The 20-member Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church (TTF) was created by the 2001 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U. S.A.) during a time of particularly acrimonious debate over a number of issues "to lead the PC(USA) in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st century."
The group, chosen purposefully to reflect the theological spectrum in the church, was specifically charged to address "issues of Christology, Biblical authority and interpretation, ordination standards and power."
After five years of work - a period during which the prospect of schism in the PC(USA) has increasingly been voiced - the task force voted unanimously to submit its final report and six recommendations to this year's 217th General Assembly.
[more]Julia Ward Howe is best remembered by history buffs as the woman who wrote the words that became "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," the fiery Civil War anthem first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862. Not so widely known is that eight years later, the woman who wrote "Let us die to make men free" wanted to end war forever. Having seen and survived the violence and economic devastation of the Civil War, Howe dreaded the gathering storm of the Franco-Prussian war. In Boston 1870, she delivered a "Mother's Day Proclamation for Peace," 274 words in which she envisioned "a great and earnest day of counsel" in which mothers of all nationalities would arrive "at the means the great human family can live in peace."
[more]Our picnic will be held here at church on our front lawn immediately following worship on May 21. Special Features
We are inviting our neighbors to join us - this will be a wonderful time - plan to be here!
The "3rd Saturday Nighters" will go to Kirkwood Park, Geyer Road and West Adams, on Tuesday, June 6 to attend Heartland Chautauqua. Under the huge tent, the scholar will present a historical dramatization of Theodore Roosevelt; then step out of character to talk with the audience. (If you missed Chautauqua 2 years ago, now you have a second chance!) Ice cream social at Sallwassers afterwards.
Bring your lawn chair, come at 6:30 for the entertainment, or at 7:30 for the performance, which begins at 7:45. (Get more details on the flyer in the dining room, or from Sallwassers.)
Please call Jean or George at 314-966-8087 if you plan to be there.
Bill Andress, Moderator of the Sudan Advocacy Action Forum, reports on behalf of Presbyterians and others concerned for the genocidal violence continuing in Sudan.
The African Union (AU)-established and UN-supported deadline of April 30 to sign a peace agreement was not met. The Sudanese Government accepted the draft, while the rebel movements rejected it, arguing it was one-sided favoring the government positions and worse than a draft presented 3 months ago.
[more]The General Assembly Council has approved the most radical restructuring of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s mission program since 1993, as it moves to reduce the 2007-2008 General Assembly mission budget by $9.15 million.
In all, 75 national staff positions in Louisville have been eliminated — most effective May 1 — as well as 55 overseas mission co-worker positions. Staff cuts in Louisville account for $4 million of the budget reduction, while the price tag for the overseas mission positions is $1.2 million.
[more]Faith, Design, and Architecture
Sunday, April 30: 10:40 a.m. Education
Led by Panelists: Lois Sechrist, Jean Merson, John and Melissa Kreishman, and Bob Little
Worship will be led by the Adult Mission trip to New Orleans, so in addition to reflecting on how faith and work intersect in this field, this session will also discuss architectural designs that withstand natural disasters and rebuilding after one, like Katrina.
The War in Iraq, Religion and Terrorism, and Human Rights
Led by Dr. David Little (Dr. Dan's uncle) Professor at Harvard Divinity School, Former Senior Scholar at the Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.
Stem Cell Research
Sunday, May 14: 10:40 a.m. Education
Led by Dr. William Danforth, Former Chancellor of Washington University
Mark your calendars now for a most important day in our Trinity household. Sunday, May 21 is the day we welcome our confirmands into membership in our church. After worship we will celebrate with our all-church picnic to be held here at church. Special attractions are in the works - don't miss it!
Trinity's first "Reverberations" concert series has been a great success and we would like to thank you for your support. Almost 300 people attended the first three concerts, many first-time visitors to the church! We think this is a sign of great things to come and the Concert Series Team is already gearing up for next year's season. If you would like to help us brainstorm, organize or advertise, we warmly welcome your participation!
