It's October. Must be time for a Stewardship Campaign. When some of you start hearing this phrase kicked around, you will instantly think, "Ah, they are about to ask for money for the church again." And others of us will think, "How much do they need and how much can I afford?"
These are natural reactions to a Stewardship Campaign because we do talk a lot about money, and we are all asked to make a financial pledge to the church budget for the coming year. But I want to get behind the budget and the appeal for money and talk about what it means to be a "steward".
"Steward" is an old English word that means "warden of the sty". In other words, a steward is the keeper of someone else's pigs! Basically, a steward is a person who takes care of someone else's property, someone else's possessions on behalf of the owner. It's a good concept, though a bit antiquated for those of us living in a technological and information society. The closest most of us come to pigs is pork chops. Another term that means the same thing as steward is "trustee". A trustee does not own the organization for which he or she cares, but the trustee is finally responsible for the organization's health and well-being. So what are we stewards or trustees of? The church? Yes. But that is not the whole story. God calls us to be stewards or trustees of all of creation. God has given us life and the earth and each other as a precious gift that we are to take care of. We are stewards when we make time for children. We are stewards when we bring a meal to an elderly person. We are stewards when we work for justice and peace. We are stewards when we recycle. We are stewards when we return a portion of the gifts that God has given to us so that the church can be the Body of Christ for the world, calling others to the care of creation.This year, as we talk about stewardship, I encourage you to think about the innumerable gifts that God has given to you. Consider the blessings; consider the wonder and the glory of creation. As a part of your response to what God has given you, consider how God is calling you to respond. How will you exercise your stewardship? How will you be a trustee of creation?
There's a lot of great music coming your way this year. Here are some highlights to put on your calendar:
Three University City churches will join hands and talent at 3:00 pm on Sunday, October 20th, as the University City Symphony presents a concert at All Saints Church.
The three churches to be recognized for their longevity in University City are: Trinity Presbyterian - 50 years; Christ the King Catholic - 75 years; and All Saints Catholic, completing 100 years.
The program will include Dvorak's Serenade for Winds in B Minor and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3. The three church choirs will combine voices to present Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, Mozart's Ave Verum, and Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.
This ecumenical concert is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in Ryan Hall.
Jesus said "feed my sheep" (John 21:17). Phyllis and Bob Winger made this ministry their life work for nearly 20 years. All these years and hundreds of volunteers later, we need to tell the story and honor the saints who spent their lives in the doing of the faith.
Dianne Winger, daughter of Phyllis and Bob, will be with us to represent the family and participate in the day's events. Following worship, everyone will gather in the Dining Room for:
Admission to this glorious event: 1 can to 1 case of food! We accept all contributions except sardines or anchovies. Canned meats and canned fruit are always needed.
With a celebration that began many years ago to unite Christians all over the world, Trinity again will celegrate World Communion on Sunday, October 6. As dawn breaks somewhere in the mid-Pacific Ocean and travels across the globe, Christians will begin sharing bread and wine, a ritual that Jesus began on the night before he died. At Trinity we will observe this day in several special ways:
World Communion Sunday provides a special opportunity to celebrate our unity with Christians around the globe - to be reminded that we are members of the Church universal. It is also a wonderful day to widen our musical horizons, as we hear and sing sacred music from many cultures, nations, and lauguages.
We are especially excited to welcome Dr. Thomas Thangaraj to Trinity. A respected scholar and author on inter-faith dialogue, he is also a composer with training in South Indian classical music. The Festival Choir will sing some of his pieces on Sunday morning and Dr. Thangaraj will include music in his presentations throughout the weekend.
To enrich our understanding of Christian worship throughout the world, our service Sunday morning will also include elements unique to the South Indian church. We will light a brass lantern, like those found in churches and temples, and pass the peace Indian-style. We will use portions of the liturgy from the Church of South India, which has both an Indian cultural emphasis and a strong concern for social justice.
Dr. Thangaraj will sing many of his pieces accompanied by a sruti box, a unique instrument that sustains the first and fifth notes of the scale as a drone. A guest musicial will play the miruthangam, a type of Indian drum. We hope that these additions to the service will help us to appreciate the richness and depth of another living Christian tradition and draw us into deeper communion with our God.
All are welcome to sing Dr. Thangaraj's music with the Festival Choir on October 6! The choir will rehearse on Wednesday, September 25, from 7:30-8:45 p.m. A second rehearsal will be held on Sunday, September 29, after Christian Education. Childcare will be provided and refreshments will be served.
