Pastor’s Log ......................................... 2

Announcements & Events .................. 3

United Methodist Women ................. 4

Finance Committee ............................ 4

Writing Group ..................................... 5

“Trees” ................................................. 5

September Holidays .......................... 6

Hiking Group ...................................... 7

Trinity Life and Community .............. 8

In Our Prayers .................................. 10

Our Amazing Volunteers ................. 10

Bible Readings .................................. 10

Calendar ........................................... 11

Celebrations .................................... 12

Information ...................................... 12

In T

his

Iss

ue:

SPOTLIGHT ON RON PORTIN

The mission of the Trinity United Methodist Church is to be a welcoming ministry to all persons equally; to nurture spiritual development, fellowship and outreach.

The Trinity Times

I was born in Seattle, Washing-

ton, to Vernon and Margaret

Portin in 1951. I have an older sis-

ter and a younger brother, both

live in the area. The early years of

my life we lived in the city where I

have very fond memories of eve-

rything “1950”. Hula Hoops, Davy

Crockett Hats, Mickey Mouse Club

and Dick’s Drive-in. Like many of

the young families of the time

there was an exit to the suburbs

where we had a home built on top

of a hill in Lake Forest Park. At the

time we were surrounded by trees

which became my playground for

hours and days of adventures.

I am so thankful for two loving

parents that had an influence in

my life. A mother who made our

home a fun and always interesting

place. Even though we had lim-

ited finances I never knew I was

missing out on anything. My Dad

was one who had a calming atti-

tude. In a crisis it was, “oh well”.

Schooling was never easy for

me, which is why when I graduat-

ed from High School I went to

Shoreline Community College to

see if there was an interest. After

two years of taking every 101 class

I decided to forgo any continued

schooling and enter the work

place.

My first job was at John Fluke

Mfg. Company where I worked for

18 years. After that I started a new

adventure in the Edmonds School

District as Mail Coordinator for the

District, the best 15 years of my

working career. Because of levy

failure I left the School District to

work in Mail Services at the Uni-

versity of Washington where I

stayed till retirement.

All in all I am thankful for em-

ployment. Every paycheck I would

thank God.

My faith journey was always in

the church as both parents were

faithful Christians. My earliest

memories were in a Pentecostal

Church. Not understanding

“speaking in tongues” I was fright-

ened by this behavior. Something

that has been an influence in my

faith journey. As my folks also had

a change in theology we started

attending a Conservative Baptist

Church. This is where my faith in

my adolescent years developed.

As I entered adulthood I was start-

ing to form my own questions on

faith.

The “why” questions were al-

ways popping up. I then found the

Presbyterian Church a comforta-

(Continued on page 4)

September 2019

2

I recently posted this picture on Facebook showing a

"Typical Sunday at Trinity". The day was Pentecost

and we had new members join our church, chickens

during the children's sermon, and a huge production

that allowed us to experience the Pentecost story in

sight, sound, and experience. Our church is pretty un-

predictable and a lot of

fun!

Our Pacific Northwest

Annual Conference has

taken notice of us and our

incredible growth over the

past two years, despite the

"kerfuffle" that we had in

2017 (as Susan Harter has

described it), and we have

taken off as a shining star

in our conference. Recent-

ly, I met with our district

superintendent, Rev. Mark

Galang, and he told me

that he chose our church

out of more than 200

churches as one of the 10

congregations in the Pacific

Northwest Annual Confer-

ence that our leaders want

to invest in financially. They

picked us to participate in the "Multiplying Ministries"

Class of 2019-2020. Over the next 8 months they will

be training me, as your pastor, to continue to expand

and increase our congregation.

The class will be led by Brian Zehr. He has a compa-

ny called "Intentional Impact" and he trains pastors

and churches to reach out to a new generation of

'unchurched' people and bring them into the life of

church. Over the next 8 months I will be attending

these gatherings and will be sharing with our leaders

how we can continue to grow as a church. With Brian

as our leader and 9 other pastors, we will work togeth-

er to ensure that Trinity will have a long and bright fu-

ture ahead of us. You can read more about this at

www.intentionalimpact.com.

This is a huge honor for our congregation and

serves to further solidify that our decision to become a

Reconciling Congregation

was God's leading. Of

course, the church is noth-

ing without the people,

and you all should feel

proud of the example you

are making in our area of

the world. This would nev-

er have happened without

all of you!

