How Do I Meet People or Serve Others?
Our church is not a place for spectators. It is a place for team members. Whether you are a five-year old child, a ninety-five year old grandmother, a busy mom, or a businessman with big responsibilities, we want you to be a part of our vibrant church community. Here is how you can learn, serve, and grow at this church.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
This important group is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the campus workings, from the buildings to the landscape on the property. The group is responsible for the security of all structures, which includes the main building, the Sanctuary, all classrooms and the side building used by the Society of St. Stephen ministry.
With five voting members and the pastor, the group accepts bids from outside vendors when ever any type of maintenance is needed such as landscape and maintenance or structures of the facilities. The group meets the third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in Room 4 to discuss past, current, and future concerns that need to be addressed to help beautify and modernize all aspects of the property.
CHURCH COUNCIL The Church Council provides for the planning and implementing a program of nurture, outreach, witness, and resources for its church community. It envisions, plans, implements, and evaluates the mission and ministry of the church. While it meets monthly, The Church Council, through the Pastor, can also call for special meetings during the year, including the All Church Conference and the Charge Conference. Meetings are open to leaders of all functioning committees and lay leaders/delegates as well as the entire congregation when discussing administrative concerns affecting the church and its members. The Church Council also meets to fill any vacancies among lay officers and oversees the church budget. The Church Council meets the fourth Sunday of the month in the Fellowship Hall at 1:00pm.
CHURCH HISTORIAN Remembering the past and inspiring the future with current members is the purpose of this ministry. Information is used for telling our past story to new generations. The Historian is responsible for the archive of photographs from current events and ministries involving the church over the past years, and involves writing a short report of the activities.
COMMUNITY GARDEN Trinity is starting a church garden at the Provident Community Garden center, located a block from the church on Jones Boulevard. Volunteers are needed to plant, weed and/or harvest the garden. Master gardeners will be available to be with you to show you what needs to be done. Trinity has two lots, 4 x 10-foot each, complete with water irrigation. It will take a small group of volunteers (4 to 5) about an hour. You can volunteer one time, or one time a month, or every couple weeks, or weekly. In addition to planting vegetables, marigolds will also be planted around the inside borders for appearance and bug protection. The garden is raised and there is a place to sit if you are working on plants close to the borders. If you are living where you cannot “get dirty”, plan on joining us. All fees and cost of plants have been paid for this year by various donors. Come for fellowship, a little work, and possibly take home the harvest if it is ready when you are there. Garden tools will be provided. The pastor has envisioned Trinity as one day having a Community Garden on the grounds of the church. That would enable those from the community to come, do a little work, and benefit from the harvest with fresh produce. This will help us make that vision a reality.
EDUCATION OF CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES This ministry involves the planning for lifelong learning for people of all ages. It is comprised of several different groups, all under the direction of the Director of Christian Ministries.
Nursery service is provided during the Sunday morning worship service. Volunteers are needed to be available to fill in when needed, or for special times like when the choirs are practicing for special musical events. Nursery facilities are in Room 8.
Children’s Sunday school classes meet at 9 a.m. on Sundays. Teachers and assistants are always in need. Currently, there is one class offered for kindergarten through fifth grades, which meets in Room 9, and the
Youth group, sixth through 12th grades, which meets in Room 7. If you feel you can’t teach, then volunteer as an assistant. The assistant helps with attendance, distributes supplies needed that day, and helps with snacks. Children’s Time on Sunday mornings at the beginning of the 9 a.m. service has been a vital of worship for decades.
If you can tell a short story and catch the attention of the children, you can lead the Children’s Time on Sundays. Material and/or a theme can be provided for you. You can volunteer once a month, once a quarter, or once a year.
Confirmation class assistance is also needed. Be a mentor for the attendees. Assist where needed. Classes are scheduled once a year.
Adult supervision is always needed for planned programs for the Youth, including events such as bowling parties, movie night at the church, car washes, outings, water slide events, district get-togethers, etc. Maybe you could provide snacks or travel along with them. You can even open up your home to have a cookout or sing along.
Vacation Bible School (VBS) is a time of anticipation for the children. They love the different atmosphere that is created for them; the special singing and movements involved, snack time, the Bible character recreations, play time and bounce house, craft time, face painting, and the special offering project. Surely your talents can fall into one of these categories. A planning meeting will be held in May so please consider attending. It takes a “crew” to have a successful VBS. Bring your children, grandchildren, or neighborhood children with you to VBS. All are welcome.
An Adult Bible class is held on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. in Room 10 when at specially scheduled times throughout the year. Study books are distributed and all are welcome. If there’s enough participation, two classes could be offered.
