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A New Adventure

A New Adventure

Dear Holy Trinity Parishioners,

It is with great joy and excitement that I come to Holy Trinity! I have heard from Fr. Dave, Dcn. Brett and the staff about how kind and welcoming you are as a parish. You already have a wonderful reputation in the Archdiocese. With such a reputation, I feel honored and blessed to be coming to you as your new pastor. Fr. Dave is a saintly man and we have known each other since the later part of the 1980’s when he was first ordained and was serving in Eugene and I was a new college student at OSU. After I was ordained, I followed him at St. Anthony in Forest Grove in 2002. Parishioners there kept calling me “Fr. Dave.” Some would catch themselves and apologize. On my part, I simply saw this as an incredible compliment. Hey! If I can serve you with something akin to the passion of Fr. Dave, then I must be doing something right. I look up to Fr. Dave and will be reaching out to him for guidance, as I learn how to be the shepherd that God wants me to be for Holy Trinity.

Please forgive me for any mess ups, mistakes in speech, or the deer-in-the-headlights look that will be on my face for many months. This is certainly the largest parish I have been affiliated with as a priest. In addition, I am used to being at parishes that begin with “St.” so I will most certainly goof up our parish name in the first several months. Heck! Maybe even longer. In fact, I might even goof it up and say, “Holy Family,” as I used to go to Holy Family for spiritual direction for years. In some of my emails to Fr. Dave, I have mistyped the church name as “Homy Trinity” and had to correct it! Hah! Maybe that is what is meant to be, eh? Speaking of misspelling, in my coming bulletin letters, there are bound to be some doozies. Auto-spell has done me wrong before, and if I write or say something weird, let me know. Let’s talk. Let’s get clarity. I trust we will be merciful and patient with each other! Feel free to even laugh at me or with me. Life is short, and laughter is wonderful medicine to keep things in perspective, right? And beware! I like “Dad” jokes if that helps you get a sense of my humor.

A few other personal things about me: I am the ninth of nine children. I spent my childhood in Medford and teen years in Tualatin and Tigard. After graduating from college, I taught at Central Catholic (teaching Math, Computer Science, and Religion) and then Tigard High School (Math). I am a self-professed geek. I don’t even mind being called a nerd. I have many hobbies including kayaking and astrophotography. I am fascinated by gadgets and, as an extrovert, love to be around people. I listen to Christian music and have days where I just need to hear some 80’s tunes like that from Toto and such. I enjoy camping. You might even see me heading out with my little trailer just for a couple day R&R on occasions. I have had three dogs during my priestly ministry, and as things get settled may very likely begin the search for a new four-legged friend to assist me in ministry. You can visit my website, frbill.org at your leisure and have a presence on social media. A recent joy in my life was when I celebrated my 22nd anniversary of priestly ordination last Friday, July 1st.

I love Jesus! I praise the Trinity and thank God for all he’s done for me. Indeed, my life as a priest is my way of giving back to God for all that he has done for me. He wooed me, put a passion in my heart, and set me on a great adventure. I am spoiled by his love and grace. I look forward to meeting you and learning the gifts present here at Holy Trinity. I hope I can lead you closer to Christ and learn from you at the same time. I am sinner who also needs to be forgiven, so well-ordered love served with an outpouring of mercy is my thing. I ask for your patience as the learning curve, I expect, will take some time. I am humbled that Fr. Dave would invite and recommend me to come to Holy Trinity. Let’s see what God got in store! If its from God, it’s gunna be great!

Blessings,

Fr. William “Bill” Holtzinger

Youth Ministry & Building Project

Youth Ministry & Building Project

Dear Parishioners,

Youth Ministry

After some serious discernment, Natalie Scott has decided to conclude her employment with us as our Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at the end of our fiscal year (think end of June).  You can read her letter in our Youth Ministry column in our parish bulletin where she briefly discusses some of her thoughts and plans.  She will certainly be missed.  That being said,  know that she expects to remain in our area afterwards for some time as she continues with her ongoing plans of her own personal ministry which she will elaborate on in time.  I am thankful for her work and communicating with me and the parish so early which helps everyone involved.  As such, we will begin immediately advertising the position for about a month whereby we will accept applications from interested and qualified persons.  Please see our ad in this bulletin as well as that on our website for more details.  I am sure that you will want to express your support for Natalie in this transition period, and I encourage you do so.  She has many dreams and plans for the future, and we all want her to do well! 

With news of her departure, we then need to turn our attention to seeking out a qualified person to follow in her footsteps.  We have posted the position on our parish website, CatholicJobs.com, and our Archdiocese website.  If you or someone you know is interesting in joining our ministry team in this position, please check out the official posting and email us a cover letter and resume.  Please pray for all involved that God's will may be done!

New Church Building Project

As you hopefully have read in last week’s bulletin, we had a town hall meeting and the conclusion was that we simply could not afford the project we had created.  So, what is next, simply more discernment.  If you have any thoughts or questions, do not hesitate to talk with me or Stephen our business manager.  Even more importantly, please seek out members of the Core Building Committee, the Administrative Council, and associated groups who were listed in the letter last week.  We will be meeting this month to reflect on what the parish wants to do or not do, after which I hope to get a consensus of direction.  As always, God’s will be done.  Let us all submit to the prompting of his Holy Spirit!

 

Blessings,

Fr. William Holtzinger

Pastor