This past Sunday, Kim

Clark talked about how

comfortable he felt shar-

ing openly in church about

his two sons that died

from from drug and alco-

hol addiction. My re-

sponse was, "what I love

about our church is that

we can come in here and

be ourselves without hav-

ing to wear masks and

hide who we are or how we feel". Truly, Trinity is a 'real

church for real people' and that is what is attracting

many to our church and what is making the leaders of

the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference take notice

of us. I want to simply thank you for being you and

allowing God to use all of you in such an amazing way.

What an amazing and FUN church we all are a part of!

In Christ,

Pastor Tony

PASTOR’S LOG By Pastor Tony Brown

3

September 2019

ANNOUNCEMENTS MUSIC EVENTS FELLOWSHIP

HAPPY AUTUMN! Our regular events are starting up again:

Choir Rehearsals—Wednesday, September 4 and Sunday, September 8

UMW Luncheon—Thursday, September 12

Life Around the Table Dinner—Wednesday, September 18

Teen Night—Wednesday, September 18

Writing Group now meets 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

There will be no Bible Study on Monday, September 9 & 16.

Pastor Tony will be away September 9-17.

CHARGE CONFERENCE Monday, October 21 (time to be determined)

Mark Galang, our District Superintendent, will be here and we will elect leaders, approve the pastor’s salary for next year and other annual business.

Everyone is welcome - you do not have to be a member of the church to attend.

LIFE AROUND THE TABLE 3rd Wednesday of the month

Take a night off from cooking and have dinner with us! It's so easy...no need to bring anything, just yourself. Our Church dinners are served for anyone who would like fellowship. You can also stay for choir or Teen Night, our teen mentoring program.

Please RSVP when the signup sheet goes around on Sundays, so we know how many to cook for. A donation to help with food costs is much appreciated. Thank you! If you'd like to help with dinners or the mentoring program please contact Pastor Tony.

Do you like to sing? You’re invited to join

Trinity’s choir!

Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings at 5:30 PM and Sunday mornings at 9 AM.

If you have questions, please talk to Diane, our Choir Conductor.

September 2019

4

ble place to ask those questions. It was there I was in-

fluenced by the ministry of Bruce Larson, senior pastor

at University Presbyterian. In his ministry he showed

us it was ok to make mistakes. Encouraged us to put

our faith to work—take creative risks!

Staying in a safe place does not promote growth.

Mistakes or success is something to learn from. A phi-

losophy I have had to learn which is why I am living in

Port Townsend today. This was not the place of my

choice because it is better than what I would have cho-

sen. This nudging by God has been a real blessing to

me. Not only am I living in a place that has everything

that interests me, but God led me to Trinity Methodist

Church. Has my faith journey ended? No! I have just

turned the page to a new chapter.

(Spotlight continued from page 1)

UNITED METHODIST WOMEN By Nancy Stevens

I n the previous Trinity Newsletter

last June, I noted that it looked

like summer was on its way here in Port Townsend.

Now that it is September, I can confirm that projec-

tion – yes Summer has come to town and is still

with us. Besides the warmer and mostly drier

weather, the financial picture has improved as well.

The net cash flow of income in versus expenses

out has finally turned the corner and year-to-date

balance is a little positive. By that I mean we have

taken in slightly more than we have spent. But, that

is only because we have not been paying the full

apportionment, as assigned by the PNW Confer-

ence. Provided the trend of increasing income con-

tinues, we may not need to mount fundraising

efforts in order to close the year with operations

income and expenses in balance.

As was mentioned in the 18th August Worship

session, Trinity has also made it into the final

round of competition for a Sacred Places Matching

Grant (on a 1:1 ratio) of $100K. One of the major

goals of this Grant is to bring sacred historical

buildings into compliance with ADA requirements

for access to all parts of the building complex. ADA

compliance and increased Fellowship meeting ca-

pacity have been the long-term goal of the Corner-

stone Project since its inception. There will be more

said about the Cornerstone situation in future

Newsletters articles and in meetings with the Con-

gregation.

FINANCE COMMITTEE By Charlie Dick, Finance Chair

United Methodist

Women shall be a

community of

women whose

purpose is to know

God and to experience freedom as whole persons through

Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship;

and to expand concepts of mission through participation in

the global ministries of the church.

H ello Ladies!

