It is a joy to greet you as your new pastor! I look forward to working with you, learning from you, and living life with you as a church family. 
My first Sunday leading worship with you will be this week, February 4th at 10:00am. I hope you will be able to join us first for worship, then for Trinity’s Annual Meeting. What an exciting day to be present today, to look at the last year, and to look into where God is leading us all in the next year together! If you can’t make it to church this Sunday, I invite you to join worship online, trusting in the mystery of God that allows us to be the Body of Christ together whether we are sitting together or are far apart. Thanks be to God!
This past fall, as I was in conversation and discernment with your excellent Call Committee, I began praying for you. The Apostle Paul implores us in First Thessalonians (v. 16-18) to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” My prayers for the good people of Trinity continue, and I humbly ask that your prayers for me continue as well.
This is a time to rejoice together! The Annual Meeting is not simply a time to talk business, it is a time to celebrate and give thanks for the ministries Trinity has supported and been called into. And so we will rejoice, we will pray, and we will give thanks for all the things that God is up to with us, and for us, and through us. Thanks be to God!
Throughout these coming weeks and months and years, I look forward to getting to know you, good people of Trinity. I look forward to exploring the Tri-Valley area, and calling this home. I look forward to discerning with you how we might embody the love of God in Christ Jesus in our homes and in our communities. 
This is an exciting time! Together we will step forward, likely stumbling and catching our footing along the way, but by the grace of God in Christ Jesus we will continue along this journey that God has in store for us. Thanks be to God!
Go in peace. You are God’s beloved.
Thanks be to God!