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On Tuesday, our country was horrified to learn of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas, where, as of this writing, 19 children and two teachers died in addition to the shooter.
Such an event wounds our collective body. A mom at the last church I served posted on social media that her rising fourth grader doesn't want to move up because she is worried that she might be killed. That is where we are as a country.
Theologian Dietrick Bonhoeffer, who was a killed by Nazi Germany, left a scrap of paper in his cell that had just these words on it: “Only the suffering God can help.” By that he means not that there is some kind of suffering Olympics where those who suffer the most get the closest to God. God did not choose suffering for his Son, nor does God choose it for us, or our children.
No, instead, in this world the suffering God is not remote from those who suffer, because those who suffer are his friends. The suffering God is the companion to those who suffer, the advocate for their justice in the kingdom of God. The suffering God makes himself known to the outcast without community, the lonely, the poor, those who are suffering from war atrocities, and the ones discriminated against for who they are or who they love. If we want to know where to find God, we can seek him near those who are suffering.
So, let us reach out to students and teachers and schools who are feeling scared and vulnerable. Let us walk with them and pray with and for them.
But let us also reflect on what else we can do. How might we, as people of the light, work so that our common life together is safe for all?
Blessings and light, Renée
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Calling all graduates! We want to celebrate and recognize those graduates in our midst from middle school through advanced degrees. Let us know who and what and when, and provide a photo along with the name, degree, institution. We'll recognize during the worship service on June 12th. Send the information to Pastor Brittany at btamminga@trinity-pres.org by June 5th.
This is the last week of our Siena Youth Center Summer Scholarship Drive. Siena Youth Center will once again offer a 7-8 week camp in June & July for its youth. In past years, Trinity's congregation has been very generous in providing scholarships for Siena students, so we are once again privileged to present this opportunity to you. In-person camp will take place in June and July, 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. There will be 120 openings for campers, at a cost of $150 per student. 40 High schoolers and middle schoolers will help run the program. Camp will feature theme weeks, activities, hikes, park days and swimming. The summer scholarship drive will take place May 15 - 29. Please visit the Siena table on the patio after worship. Any contribution is welcome and can be made by writing a check to Trinity and noting "Siena Summer Scholarship", or through Trinity's website https://trinity-pres.org/give/give
Saturday, June 4th, at 1:00 pm: The Presbyterian Church in Chinatown is hosting an english-speaking event on Zoom called "Be Like Water ~ A Faith Response to Stop AAPI Hate" with Dr. Russell Mark Jeung, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate. 
The choir will be singing for Pentecost on Sunday, June 5. We'll hold a rehearsal on Thursday, June 2nd at 7:30 for about an hour. Ages high school on up are welcome! The song is accessible and we have lots of folks ready to come alongside you as we make music together. Contact 
GAIA (Global Aids Interfaith Alliance) has Mobile Health Clinics that treated 496 thousand cases of malaria, provided 100 thousand sexual and reproductive health visits enabling safe birth spacing and improved maternal and neonatal health outcomes? They administered 112 thousand HIV tests and Malawi's positivity rate has decreased from 23% in 2008 to 3% in 2021. -GOMT
Please join us in our sanctuary Sunday at 10am. Trinity is committed to providing a safe environment and to ensure a welcoming and inclusive worship experience for all.
