About Us

‘Trusting in God, we share God’s love with all, in Christian unity.’

This is not like any other building – this is a house of God!  Here the congregation assembles and God’s Word is proclaimed in liturgy, in music, in prayer, in the spoken word, in the sacraments of baptism and communion – week after week, season after season, year after year.

Here we share the treasures of God’s revealed wisdom.   Here we experience the presence of a compassionate and loving God as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and hear the good news in the glorious gospel of God’s love for us.

Here children and adults receive the healing waters of Holy Baptism so that they might be born again into God’s kingdom.  Here we gather around the table, partake of the bread and wine, and in it and with it receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ for the assurance of forgiveness and of life everlasting.

From here we carry the promises of God into our lives and into the lives of others – In Mission for Others.

Trinity is part of the Nith Valley Ministry Area, a grouping of 14 local Lutheran congregations. Together, we are part of the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada.

Locally, we are part of the Tavistock & Area Ministerial.

Our History...

You might be surprised to know that as I was growing up my family wasn’t overly religious. We might have been referred to as those CNE (Christmas and Easter) Christians. We were in the pew for those big festival celebrations, were baptized, attended Sunday School and were confirmed in the Lutheran Church, we were members of record but honestly not a whole lot more.

Around the time my son turned 5 years old I got a little more active in a local congregation because I felt some form of faith education was important. I wanted him to attend Sunday school and I thought attending church myself would set a good example. So, we transferred our membership to the closest Lutheran church and began attending regularly.

I ended up being much more involved than I intended, serving on various committees and eventually ending up as chairperson. That congregation was an internship site for students studying to become pastors and they planted in me an interest in progressive theology. I began to see faith, belief, and the divine in a new and exciting way I learned that the stories of the bible were not literal history but had much deeper meaning, I learned that Christianity wasn’t the only way to view the world. This new learning expanded my yearning for a more equitable and just world.

All of this was exciting for me as I began to view God in a new way, not as that bearded old white guy in the sky granting favour to those who pleased them and damnation to those who didn’t. Instead I began to see the face of God in those often tossed to the margins.

I found myself wanting to share this new knowledge with others, and to work with others to help make the world a better place. One thing led to another and I found myself enrolled and studying to become an ordained pastor. No one was more surprised than me!

Something else was also happening at the same time. As I was getting more involved in my home congregation and beginning to study theology, the wider church was having an important conversation about human sexuality and more importantly how LGBTQIA+ people fit into divine creation. As a closeted gay person, I listened closely to that conversation having assumed for years that there was something wrong with me.

You might be surprised to learn that the church taught me that there was nothing wrong with me and that I was created to be gay and that was good. After more years of discernment and now having been ordained for 4 years I decided to share that good news with the rest of the world too and came out to family, friends, and the church.

There is so much good news to share with the world and I am excited to see how that continues to unfold in my life.

Pastor Steve did his internship at Trinity, then after ordination served at St. Marks Lutheran Kingston, and Redeemer Lutheran Toronto.  He is excited to have come home to serve where his ministry began.  Pastor Steve lives nearby in his hometown of Stratford with his husband Antonio.

 

Church Council

Paul Epp
Richard Wilker
Joan Ferguson
Sherri Negrazis
Linda Keller
Donna Swartzentruber
Wayne Perschbacher
Arlene Wettlaufer
Robert Wittig

Church Secretary - Kim Wettlaufer

Church Treasurer - Keith Heinbuch

Pastor - Rev. Steve Hoffard