Our Mission

ALL ARE WELCOME

Holy Trinity joyfully extends Christ’s love to all. We welcome everyone regardless of race, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental health, faith, doubt, family composition, political affiliation, socio-economic status, or any other category that divides us. Christ taught us that loving is a never-ending process of growth and reconciliation. At Holy Trinity, we strive to love diversely and deeply. To all who have been marginalized, we will work to demonstrate that nothing can separate you from the love of God.

“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28.   

WHO WE ARE

We are so glad you’re interested in exploring your faith at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Faith can be a constant and a comfort in our lives, one that grounds us in God’s care. The church is meant to be God’s gift to us for growing in faith and deepening our relationship with Jesus Christ and one another. This growth happens as we pray, learn, serve, and share our lives together. Holy Trinity is a place that engages every age and life stage with the good news of the Gospel. We hope you will your share your story - your experiences, traditions, and hopes - with us as we learn and grow alongside one another.

OUR SANCTUARY CREATION WINDOW

The Concept

“In the beginning was the Word,” reads the Gospel of John. The “Creation Window” is the embodiment of this Word. The window is placed on the east wall, the direction of the Holy City of Jerusalem, from which the Resurrection of Christ and its promise to all people has come. The image of the Spirit and the cross below the cosmic drama of creation unite the Three Persons of the Trinity in one dynamic vision, which embodies the congregation’s name, “Holy Trinity.” As the sun rises each morning on the east wall of the church and its rays enter the sanctuary through the vibrant panes of glass, God again separates the light from the darkness and Creation is renewed. In glass, plaster and wood, God’s Word made manifest “in the Beginning” is newly proclaimed each day in the great “Creation Window” in Thousand Oaks, California.

The Creation

The great east window of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church was designed and constructed by Mark Eric Gulsrud, a 1972 graduate of California Lutheran University (CLU). Gulsrud also installed windows in the Preus-Brandt Forum and the Samuelson Chapel at CLU, as well as Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks. At CLU, he studied under art professors Dr. Jerry Slattum and Sir Bernardus Weber. Slattum is the designer of Holy Trinity’s altar, pulpit, cross and baptismal font.

Today, Mr. Gulsrud works out of his studio in Tacoma, Washington. In addition to installations in churches, his work has been placed in public and private buildings throughout the west coast.

While lesser in volume than those of Samuelson Chapel, this leaded glass window is certainly one of Mr. Gulsrud’s finest designs. At its installation in 1983, Gulsrud stressed that the shapes and colors of his windows are meant to be open to the interpretation of each viewer. He mentioned, however, that the thirty-four foot high window of Holy Trinity took its inspiration from the first chapter of Genesis, in the moment of Creation when the cosmos was “without form and void” and all was darkness. No matter how one interprets the window, it is hard to deny that it is spectacular in representing this event.

Orbs of planets and other heavenly bodies swirl overhead in vast confusion as shafts of light dart about in the great contest to separate the light from the darkness and the waters above from the waters below. At the bottom of the window, rays of light morph into streams of living water. In a huge arc that extends from one side of the window to the other, rising out of the chaos, is the brown, bountiful earth, which swells to dominate the scene. Plunging down through this drama is the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. The Spirit is layered on the glass, depicted with wood and plaster as a silhouette against the rest of the image, and impresses itself upon the congregation not only by its dynamism but also its potency. Its outstretched wings encompass the whole of the chancel, where the “mysteries of Heaven” – the preaching of the Word and the Eucharist – are celebrated.

The dove also embraces the cross, which is the instrument by which God has reconciled heaven and earth. The outstretched arms of the cross echo the widespread wings of the Spirit to encompass the whole world, its vertical limbs uniting heaven and earth, and conducting the Grace of God from on high to those seated in the pews below.

Submitted by Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.