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.

Faith Story: Jonas Ellison

Hi, I’m Jonas Ellison and my family and I‌ have been members of Holy Trinity for a little over a year now. I’m a first-year, full-time seminarian pursuing a master's of divinity at LSTC and discerning my call to ministry in the ELCA. To make the distinction, I’m not a MIC resident seminarian like Troy, Melissa, Sarah, or Reed. I’m a member who happens to be a seminarian. I start my MIC next year, but I‌ hate goodbyes, so I’ll save it for then:)

I was raised Roman Catholic (hands?). Later in life, I started to question my faith altogether. Was God really an abusive father who killed his only son because of us? Did God truly despise people of certain sexual orientations and religions (and those who didn’t identify with any religion)? Why couldn’t priests be female or married? How could God be so disgruntled by His own creation?

In my early 20s, I identified as spiritual-but-not-religious and did so for almost two decades. A couple years ago, I found myself drawn to three seemingly paradoxical things: progressive Christianity, orthodox Christianity, and contemplative/mystical Christianity. How and where in the world would I‌ find a faith community that embraces all three? 

Holy Trinity was and is that place: A sacred space that welcomes all to the table (even a heretic like me). One that embraces a progressive worldview while remaining rooted in ancient orthodox theology. One that provides that holy comma every week where I can rest my weary soul and allow God’s grace to swoop in and soften my heart. One that encourages my endless questions - and even doubts. 

This is a community that my wife and I feel safe raising our daughter in and it’s the reason that I enrolled in seminary and devoted my life to carrying on this tradition in whatever ways that I can. This is why we financially support Holy Trinity and our mission - to help make this the new norm in the Christian faith. It’s a bold endeavor, for sure - but one that we feel divinely privileged to be a part of. Thank you.