Healing takes time. Over the years of playing sports, I’ve injured myself more times than I can count. I’ve twisted ankles, had hernias, skinned knees, and black eyes. I’ve traveled the road to recovery over and over again. It’s a familiar path for me. I’m always anxious to get better. Being limited isn’t much fun. Neither is pain.
Over the 42 years of Trinity International Church, we have experienced seasons of sickness and injury. We haven’t always been a healthy, thriving church. In 2024, our church was coming to the end of a long season of sickness. We were still alive, but we weren’t thriving. There was pain. There was brokenness. There was hurt. But God.
God, who makes broken things whole and brings the lost home, was already making a way forward. Through what might have seemed like an ordinary detail, God was at work. Pastor John Johnson “just happened” to be the guest preacher at Trinity the very Sunday after Pastor Dave left. We know that God is sovereign over the details. As Scripture reminds us, He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. That Sunday began a process of healing that eventually led Pastor John to serve as our emergency interim pastor for 90 days. God used his ministry to bring cleansing, stability, and the beginning of healing to our church. (Please be praying for Pastor John, by the way. He is currently serving another church in a similar season and walking with them through their own process of healing).
Through Pastor John, I was invited to come and serve Trinity for 90 days. Those months became a season of healing, hope, and rebuilding. Laughter and peace began to return to our church. Recovery had begun.
Six months later, God brought me back to Trinity as your permanent Senior Pastor.
Nicole and I have felt incredibly loved by this church, and we are deeply thankful for the favor God has shown to Trinity International Church. Where Are We Now? Our church is healing and getting stronger, much like a body recovering from sickness or injury. Sometimes the process can feel slow, but we are healing faster than I ever anticipated. That is a testimony to God’s faithfulness and to you, His people.
We have been, in many ways, building the bridge while walking across it. We haven’t always had the luxury of planning, communicating, and resourcing ministries as thoroughly as we would have liked. Nevertheless, God has been faithful, and the fruit has been remarkable. Consider just a few examples. We’ve had two Women’s Teas and a Men’s Breakfast. These events have been exceptionally well received and fruitful—even while we were still developing the leadership structures needed to sustain them. And that’s just one example.
I have been working closely with our Elder Board to establish a strong foundation for ministry with clear deacon oversight. We have been developing healthy onboarding practices for new leaders, and today nearly all of our ministry teams are functioning with either deacons or ministry coordinators providing leadership. Our ministry team is experiencing a tremendous amount of unity, joy, and fruitfulness as we move forward Together, on Mission.
Our full leadership team meets quarterly, while the elders meet biweekly. Each elder provides oversight for three to four ministries, while deacons and coordinators lead the day-to-day ministry. These leaders are developing and training teams of people from within our church who are showing up, serving faithfully, and producing a great deal of fruit. That is what healthy recovery looks like. It’s been fun to “get off the couch,” so to speak, and get back into the game. We were down, but we were never out. We were hurting, but God has brought healing. Trinity International Church is healthy, life-giving, growing, and rebuilding for what I believe can be our best season yet. Healing takes time. Recovery takes work. And rebuilding takes all of us. But God has been faithful through every step. I can’t wait to see what He does next—and I’m so grateful that we get to experience it together.
“Trinity International Church is a safe, welcoming, community of Christ-followers who uphold a high view of Scripture, celebrate unity in diversity and participate fully in the abiding Christian life as described in the Bible. We are united by the principle that in the essentials there should be unity, in all else there should be charity.”
Pastor Dan
