Spotlight on Equipping Churches: This space will feature other churches from around the country that have successfully applied the principles of equipping ministry to their life in Christ. Some of these churches will be like Trinity, others will be very different, but we can learn from their experiences as we continue to develop our emphasis on equipping.
In its 45 year history, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church has grown to be a congregation of over a thousand. The church is located in the city of Moraga, a small city east of Oakland, California.
Four years ago, Moraga Valley made a commitment to pursue equipping ministry. Moraga Valley has a tradition of active involvement in ministry by its congregation. But equipping was seen a unifying force for these disparate ministries, and a means of encouraging members not currently active in ministry to discover their gifts and find a place to serve.
Moraga Valley hired Bonnie Bjerre, a 20 year member of the church, with a background in leading non-profits and recruiting, matching and training volunteers, as its part-time Director of Equipping Ministry. Bonnie began working with a strategic planning team of members to evaluate the current ministries for ways in which they could be helped. As a result, there is now significant sharing of resources and gifts between ministries, as well as better training and support for those serving.
They also developed a spiritual gifts discovery workshop that has been taken by almost 500 people so far. Moraga Valley has seen amazing blessings in connections and enthusiasm from having this workshop taken together by new members, confirmands, and confirmation mentors. A team of members now runs this class, with support from Bonnie.
Being close to the large cities of the East Bay, many Moraga Valley members have strong involvement with local social service agencies. To continue to build these relationships, and to encourage members to get involved in ministry, Moraga's equipping ministry developed "Mission Possible" which challenges members to commit to at least one two hour block of service during the month-long program with one of Moraga Valley's local mission projects. This outreach effort permits people from Moraga Valley to sample a variety of ministry opportunities, and provides valuable staffing for the church's partners in mission.
Bonnie has already been very helpful, and we look forward to sharing resources and experiences as both Trinity and Moraga Valley continue their equipping ministries.
For more information on Central Presbyterian Church go to www.mvpctoday.org.
Let the searching begin!
We are now moving ahead with our plans to conduct searches to fill both of our open positions-the position that will focus on Christian Education and the position that will focus on equipping. Because these two positions are so closely linked, the Session has decided to form one search committee to fill both positions.
Currently, the Team is working on four projects. First, we have been working through The Equipping Church Guidebook, one of our primary resources, to target new and existing ministries to equip. We anticipate working in partnership with members of the congregation and Commissions as we pilot and refine our equipping systems.
Second, the Team, through the leadership of Do Kirk, is working to improve communication of the numerous exciting opportunities each of currently has to engage in ministry at Trinity. We have a lot happening at Trinity already, but we can do a better job of letting everyone know so they have the opportunity to get involved. Look for new information to be posted throughout the Church, and to arrive in your real and e-mail boxes.
Third, the Team is working on a pilot project in conjunction with the Evangelism Commission. Members of the Team and a subcommittee of Evangelism will work together to strengthen our welcoming ministry, using equipping principles.
Finally, the Team is working to equip the people who will serve on the search committee to fill our new equipping and Christian education staff. We will be providing input to Session on individuals who might serve, and are preparing materials to assist the searchers. It is a busy and exciting time for your Equipping Ministry Team. We appreciate your prayers, support and input.
The purpose of equipping is to help every member and friend of Trinity to discover their God-given spiritual gifts, to discern their calling, and to find meaningful ways to live their ministry. From time to time we will feature Trinity members who are being equipped for their ministry and who are equipping others.
Maybe it was the meeting that ended exactly on schedule; maybe it was way in which every participant spoke confidently; maybe it was the topic-helping churches have a more effective witness in their community. Whatever it was, John Roman was hooked. Starting with a meeting last February, John Roman has become a leader with MCU-Metropolitan Congregations United. John, along with Kitty Underwood, Luise Hoffman, Melissa Kreishman and Tom Serfass is leading Trinity's participation in MCU.
Equipped for Ministry
John has been equipped for his leadership in MCU in a variety of ways. While MCU has many differences from his computer work at Wash U., John has been a project manager for many years and those skill have translated well to leadership in MCU. Last summer, John attended a week-long seminar sponsored by MCU where he learned principles of leadership and community organizing . Before every MCU meeting, John and the other leaders carefully script out the meeting so everything is clear and everyone knows his or her responsibilities. MCU even goes so far as to practice every part of the meeting, leaving nothing to chance. John meets regularly with the Pastor and other leaders to reflect on his own leadership and to discover places in the church where his leadership can make a difference.
Equipping Others
One of the great strengths of all MCU leadership is that it is shared leadership. Different people take on different responsibilities, so no one leads by him or herself. John is part of a team of MCU leaders at Trinity-each discovering his or her own gifts and passions. They support each other and hold each other accountable. This past summer, John helped lead the Listening Campaign at Trinity. Each participant in the Campaign was carefully and thoughtfully equipped for successful ministry. The equipping steps included: a clear invitation; high quality training; a public commissioning; letters and calls of encouragement; and solid follow through once the campaign was over. As a result, Trinity completed a successful campaign of more than 120 interviews.