Don't forget the last concert in the series on Monday, May 8 at 6 p.m. OASIS is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of mature adults in our community. Their ensembles rehearse at Trinity throughout the week and we are pleased to host their year-end "Celebrate the Music" event. The program will include everything from classical music to Broadway hits, played by the OASIS Brass Quintet, Concert Band, String Orchestra, Guitar Ensemble, and other volunteer ensembles.
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The Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis will facilitate a festival of music on Sunday, May 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. The program will be held at Third Baptist Church (620 N. Grand at Washington) and showcases singers and dancers from diverse faith traditions and cultures. Performing groups include Beyond Motion Dancers, traditional Indian dancers, a Muslim Women's Group performing songs of praise, the Rising Generation Youth Chorus, Shir Ami, a local Gospel Choir, and a sing-along. Tickets are $15; a reception and refreshments follow the program. Parking is free
Established in 1986, Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis promotes peace, respect, and understanding among people of all faiths. Its communication states that "although we differ, we promise to love, and unite to serve. We achieve this mission through dialogue, education, celebratory events and social outreach programs that are uniquely interfaith. We also provide a timely public voice on issues of common concern." Trinity member George Philips is active in the Interfaith Partnership.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Irene Randall, 314-531-4787.
Do you ever have leftovers that you don't know what to do with? The deacons keep frozen meals on hand to take to families or individuals who are going through difficult times. If you would be willing to cook a meal, package it in a freezer-safe container (one you don't mind giving away), label the ingredients (for allergies or restrictive diets), and place it in the freezer in the church kitchen. Please call Sue Young at 921-1102 if you would be willing to cook a meal or for more information.
The deacons also like to send notes of greeting and well wishes to our homebound members. The more notes they receive, the better, so if you would like to help with this ministry, please call Cathy Smith at 725-0586.
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 health concerns
Adult Mission Trip to New Orleans
March 28 - April 1, 2006
Supported by nine prayer partners who remained in St. Louis, nine Trinity members traveled south the last weekend in March to work and discover first-hand the devastation that lies in the New Orleans area in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The team stayed at a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance camp in Luling, Louisiana, about 20 miles outside New Orleans, and convoyed to a work site in the Metairie section of the city each day to work. The week left profound impressions on team members. In this section they reflect on various aspects of the experience...
THE PROJECT: tear out the moldy, damaged parts out of a medium-sized, post-World-War-II bungalow so that its elderly owners could rebuild and return or move on.
IT TOOK: 9 St. Louis Presbyterians working 5 days; 3 Chicago Presbyterians working 3 days; a trash crew of 5 with trucks and heavy lifters; hammers; sledge hammers; pry bars; screw drivers; rakes; push brooms; drywall "hackers" (hoes); shovels; rakes; wheel barrows; appliance dollies; boxes of respirator masks; lots of leather gloves; and prayer.
TO: Step into 6 rooms of the soggy belongings of owners who expected to return a few days after Katrina blew over - everyday things that had sat in 6 feet of water and left for 6 months as they landed after the water receded.
12 Presbyterians. 5 trash collectors with heavy machinery. 5 days. 1 medium-sized bungalow with "moderate" damage." And there are tens of thousands of homes left.
Did it make a difference? It made a difference to the family whose wedding pictures were found and who
might now move toward closure. It made a difference to workers who will never again look at disaster situations as they had before.
It left me personally wondering how we can often be so indifferent about the destruction of things like homes, wherever in the world they might be, that take so much time and work and love to build.
I've always said my idea of "roughing it" was slow room service. Who would have imagined I would be happy to call FISH Camp home?! FISH (First in Service and Hope) Camp is one of eight villages run by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance volunteers for volunteers. Our camp consisted of a group of plastic pods, a cooking tent, large dining tent, campfire area, showers and nice, clean Porta Potties.
Each pod (or igloo as they were called by neighbors at the nearby Holy Family Catholic Church) had two or three cots in it. I found my cot to be fairly comfortable....the only trick was getting in and out of it! The cots were only about 6 inches off the floor. More than one of us rolled over during the night and found ourselves on the floor. At least we were so close to the ground it didn't hurt! Each structure also had heat from propane forced air heaters (which we were quite thankful for the first night). Forced air cooling was due to arrive shortly after we departed. The showers were in trailers on the campground and thankfully had plenty of hot water. Of course, it didn't hurt that we made a point of being the first group back every day!
