Mission Trip Fundraiser!

The Senior High youth thought that a lunch would be the best way for them to share their Mission Trip experiences with the congregation this year. So, please join us after education hour on October 24 for a Mexican food lunch in the Dining Room. You will get to hear, see, taste, and experience some of the Senior High Mission Trip to Juarez, Mexico this past June! There will be a basket for donations at the door and all proceeds from this meal will go toward the upcoming 2005 Mission Trip.

Grab a favorite hat/cap - one you often wear, an oldie but goodie, a fancy-schmancy chapeau, a team booster, whatever - and join other Trinity women for a morning of enjoying and getting to know one another better. Seriously - no other assignment! Barb Rand will bring not only the hat she took on her mission trip to Peru but stories and pictures as well. Call someone you know - or even better, someone you'd like to know better - leave the carpooling to someone else for a change, and come. Childcare will be provided; just let Janet Chester know in advance of your plans to bring children. Questions? Call Ann Fischer (361-5891) or Jody Robbins (725-7253).

You are invited to an evening of fellowship and learning for members of congregations that seek to be welcoming and affirming of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons.

We will share a potluck meal together. Everyone who comes is asked to bring a vegetarian dish or dessert. Members from a number of congregations will share their faith journeys and share insights on how their congregations seek to be welcoming and affirming. Childcare will be provided.

Please join us as we tell our stories and learn from one another

- Dr. Daniel Anderson-Little, Pastor

October 10, 2004

Immediately after worship on October 10, we will hold a brief congregational meeting to elect elders (five for the Class of 2007 and one for the Class of 2006 to fill Rachel Bowell's unexpired term), deacons (four for the Class of 2007), and members of the Nominating Committee (three for the Class of 2005). All members are encouraged to attend the meeting which will be held in the Sanctuary.

The new fellowship group, open to all adult friends and members of Trinity, will meet on the fourth Saturday in October - October 23. All are welcome and warmly encouraged to join this group's activities! Watch your email and the mid-month Trinity News for details about plans for October. Questions? Call Jim Person, 567-0768.

- Linda Peterson

When writer and humorist Bill Bryson gets it in his head to learn everything scientists know about the universe and pass it on to (the rest of us) us the readers, the result is a remarkably concise and thought-provoking book titled A Short History of Nearly Everything. To research his modest subject Bryson circled the globe interviewing top scientists, and read the latest theories in everything from astronomy to microbiology, from geology to genetics. To tell the story of what we know and how we know it, Bryson tells multiple stories of the brilliant, disturbed, malicious, sweet, unethical, conscientious, aggressive, lucky, and exceedingly unlucky scientists whose research revolutionized our understanding of the universe we live in. Bryson uses his dry humor to make these tales anything but dry. His lucid insights help us focus on everything from microscopic cells to supernovas millions of light years away. In short, Bryson's book uncovers not only how far we've come in our understanding of this miraculous universe but how far we have yet to go.

- Kathie Cahoon

"Come on," my friend said, "join our MS150 bike team! It'll be fun!!" Fun? I thought. What does pedaling 150 miles on my bike in one weekend have to do with fun'? To borrow words from Douglas Adams, this was clearly some new definition of the word fun with which I was previously unfamiliar!

"Sure," she said. "The people are great, there's lots of food and support, it's a wonderful personal challenge, and it's all for a good cause."

"Well," I said later to Bill, "I don't know about any of the rest of it, but it's certainly for a good cause." The National Multiple Sclerosis Society raises millions of dollars every year to support research on MS and aid those dealing with the disease. We know one friend whose sister lost the fine motor skills necessary to write before she turned 40. Another friend's uncle has been confined to a wheelchair since his mid-50s. And now we could possibly do just one paltry thing that might help them and countless others. "But do you really think we're up to all that biking?"

And so began all the planning and training. Getting up at 5:00 every morning to ride before work. Taking longer TrailNet rides on the weekends. Using our bikes to run get the last-minute groceries or snow-cones as a treat. Convincing my mom to come and watch Mary Ann for the whole weekend (this was the easy part!). Miles and miles of riding. Lots and lots of hills - really big hills. The fundraising, in which many members of Trinity were more than supportive and to whom we offer our deepest thanks. Even more miles. Even bigger hills.

And then the big weekend arrived. We packed up our bikes and padded shorts and headed to Columbia, MO to tackle what turned out to be closer to 160 miles of "rolling" hills. As promised, the people were great - around 3,000 bikers sharing the road and offering advice and support; dozens of volunteers at every rest stop - whole extended families, girl scout troops, people currently battling MS and those with friends and family members with the disease - all thanking us for our efforts and feeding us home-baked cookies. Also as promised, there was lots to eat; bagels, peanut butter, granola bars, and sports drinks at every stop. And, yes, as promised, it was indeed a great personal challenge. "Great" as in huge, monumental, enormous, and life-altering.

