 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Lone Lutheran church calls Lutz home
By ANGELA MILLER © St. Petersburg Times, published May 19, 2001 LUTZ -- Tucked away on 5 acres off U.S. 41, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is the only Lutheran church in the Lutz and Land O'Lakes area. In 1993, 80 to 100 people attended Sunday services. Now about 160 do, equally split between young families and seniors. The church has expanded three times and the mortgage was paid off in February. Pastor Gilbert Kuehn has even bigger designs on the future. Plans are being made for a new sanctuary that will seat 350 people and for a Christian education center, with classrooms and one large room for the youth to meet and hold functions. "Churches need to have a vision," Kuehn said. The pastor and the building committee will present the final plans to the congregation for a unanimous decision on the project and then goals will be set to raise money for the buildings. To fund previous expansions, groups of parishioners volunteered at concession stands at the Ice Palace in Tampa. The organization that staffs the food concessions hires non-profit organizations to work the stands during events at the arena. Working the stands for three years, Kuehn said he has seen a closeness form within the different groups that volunteer. "It is a way for people to help when they can't donate money," Kuehn said. The church states its mission on each Sunday's bulletin and invites people to have a time of quiet reflection before the worship service begins. The statement reads: "The mission of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is to provide opportunities for individuals and families within the community to gather, learn God's word and strengthen our faith in Jesus. With God's help, we will promote and share God's love by nurturing spiritual, emotional and physical well-being." Trista Kuhn, 30, and her husband have been attending Holy Trinity for a year. Kuhn said she "felt out of the loop" after having her baby. She said she wanted to meet with other women but also be able to bring along her son, Jacob, who is now 8 months old. She started asking women at the church if they would be interested in meeting for a women's Bible study group. Four women met this past Wednesday from 10 to 11 a.m. Susan Mathiasen, 38, went, and took her 15-month-old daughter, Stephanie. It was her first Bible study, Mathiasen said, so "my expectations are open. I want to fellowship with other women and to broaden my understanding." Betty Olson, 66, who has been a member of the church for 20 years, said she loves studying the word of God and hearing the other women's thoughts. The group is reading the New International Version of the Women's Serendipity Bible, which is used for small groups. The topic of discussion they have chosen for this six-week session is the book of Esther. Emma Pella, 78, said she was interested in attending the group but is so busy helping out on Sundays that she often doesn't attend her Sunday school class. Pella was one of the founders of the church's Little Lambs Preschool, which is held Monday through Friday, year-round, for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds. "It is a Christian environment for kids to get prepared to go to school," said director/teacher Melissa Vance. The school opened in January 1997. Vance has been part of the school for four years and teacher Kim Hutchinson has been there a little more than three years. Currently 23 children are enrolled, and they learn numbers, letters, shapes and colors and have a weekly Bible lesson. When the pastor is available, he takes some time to share a lesson with them also. On Wednesday, Kuehn talked to the children about what God created on the sixth day (animals and man) and sang a song with them. The church also has a senior game day twice a month for adults over 55. "People are going to find something they are comfortable with here," Kuehn said. - Angela Miller covers religion news in Pasco County. She can be reached in Dade City at (352) 521-5757, ext. 29, or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6108, then 29.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