Our camp manager was Rich Cozzone, a retired teacher from Ohio. Rich was in charge of the day-to-day running of the camp and the groups. It made our trip so much easier to be able to arrive and have everything we needed already in place. We were at camp with groups from Iowa, Minnesota and Oregon. Each day all groups were responsible for cooking or some of the clean-up. The night we cooked Tom Cobb was executive chef and it was widely acknowledged that the Trinity team offered the best food of the week. No surprise to any of us who've had Tom's cooking before!
We had such a great time "FISHing" that we're going again in January. I hope you'll join us!
One afternoon, Dr. Cliff Nunn, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, led a number of PDA workers, including us, on a tour.
It is difficult to convey what we saw and felt on this four-hour tour in a few words. Caravanning through the neighborhoods of New Orleans, we saw trees stretched through homes. Orange X's were on every building. The X tells a story of the structure. If the X had a circle with a slash then it was not safe; NE (no entry) means that it had not been searched; Zero means no bodies; a number equals the number of souls found. Waterlines varied from a few feet to over the top of buildings, leaving its evidence behind. An ice machine lay on the roof of a two-story home. Parts of buildings and a window still in its frame perched on a roof. The foundations of homes were ripped away, portions of homes left standing where a levee ruptured.
Churches had been left and some were now silent. Scattered members of one are now communicating through the Internet. A slow restoration has begun. One church has been left untouched since the waters receded. A chair perched on top of a chalkboard while white choir robes hung neatly covered in mold and mud. Pews were thrown haphazardly, but a camera was left on its tripod. A stench of mold filled the air as if with every breath you were the intruder. Another church with no members had everything torn away except for a framed needlepoint welcoming friends.
There were beautiful homes along a lake, now just empty shells of what they once were. Signs at every corner displayed displeasure of government, promises of a better government, insurance, construction, roofing, legal representation, honesty guaranteed, even signs for signs: 49 signs for only $79. A curfew sign flashed, "Dawn to Dusk, No Entry." A fishing boat was perched on a roof of what was a home. Autos were left in varying degrees of destruction. A hand written sign on one van read, "No Insurance, Tow."
At the Ninth Ward, a barge had broken through the levee. Boards with nails lined the path through which we drove. A large dump truck had toppled onto its side. Homes were torn apart; homes that still stood had holes cut in the roofs for escape. Amid the rubble, churches still stood, as if waiting for their members. The numbers in the orange X's rose as we continued. Police and workers uniformed in haz-mat suits with search dogs sniffed through the debris.
A destroyed shopping center's parking lot is now a refugee camp. A school is without students, its athletic fields turned into campgrounds. A Home Depot is so busy its parking lot overflows into the street.
Throughout the journey, there was silence. No neighborhood dogs, cats, or any squirrels for them to chase. Not even the sounds of crickets, frogs or birds chirping. Hearing only the sound of wind, workers and machinery, it seemed as though nature itself had taken time to stand in silence.
Their names are Catherine and John Armagnac, but we never met them. We only knew them through photos, although most of them were water soaked, with their faces somewhat faded and damaged - all except their wedding album, stored safely on a top closet shelf. I was stunned when I opened it and found that they were married on the same day as Bob and I were, 11 years earlier. I felt that we shared a bond.
They lived at 212 East Maple Ridge Dr. with their three daughters. It was obvious that they were all ingrained in the culture of New Orleans as many water-soaked Mardi Gras items were found in their house. We met their daughter Janeen on Monday morning, and we all felt her deep sense of loss as we walked through the home of her childhood. She was quiet as she told her family's story and we enjoyed listening to her Creole accent. As a child she and her sisters took piano and dancing lessons and even classes in ceramics. We helped her sort through the remnants of her life - childhood books and records and their doll house - and her family's life, finding salvageable mementoes of having lived in their home in Metairie. They left the city on Sunday on a flight to Houston, assuming they'd return after the hurricane. Bills to be paid were in a mail holder on the kitchen wall, clothes were still in the dryer and dishes in the sink. And now, seven months later, the house remained the same, and we were sorting through their lives. Not much was able to be saved.