MCU is now in the issues phase, interviewing community leaders about education and health care. Trinity members can be sure that when future action is needed, everyone will be equipped to serve.
Jack Rogers, Professor of Theology Emeritus at San Francisco Theological Seminary and a former moderator of the PCUSA, has written a new book titled Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church.
In this sure-to-be controversial book, former seminary professor and church official Jack Rogers argues unequivocally for the ordination of gays and lesbians and for the extension of full and equal rights in society to all people who are homosexual. Christianity, he observes, has moved through history in the direction of ever-greater openness and inclusiveness. Today's church is led by many of those who were once cast out: people of color, women, and divorced and remarried people. It is inevitable, he believes, that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people will one day walk in the same steps as other Christian leaders.
We received word from COCA today that their huge fundraiser COCACABANA is coming up on Saturday April 29th, 2006. Therefore, the parking lot will not be available for Trinity members to park on Sunday April 30th. Please plan accordingly.
Stories include:
Trinity Announces Partnership with Joe Edwards; Corporate Worship Sponsorship; Adult Mission Trip to Forest Park Parkway; A Statement of Welcome for the 21st Century; Very Small Groups; Equipping Update
One of the most powerful aspects of our Christian faith is that we are not only invited to hear the stories of Jesus, and Paul, and the Israelites; we are also invited to live those stories. Holy Week is one of the most profound times when we are invited into God's story, not just as audience, but as participants. I encourage everyone to attend all four of our Holy Week services so that you can experience in the whole breadth of God's story.
Our story begins on Palm Sunday, April 9. This is the day when we celebrate Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. At Trinity we parade on the sidewalk outside of the church to the music of bagpipes. We wave palms and shout raucous "Hosannas!" Upon entering the Sanctuary, we will move into a congregational reading of the Passion Story.
Some people find it odd that we live the passion story on Palm Sunday-such a sad story for such a happy day. But the combination of Palm and Passion Sunday is a powerful reminder that Jesus' glorious entry into the Holy City was overshadowed by the cross. This Palm-Passion combination also reminds us that Jesus' Lordship is not contained in power as the world understands it, but in humble service and obedience. This year our Confirmation Class will read some parts of the passion story. You, the congregation, will also have a vital role in telling our story.
Note: Arrive early on Palm Sunday - the St. Louis Marathon is being run that morning on Delmar and traffic can be a real problem. It is suggested that you park in the lot north of Cicero's and walk to Trinity. If you need special assistance from the parking lot to church please call Art Platt at (314) 727-4374.)
The story of Holy Week picks up again on Maundy Thursday, April 13 (6:00 pm), the day we celebrate Jesus' last meal with his friends and the institution of the Lord's Supper. When we have communion in worship on Sundays, we recall that communion was part of a larger meal. At Trinity on Maundy Thursday, we actually eat a full meal with our brothers and sisters in Christ and then have communion together.
We celebrate Good Friday the next night, April 14 (7:30 pm). It is strange that we call such a painful day "good." And yet, Good Friday is good because on that day Jesus freely and willingly offered himself up to death on our behalf. It can be a wrenching experience to hear the agony of our story in word and song as the sanctuary becomes progressively darker. We may be tempted to stay away. But for those who live through Jesus' darkest hour, the glory of Easter morning becomes that much brighter.
Our story begins again on Easter Sunday, April 16 (9:30 and 11:00 a.m. services). Our Easter celebration is not only a treat for the soul, but for the eyes and the ears as well. We deck out the sanctuary in wonderful flowers, and the organ and brass instruments lift our spirits. The story of faith is not a story that happened to someone else at another time; it is our story that we live out every time we come to church. I invite all of you to live this story again for the first time this year!
This year we will have an Easter breakfast for all worshippers. Breakfast will be served from 8:00 until 11:00 a.m. Thanks to Jim Person and his crew for this wonderful ministry.
Back in the 1970s we used to sing a song with these words: "The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people!" For a number of weeks after Easter, we will not leave our building for worship, but we will leave our familiar surroundings of the Sanctuary. We will move our worship to the Dining Room while the pipe organ is being removed for cleaning and refurbishment and while the ceiling above the organ is repaired. Once that work is done (probably in late May), we will return to the Sanctuary for worship, although the pipe organ will not make its return until late Fall.
While changing our venue for worship can be disconcerting, it can also be a wonderful time for us to experiment and rediscover what binds us together as a congregation. The Worship and Music Commission is hard at work planning worship in the Dining Room that takes advantage of that more informal setting. We will sing old hymns in new ways.
