name is Still a…
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Picture an early 80-year-old, diminutive frame (maybe 5 feet) with flaming red hair. She probably weighed maybe four pounds more than her age. She walked like she should have been there five minutes ago. Always. Never slower. Lucy...
A Moment in Time
Today’s Word from Mark Winslow... A few days ago, I had to make a trip over to the mainland. A list of things to do called me over to that frenzied world. Normally Colleen and I prefer staying here, on our little island of paradise. Like everyone else, we have our...
Life’s a Twinkling
Today's Word from Karl Olsen, Minister of Music... Two days ago, Pastor Jim gave some sterling advice in his sermon. Basically: • Don’t be overwhelmed by the many problems of the world. • If you do get overwhelmed, take a breath and pick issues that you can have a...
Blessed to be a Blessing
This Evening's Word from your TLC Endowment Committee... “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21 The TLC Endowment started as one man’s vision over 22 years ago. Church member, Steve Schrecengost, created hope for the future - to...
“Am I Safe? Will I be Judged?”
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim... Jesus said to the religious people, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.” Matthew 21:31 The question comes up from time to time: a question born in pain, rooted in...
Small Joys
Today’s Word from Deacon Amy... “For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” Psalm 92:4 Pentecost Sunday was an exciting day for our family! We had been watching our pig, Julia, for a few weeks, knowing that she was...
Companions – Furry and Otherwise
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b Dr. Toole’s words have never left me, “Tom, the only one I am treating here is you.” There was nothing more he could do. Sir (that was his name) had been...
It’s Not Complicated
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim... It really was not complicated. It was quite simple. Thanks to Covid-19 uncertainty, I needed to cancel a reservation and rebook on another date. How simple is that? I tried online, but there were a host of unanswered questions. If I...
Pentecost, Life, Loss… and Hope
Today’s Word from Karl Olsen... It’s Pentecost! That season of the church year associated with tongues of fire, and a sound, as on a rush of wind! 3,000 baptisms! The birthing of the church! Or, as I sang in church the other day (tune in online or come to church—you...
Life in a Dumpster
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim... “I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who come after me and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish.” Ecclesiastes 2:18 Both vaccinated, we hugged before the worship...
All One Family
Today’s Word from Deacon Amy... “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 We raise several types of poultry on our little farm: chickens, ducks,...
Who’s Your Daddy, or Mommy?
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Even non-golfers recognize the name St. Andrews - the place, not the person. St. Andrews is a beautiful and historical city in Fife, Scotland. I have been blessed to visit this beautiful university city. Situated on public ground...
Just My Name
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim & Carter Castle... What does it mean that each human is unique; like a flower or a snowflake or a sunset, and at the same time, in almost every way, we are identical? What does it mean that we are all children of God and yet each...
Surely, God is Weeping
Today’s Word from Karl Olsen... Surely, God is weeping. God’s desire for all to experience abundant life sometimes seems to fall on deaf ears. Perhaps it’s the explosions—or the tears of grief. Until recently, this spring had been a time of religious celebration in...
Be Brave! Show Your Smile!
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim... “Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” I Corinthians 13:12 We gather in a sanctuary. What is a sanctuary? It is a safe place. A bird sanctuary is a safe place for birds. A wildlife sanctuary...
Mail Call
Today’s Word from Deacon Amy... “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus,” 1 Corinthians 1:4. In Sunday School this weekend, we’re going to be learning about Paul’s letters. That got me thinking about...
The Tyranny of Numbers
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... On one of my better days, the girls and I will go down to the beach for sunrise prayers. But to be quite honest, often my prayer life sucks. I’m supposed to be a professional pray-er and there are days that go by and it dawns on me...
May God Be With Us
Today’s Word from Pastor Jim... “Bear one another’s burdens and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 His wife has recently died. He was alone now, for the first time since college. We spent the afternoon together, sharing grief and recalling...
Why Me, Lord?
Today’s Word from Trinity Keyboardist Sheila Weidendorf... Ah, such times in which we live! Political tension, racial injustice, misogyny still apparent in all directions, nations pit against each other, poverty and hunger still rampant the world over. How many of us...
Perspective
Today’s Word from Deacon Amy... As you may have guessed from my previous writings, I was a horse-crazy kid. I had posters of horses on my walls, horse figurines on my shelves, and a plethora of horse toys of various types and sizes. I can remember getting angry when I...
Trust
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom... Every year, as a part of our confirmation program, I would take those students preparing for their Affirmation of Baptism to a high ropes course. Safety is the critical word for this experience. Every participant is double-linked to a...