In many ways we felt that we were intruding on this family, throwing away all remnants of their shared lives, emptying their closets, and putting all their possessions out on the street. What shall become of them, this family from New Orleans now exiled to a new city having few material keepsakes of their past? Unfortunately, we do not know, and neither does Janeen. For one week, we felt a bit of a connection to the Armagnac family, and now hope to keep in contact with them as they try to rebuild their lives.
Compassion comes in so many forms and so many ways - even if we do not think an act is compassionate at the time. Material "things" are a big part of my life and they are what I often am concerned with since I conduct estate sales from time to time. Guess it was only natural that I would get into the "things" at the home we were assigned. Funny, though, it was the rest of the group who wanted to hold on to many of the "things" we were going through while I was comprehending that very little could be saved.
In working with Janeen I realized what a monumental task she had been given by her parents - to go through the contents of their house of 46 years. She realized very little could be saved and focused on the few items her parents had specifically requested she locate and return to them and, as a result, rejected most of what any of us tried to get her to take back to Houston, where she and her parents are now staying.
When we got into the attic on the third day, we brought down items that had not been affected by the flood - Christmas decorations and toys that Janeen and her two sisters had played with as children. She said her mom had tried to get them to take them over the years, but it was obvious none of them had. We unpacked a lovely, complete child's tea set that Nancy and I especially admired. I then went into my "estate sale mode" and told Janeen that even if she did not want this, it was something she should take back to Houston with her and sell.
As in doing estate sales, we learned much about Janeen and her family as we went through the contents of their home. A special moment was locating the wedding album of her parents which had been tucked away on a closet shelf, so it had been spared damage. Looking at those photos with Janeen brought us closer to her parents even though we were not able to meet them in person. Some other old photos were found in the attic which will give the family an opportunity to relive family stories which are so important in sad times and happy ones. Enabling visual images of past generations to continue to be passed down is so important to us all and something to which we all relate.
The display case in the dining room features articles from the home we cleaned out. Janeen gave us permission to display them, so that all could understand better the scope of the flood that destroyed their home.
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Many more photos and stories will be available on April 30, as the Adult Mission Team leads worship.
Please join us!
Thank you to all who donated books to take to the libraries in New Orleans. The Wagoners transported 18 cartons of books, and they were gratefully received.
I give thanks to God and to my brothers and sisters at Trinity for permitting me to share in the trip to New Orleans. Last year when the disaster happened I knew they needed volunteers to help those who had been affected. I remember hearing the news and I asked God with all my heart to permit me to help them. I wanted in some small way to help this country that restored life to me by operating on my daughter and saving her leg. I live eternally grateful to this country and to all the people who continue to help me.
I could not believe the many feelings invading my heart while seeing the devastation in New Orleans. I felt such sadness for those who had had to leave their homes. But I also believe it serves as a message for us to understand that earth is only a temporary residence. We are not here for very long and we should not overly love material things. We should ask God to help us to see life on earth through the eyes of God. We are citizens of heaven and are advised not to cling too tightly to the temporal world. This is not our final home. We were created for something much better. "I live as an alien in the land" Ps. 119:19a
On any given day, or even any moment, seemingly frustrating or mundane events can change in ways that cause us to stop, reflect, and frequently give thanks. Several such moments occurred on our trip.
1) On our first day at the work site we met the owners' daughter who had come to help us and save what she could from her parents' home. She had a rather specific list of items they hoped she would find including her grandmother's wedding ring, her father's Social Security card, and a crystal head of Jesus which had been on her mother's dresser.
The wedding ring and Social Security card were easily found in her father's dresser in a drawer which had been above the flood line. The crystal head of Jesus proved more elusive and less likely to be found since the other dresser had fallen over. On the second day, after we dismantled the dresser with a crowbar and removed the debris, there, a little dirty from the flood water but otherwise unharmed, was the head of Jesus which meant so much to her mother.
