Trinity Church in the Pines
"To welcome all, to receive God's gifts, to respond to God's call with love."

Trinity Church in the Pines has a rich history with the first organizational meeting being held in 1937, the Grand Lake Community Church being dedicated in 1942, and the church being named Trinity Church in the Pines in 1955.

Trinity Church in the Pines is nestled in historic Grand Lake, a small resort community at 8,369 feet elevation in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. The village is at the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park on the shores of Grand Lake, Colorado's largest natural lake. Grand Lake has approximately 460 winter residents, blooming to over 3,000 in summer months. The summer season in Grand Lake offers local and vacationers golf courses, hiking trails, river activities, and many town activites including the Rocky Moutain Repertory Theater. In winter months, cold weather enthusiasts can find several ski resorts, many snowmobile, cross country, and snowshoeing trails in the area. For more information about Grand Lake Village activities visit: www.GrandLakeChamber.com

Trinity Church in the Pines is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a part of the Presbytery of Denver and Synod of the Rocky Mountains. We are part of the reformed tradition of the Church universal. Following is a Statement of what we believe:

 

In life and in death we belong to God.
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve.

We trust in Jesus Christ,
fully human, fully God.
Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
preaching good news to the poor
and release to the captives,
teaching by word and deed
and blessing the children,
healing the sick
and binding up the brokenhearted,
eating with outcasts,
forgiving sinners,
and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,

Jesus was crucified,
suffering the depths of human pain
and giving his life for the sins of the world.
God raised this Jesus from the dead,
vindicating his sinless life,
breaking the power of sin and evil,
delivering us from death to life eternal.

We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image,
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
In everlasting love,
the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people
to bless all families of the earth.
Hearing their cry,
God delivered the children of Israel
from the house of bondage.
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
God is faithful still.

We trust in God the Holy Spirit,
everywhere the giver and renewer of life.
The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith,
sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor,
and binds us together with all believers
in the one body of Christ, the church.
The same Spirit
who inspired the prophets and apostles
rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture,
engages us through the Word proclaimed,
claims us in the waters of baptism,
feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation,
and calls women and men to all ministries of the church.
In a broken and fearful world
the Spirit gives us courage
to pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace.
In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit,
we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks
and to live holy and joyful lives,
even as we watch for God's new heaven and new earth,
praying, "Come, Lord Jesus!"
With believers in every time and place,
we rejoice that nothing in life or in death
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.


Session - Ruling Board of the Church

Taken from The Book of Order for Presbyterian USA

Session Responsibilities
The session governs the church. It is made up of elders elected by the congregation, plus the installed pastors on.
(G-10.0101)

The session is responsible for all decisions regarding the program and policies of its congregation, except for the two powers reserved for the congregation: the election of officers, including the pastoral staff, and the buying, selling, and/or mortgaging of church property. The constitution spells out 19 specific duties for the session.
(G-10.0102, G-7.0304)

The Session is composed of elders elected for specific terms of service as well as the installed pastor. It is presided over by the moderator, who is the pastor or a minister member of the Presbytery when the pastor is not available.
(G-10.0101, G-10.0103, G-14.0201)

Current Session Members

Bob Westlake            Connie Williams                   
Verona Schmidt        Geoff Elliott
                     
Bob Gahan



Deacons - Serving Board of the Church

Deacons Ministry at Trinity Church in the Pines

The three deacons at Trinity Church in the Pines are responsible for three areas:
Care of the Members
Sunday Fellowship Time
Mission/Outreach.

But just exactly what does that list of duties entail?

Member Nurture and Care 

Because we are in a resort community, this is more complicated than most churches. We have currently 70 Active Members on the rolls. We have at least 27 on the Affiliate Member Roll and many more than that, who participate actively as Friends of the church. Then there are the visitors to the church, on whom we want to get better acquainted and nurture into regular participation. As Deacons and Pastor discover a group of friends or visitors who are ready to join, then they will contact the Education Elder, who will organize a new members’ class. Currently the Deacons are checking on all the people on our rolls and updating them with the Clerk of Session, Glen Shull, and have divided the lists so that every one has an assigned Deacon. They also follow up with phone calls and notes to people who have visited the church, been ill, experienced a recent death in their family or other crisis event. As they become aware of needs in the church community, i.e.: people who need a meal after being in the hospital or during an illness, or seniors who need help with their homes, the Deacons try to make sure these needs are covered. As we get the data base software tracking attendance, they will be following up on those who are missing in worship to make sure there is not a health or family crisis need to help with.

Sunday After Worship Fellowship:

The Deacons seek to organize and support volunteers to provide the coffee plus fellowship in the Fellowship Room, and that is a wonderful part of Sunday mornings at TCP. For those who don't do coffee there is always other things to drink and to eat. This is a great opportunity to spend time enjoying each other’s company and getting to know people you have not met.

Local Outreach/Mission Interpretation:

The Deacons oversee and interpret the local outreach in the community to those in need. Currently we work with referrals of people in need from the Mountain Family Center, Samaritan Center and of course our church houses and runs the Grand Lake Food Bank and Community Outreach Program. We are currently exploring some new options for meeting the needs of people in our area that have been suggested by individuals in the congregation. Besides this work the Deacons are responsible to interpret the two special offerings that we receive through the PC(USA), The One Great our of Sharing and the Joy Offering and the work that we support through the Presbytery of Denver with our Per Capita. If you have a mission you would like TCP to support or need you would like to minister to through the church, the Deacons are the ones to contact.

Current Deacon Members:

Lyn Hull                           Deann Tibbetts          Dave Kafer
303-319-8761               970-627-8538            970-627-2415




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