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TRINITY CALLING
NOVEMBER
TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
131 East Perry St.
Tiffin, Ohio 44883
Phone: 419-447-3191
Website: www.trinityucctiffin.org
email: officeadmin@trinityucctiffin.com
Pastoral Update
Grace and peace to the Body of Christ in Tiffin!
November is a perfect month to practice the spiritual practice of gratitude. As the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama describe in their book The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, gratitude makes us aware of our interdependence with all other life (362). At meals, we can give thanks for the earth from which our food grew, for pollinators and earth worms, for the farmers who tended it, the grocers who stocked it, and the cooks who prepared it (362). Gratitude makes our lives bigger. It also makes us more resilient, more able to help others (364), and more able to follow Jesus’s example. In short, gratitude is empowering and helps us to keep going even when things get tough.
With this mind, let us look ahead to November with full and strong hearts, empowered by the goodness of God within and all around us and the rest of Creation.
In November we recognize some important Sundays.
All Saints Sunday, November 2: We will honor those who have passed away this year and offer our prayers and support to their families and friends. We will also remember the ancestors who have taught us the faith.
Stewardship Sunday, November 9: This is the celebratory kick-off for our stewardship campaign – Dream God’s Dreams.
Baptisms and Blanket Sunday, November 16: We will celebrate the baptisms of Lyrick and Herbie Smith. We will highlight the blanket ministry of Church World Service (CWS).
Saying goodbye on November 23: We will honor the 50+ year relationship between Trinity UCC and the Tiffin Seneca Child Care Center and wish them well in their new location.
First Sunday of Advent, November 30: First Lutheran will host an ecumenical worship service beginning at 10 a.m. Throughout Advent we will hold additional services on Wednesday evenings at 6:15 p.m. (12/3, 12/10 & 12/17). These will be shorter evening prayer services and are an opportunity to practice finding some stillness during the busy holiday season.
Peace be with you,
Pastor Karsten Snitker
14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 NRSVUE
KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS
Did you know that you can earn money for the church just by buying groceries? Use your existing digital Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card (or sign up for a free Kroger Plus shopper’s card) to convert a percentage of your grocery spending into a donation to the church.
Go to the Kroger.com website; Community; Kroger Community Rewards;
• Create a digital account and pick your preferred Kroger store;
• link your Kroger Plus shopping card to a selected organization (in this case click on Trinity United Church of Christ, Tiffin and enter the NPO.
• Any transaction using the shopper’s card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program at no cost to you. Quarterly contributions from your purchases will be forwarded to Trinity Church.
Music notes
“Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the world, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order and lends to all that is good and just and beautiful.”--Plato
All our music ensembles and our organist have enjoyed getting back into our fall routines, learning new music, and revisiting some favorites. If you have interest in making music with us, please contact one of the directors below! It is our way of contributing to the “good and just and beautiful” and sharing our talents as we worship our God.
Lynn Huenemann, director of Bell Choir
Pat Powers, director of Praise Band
Vicki Ohl, director of Chancel Choir
We always welcome another music-maker!
Vicki Ohl, Music Coordinator and Chancel Choir Director
MISSION EMPHASIS
Heidelberg University Scholarship
This month our mission emphasis is to support UCC student scholarships at Heidelberg University.
Nearly all students attending Heidelberg need some type of financial assistance. Our giving financial scholarship money for UCC students shows that the Tiffin community cares for them as individuals. Students face increasing pressure with rising costs and economic pressures to secure funding to attend Heidelberg University. Trinity can assist UCC students by giving our November designated offering to the Heidelberg University Scholarship for UCC Students Fund.
Heidelberg University was founded in 1850 with many local Reformed churches instrumental in getting the university located in Tiffin rather than in Dayton. When Trinity was founded, many of its members were either faculty from Heidelberg or had attended Heidelberg.
Over the years, Trinity had continued a close relationship with the university with many of our members alumni, with some students attending our church, plus many university music programs being held here. Currently, many of our music staff graduated from Heidelberg University!
Often Trinity members participate in numerous Heidelberg organizations or music groups, attend concerts, sporting events and theatre presentations. Some members have also taken course work at Heidelberg or been involved in workshops or musical ensembles.
Thank you for your support,
Trinity Mission Committee
Stewardship Campaign
Blanket Sunday
Most of us have had a favorite blanket, maybe as a child or now as an adult when we sit in our favorite chair and cozy up with a furry afghan. Blankets can provide security, warmth, protection, shelter, a place to hide and even clothing. We often take blankets for granted and probably have several in our home we don't even regularly use.
