What's the Point?

Do you ever struggle to believe that things can get better - in the world or in yourself? What's the difference between optimism and hope? What have you seen this year that quietly restored your faith in humanity? Welcome to our third episode of our newest mini-series, "Advent After Dark." This time of Advent and Christmas is filled with hustle and bustle and joy and cheer, and yet f...

What makes the "most wonderful time of the year" sometimes feel like the hardest? How can churches or communities hold space for sadness and joy? What does comfort look like when nothing fixes the pain? Welcome to the second episode of our newest mini-series, "Advent After Dark." In just a couple of short weeks, Christmas will be here, and with that might come several emotions....

What is the last time you actually waited for something - without filling the space? How does the rush of December steal the heart of Advent? What's one small practice that helps you pause or breathe in the middle of chaos? Welcome to our newest mini-series, "Advent After Dark." Advent is here, and while this time of year might feel busy and overwhelming as we prepare for time spent...

Join Tom, Heather, and Katie while they talk about the final theme for the 2024 Youth Gathering, Vacation Bible School, and our Lenten Round Robin series: Created to be Disciples. The idea of being a disciple can be so simple, and yet bet so difficult at the same time. For young children it can be as simple as being a good neighbor to your friends and peers. And for adults it becomes trickier as w...

The fourth theme of the 2024 Youth Gathering/VBS/Trinity's lenten series is Created to be DISRUPTIVE!! Church has typically been a place of tradition and uniform and at times catering to specific groups. But what if we didn't do that? What if church became a place truly for everyone? There are so many ways for us to be disruptive in our faith and Pastor Tom, Heather, and Katie barely touch...

On this episode of "What's the Point?" Podcast, Tom, Heather, and Katie talk about what it means to be free as a Christian. We quoted some Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and tried to make sense of this rather difficult idea to grasp - especially knowing that many of us are so used to hearing the word "Free" when it comes to talking about the United States of America....

God has created us to be authentically ourselves which can be one of the hardest things to do. How can we do a better job at that while also respecting the setting we're in (job, family structure, social media presence, etc.) and the boundaries we set in place? Join Tom, Heather, and Katie as we unpack the possibilities of this 2024 Youth Gathering daily theme. As always, we thank you so much...

Continuing with our Lenten series "Created To Be," Pastor Tom, Heather, and Katie are back to talk about what it means to be created to be brave. While we might have some weird irrational fears (Katie, we are looking at you!) we are all capable of being brave in more ways than we might think: saying "Yes!" to all of the weird ways God might be calling you, by challenging yourse...

WELCOME BACK!! We took a short break over January to come back from Christmas, but we are back! In this episode, Heather talks about her experience at the 2024 ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza (aka "the E"), and we also take time to introduce the theme for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering, "Created To Be," which is also what we will use for our Lenten Round Robin series an...

Welcome back to What's the Point? podcast, and welcome to our final part to A VERY BONHOEFFER CHRISTMAS!! In this episode, Tom, Heather, and Katie talk about a couple more of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings from his time in prison and how we, even in time of grief or struggle, we can find hope in our greatest gift - Jesus. We are looking for series ideas for 2024!! If you have an idea of wh...

Tom, Heather, and Katie are back with Part 2 of A Very Bonhoeffer Christmas! In this episode, we really start digging in to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings and how we can learn from his experiences and apply his insight to our lives today. Although we were so excited to record this series, we also recognize that this quickly became a heavy, and yet still hope-filled, series. We appreciate you t...

This month we are celebrating a VERY Bonhoeffer Christmas!! Join Tom, Heather, and Katie this month as we talk about all things Advent and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This episode we tackle what exactly Advent is and why it's important to our Christian faith, what kind of traditions it holds, and how many churches - including Trinity! - celebrate it "incorrectly." As always, we appreciate y...

Pastor Tom, Heather, and Katie are back to talk about the future of Trinity. There’s a huge elephant in the room that we address: Trinity is changing in so many ways. How are we able to adapt to the change, and what exactly does the future hold for Trinity? While it is a lot of theorizing and uncertainty, there seems to be a theme of hope amongst the three of us. We would love to know what YOU are...

