Staying Connected: A New Chapter in How We Communicate

There is something sacred about the way a congregation moves together. The way word travels when someone is in the hospital, when a family needs a meal, when prayers are urgently needed. For generations, that kind of communication has lived through relationships: through phone calls, conversations, and faithful people who made it their ministry to keep others connected. It has always worked because people were committed to one another as members of the Body of Christ.

That commitment has not changed. But the ways we reach one another, and especially the ways people receive information, have changed.

Over the past few years, we have expanded how we communicate as a church. Our website connects us with the wider community. Our livestream carries worship into homes and wherever people are at. Our weekly newsletter offers reflection, formation, and updates about our shared life. These are all meaningful tools, and they remain an important part of who we are.

Now we are adding one more: text messaging.

I know what you might be thinking, another thing to sign up for? That is a fair question. But we want to share why we believe this is worth considering.

Email is a wonderful tool for information that can wait. A newsletter article, an event announcement, or a link to a sermon can be received and revisited in its own time. That is not changing. But there are also moments in the life of the Church that ask for a more immediate response. A prayer request that invites us into real time intercession. A weather cancellation. A reminder about a gathering happening that same day. In those moments, a simple text message allows us to reach one another quickly and directly.

At its heart, this is not about technology, it is about presence. It is about how we continue to care for one another in the spaces between Sunday worship. It is one more way we live into our call to bear one another’s burdens and to pray without ceasing.

We also want to be intentional about how this begins. We will not automatically add anyone to a text list. Even if we have your cell phone number, we believe that receiving messages from the church should be a choice you make. In a world where so much competes for our attention, we want this to be an invitation, not an imposition.

Here is how it works:

We will maintain two separate main text lists, and you are welcome to join one or both:

Congregation Updates: for general announcements, reminders, and time sensitive news.

Prayer Requests: for sharing needs within our church family so that we can pray together as they arise.

Both lists are simple to join and just as easy to leave. You will receive a confirmation when you sign up, and you can reply STOP at any time. Standard message rates may apply depending on your phone plan.

In the coming weeks, we will have a sign up sheet available after Sunday services so we can get this set up for you. No one should feel left behind as we take this step.

Our goal at Trinity Church has never been to add more noise to your life. Our goal is to be a community that shows up; for one another, for our neighbors, and for the world God loves. We believe this is one more way we can do that: by staying connected, by responding with care, and by reminding one another, even in the smallest moments, that we do not walk this life alone.

We hope you will join us.

Kevin+