Faith Story: Jim and Kris Hiepler-Hartwig
Jim: Hi, I’m Jim
Kris: Hi, I’m Kris – Hiepler-
Jim: Hartwig. We are hyphenated,
Kris: …and decaffeinated.
Jim: We joined a year ago.
Kris: Well I was here – you were sick so you joined via “picture on phone.”
Jim: True enough. So. About us - I was born in and grew up in the city of Chicago, population 2.7 million people.
Kris: I was born in a farming community and grew up on a farm near my home town, Bellingham, 127 people.
Jim: I was raised Missouri Synod Lutheran.
Kris: I was raised Missouri Synod Lutheran.
Jim: We were baptized Lutheran.
Kris: We were confirmed Lutheran.
Jim: And upon confirmation, we were considered “adults” so that meant…
Kris: Ta dah! Offering envelopes! We learned to tithe a portion of our allowance to put in the offering plate. (mine was $.50 and Jim’s was a quarter😊)
Jim: We mostly hung out with other Lutherans growing up and then again later when our own kids were involved in Lutheran youth groups.
Kris: We actually met in a Lutheran church parking lot. That makes us “churchy” in some circles :--)
Jim: We have spent our lives volunteering, working, and being a part of the church, mostly where everyone was pretty much like us
K/J: And then we found Holy Trinity.
Jim: There is a lot to be thankful for here –
Kris: the welcome,
Jim: the music,
Kris: the sermons…
Jim: But there is one thing that sort of found us. We joined the anti-racism team at Holy Trinity. We discovered something that we didn’t know we were missing and it has started something new that is growing within.
Kris: We are learning about the systemic racism that resides within - us, our families, our community, our country. We are starting to understand our role in the marginalization of people who are LGBTQIA, people of color, of disparate economic means or no means, or who face mental and physical challenges.
Jim: We have rediscovered purpose in our “been-there-done-that,-have-the t-shirt gave-it-away lives” We’ll admit, we were kinda tired Lutherans. We might have been looking for a place to “rest.” But Holy Trinity is not a place you come to hide out.
Kris: At Holy Trinity there is great leadership, and fabulous programming…and we are Lutheran – so we eat well here, right?
Jim: We know that there are many ways to plug in to good community service. There are many ways to help a broken world financially. People don’t have to come to a church to do good in the world. Social media has made it possible to plug in to every possible good cause.
Kris: We have chosen to support Holy Trinity with our resources, both time and financial, along with talents, because the work here inspires us. At HT there is also a spiritual challenge to grow in our faith, and in the understanding that Jesus loves us. ALL; we come here to fill that well – we need it to walk in the world waiting outside those doors.
Jim: Building good solid foundations and relationships takes time and energy – something that God renewed in us when we committed to being a part of community here. Holy Trinity is not just a plug and play energizer bunny. It’s the conduit for the energy and inspiration that God is waiting to give each of us.
K/J: We are thankful for Holy Trinity.