Trinity Church Grand Island

Staff

Rev. Larry Baird - Senior Pastor

The Rev. Larry R. Baird

Birthdate: August 7, 1949

Educational background: BA, Lycoming College, 1971; MDiv, Colgate Rochester, 1974

Ordained UMC elder: 1976

Clergy appointments: Wyoming/Covington, 1972-75; East Bloomfield/Ionia, 1975-80; Westfield, 1980-86; Clarence, 1986-2003; Superintendent, Cornerstone District, 2003-11.

Married to Brenda Baird, retired teacher’s aide

Two married sons and two granchildren

Denominational service: Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, Church Growth and Evangelism, Camps and Retreats Ministry, Racial Ethnic Local Church; New Church Starts; jurisdictional and general conferences delegate. President, the board of directors of The Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church

Specializations: Preaching, stewardship, evangelism, models for leadership

Hobby: Fly fishing, fly tying

Person most influential in his faith and practice: “My mother – a humble servant who loved God with all her heart, soul, and mind; and expressed it in love of neighbor.”

On diversity in the church: “I understand diversity to be complementary variety in God’s creation, and an enrichment of gifts and graces God has put in place to achieve God’s purposes. I encourage everyone to involve themselves in building up the church in whatever way God has gifted them, and is consistent with God’s plan as revealed in Scripture. I believe such diversity is a blessing.”

Would like to accomplish: “I would like in some way to help renew a local church and our denomination so that it is increasingly effective in making disciples for Jesus Christ.”

Rev. Baird enjoys preaching, and regards it as a means for both inspiration and instruction. He is well-known in the conference for his abilities in training lay leadership.

Rev. Nate Lange - Associate Pastor

Pastor Nate grew up in Trinity Church where his grandfather, Rev. Jim Lange, had served as a pastor and his extended family has been actively involved for decades.

Over the past 15 years, he has been involved in numerous ministries, both at Trinity and elsewhere, including worship/music, working with high school and college students, leading Bible studies and small groups, serving the urban poor, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, overseas missions, and church leadership. He has an A.A. from Erie Community College in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and a B.A. in Arts and Letters from Buffalo State College, where his concentration was Philosophy and Religious Studies. He is currently pursuing his M.Div. in a cross-enrollment program through Northeastern Seminary and United Theological Seminary.

Pastor Nate has a love for traditional elements of Methodism (such as small groups, accountability, passionate worship, Biblical preaching, empowered and engaged laity, and personal and social holiness) and hopes, as Trinity's Associate Pastor, to help reconnect our modern church with these roots.

Currently, Pastor Nate provides leadership for, and usually preaches at, our 9am Contemporary Worship service and oversees our Youth Ministry (6th-12th grade). His wife, Angie, serves as part of the Praise Band at the contemporary service and as a volunteer leader in the Youth Ministry; their two young sons, Asa and Eli, can be found every Sunday participating in our Children's Ministry.

Liz and Mark Von Wald - Christian Education Directors

Anne Hipp - Senior Adult Ministries

As the Senior Adult Ministry Coordinator here at Trinity for the past 14 years, my job (part-time) focuses primarily on coordinating and offering training to a group of volunteers, each of whom is paired with an older person from the congregation. The goal of each visitor is to be an accepting friend to the person he or she visits. Those being visited are older and are confronting loneliness, illness, being widowed, isolation, adapting to institutional living, etc. Like the miracle of the loaves and fishes, we have been able to meet these needs of our congregation. No one need fall between the cracks at this caring church. Increasingly, I am coordinating programs of particular interest to seniors, such as an upcoming speaker who will demystify the tangle of some of the facets of medicare coverage during the enrollment period. I am available to help with grief counseling, to assist with nursing home placements and to find resources to help families and individuals if I am not able.

I was born on Long Island, married while in college and graduated in 1968 from Syracuse University. Our two children, Adriane and Mark, joined my husband and me on the corporate trail for his job, and we lived in Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, before coming to Grand Island in 1992. I have a social work background which is invaluable in my work, as well as great affection and admiration for the people of Trinity.

Linda McGuire - Office Manager

Born in Buffalo in 1945, moved to Grand Island in 1953, and began attending Trinity Evangelical United Brethren Church, as it was called back then, until moving away from the area. Lived in Rochester, NY; Ontario, Canada; and Silicon Valley, CA.

BA SUNY Binghamton, MS SUNY Brockport, MBA San Jose State (CA), 2-year certificate Managment of Technical Documentation, Multiple Microsoft Certifications, Multiple certificates for psychology of learning, technical course design and development, website design and development, technical documentation design and development, Current NYS Teacher Initial Certification Biology and Chemistry, grades 9-12, with an extension for general science grades 6-8.

Chemistry lab technician (Eastman Kodak), blood bank technician (Strong Memorial Hospital), Computer industry (Tandem Computers Incorporated, Compaq Computer Corporation, Hewlett Packard Corporation, multiple startups): customer account support, field support, technical and customer course design, development, and instruction, QA, end user software and hardware documentation, engineering software and hardware documentation, including corporate management white papers, project management, group manager.

Currently , Trinity Office Manager full-time.

Wendy McCaffrey - Childcare

Joseph Martino - Director of Music Ministries

Dennis Overholt - Church Organist

Rob Domagala - Superintendant of Buildings and Grounds

Dave Cole - Custodian

Rev. Paul Robinson - Retired Pastor

Education:

High School: Baker High School, Baldwinsville, NY 1963

College: Lycoming College, Williamsport 1967 BA (Major: German)

Seminary: Wesley Seminary, Washington, DC 1971 Master of Divinity

Churches served as pastor:

Grand Island, Trinity United Methodist July 1, 1990- June 30, 2005 Retired

Olean, Christ UMC July 1, 1980-June 30, 1990

Bemus Point UMC July 1, 1972-June 30, 1980

Basel, Switzerland,

Riehenring and Wesley Haus UMC July 1971-June 1972

(Both German speaking)

Rev. Sue Kaiser - Retired Pastor

Rev. Sue Kaiser moved to Grand Island upon retirement in 2002, after 17 years preaching in 4 parishes in WNY. Serving Trinity primarily as their Prayer Ministry Coordinator, Adult Education Teacher, and Worship Dance Coordinator, she has a deep interest in ecumenical relationships and work toward Christian unity/

Married to Bob for 50+ years, they have a son and daughter and 5 grandchildren.

Facebook

Rev. Robert Eldred - Retired Pastor

Bob is happily retired and lives in Tonawanda. He attends 10:30 worship regularly. He is a renowned consumer of books of all types and loves to discuss any and all topics.

site administration

site map

Trinity Church Grand Island

A United Methodist Congregation