2) On our second day, I walked back to the van for supplies and noticed a nail in the left-rear tire. Vickie and I had joked about the possibility of this happening as we drove in areas loaded with debris. After lunch we took the van to a tire dealership near the work site. After a shorter wait than we expected, the van was ready. They had found no nail in the left rear tire but had found one in the front, a nail so short that it hadn't pierced the tread. They assumed that the other was similar and had just fallen out. As a bonus, there was no charge.
3) By our third day of work, we had begun in earnest tearing out drywall in the house. I had become especially proud of my ability to knock loose large hunks at one time. Perhaps one of the largest I knocked loose landed on my arm, leaving a shallow but impressive scratch which bled profusely. I was rummaging through the first-aid kit when one of the men clearing debris for the city saw what I has doing and offered to help. He came back with a clean paper towel and cleaned the scratch with peroxide and then alcohol. He applied a large Band-aid and wrapped that with tape so it would stay on. He then said to me: " I guess I wasn't a medic for 16 years for nothin'."
4) Finally, on our last day at the last minute, we took out the refrigerator, which had fallen over on its doors during the flood. On our first day at the site we had attempted to right it but when we got it about six inches from the floor the freezer door came open and truly putrid reddish-brown liquid oozed out. The last day, after Jim had secured the doors with metal braces, we righted it and got it out as quickly as possible, still oozing from the bottom. Beneath the refrigerator Bob found a laminated card in pristine condition which read: "Lord, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen to me today that you and I can't handle together."
After weeks of cable news reports and on-site reporting, I thought I had seen it all. But after spending a week working on a flooded home and experiencing a guided tour of the area, I realized that pictures cannot begin to depict the extent of the devastation in New Orleans. The biggest surprise came to me not in those areas of the lower 9th ward and St. Bernard parish where bull-dozing was all that could be done to begin the recovery process, but was in those neighborhoods totally devoid of human beings where nothing has begun to make the area habitable so the residents can return. With no electricity, contested insurance payments, work permits tied-up in red tape, and uncertainty about whether the quality of the levee rebuilding will be sufficient to warrant re-building, we found many areas eerily silent and still, with doors and windows open on the vacant upper middle class homes as if a plague or some nuclear blast had removed every single soul!
Having experienced a wide range of emotions as we sorted through and removed remnants of the life of the Armagnac family at 212 East Maple Ridge Dr., I think my remaining emotion is one of anger. Anger about how we, the richest country in the world, choose to expend our resources. How can we continue to spend billions of dollars on a war in a country where I'm not even sure the people want us there, while the lives of inhabitants of our own country are filled with pain, doubt, and uncertainty? Those who can make a difference seem more concerned with passing the buck for initial response disasters, or making the most effective political move, or ensuring that decisions made will not negatively affect the "bottom line". I guess I am most angry that I don't know how to bring change to these skewed priorities.
Hailey Elizabeth Thompson daughter of BJ and Sarah Croughan Thompson was born March 26, 2006. The proud grandparents are Marge and David Versprille and Dr. Jack and Patty Croughan.
My family has always had a habit of asking the question "What was your favorite part?" at the end of vacations or special events. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt my favorite part of our mission trip was having prayer partners. We had many amazing "God Moments" throughout our trip and found ourselves repeatedly declaring "you know why this or that happened....it's because we have prayer partners." It's hard for me to describe the sense that we all had of being completely supported and sustained by the prayers of our partners at Trinity. I have complete confidence that this is what allowed us to accomplish far more than we expected, kept us safe and gave us "the eyes to see" the many blessings that we experienced throughout the week. We would not have had the trip we did without the thoughtful prayers of the congregation and of our special prayer partners. Many thanks to all of you whose prayers sustained us, especially Do Kirk, Kim Merritt, Genny Richmond, Vicki Carmichael, Tom Wilhite, Jennifer Higginbotham, Nancy Wagner, Sandy Norkaitis and Keith Fischer.
On Saturday, April 29th at 11 am we will be traveling out to Lone Elk County Park and the World Bird Sanctuary, which are both located very close together (near Wash U's Tyson Research Center). This event will be FREE for all, but we ask that you pack a picnic lunch and a drink that we will eat together in the park. If you are interested in attending, call Dan or Carissa at 721-2957.