LAY READERS - At every worship service Pastor reads the appointed gospel for the day, but the Old Testament and Epistle lessons are read by lay people. The Psalm of the day is intoned by either Pastor Ron or by the lay reader, if the lay reader is confident in his/her ability to sing solo. The congregation answers by singing the appointed antiphon. We train lay people to read and intone. A sign up sheet is posted for people to volunteer to read according to their worship schedules. People usually read about once every two months.

 

MUSIC - Music is an integral part of Lutheran worship. Lutherans are sometimes known as the singing church. Dedicated believers express their enthusiastic worship by singing the appointed hymns from the Hymnal which is changed every generation to stay in step with the times in the church. Worshipers also sing the traditional Christian liturgical music in English, although the words were originally written in Latin.

         

Worship is augmented and beautified by prepared choral music presented by our all volunteer choirs directed by our professional trained choir director.

Singing is mainly accompanied by our pipe organ, which was built by Chick Holtcamp of Cleveland, Ohio in the early 1990s. Occasionally music is accompanied by piano and/or brass.

 

     

WORSHIP - Worship opportunities abound at Trinity. Not only do we worship at 8:45 and 11:00 a.m. every Sunday, but Holy Communion (the Holy Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper) is included in every worship service in the church with both wine and grape juice available. We also have a learn and worship opportunity in the Social Hall after a carry-in dinner every Wednesday evening beginning at 6:15 and ending at 7:25 p.m. (Our Choir rehearses at 7:30.)

During the Advent season (the four weeks before Christmas) and Lent (the six weeks before Easter), our worship becomes more formal on Wednesday evenings as we prepare for the two most important festivals in the Christian Church Year.  During Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter), we worship on Holy Wednesday evening,  celebrate Jesus Christ’s Institution of Holy Communion at a worship service on Maundy Thursday evening, worship at noon and in the evening of Good Friday, when our Lord was crucified and have an Easter Eve Vigil service late on Holy Saturday Night, ending with a short Communion Service at Midnight celebrating Easter at the earliest possible time.

On Easter Sunday, we often join the community at an Easter Sunrise Service at Appalachian Power Park at 6:30 a.m. We have an Easter Breakfast at 7:30 a.m., a worship service at 8:45, an Easter Egg Hunt for children at 9:45 and a worship service at11:00.

On Christmas Eve we have Silent Communion, a bell and choir concert and a worship service of lessons and carols. Sometimes we have had a

midnight service as well. 

On one Sunday in June, we transport our worship service to Kanawha State Forest where we worship outdoors and have a picnic as well.

 

   

ALTAR GUILD - The Altar guild is comprised of teams of men and women who care for the chancel of the church. The teams work for one month at a time, generally serving two or three months each year. They install and change the colorful cloth paraments on the pulpit, lectern and altar according to the seasons and festivals of the Christian Church Year. They also change the banners in the Chancel. Their principal mission is to properly place the Sacramental vessels on the altar, filled with the elements of bread, wine and grape juice. When the administration of the elements is finished, they properly dispose of the leftovers, clean and store the vessels. They care for the red eternal flame and the candles in the chancel. They place and remove altar flowers. They change the hymn boards in accordance with the days of the Church Year.

 

USHERS - The ushers serve in teams who work before, during and after each service. They distribute the daily bulletins to worshipers as they arrive. When the church is nearly full, they seat worshipers where possible. They pickup attendance sheets, collect the offering, presenting the plates to the receiving acolyte in the chancel who places them on the altar. They relay prayer requests to Pastor. After the Service, they straighten the pews in the nave by picking up used bulletins, thus preparing the nave for the next worship service.

HANDBELLS - The Hand Bell Choir is a bell choir that has been active for over 36 years, with several of the original members still ringing.  They have performed in a number of civic events, festivals, other churches, the Cultural Center, the rotunda of the Capitol Building and we also ring in church on the third Sunday of the month at Trinity. The main requirement for being a member of the choir is a commitment to be at rehearsals, read music and to be available to ring when we are asked to do so. We have a Spring Ring on the first Saturday in May as our culmination for the hand bell year.
The hand bell choir uses many different techniques of ringing and sometimes uses the choir chimes.  The choir is fortunate enough to have Chuck Jones accompany them on the organ when needed. The bell ringers add an extra dimension to worship.  The ringers are very dedicated and committed to ringing. When you think of bell ringers, remember that bells play, bells ring, bells sing, bells praise and bells pray.  Doing that will truly help you understand what it means to "Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord."

The hand bell choir practices at 7:15 P.M. every Monday evening.  All ringers are welcome.  Let the director or one of the ringers know you are interested.



CHOIR - We have an adult Church Choir. Our Choir Director picks our music for us to sing as an anthem on each Sunday morning which is appropriate for that season of the Church Year. We usually rehearse anthems for about eight weeks in advance. There is usually extra music at Christmas and Easter. For Easter and Christmas we sing together but on an ordinary Sunday morning, part of the choir sings for the 8:45 service while the rest sing for the 11:00 a.m. Service.  The choir also participates in special performances throughout the year.
 
All choirs are open to any interested person (no audition required!) 
 
The first service choir rehearses from 8:00  to 8:30 every Sunday morning.  This is a full four-part choir that sings the anthem of the day at the 8:45 A.M. service.   Rehearsals prepare for the current Sunday anthem as well as anthems to be performed at future dates.

The second service choir rehearses from 7:30 to 9:00 on Wednesday evenings and sings at the 11:00 A.M. service each Sunday.  This is also a full four-part choir. The first service choir joins these evening rehearsal to prepare for special seasonal concerts and anthems.