On Nov. 16, we will highlight blanket Sunday when we collect money to go to Church world service to purchase blankets to be used around the world. Let us give generously to provide blankets and share the warmth and shelter of God's love
The Hanging of the Greens will be after the traditional service on Nov. 23. Pizza will be served. Please join the festivities and help decorate the church in preparation of the Christmas season.
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THANK YOU!
Dear Trinity
We want to thank Pat Nee and Beth Mckibben Nee for the altar flowers from the church service on Oct. 19th. Shari Beidelschies delivered them and we had a wonderful visit with her. Thank you for the prayers. Please keep them coming.
Jon and Dian Ewald
Dear Trinity Friends,
Thank you to Shari Beidelschies for delivering the beautiful altar flowers. We really appreciated your thoughtfulness during Steve's recovery.
Steve and Marilyn Kleinhenz
Dear Trinity Family,
Many thanks to Larry and Sue Herbert for the altar flowers given to us for our anniversary. They were beautiful and brightened up our house.
Pat and Sharon Huffman
Dear Trinity,
Thank you to Matt Miller and Diane Smith for sharing flowers they contributed to our worship service and delivered to me at St. Francis Home. They helped to brighten my room and my stay here. I also appreciated the many recent visits from Dreah, Larry, Wilma and Shari, all of which lifted my spirits.
Dan Johnson
Dear Trinity Friends,
Thank you for your good wishes as we celebrated our 59th anniversary. We received a vase of very pretty altar flowers given by Sue and Bill Schultz and delivered by Becky Grammer. We had a wonderful visit.
Norman and Kathleen Rose
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the Franciscan Earth Literacy Center, I am pleased to thank you for your generous gift of $500. Your support makes all the difference in the world to those who come to the center to learn more about caring for Mother Earth and all of creation.
Hannah Bumb, administrator/program coordinator
Dear Trinity UCC,
I'm writing this letter on behalf of the Board of Directors and myself to thank you for your generous donation of $4,350 to Seneca Habitat for Humanity. The gift will be used to purchase all the windows for our current house on Third Avenue.
Carol Dell, Seneca Habitat for Humanity
COUNCIL REPORT
CHURCH COUNCIL MEETING
The following is a report of the October Council meeting.
✹ Christian Education – next family movie night will be November 8; we have invited Old Trinity Episcopal and First Presbyterian families to join us.
✹ Church and Ministry – have submitted budget request for 2026, including a suggested 3% raise for Trinity staff members.
✹ Communications – website platform (WIX) has been renewed for 1 year and assessment of our website’s usefulness will continue.
✹ Finance – met on October 7 to review 3rd quarter finances. Directed the Treasurer to move 75% of the budgeted Trinity Funds to the General Budget to cover current expenses. Upcoming maintenance needs include the Pipe Organ and Fire Suppression systems. These may require a capital campaign or possibly tapping into the corpus of the endowment where permitted by our bylaws and fund restrictions.
✹ Mission – Recent gifts include Back Bay Mission ($1,000).
✹ Stewardship – met with Finance Committee recently and will make a joint presentation to the congregation on October 26. Letter to congregation is in process. Theme this year is “Dreaming God’s Dream.”
Pastor’s Report – PK shared a report of recent activities and schedule updates. Four themes for shrinking congregations that emerged from the recent Heartland Conference meeting are:1) Keep mission at the forefront of ministry2) Collaboration is the way forward3) Be open to and support innovation4) Celebrate what we already havePK is joining with other progressive Christian songwriters and musicians at the Convergence Music Project Conference Oct. 15-18.
Old Business – TSCCC intends to move out during Thanksgiving Week. We will recognize and honor our long-time relationship during worship on November 23.
New Business – UIS has reported that Hastings Insurance is dropping Trinity (and all other churches) from property insurance coverage on 12/31/25. We will investigate three paths to obtain insurance:
1) UIS (Sam Palm) suggests Goodville Mutual Casualty Co.
2) Hastings Insurance suggests contacting the Ohio Fair Plan Underwriting Assn.
3) The UCC has an Insurance Board that works with local churches.
Carl Rainey, Larry Cook, and Kurt Huenemann offered to work with Larry Kisabeth on this.
Next regular Council meeting is November 12, 2025, at 7:00 p.m., devotions by Jim Koehl.
Meeting adjourned at 7:51 p.m.
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The Art Gallery is empty. Please bring your paintings, photography, poetry, recipes, needlework, crafts or any other hand-made items to share.For more information, contact Lynn Huenemann through the church office at 419-447-3191 for more information or to display items.
Daybreak Service begins at 8:30 am
Service of the Word begins 10:30 a.m.
