Cedar Rapids Trinity UMC, located at 400 3rd Ave. SW, was also severely flooded this past week, as well as the entire Taylor Elementary neighborhood that Trinity resides in.
We met to worship yesterday at the generous invitation CR Asbury UMC at 11:00, where we will continue to meet for the foreseeable future as the waters continue to recede and we are able to assess the situation in our property and determine how best we can serve the community we live in.
I want to echo the sentiments shared by my colleague and dear friend, Rev. Linda Bibb of Salem UMC, in comments that I shared with the Trinity congregation yesterday - that the church is alive and well, because the church is the people, and not the building. Some of the Trinity faithful have been members for upwards of 70 years or more, and we believe that there is a difference between "going to church", and "being the church". We stand ready to not only rebuild Trinity, but to continue to reach out to the Taylor neighborhood with love and whatever assistance we can offer.
On this side of eternity, everything that has happened in the 100 year history of the current Trinity sanctuary - worship, prayer, Scripture, fellowship, etc - is not considered to be a "lost history", but rather it is what has prepared us to live in THIS MOMENT, that the "peace that passes all understanding" that all believers can experience through faith in Jesus Christ will sustain us and carry us through the task ahead.
Faithfully,
Rev. Bob Voels
Pastor, Trinity UMC
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To the Congregation of Trinity UMC,
It has been has been with a heavy but prayerful heart that I have watched the flooding in CR and its aftermath. My parents were members of Trinity UMC for 12 years, and I was born and baptized into your midst. For the earliest part of my life, you were my church family and planted the seeds of faith to last me a lifetime.
As you reach out and "be the church" to the surrounding Taylor neighborhood, please know that the prayers and hopes of many all over the country are with you! Our current church in Tennessee has offered their prayers and support to us and our friends and family in CR, and they have expressed a desire to help Trinity and the rest of the city in any way that we can, and we hope to organize a trip or service project in the coming months.
We will continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers, and I pray that you find hope and comfort in Christ's love to see you through through the trials in the months to come.
God Bless,
Casey Westlake
Ps. 121
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