Carl Stepp: "Come, Sit Down. Make Yourself at Home"

Submitted by: Carl Stepp (Holy Trinity member)

Faith has always been a central part of my life. When I first moved to Northern Virginia in 1982, I visited several churches looking for the right fit. Once I came across Holy Trinity, I realized quickly there was no reason to look any further.

When I first got together with the person who would eventually become my wife - Laura - we continued attending our original respective churches. Laura was the daughter of a Methodist minister so she attended a local Methodist church while I stayed with Holy Trinity.

Once we were married and our son was born, we felt that it made sense to choose one church for our entire family to grow with. I would like to say there was a big theological reason for choosing Holy Trinity. Truthfully, we invited the Minister from Laura’s church and the Pastor from Holy Trinity to our home. As it turned out, Holy Trinity’s Pastor had a daughter who babysat. Being new parents, our ears lit up! Who could pass up a trustworthy babysitter?!

Of course, there are truly several reasons why we decided that Holy Trinity was the best fit. When I first came to a service at Holy Trinity, I felt that it was the friendliest, warmest, and most welcoming church that I had ever visited.

On this first visit, I ran into the Chaplain of the time, Larry Shoberg, and his wife Karen. I asked him if there was an Adult Sunday School program and he said “yep! Right down the hall.” This program, called Forum, was a discussion group for adults. I really enjoyed it and the other participants stood out as being friendly. If memory serves me, this was the thing that stopped me from continuing to explore other churches. I was here to stay at Holy Trinity thanks to the friendly congregation and Forum.

I have several wonderful memories of Holy Trinity but there’s one that I find to be really funny, and Pastor Mike has certainly heard it many times. Serving as an usher and assistant minister were both very meaningful for me. One day, I was passing out communion wafers and repeating the standard line of “body of Christ, given for you” to each recipient. Suddenly a young, tiny girl appears in front of me saying adamantly, “I want the body of Christ!” I don’t know if you’re supposed to give these wafers to a youngster but I think God will allow me to get a pass on that.

Another memory I chuckle at is when we had some surprising visitors. One day, a group of ladies in beautiful garments came in while the Pastor was preaching.

Although no one knew who they were, one of the ladies slid into a pew. Everyone on the pew scooted down to welcome her. Then another woman came and sat down, and then another one followed behind her, and then another. There must have been close to a dozen of these women sliding into a pew one after the other.

These women sang with us, took communion, and listened to the service, but once it was over, they just stood up and left. An Usher, Don, went out to ask who they were. One of them explained that they were on a bus tour and visiting from another country. While on the bus, someone had wondered aloud what churches in the U.S. were like, so, they stopped the bus, came in, and saw for themselves. What is so cool about this story is what the congregation did. Everyone seemed to say, “come in, sit down, good to see you, make yourself at home!” It was lovely.

This welcoming atmosphere seems to always be present at Holy Trinity. When we had family visiting from out of town, we brought a few of those relatives with us to church. My sister-in-law noted that Holy Trinity was one of the warmest churches she’s ever been in. I couldn’t agree more.

Pastor Endicott once asked me to do a sermon about the time my daughter was very ill. When I did, the support that I got from the other congregants was just tremendous. When something like that happens, it really reinforces your faith which in turn reinforces your faith in others.

I think it’s important to appreciate how Holy Trinity has the ability to host virtual services. Josh and Greg should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for keeping the music going while we were quarantined and exclusively attending virtual services. During this really down period for all of us, the church mobilized to ensure that it continued to be a place where we could be surrounded by people we knew, and gosh, that meant so much.

Because I live in Greenspring retirement community, I’ve attended the church service here a few times. I certainly think it would be handy to be able to go up there on Sunday mornings as it’s a very nice, non-denominational service close to my home, but I’ve had a connection to Holy Trinity for over 40 years. I like the service, the people, and the Sunday school. It’s possible that one day I’ll need to go to the service here at Greenspring, but visiting Holy Trinity continues to be very meaningful for me.

Virtual services are certainly a great option but it seems to me that there’s also a downside. When I now log in on Sundays, I see names of people that I’ve never met in- person before. It’s not that we don’t work at unity but I think finding ways to keep us together in our work is so important. I’m not sure how we can make everyone feel part of the whole but there are probably things that we can do.

I don’t know how people get through life without faith. I was raised as an Episcopalian and was very close to my rector. Sunday school and church were always a big part of my life. Holy Trinity reinforces my faith in so many ways through the pastors and services, but I have to repeat, it’s really the people that matter so much. This church is such a nice, supportive place.

Holy Trinity is not perfect - nothing is perfect - but it’s been a positive influence in my life in almost every way. For my whole family, it’s been a blessing and continues to be.