As we worship downstairs I encourage you to do two things in particular: First, help visitors find their way to worship. We will put up signs directing people to the Dining Room, but we are all ushers and greeters to one another and to our guests. Second, pay attention to how you experience worship in a new setting (although for many of you, this is not new: in 1993, when the Sanctuary was being redecorated the service was held downstairs for a number of weeks). What do you like about worshipping in the Dining Room? What do you not care for? What do you notice about the Dining Room that you don't notice otherwise? Do you tend to sit in a similar location or have you found a new location? What do you miss about the Sanctuary?
These are great questions to ask yourself in this "time away." And a wonderful aspect of worshipping in a new place is that we remember again that we are not a building, but that we are, by God's love and grace, a people!
Do you want to learn how to sing more confidently?
Do you want to enjoy singing with others in a relaxed, affirming context (i.e. no music-reading skills expected)?
Do you want to discover how singing can connect you to God, to others and to your own spirit?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will want to be part of a musical small group experience that begins at the end of April. Using a diverse collection of songs, chants, hymns and spirituals, participants will learn some practical ways to develop their singing voice. More importantly, we'll use John Bell's insightful book, The Singing Thing to talk about why we sing in the first place.
Topics covered in the five-week experience will include:
Our first gathering will be on Sunday, April 23 at 7 p.m. and then continue weekly until May 21. If you are interested in participating, speak with me or drop me an email (paul_tpc@swbell.net). And if you can't participate this time around, we plan to offer this small group experience the entire time the pipe organ is gone. Keep checking the bulletin and Trinity News for information.
We would like to try something new in the food pantry for Easter. It would wonderful to be able to give our clients a canned ham that could be used on Easter Sunday or at a later date. Please donate at least one canned ham before April 11. Canned hams can be left in the shopping cart in the Narthex or in the dining room near the food pantry. Thanks for your help. Any questions, please call me, 863-7699.
Each year on Palm Sunday, the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering is received from youth and adults at Trinity. The overall theme of this year's offering, which will be collected on April 9, is water. Why water?
Funds given to OGHS will be partially used to repair the great damage wreaked by the water of hurricanes and tsunamis in the U.S. and abroad. Of the funds collected, 32% will go to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance program for these purposes. But through the Presbyterian Hunger and Self-Development of People programs - which receive the other 68% of donated funds - clean, accessible drinking water will be provided to many people throughout the world.
More children were killed in the 1990s by diarrhea - the result of unsafe water and poor sanitation - than all of the people killed in armed conflicts since World War II. The Self-Development of People program is helping communities in El Salvador, where people have been waiting for more than ten years for the government to rebuild wells destroyed in that country's civil war. Using these funds and their own labor, Salvadorans built wells that now provide safe water for their families and livestock.
Run-off from mining poisons the water in many areas of the developing world, leaving a high percentage of children with lead poisoning. The Presbyterian Hunger Program and Self-Development of People program have helped a number of mining communities in the Andean region negotiate with the mining companies and the governments to abate the mining activities that pollute the water.
Please give generously, as you always have, to One Great Hour of Sharing. It is one time that we may see Christ "thirsty and give [him] something to drink." (Matthew 25:37).
You won't want to miss the next two concerts in our "Reverberations" series.
Applications will soon be mailed to college students and high school seniors for scholarship aid from the Scholin-Weems scholarship fund. This fund was established in 1977 by Ray and Ginny Scholin after the tragic death of their son Jimmy. Funds were later added in memory of Todd Weems after his death as a request from his parents, Ann and Don Weems. These two boys were energetic members of this church and its youth group. The fund has awarded over 300 individual gifts totaling over $300,000, and is a testament to the enduring love of our community of faith here at Trinity.
To be eligible for an award the student must be entering or continuing college level education and be a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church. The criteria include financial need, educational achievement and an involvement in the life of Trinity Church. Entering freshmen are especially encouraged to apply, but those receiving previous awards are encouraged to submit applications also. Forms are to be returned to the church office - 6800 Washington, St. Louis, MO 63130.
Rhonda Dunbar came to Trinity through Diane O'Brien and Jim Person, having known Jim's son Andrew at Truman State University. She stayed because of the welcoming environment she found and got right into the fray, volunteering to help lead the Senior High Youth Group. Rhonda ran a Senior High youth program in college and says she really likes the energy of this group. Although she's been to the Montreat Youth Conference "many times," last summer she went with a group from our Presbytery and learned about Trinity's Montreat traditions. She will be taking Trinity youth both to Montreat and on the Mission Trip this summer.
Originally from the Chicago area, Rhonda majored in English at Truman and completed a master's degree in Special Education. She teaches Special Education at Mehlville High School. In her spare time she likes to read and spend time with friends. We all join Megan Merritt, Rhonda's sponsor, in welcoming her to Trinity!