September is here and we are ready to resume

our monthly United Methodist Women meetings at Trin-

ity. We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month at

11:30 in Trinity Fellowship Hall. We have a great time

sharing lunch, enjoying interesting programs, and con-

ducting a little business. All women are welcome to join

us - you do not have to be a member of a United Meth-

odist Church to be part of UMW.

Our next meeting is on Thursday, September 12, at

11:30 in Trinity Fellowship Hall. We hope you will join

us (and bring a friend)! If you are interested in helping

with food for this luncheon, please contact Nancy Ste-

vens (nstevensnow@gmail.com) or Marlene Colvin (360-

344-2423). If you would like more information about

UMW, contact Nancy or Marlene. We look forward to

our time together!

5

September 2019

By Molly Jacobson

Trees have been in the news lately. Peo-

ple hate to see them cut down to

make room for parking lots, houses, etc. The “Asphalt

Jungle”. There is the on-going argument about climate

change and how they help defend against that, espe-

cially now when there has already been such fierce

heat in all parts of our world. They have a cooling

effect.

My brother was especially fascinated by various

types of wood which he used in different building pro-

jects. They all have their unique properties, evident

when burning them in fireplaces, campfires or stoves.

Some burn hot right away, and some hardwoods take

longer to get going. There are arguments about burn-

ing, too, and how it can affect our air.

I have a plum tree growing by my fence between

me and my neighbor. It’s on my property and has got-

ten quite large over the years. The latest wind storms

have whipped the branches around the power and

phone lines running from her house to the street,

causing problems. One time some hedge trimmers,

cutting branches here and there, mistakenly sliced

some of those lines; more problems. She has trimmed

the tree on her side, causing it to sprout up roots in

her yard (and mine!). Plus, plums fall all over the place

attracting raccoons. Deer eat them, too.

Luckily my neighbor and I are friends! She recently

retired and is busy volunteering so I don’t see her

much. But she has been more than generous, paying

for her share of hedge trimming between our proper-

ties. About two weeks ago I told her I’d have the plum

tree cut down. It was just causing too many problems

all around. I hate to do it, I like the tree, it has become

like an old friend and has plenty of plums this year. It’s

grown big and shades much of my yard. I didn’t ex-

pect it to grow so huge.

This week a Certified Arborist will be here to cut

down the plum tree. I asked him to save some wood

for my little wood-burning stove. If I’m lucky maybe I’ll

live long enough to enjoy the heat this winter!

Molly Jacobson

7 July 2019

T he Trinity Writing Group will begin

meeting twice per month on Tues-

day evenings in September. This group is delightful -

very encouraging, respectful and willing to offer sugges-

tions when wanted. If you would like to be part of this

creative group or know someone who would, please

contact Nancy Stevens at (nstevensnow@gmail.com) for

information. We want to share something recently writ-

ten by one of our group, and we are confident you will

enjoy this prose piece by Molly Jacobson.

With gratitude,

Nancy

WRITING GROUP By Nancy Stevens

Trees

September 2019

6

I t’s that time again. Summer is

over, days turn cooler, leaves

turn bright colors, school starts in many places.

Labor Day is the first and only real Septem-

ber holiday in the U.S. on Monday, September

2. It honors the workers of this country and

most people take a 3-day weekend before the

weather turns cooler and school starts. There

are special store sales, parades, and football

season starts too.

Fall officially begins with the Fall Equinox

on Monday, September 23. This day has

equal hours of day and night.

SEPTEMBER HOLIDAYS By Molly Jacobson

Find Treasures at Trinity’s Furniture Rummage Sale!

Most items are from Margaret Rice, who lovingly

left them to Trinity for this sale.

To everyone

who donated items for jam

and who are

making jam to welcome visitors

to Trinity!

7

September 2019

T he Trinity Hiking

Group has been en-

joying Friday morning hikes since April

2017. Since then we have done 110

hikes, 30 of which have been in 2019.

We are a laid-back group with a come

-when-you-can approach. It is a great

way to clear your head and get better

acquainted with others who enjoy being

outdoors.

If you would like more information or

want to be added to the email list,

please contact Nancy Stevens

(nstevensnow@gmail.com).

