As one of our circle of friends, I hope to see you at our 5th Anniversary worship celebration on Trinity Sunday, June 15, at 10:00 am at Trinity Lakeside Abbey. We have much to celebrate! After a year of prayer, we began in the uncertainty of the global pandemic, worshiping outdoors under a big loblolly pine tree. Since then, God has faithfully carried us through one uncertainty after another.
Trinity Lakeside is uniquely positioned in our chaotic world as a smaller, more contemplative community of Christ-followers. A deeply relational community gathered around our love for Jesus and a desire to live a listening life—to listen to and follow the Good Shepherd who leads us and walks with us. We pray that as you participate in life at the Abbey you discover a more restful, life-giving way. A peaceful place of belonging in Jesus.
We see this vision taking shape in one person at a time, one small gathering at a time. For example, each week in our contemplative walking group, we learn a simple contemplative exercise and practice listening to God. God is meeting us in our prayerful listening, honing our ability to notice his presence and working in our life.
At the Abbey people are discovering ways to draw near to Jesus and listen to his voice, then carry that more contemplative way into their daily life and work. As one of our members wrote, “Some of us need help resting and slowing down. That’s probably a lot of us… This community is committed to that work of slowing down, listening, spending time in solitude, and leaving space for the holy, the mysterious, and for our lives to be interruptible. That has been a much-needed balm to my prone-to-overworking soul. And I feel much more peace inside my body as I go through life at a more reasonable pace. Less burnout, less anxiety, less striving, less emotional breakdowns… and more contentment, more peace, more enjoyment of life and work, more space to comfort others.”
Jesus is with us in 2025. Nothing we see in this uncertain world is a surprise to him. Nothing is beyond his reach or concern. I pray that our thoughtful, prayerful attention to Jesus’ presence will lead to compassionate action in our world.
To mark our 5th anniversary, I am asking you to invest in what we do. We offer retreats, spiritual direction, online contemplative practice groups and walking groups at minimal or no cost. Our retreats, walking groups and online groups reach people from across the metroplex. And our spiritual direction ministry reaches clergy and church leaders across the nation.
Thank you for your gracious support. Please go to the Give page of our website to make your fifth anniversary gift. We look forward to seeing you at the Abbey for worship this Sunday, June 15 at 10:00!