Last year's Alternative Gift Market was a great success. Shoppers found gifts for relatives and friends AND we raised thousands of dollars for world relief organizations. The best part was that neither beanie babies nor Santa mugs exchanged hands.
Alternate Gifts International (AGI) is a non-profit, interfaith agency that raises funds for a "more sustainable, equitable, and peaceful world community." It was begun in a California Presbyterian church more than twenty years ago and has since spread worldwide.
The idea is to allow people to buy gifts of love and service for those on their holiday lists, rather than more stuff. Shopping for people who already have plenty can sap joy from the Christmas season, plus gift wrap adds trash to our planet.
Each year AGI picks different organizations for its global shopping list. All have been thoroughly researched and are monitored to be sure they do what they promise. Some recipients this year are American Friends Service Committee, Medical Benevolence Foundation (Presbyterian), SEVA Foundation, Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, Beyond Borders, Nature COnservance, Mennonite Central Committee, International Justice Mission, and Quest for Peace.
All gifts are specific, so that giver and givee know exactly what the gift is - a textbook for a Haitian school, pasteurization for a Tanzanian water hole, vocational education for a child in India, a mountain bicycle for a student in Mali, and other crucial "small steps." We will also be able to buy school supplies for St. Louis children.
Gift catalogs will be available soon. On Sunday, November 10, order takers will be ready downstairs at 10:30 with detailed information about all the projects.
This year we would like to spread the word about the market to make it a community-wide event. If you know of organizations or individuals who might like to receive information about this project, please let us know: Betty Burnett at betty-burnett@msn.com / (314) 725-1892 or Diane O'Brien at ddobrien@magellanhealth.com / (314) 993-0396.
"The Lion, the Lamb, and a Little Child: Building Peace in a Violent World"
My heart was broken, absolutely torn apart. I was beyond tears, a bit speechless and numb. Some of you will laugh as you conjure up an image of me speechless, yet there it is. I brought home no facts or figures... no glowing "feel good" reports... no creative ideas. Just a deep drive to find a new way to stand and be counted in the name of Jesus Christ.
This past summer, I participated in the week-long national Peacemaking COnference, giving the best of myself in lengthy workshops, and each day I found myself slipping deeper and deeper into a sense of futility over the condition of the Children of the World... the AIDS epidemic... Hunger and Poverty... Child labor, prostitution, and abuse... The list goes on!
It seems very clear to me that the children of the world have become society's canaries in the mine shafts - God help us! All of August I busied myself with easy tasks - stewing over the church kitchen, fussing with paint - and yet a good bit of my thoughts were searching for direction. What to do?
I need to begin by asking for help. Trinity Church has been ever active in peacemaking in the home, cummunity and world. I would like to re-institute Trinity Peacemakers. Will you join me?
Thanks!
The cross carried each Sunday in the processional is a Coptic Orthodox Church Cross from Ethiopia. This cross was given to Trinity by the Berhes, an Ethiopian refugee family we sponsored in the early 1980's.
Christianity was introduced in Ethiopia around 320 A.D. by King Exana, who began producing coins with crosses on them in 330 A.D. Scholars generally agree that by the fourth century Ethiopia had become a Christian nation, making it the second oldest, ROme being the first. Today the majority of Ethiopian Christians are Coptic Orthodox, but Protestant Evangelism is now spreading very rapidly.
As a young medical student, Haile Berhe was forced to flee from Ethiopia by its repressive Communist military government. He went to Sudan where he met and married his wife, Selas Kahsay, also a refugee.
Haile and Selas arrived in St. Louis in November, 1982, with their young sons, two-year-old Yonas and six-month-old Samuel. The Berhes became an important part of the Trinity family. Selas was an active member of the Women's Association; Haile participated in worship and the boys in Sunday school. Trinity members supported them as they adapted to their new country, and they shared their talents, culture, and enthusiastic spirit with us.
Haile worked full-time for Scholin Brothers Printing Company while attending UMSL in the evenings. Selas studied English at the English Language School and cared for the kids. After Haile graduated in June, 1986, with a degree in mathematics, the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he took a job at the University of Madison.