Trinity offers many Bible studies throughout the year, usually six weeks in length and held on Wednesday evenings. There is dinner at 5:30 p.m., Inspirational worship at 6:30, and Bible study from 7 to 8 p.m. Class studies vary but always involve a lively discussion. There is usually one set of classes beginning in January; Wonderful Wednesdays studies during Lent; one set of classes in the spring; no classes in the summer unless requested for a day time class; and one set of classes in the fall. No classes are scheduled in November or December because of the many Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas events held during those months.
SPECIAL EVENTS: There are other events that may be planned where your assistance could be needed. A couple of those include a Community Easter Egg Hunt before Easter Sunday and Trunk or Treat where you can volunteer to decorate your vehicle for Halloween and distribute candy to the children and assist with games and refreshments. PLEASE NOTE: Trinity follows the Safe Sanctuary regulations set forth by the United Methodist Church. A background check (not a credit check) may be required before you can work with the children.
FINANCE The Finance Committee is a committee responsible to the church Trustees to ensure there are enough funds to maintain the daily operation of the church campus and that Trinity is able to pay its apportionments to the general conference of the United Methodist Church. In addition, Finance is also responsible for having a presentation to the entire congregation of an annual stewardship estimated of giving fundraiser. Members are very involved in the counting of weekly donations and ensuring funds are put securely away after each worship service. Finance normally meets monthly on the fourth Monday of each month at 5 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
HOSPITALITY The congregation and the public may be unaware of the importance of Hospitality at Trinity. Sunday morning refreshments are served in Cafe Trinity from 10 to 11 a.m. Upwards of 30 cups of coffee are served on Sundays. Donations of cookies or juice are always welcome. Please let them know ahead of time when donating treats. Also, help is needed so the regular hostesses can take an occasional vacation. In addition, our facilities are also used for other purposes such as weddings, bereavements, meetings, and midweek programs such as Wonderful Wednesday. Volunteers are needed for all of these events.
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LEGACY YOUTH GROUP, the Methodist Youth Fellowship, is also supported by the church. Adult supervision is always needed for planned programs for the youth, including events such as bowling parties, movie night at the church, car washes, outings, water slide events, district gatherings, etc. Maybe you could provide snacks or travel along with them. You can even open up your home to have a cookout or sing-along.
MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY
Trinity continues to advance our ministries to include enhanced communication to members through multiple media – both print and increasing use of electronic and social media – and enhanced experience in worship and other areas using multi-media video display technologies. The Media and Technology team is always looking for members with a knowledge and passion for digital media and computer-based systems and in their ministry to TUMC want to contribute to the church families’ positive experience in all interactions. The team offers lots of hands-on mentoring and there are always opportunities to practice proficiency on all hardware and software being used.
MEN’S FELLOWSHIP The Men’s Fellowship, United Methodist Men, meets for breakfast on the fourth Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. Dress attire is casual, normally jeans, because following breakfast the group may be working around the church campus attending to various cleanup or maintenance projects. The mission of the group is to help men grow in Christ so others may know Christ. The men’s big event is a pulled pork barbecue sandwich fund raiser held at the church’s craft bazaar held in October on the Trinity campus.
MISSION PROGRAM The Mission program at Trinity is a vital mission connection between a needy world and our local church. The vital role is to help educate congregation members about the work of the United Methodist Church in God’s mission and to provide opportunities for those members to respond through prayer and the stewardship of their time, talents, and resources. The weekly church bulletin and the monthly newsletter are available to keep the congregation up-to-date and aware of what’s happening, of various mission needs, and accolades for their support. Missions has various fundraisers throughout the year (i.e., Ash Wednesday pancake supper, table at the annual craft bazaar to support such projects as the church’s Peruvian foster child, quarterly hygiene product request for the Society of St. Stephen outreach, the National Day of Prayer, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Las Vegas pop tab collection, Bibles for the St. Stephen Boutique clients, Youth group support, solar ovens for Haiti project, and Imagine no Malaria project to name a few. The Mission team meets monthly on the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in Room 9. Meetings last for one hour, honoring our members’ time. Additional team members are always needed!
MUSIC MINISTRY The music department has been such a vital ministry of the church, particularly over the last three decades. New voices of all ages and levels are encouraged to join the three performing groups. Music Director Linda Mazo leads the Chancel Choir (also known as the Adult Choir), which performs at the 9 a.m. Traditional worship service. Two annual special presentations are performed on Palm Sunday and at Christmas during Advent. Voices from singers of every age are part of the multigenerational HeartStrings choir. The Chancel and HeartStrings choirs perform together with professional musicians yearly in cantatas in the spring and during the winter. When there is one combined worship service on the fifth Sunday of the month the Adult Choir performs along with members of the Praise Band. Members of the HeartStrings may also sing at the combined worship service and often schedule special worship performances during the year. The Adult and HeartStrings choirs normally rehearse for regular worship services on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Linda Mazo also directs the Praise Band, which performs at the 11 a.m. Contemporary worship service. The group also has an open invitation for singers and musicians to share their talents and normally rehearse on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m.