I still remember the first time Hanna Evans came to Trinity. We (the senior highs) were in the kitchen preparing a Mexican lunch in celebration of the mission trip to Juarez, Mexico. Hanna and her mom came down after the service, and they came straight to the kitchen after seeing us there. Fortunately, her introduction was not as awkward as it could have been since she saw someone she knew - Maggie Schoeberlein, who goes to her school. It was very surprising to both of them to see each other at Trinity. After that, Hanna jumped right in to help out and became an active member of the youth group. She ended up sticking around with us and came on the mission trip to Leadville, Colorado, last year. Welcome, Hanna!
-Blair Klostermeier
Cheryl and Reed Evans have three children. Ben, 21, graduated from Northern Arizona University last spring and lives in Flagstaff Arizona. He is applying to graduate schools in psychology, with interests in health science and life care. During summers, he has worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a "Hot Shot" firefighter, an elite fire fighting brigade. Hanna (see above) is a 15-year-old sophomore at Brentwood High School. Her mother says she has been the driving force behind the Evans family's coming to Trinity. Their youngest child, 7-year-old Quinn, attends Brentwood's Mark Twain School and is a great soccer player.
Cheryl and Reed had been looking for a new church home. About a hear ago Cheryl's friend MeShel Riedel suggested that they try Trinity after Cheryl explained what she was looking for in a church. She says she is not a traditionalist when it comes to religion and spirituality. Cheryl was especially interested in Trinity after MeShel invited her to come and participate in church and stay for Sunday School during the "Spirituality and Art" series last year. Cheryl, who has an art background, was very impressed with that Adult Education series.
Cheryl and Reed, originally from the Chicago area, have lived in St. Louis for about 20 years. Reed is a contractor who does remodeling work. Cheryl is a stay-at-home mother who runs a before and after-school "latch-key program from their home.
- Diana Gray
Angels can fly without wings now,
Can walk onto airplanes,
Hang up their deluxe garment bags
(with neatly folded wings inside)
And blend among the passengers,
buckling their seat belts on request.
Unless they show their identification papers,
Signed by God, D.D.,
You'll not suspect
And angel's blessed you unawares -
Not even when the flight is over
and farewell sounds faintly of alleluia.
At the terminal,
you tunnel out to new beginnings,
While the angel takes another flight.
- Nancy Wagner
From 'Embers (c.2004)
For the past two years, Trinity has sponsored a monthly youth worship service called The Gathering. The Gathering is led by Trinity member and Commissioned Lay Pastor Paul Devine. Paul and the youth invite all of the members of the congregation to worship with them on Sunday May 7 to get a taste of their worship experience. The service will be held in the Weems Chapel and will begin at 7 pm. The service will include communion and last about an hour and a half. All are welcome!
April 2 - Confirmation Class Event (following class) - Picnic lunch and kite flying at Art Hill in Forest Park. Meet in our Sunday School Room at 11:30. Depart Church at 12:30 (following a short program). Pick up by parents at 2:00 at Church
April 9 - Easter Sunday - NO CLASS
May 3 - Session Meeting - Presentation to Session of 8th graders who have chosen to become members, presentation of Affirmation of Faith. All members of Confirmation Class are requested to attend.
May 21 - Confirmation Sunday. Meet in our Sunday School Room at 9:00 a.m.
Questions? Call Megan, Mark or Kim Merritt - 993-9280.
This is a list of Trinity Members who need our prayers. If you would like to be added to the prayer list or know of a member in need of prayer, please call the church office, 314-725-3840.
Prayers for Homebound Members
Prayers for special needs
Where do families turn when they have problems with teenagers? Where do individuals struggling with depression turn when the world overwhelms? Where do trauma victims go when they need help moving on? Many people in the St. Louis area facing individual, family, or marital problems turn to Care and Counseling, a pastoral counseling agency long supported by Trinity's local mission funds.
Care and Counseling is a not-for-profit agency that offers top quality help regardless of the clients' ability to pay. Its Oak Hill center, for example, offers help in a South St. Louis neighborhood whose residents may have few other resources. The Care and Counseling office located in Trinity, which is accessible by public transportation, also serves clients from a wide range of financial backgrounds.
Care and Counseling's sliding-scale fee structure is made possible by donations from the community, particularly from supporting congregations. Its annual Benefit Dinner is the primary means of raising money for this work. This year's Benefit will be on Thursday, May 4. Trinity will again sponsor a table. Joining in this celebration offers a great opportunity for Trinity members to learn more about the agency and support its work - and to hear some first-class jazz as well! If you would like to join the Trinity table, please call me (361-5891) or Jane Rand ((994-0378). We are also always glad to talk about Care and Counseling and to provide other information.