The family continues to live and work in Madison. As a Senior Systems Programmer, Haile is lead programmer for the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) at the Center for Health Systems Research Analysis at the University of Wisconsin. Selas works in the administrative office of St. Mary's Hospital where she makes arrangements for meetings, dinners, and conferences. Yonas works in Madison and Samuel is a junior at the University of Wisconsin.
Haile and Selas have found a new church home in Madison at the Blackhawk Evangelical Free Church but they also drive to Milwaukee when they can on Sunday evenings to attend an Ethiopian Evangelical Baptist church. They organize Bible study groups with some Ethiopian families in Madison and also attend Bible study sessions with others from smaller churches. Haile speaks enthusiastically about his serious study of the Bible, his new understanding of the Christian faith, and "the exciting life that God is doing in our hearts."
The Berhes will always be missed at Trinity. Being a part of their struggle to make a new life in this country was a blessing for our congregation. We were inspired by their courage and persistence, shared the joy of their successes, and were moved and changed by their love and faith. When we see the cross carried in the processional, we remember them fondly and are grateful that they were a part of our Trinity family.
Be sure you're in Trinity's "family portrait." What a help it will be in matching those now-familaiar or new faces with names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, children's names, etc.
Make an appointment now for a date to have a portrait of you and your family made:
The past four months, May, June, July, and August, have been busy months in the Food Pantry. Volunteers Kitty Underwood, Joy Magisana, Tina Newberry and her family, and Mary Ellen Campbell ahd her family kept the food packed. Stacey Carman handled grocery shopping for May and June, and Jim Person, a new volunteer to the food pantry, took over purchasing food in July. The regular Wednesday volunteers - Roberta Middlekamp, Jerry Royce, Sally Dunn and Sandy Norkaitis - gave the food to our clients.
During May, 90 people received food, 116 in June, 121 in July, and 90 in August. We are still putting personal care items from the Girl Scouts' April Showers campaign in the food orders.
A support series for men and women adjusting to the widowed lifestyle is being held as the shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois, during September and October. Sessions continue through October 27 from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. each Sunday at the Shrine. The series is guided by facilitators who have experienced the loss of a spouse. Members empower each other to become fully integrated people through listening, sharing, challenging and accepting.
For more information call: Pastoral Department at the Shrine: (618) 394-6272 or (314) 241-3400 ext. 6272.
Beth Early reminds us that the massive flooding in Europe this summer has profoundly affected one of Trinity's mission projects. Several years ago, we began collecting "Dimes for Dresden," a small way of participating in efforts to rebuild the Cathedral of Dresden, the Frauenkirche. Sometimes known as the "Florence of the North", Dresedn was a center of art, music, and culture for centuries. On February 13, 1945, it was hit by a massive fire bombing so intense that the city burned for nearly a week. Since the re-unification of Germany, efforts have begun to rebuild and restore the city's magnivicent cathedral and other treasures.
Beth was saddened to follow the story of the flooding this summer and shares the letter below from the Friends of Dresden website. For more information and photographs, go to www.friendsofdresden.org.
And remember to bring your dimes! As of September 8, we have collected $1542 toward our $2000 goal. Beth still hopes to raise the complete goal by February 13, 2003, the anniversary of the bombing.
A Message from Friends of Dresden President
August 20, 2002
Dear Friends of Dresden:
Dresden and the entire Elbe valley are suffering from a catastrophic flood. Dozens of people have died, tens of thousands are now homeless. Hospitals had to be evacuated. The rail links to Dresden have been interrupted. Many roads and all bridges across the Elbe are impassable. Sewage processing plants have been destroyed. Hundres of thousands of people can only drink bottled water. There is a great danger of an outbreak of diseases.
The tremendous renovation work that has been accomplished since the univication has been undone. Estimated damage is in the tens of billioins of dollars.
Resources that have been put into reconstructino of the cultural heritage of Dresden and other historic cities of the Elbe valley will no longer be available, as the humanitarian aspects of the catastrophe will consume all resources for a long time to come.
The Frauenkirche, whose rebuilding has been one of the major efforst of Friends of Dresden, Inc., is surrounded by water, but as far as one knows, no damage has been done to the foundation. However, as donations from Germany were the pricipal source of funds for the reconstruction, the $25 million dollars that are still needed to complete the reconstrucitno by 2005 will be impossible to raise in Germany, because of the huge damage of this catastrophe to the German economy.
Unless money can be raised in the USA and other European countries, the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche and Dresden's other architectural treasures will have to be put on hold....