RISK MANAGEMENT A risk is a potential problem that may occur sometime in the future creating uncertainty for achieving our ministries at Trinity. Risk management involves a cycle of activities that starts with risk identification. Risks are then evaluated to see how significant they are. A risk handling strategy is selected to determine if and how each the risk should be addressed. The risk owner of the church is the Board of Trustees since they steward the property assets of the church and represent various legal aspects. After analysis of the risks are collected, a risk response plan will be developed and implemented based upon a consensus determination of priorities. Then, each risk is routinely monitored to track the implementation of the strategy and plan and make adjustments if the circumstances have changed. It’s encouraged that risks of any type be identified, described, and submitted to a Risk Management Team whose members will collect inputs and ask questions if necessary to ensure that a good description of the risk is understood.
SOCIETY OF ST. STEPHEN Since the early 2000’s, the Society of St. Stephen has evolved into a ministry serving the needy of greater Las Vegas with a food pantry, clothing boutique, food distribution dropped off by Las Vegas agency Three Square food bank and utility bill/housing bill assistance. Thanks to dedicated church and community volunteers, the food pantry is open every Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. distributing dry and canned goods from Potter’s Place, an adjacent building on campus; on Tuesdays from 2 to 3 p.m. where people can receive a Blessing Bag of liquids, snacks, canned goods and agency literature distributed from the church office; on Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. at Potter’s Place; and on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the Food Rescue Program where people can receive a light lunch and donated food collected by Three Square. Volunteer Yvonne Gaines heads the Clothing Boutique which is stocked with gently and sometimes brand new donated clothing and shoes for men, women, and children. Donations are always accepted and storage space is utilized to display clothing for a particular season.
STAFF-PARISH RELATIONS COMMITTEE The Staff-Parish Relations Committee’s goal is to keep a good balance between the pastor, staff, congregation and district superintendent so the mission of the church moves forward. The committee’s duties include the annual reviews of the church staff as well as ensure their needs are being met, taking whatever steps are necessary to ensure they are accomplished. The committee also writes job descriptions, personnel policies and confers with staff about continuing education and spiritual formation. It is their duty to address complaints, resolve issues and keep positive relations among the staff and congregation. SPRC meets monthly on the fourth Monday of each month in the Library in Room 4. All meetings are confidential.
TRANSPORTATION MINISTRY
This ministry is maintained by the Trustees, chaired by Joe Holden. The church’s handicap-equipped transport van is used to pick up and drop off those living within a five-mile radius of the church in order to attend Sunday morning worship services. Currently this service is only offered at the 9 a.m. worship. Advanced reservations during the week are required to ensure worshipers arrive in time for the particular service. If a ride is needed, call the church office at 702-870-4747 to indicate a ride is needed.will return your call to make arrangements for pickup on Sunday. Volunteer drivers are always needed and a special license is not required to drive the vehicle.
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN The United Methodist Women is a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global mission of the church. Its mission projects are the Society of St. Stephens Ministry/Trinity Food Rescue/Pastoral Emergency Fund/Trinity Mission Team. ANYONE is welcome to attend these meetings and share their ideas. Come and join us for fun, food and fellowship! Call President Donna Zbierski at the church office at (702)870-4747 or email trinity@tumclv.org.
WELCOMING MINISTRY The Welcoming Ministry is a vibrant and motivated working team, established in 2012 and serving at the pleasure of the Church Council. Churches all across the nation have established a similar team with the goal of seeing that each and every guest, as well as current members, knows how valuable they are to the congregation at Trinity UMC. Welcoming Ministry combines both the elements of Welcoming and the Caring ministries into a hard-working fun-filled unit. In addition, the ushers and greeters used at worship services are also part of this ministry. The leadership team, currently with 10 members, has numerous projects with coordinators in multiple and varied areas. The primary task of the Welcoming Ministry is keeping the home-fires burning so that when new people to Christ come to worship, there are ways to welcome them into the working body of the church. Other areas include training ushers and greeters, recognition of the loyal volunteers who have volunteered for years; the chime ministry volunteers, signage; remembering shut-ins at Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas caroling, including lay visits; Wonderful Wednesday planning for Lent; recognition of smaller working groups in praise for the work they do; taking communion to sick or shut-ins; and many other areas. The Welcoming Ministry plans to expand the outreach of the Caring ministry section this year. The focus may include birthday cards, phone calls, visits to those who are ill, tracking member absences to offer assistance and let people know they are missed; and a planned new program called MPFI for ensuring an easy transition into church life and active ministry. Welcoming Ministry needs you — either as a member of the leadership team which meets once a month or as a small area leader with a limited focus who can work away from the team. Maybe you want to just be a Christian worker-bee in one of the work areas! There is a place for you on this team!