HIKING GROUP By Nancy Stevens

September 2019

8

TRINITY LIFE AND COMMUNITY

1st row: 1) Guest musicians Denise Parr-Scanlin and Maria Garzon with Daryl and Diane; 2) making summer

lunches for kids: Sheila, Donna, Marlene and woman from Community UMC; 2nd & 3rd rows: Kid’s Camp VBS.

9

September 2019

Margaret, You will be missed!

1st row: 1) Children’s Sermon; 2) Margaret Rice’s most recent visit to Trinity;

2nd row: 1) Pub Theology;

The rest are of our lovely garden, thanks to Mary Hedberg! (These look best in color)

September 2019

10

Please remember these people

and their families in your prayers:

Marlene Betzel, Juanita

Campbell, Jim Comeaux, Lois

Davis, Nick Edgar, David Engle,

Addison Kinchen, Marge Luther,

Olivia, Joseph Purnell, Recovery

Café, Jim Ryan, Carlyn Stark,

Robert Stevens, Cynthia Tiller,

Patty Walter’s Family, Fred

Wiseman, and Susan Zedner.

Please pray for healing and

support for our Trinity family,

friends, family members and all

those who are lonely, grieving, in

need, homeless or looking for

work, and for peace in our world.

Also, remember in your prayers all

those in the military, and pray for

all in harm’s way and for their

families, and all those who have

lost loved ones to war.

Please pray for those innocents

who have died and those affected

by war and violence throughout

the world.

IN OUR PRAYERS

THANK YOU, VOLUNTEERS — YOU KEEP TRINITY VIBRANT!

I f you would like to help out on Sunday mornings, signup sheets are usually passed around during worship, or floating around the Fellowship Hall during

coffee time. Thank YOU for all you do!

SUNDAY SERVICE

September 1

Liturgist: Joe von Volkli

Ushers: George and Shirley Williams

Flowers: Vicki Long

Coffee: Dan and Donna Purnell

Money Counters: George Williams and Marlene Colvin

September 8

Liturgist: Clint Webb

Greeters: Pat Webb

Ushers: Ron Portin and Melinda La Plant

Flowers: Nancy and Alan Stevens

Coffee: Nancy and Alan Stevens

Money Counters: Sally Helman and Harvey Crow

September 15

Liturgist: Ron Rivas

Greeters: Sally and Charlie Helman

Ushers: Sally and Charlie Helman

Money Counters: Chris Walvatne and George Williams

September 22

Liturgist: Keff Krida

Greeters: Nancy and Alan Stevens

Money Counters: Dalene Edgar and Marlene Colvin

September 29

Liturgist: Beth Kissinger

Money Counters: Donna Abbott and Marlene Colvin

Master of Ceremonies: Dan Purnell

Money Counters: Marlene Colvin & George Williams

CANDLELIGHT CONCERT

September 8 13th Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 (UMH 854) Philemon 1:1-21 Luke 14:25-33 September 15 14th Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Psalm 14 (UMH 746) 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-10

September 22 15th Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 Psalm 79:1-9, or Psalm 4 (UMH 741) 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Luke 16:1-13

September 29 16th Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 (UMH 810) 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31

BIBLE READINGS

1 1

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Trinity United Methodist Church 609 Taylor Street Port Townsend, WA 98368

Rev. Tony Brown, Pastor 360-385-0484 trinityumc@olympus.net www.trinityumcpt.org

Office Hours: 9 - noon Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday

Trinity Times is published by Trinity UMC. Please email calendar items, photos, and articles to the office—see our calendar for current dead-line to turn in articles. Editorial staff: Colleen Gawle, Penny Vorster and Lynn Zephryna. Assembly and mail-ing: Jan and Harvey Crow; backups: Nancy Carter, Marcia Coleman, and Gail Jenkins.

TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

609 Taylor Street

Pray for Love, Peace, Justice

and Rebirth in the world.

Photos in this issue were submitted by Nancy and Alan Stevens, Dan Purnell, Lynn Zephryna, and Pastor Tony.

BIRTHDAYS

1 Shirley Rivas

3 Rejeana Drewry

3 Eric Incoy

9 Don Edgar

11 Beth Mackey

12 Shannon Callahan

18 Donette Kimball

20 Jenny Pack

21 Katie Finedell

22 William J. Marley

ANNIVERSARIES

1 Stan Goddard and Beth Mackey, 2001

1 Rebecca and Jeff Krida

12 Erik and Katie Allen (9-12-2015)

23 Warren and Chris Walvatne

September Celebrations!