House Churches incorporate Nurture (Study), Worship, and Fellowship alongside their Mission Focus. House Churches covenant together for one year, and each year re-evaluate the call. 
The House Church completes a covenant, which can be downloaded here.

Reaching Out  - The Reaching Out House Church is committed to reaching out to neighbors, new or familiar. In particular, Reaching Out is interested in being supportive of new refugees, consulting with them and helping them as they make new lives in Harrisonburg. The group historically has met on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month from 10AM to noon. Depending on the needs of those participating, however, this schedule can be altered. For more information, contact Judy LePera at judithlepera@comcast.net. For the Zoom link for the meetings, contact Linda Bradley at bradlelm@jmu.edu.
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Sanctuary- Our mission is to explore ways God may be calling us to work with and support immigrants in our community, providing sanctuary to the strangers, now neighbors, among us. In the past we developed the Vanita ride share system to provide transportation for immigrants who have appointments in No. Virginia for ICE check-ins, immigration court, and embassy visits. For most of the pandemic we were not able to provide this service. Late this summer we began to provide rides again, mainly for immigrant children and adults who need transportation to medical specialists in Charlottesville. We are starting to see a need for rides to immigration court or embassies, and this will only increase as more immigrants and refugees move to the Harrisonburg area. We NEED more drivers!  We are also continuing to explore unmet legal needs of the immigrant population and we continue to support immigrants at the local, regional, and national level. For further information, or to RSVP please contact Hedy Reese at heisen50@comcast.net or Sally Boucher at ssboucher1@gmail.com.

Marks Groups incorporate one or more of the four marks (nurture, worship, fellowship, and mission), but have a less formal structure. Some are on-going while others may be short-term.

 

Guns to Gardens - All who are interested in helping prevent gun violence are urged to be with us for the second meeting of the Guns to Gardens Marks Group at the church this Sunday, March 12 at 12:30 p.m. The meeting will last an hour. Contact persons are Linda Bradley, Mary Lou McMillin, Susie Phend, Sherry Satin, Andy and Frances Sale and Roxana Atwood.

Centering Space - offers a new approach to Nurture by offering a variety of ways to engage in spiritual practices to feed your soul and keep you grounded. We invite anyone who seeks to share in the development of opportunities for contemplation, action, renewal, and expression for individuals and groups. Visit the Centering Space website to see what we've been up to in the past year and what we’re looking forward to doing in the coming year. ​Contact Teresa Harris at harristt@jmu.edu to get involved or with questions. 

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Clothes Closet - The Clothes Closet is seeking to provide clothing to the community in ways that help our needy. There are many ways to volunteer with the Clothes Closet:

- Sorting clothing donations on Wednesday mornings from 9-11am
- Helping on the first Wednesday of every month hosting the clothes closet to our clients from about 6:15-7:45pm and on other Wednesdays as needed.
- Donating gently used clothing and shoes on Wednesdays from 9-11am or by putting donations in the green trashcan in the coat closet. 
- Brainstorming and working toward our goal of reaching out to a wider community so more people can be served.

Our group will have a meeting on October 26 at 9am in the commons at Trinity. We invite members of our congregation to discuss how we can regroup and serve even more. Please contact Kathy Gillette at kathy.gillette@gmail.com if you have an interest in serving in this ministry. 

Hearts and Hands -  This group creates and shares prayer shawls, stoles and “shoo boxes.”  What are these shoo boxes? They are treasure boxes of love! Members of this group also create blessing baskets that express Trinity’s concern and love for those experiencing difficulty. Hearts and Hands work closely with the Pastoral Care team to provide care to both the Trinity community and those a part of the larger community. Hearts and Hands meets the third Monday of each month. At present, these meetings take place over Zoom, though hopefully in person meetings can be enjoyed in the future. And don't worry, you don’t have to be able to knit or crochet to join this group. There are many ways to enjoy serving as a part of this Marks group. If interested, please contact either Patti Warner at mspiggy1951@comcast.net or Linda Bradley at bradlelm@jmu.edu Linda is also the one to contact for the Zoom link.   

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Backpack Program - Trinity’s Backpack Food Program (Light the Flame) remained very active during the 2021-’22 year!

While Federal subsidies ended in January of 2022, our church’s financial and practical support helped needy families in the Keister and Bluestone Elementary School districts.

 

In addition, the work of our programs has led to the development of Backpack Programs throughout Harrisonburg school systems, which added over 7 new school programs during this past year. This work was developed by Mrs. Tamara Grant, who provides these two programs over 20 hours of volunteer staff per week. Trinity’s volunteer staff also includes Teresa Harris, Virginia Healey, Jeannie Klemt (bookkeeping) and Dane Byers. These folks and others produce food bags each week (twice a month during the Summer).

 

Trinity’s Backpack program serves over 120 families per week. Approximately 85 food bags are distributed each week between our two schools. On Wednesdays, Trinity volunteers pick up food stuffs from Hope Distributed on Port Road. Hope is a member agency of Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and Feeding America. Food then is taken and stored at elementary schools. On Wednesday afternoons, volunteers at Bluestone Elementary pack 35 bags; on Thursday mornings, Trinity volunteers pack nearly 50-60 bags. Bags are given to kids on Friday to take home at each school; Keister staff deliver many bags to homes on Friday afternoons.

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Another offshoot of Trinity’s backpack program has been the creation of the Backpack Coalition. Administered through Harrisonburg Education Foundation. HEF is a non-profit organization housed in Harrisonburg’s School’s Administration building in Harrisonburg. Mrs. Grant’s work has led to the creation of backpack programs in nearly every Harrisonburg school over the last several years. In addition, a funding apparatus has been created to fund these programs on HEF’s website. 

 

The families served by these programs are our working poor neighbors. They are largely parents who work minimum wage, long hours, and spend most of their disposable income on housing, childcare, and healthcare. The food they receive helps them in a very real way make ends meet for them and their children. Teachers, Counselors and school administrators refer children and families who exhibit clear need. Their follow reports make clear the difference the program makes for the children’s nutritional, psychological and educational health.

 

Trinity’s Backpack Program will continue to make a difference in the 2022-’23 school year. But we’ll continue to need financial help and practical support. Thank you for making a difference! If you’re interested in becoming a part of Trinity’s Backpack Program, contact Dane Byers at 540. 820. 2132 or email at danebyers1@gmail.com .