We are joined with a VERY special guest this week... PASTOR PATRICK!! He is here to talk with us about church trends and how they have changed over the year. From the amount of people who claim membership to a church to the most common generation attending church, some of these statistics might surprise you! We also theorize how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed some of these trends. As always, we...

Tom, Heather, and Katie are back to talk about the differences and similarities between big churches and small churches. While neither is better or worse than the other, we also acknowledge that there are perks of every church and it all comes down to what you need in your faith life. Additionally, we talk about our weirdest experiences while working in a church (content warning: Tom and Heather d...

Lídixe, Heather, and a few others went to San Diego this summer for a Border Mission Trip and they learned so much, this is just a start! The biggest takeaway that they talk about in this episode is asking how can they take what they've learned and apply it to Trinity. If you have any questions about the San Diego trip, you can email Lídixe at lidixe@trinity-ec.org or Heather at heatherd@trini...

Welcome to Part 2 of Lídixe's Story! In this episode we talk about the various college degrees that Lídixe holds (one of which did NOT carry over when she moved to Wisconsin), the difficulties she faced to get another visa, and her shocking vision for the future of Neighbor to Neighbor. As always if you have any questions or comments, you can email them to Katie (katie@trinity-ec.org). We appr...

Lídixe is back with us again this episode to talk about some of her story! As you can imagine, being born and raised in El Salvador only to move you and your child up to Wisconsin isn't easy. We got to learn about what some of her upbringing was like, how she became Lutheran, and why she ultimately made the choice to come to the United States of America. As always if you have any questions or...

Welcome back to Trinity's Podcast "What's the Point?" where we ask what the point is about all sorts of church-related topics. We took a bit of a break for the summer, but we are back and so excited to have Deacon Lídixe Montoya with us today to talk about what the point is of a deacon, what the differences are between a deacon and a pastor, and what her roles are both at Trinity...

Tom and Katie hit the road for this podcast! Bishop Laurie Skow-Anderson from the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin joins us for this podcast to talk about what it is a bishop does, what some common issues are that they synod is tackling, and what some highlights of being our bishop is - along with what is most surprising. We hope that you find what Bishop Laurie has to say as thought-provoking as we d...

Though Tom might be away, Heather and Katie will still play! This time with our friend, coworker, and the best Food Pantry Coordinator around, Sue Marczinke! Join us as we chit chat with Sue about our favorite summer foods, the history of Trinity's Food Pantry, and the direction it's continuing to go in. If you'd like to support our Food Pantry, the greatest way you can do so is by mak...

Herschel Day joins Tom, Katie, and Heather to talk about vocation. God calls us in many, many ways and sometimes it can be quite scary! Herschel tells us about some of his upbringing, where he was before becoming a professor at UWEC, and why he chose to take a leap of faith to become a professor. If you have any stories, comments, or questions, or if you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming epi...

WE HAVE OUR FIRST GUEST!!! Dr. Frank Watkins, Trinity's Music & Worship Director, joins us to talk about the music in all of our worship services, why we sing the songs we do, and the importance of the music we sing. Thank you to everyone who has listened along with us this far! We are having an absolute blast creating these, and we're glad to hear people are enjoying the podcast. As a...

What are these weird extra bits of worship that we do? A healing rite? Blessing of the backpacks? Affirmation of Baptism? Join Tom, Heather, and Katie as we talk about what the point is of all of these additional worship nuggets, and learn about what the Lutheran Book of Worship has to say on different aspects of worship. If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to give it a share! If you have any fun st...

Writing a sermon can be quite the process, and it certainly isn't for everyone. Join Tom, Heather, and Katie as they dig deeper into why we have sermons during worship, what can make or break a sermon, and hear what some of the best and worst sermons we've heard are. If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to give it a share! If you have any fun stories, questions, or comments, send them on over...