Coordinators: Gregg Loesch – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Dale Kline – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The functions and duties of the Outreach/Social Concerns Team consist of the following:
a. Extend help and understanding to those persons who are in need, such as the ill, the aged, the orphaned, the underfed, those who lack shelter, and the underprivileged by supporting and providing opportunities for volunteer participation in those programs existing in the community.
b. Plan, implement, and support programs in the community involving service projects, the university campus, and local churches.
c. Investigate and recommend financial gifts from Trinity’s funds to community, national, or international programs, particularly those related to the ELCA and synod efforts.
d. Study social conditions, primarily in the local community, in order to bring the cleansing and healing light of Christian truth to bear upon critical problems through thoughtful Christian discussion of facts and issues.
Family Promise (formerly known as Interfaith Hospitality Network of Summit County)
Contact: Gregg Loesch – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Family Promise is a community of faith, caring for homeless families. Participating churches provide shelter, meals and assistance in searching for jobs and housing. During the day, families receive counseling at the Family Center located at 77 W. Miller Avenue in Akron, and in the evening, they are sheltered for one week at a time in various churches who participate in the Family Promise program. Volunteers from Holy Trinity prepare meals and eat with the guests; provide transportation in the Family Promise van; and visit with the families in the evening and stay overnight. They also prepare bedrooms with fresh linens and towels to make the guests comfortable during their stay with at Holy Trinity. Volunteers are always welcome to assist with this important program.
Legislative Alert Sub-Committee
Contact: Dale Kline – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Legislative Alert Sub-Committee reports on legislative information published by the Lutheran Office of Government Affairs (www.loga.org).
Lutheran Urban Ministries of Akron (LUMA)
Contact: Phyllis Martin – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Joan Kull
Lutheran Urban Ministries of Akron is a group of representatives from three downtown Akron Lutheran churches: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bethany Lutheran Church and St. John/St. Paul Lutheran Church. Representatives meet monthly to plan cooperative worship and fellowship events among the three churches. Some of the events include supper/worship services during Advent and Lent, a community brunch/worship service in Grace Park, and Lutherfest, an outdoor “Oktoberfest” type event. Events are publicized in the bulletins and newsletters of the three churches.
OPEN M
OPEN M is a non-profit neighborhood-based ministry that works to address short-and long-term needs of the poor in inner city Akron. OPEN M serves numerous sections of the city and county with a variety of programs that focus on jobs, safety, health care, recreation, and self-sufficiency. OPEN M is part of the mission outreach of more than 75 congregations in the greater Akron area.
St. Bernard's Hot Meals Program
Contact: Robert & Catherine Wolverton
In conjunction with St. Mary/St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, members and friends of Holy Trinity bake cookies and cook and serve meals for the needy of the community.
Good Neighbors of Akron
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church provides rooms for a clothing distribution center, which is housed on the third floor of the church’s educational wing. This clothing unit is open each Thursday from 9 a.m.-Noon to aid those in need in the Akron community. Donations of gently used clothing items are accepted. For more information, call (330) 733-1453.
Wesley Temple AME Zion Church
Wesley Temple AME Zion Church is located one block from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. The two churches have an ecumenical relationship. Four times each year, the two Adult Sunday School classes meet together for spiritual learning. Additionally, both churches co-host Vacation Bible School in the summer and combine their resources for a Thanksgiving service.