But we did it. In spite of the heat, the wind, and the sun (Let me show you my new "biker tan"!), but because of the encouraging words from the precision bike teams that whisked past us in matching uniforms; in spite of the long lines at the water coolers and the longer ones at the porta-potties, but because of the cheerful, smiling faces at all the rest stops; in spite of all of those "rolling" hills, but because of the miles of hills we trained on; we made it through. And at the finish line, it felt really good to have played some small part in making a difference for so many.

So watch for us again at this time next year to be seeking your generous support through both your pledges and prayers, because I think we might just do it again. And who knows, this time I think it might even be 'fun'!

- Paul Vasile, Minister of Music

World Communion - Sunday October 3

One of the great joys of World Communion Sunday is singing praises to God with Christians around the globe. This year, Trinity's sanctuary will reverberate with music and dance from Latin America and the Caribbean!

Our special guest will be Grupo Atlantico, a local folk dance group that teaches the history, legends and traditions of the Caribbean people of Colombia and other regions of Central America. Their dances, rooted in Spanish, African and Native South American cultures, feature many styles and moods from poignant solos to colorful, Carnival-like celebrations complete with masks, flags and costumes.

In addition, a special Worship Enhancement Team will share poetry, art and liturgy that provide insights into Hispanic culture and faith. The Festival Choir will sing throughout the service. If you would like to be part of the choir (no previous experience necessary) you are invited to rehearsal Sunday, September 26 after Christian Education or Wednesday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. The Peacemaking Offering will also be received.

Don't miss this special opportunity to celebrate our unity with Christians around the globe!

Trinity Hosts the Boy's Choir of Kenya

Building on our strong relationship with the St. Louis African Chorus, Trinity is honored to host the Boy's Choir of Kenya on their first tour of the United States. The choir will perform in concert on Sunday, October 31 at 3 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public; a freewill offering will be taken.

The ensemble is Africa's first boy choir of international repute. The core group is drawn from Aquinas High School in Nairobi and has earned acclaim throughout Kenya as a disciplined choral program with a work ethic that parallels the King's College Cambridge and the Harlem Boys Choir. They perform wide-ranging repertoire from traditional Masaai and Samburu chants to contemporary pieces from around Africa, also including European and American choral repertoire and other classics from around the world Bach, Mozart, Negro Spirituals, as well as Caribbean folk songs. Many of you may remember the group's inspiring conductor, Joseph Muyale, who taught African music to our choir and congregation at last year's World Communion celebration.

In addition to hosting a concert, Trinity is taking an additional step of hospitality and has committed to hosting the 33 members of the choir for two days: October 30 and 31. Hosts would be asked to provide lodging for two evenings, breakfast in the morning, as well as transportation to and from the church. If you are interested in hosting one or more of the choir members in your home, please contact me at paul_tpc@swbell.net or leave a phone message at the church.

Reformation Sunday, October 31

Join us for a special intergenerational worship service on October 31. The Festival Choir and our children will lead us in worship. And, in celebration of the Presbyterian Church's Scottish roots, we'll also have bagpipes and drums performing before and after the service!

- Diane O'Brien

Mark Your Calendar...

Estas listas? (Are you ready?) We're now planning a Spring Mission trip to Juarez, Mexico, April 16 23, 2005. This is the perfect time to join our team and enjoy significant input on how this cross-cultural exchange shapes up.

We know we'll be working with Pasos de Fe (Steps of Faith), which is part of the Presbyterian Border Ministry. And we suspect we'll be involved in some construction work and, hopefully, some cooking. (I, for one, would love to learn to prepare some authentic Mexican dishes.) But the final plans will depend on the skills and interests of the Mission team we put together.

To participate, contact me at (314) 993-0396 or via email at ddobrien@magellanhealth.com. You do not have to speak Spanish, and the estimated cost will be approximately $700 per person.

- Ann Fischer

It's 9:15 on a Friday morning. I've thrown on my old, gray 2001 Trinity Habitat for Humanity t-shirt. And I'm huffing and puffing away on the fitness machines at the St. Louis Hills Curves "salon.."

A woman across the circle from me (on the upper arms machine, I think) notices my shirt and asks "Is that the Presbyterian church in the U. City Loop? I was there once - for a baptism. Do you know Jennifer Anton?" Yes, indeedy, ma'am! Turns out that this fellow huffer, Sue Ekberg, was a colleague of Jennifer's at Webster University before the Antons moved to Colorado.

Did I know, Sue asks, that Jennifer and Tom have been contacted by their adoption agency and asked if they would be interested in adding another child to their family, a boy who is their four-year-old son Christopher's biological half-brother? When Tom and Jennifer were in the process of deciding to adopt Christopher, she and I had had conversations about the process, even though the Fischer family's adoption experiences were far in the past at that point. So I was delighted to hear this happy news. A flurry of emails brought further details of Nicholas' arrival from Guatemala and initial adjustment along with a wonderful picture and announcement and a renewing of friendship.

Just when we think the Habitat projects are finished, some miracles continue...