Hello Trinity Members!
A member of the congregation I am now serving, St. Mark's Lutheran, works with the International student exchange program at Webster University and she is often looking for host families for students studying here for a short period of time. Below and attached is information about a female student from Japan doing an internship at the Art Museum, so they are looking for someone in the U-city--Central West end area. If you are interested in this or other hosting opportunities (students from Germany, Ghana as well), please reply to Wilma at priftiwi@webster.edu. If you know someone who might be interested-please pass this along-I don't have everyone's email address. Many blessings! - I miss seeing you and hope you are doing well. Love, Linda Anderson-Little
Note from Wilma at Webster:
[more]Pastor Linda,
Thanks so much for sharing with your husband and his congregation. I am e-mailing to a lot of our members and friends. We basically need a family, single gal, or couple to provide a private room and three meals per day for 7 weeks or perhaps half of that time for Maho Fujino, a junior at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan, majoring in Literature and has strong interest in art.
We are extremely excited that we have an internship at the St. Louis Art Museum interning July 30 through September 14 with the curator for Asian Art. We will pick her up at the airport on Sunday, July 29, give her orientation over a light supper and then take her to her host family. She and Hideyuki Fujii were selected by their university for the International Business Internship Exchange in Partnership with the State of Missouri. We are delighted that we already have their internships (he will be at the World Trade Center Saint Louis)! Hideyuki will live with the Denes family - their son, Lawrence, a Japanese major at Washington University went to Tokyo this summer as an IBIE intern.
So now all we need is the host family for Maho and would appreciate your spreading the word and letting us know if you have any contacts to a family who would like to host. Please contact me or Stephanie Kessler, IBIE Coordinator, at skessler12@webster.edu.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Many thanks for any help you can offer!
Wilma
Wilma Prifti, Director
International Business Internship Exchange
In Partnership with the State of Missouri
Webster University
470 E. Lockwood Avenue
Saint Louis, MO 63119-3194 USA
TELE: (314) 968-6912
FAX: (314) 968-7122
We were active members of Trinity from 1988 to 1996 when we moved to North Carolina. Our son Erich, who was shaped at least in part by his involvement with Trinity's youth programs (thank you Do), is raising funds for a Peace Corps project to build a recreation facility in Santa Paula, El Salvador. As a Peace Corps volunteer since 2005, Erich has started several educational and recreational programs.
I am asking your help for a project that is very important to our son, Erich, and the Salvadoran children he serves. With a small donation, you can help ensure that Erich's community-Santa Paula, a poor, rural village situated on the Pan American highway in central eastern El Salvador-builds a recreation facility that it has long sought, but been unable to afford.
As a Peace Corps volunteer since 2005, Erich has started several educational and recreational programs. Working along side the Santa Paula School's dedicated staff, Erich has initiated a scholarship program, English language class, world geography class, community gardening project and girls softball team. The proposed recreation court-located next to the school-will be the capstone of these efforts (see attached photos of children and site on which the facility will be built).
By joining with others, you can ensure that Santa Paula's children have access to the kind of recreation facility that our children take for granted. By raising just $11,500, we will make this vital facility a reality. By next year, these children will only have to step outside their classrooms for physical education classes. The proposed facility will make the children safer, free more time for teaching and provide a suitable area for other youth activities, but it will not be built without your help.
Here is how you can help. Please contribute whatever you can \by mail, web or phone. If you pay by mail, make out the check to "Peace Corps" and note Erich's project number (#519-084) on the memo line, and mail the check to Peace Corps, OPSI Partnership Program, 1111 20th St. NW, Washington, DC 20526. If you pay by web, see the instructions in the post script below. If you pay by phone, or simply want to talk to a Peace Corps staffer, call their direct line at 202-692-2170. Of course, your donation will be tax deductible. If you have any questions, you also can call me at 919-933-5068.
P.S. You can check out Erich's project on the Peace Corps website (www.peacecorps.gov/) with just a few clicks. Click the "Donate Now" tab on the left side of home page. Next, in the middle of the Donors page, click the "Volunteer Projects" tab. Then, scroll down the middle of the "Volunteer Projects" page until you see El Salvador (the projects are listed by country in alphabetical order) and click "Community Recreation Court, E. Melville." You will find a brief summary of the project sponsored by the Peace Corps. If you want to pay by web, scroll a little further down and click "Contribute to this project!" At the top of the new screen, you will see Erich's project and a donation box. Enter your donation amount in the donation box, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Continue" tab. Merely follow the instructions from then on to make your electronic contribution.
Here are links directly to:
It is always a joy to present concerts by musical partners in our community. Musicians from Early Music St. Louis have performed on our Reverberations series for the past two seasons and on Saturday, July 14 they kicked off their 2007 Baroque Festival here at Trinity. The program featured an international cast of players and the musicians also gave a wonderful performance at last Sunday's worship service.
Their second concert, "Shakespear's Band" (sic), will be presented this coming Sunday, July 22 at 3 p.m. Admission to the concert is free with a suggested donation of $10. The program features Elizabethan Dance Music for Renaissance string band. Composers on this program include William Brade, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Antony Holborne, Robert Philips, and Thomas Simpson. The players include William Bauer (violin), Celina Boldrey Casado and Rachel Gries (violas), Jonathan Brodie (viola da gamba), Sara Edgerton (baroque cello), Neal Richardson (virginal), and Jeffrey Noonan (lutes). Vocalist Nancy Bristol will joint the instrumental ensemble to sing several popular songs of the day.
More information on the EMSL Baroque Festival Concerts call 314-773-8769 or email: earlymusicstlouis@yahoo.com You can also find out more at their website: http://www.earlymusic.net/EMSL/
The July Trinity News is online now!
Read it here, or download in PDF format.
We continue to have a rich and varied worship life at Trinity this summer. Highlights for July will include:
July 1 - Dan Anderson-Little preaching on Luke 9:51-62, the story of the would-be followers of Jesus; summer choir sings.
July 8 - Dan Anderson-Little preaching on Luke 10:1-11, 16-20, the story of the sending and the return of the seventy missionaries.
July 15 - Dan Anderson-Little preaching on Luke 10:25-37, the story of the Good Samaritan.
July 22 - Dan Anderson-Little preaching on Luke 10:38-42, the story of Mary and Martha; summer choir sings.
July 29-August 19 we will have guest preachers. As in the past, we will draw on the talented staff and members of Trinity to provide our preaching. This is a powerful way for members to share their faith and develop their preaching skills. The Trinity congregation is a gracious group that has a gift for encouraging emerging preachers.
There are some wonderful opportunities to participate in Trinity's music ministry in the coming months.
This summer, Trinity will serve as a venue for the annual Baroque Music Festival sponsored by Early Music St. Louis. For the past five years, this festival has presented a range of composers and styles from the period performed by some of the finest local and regional musicians. This year's concerts will be on Saturday, July 14 at 8 pm and Sunday, July 22 at 3 pm. Each concert is free, with a suggested donation of $10.
On June 3 after worship, the congregation met in the Dining Room for a time of discussion and discovery about our Sunday morning schedule. We held this event because our current schedule has been difficult to maintain in the Sunday School. Sixty members gathered around tables and discussed the length of our Sunday morning at Trinity, the realities of worshiping with children, and steps that we can take to strengthen the experience on Sunday morning for everyone.
Discussion was lively and engaged. No consensus about our schedule arose on June 3, but some themes were prevalent. More people than not thought the current schedule (which runs a full two and a half hours) was too long, especially for children and teachers, but for adult participants as well. Many opinions about the length of worship were expressed, with the majority favoring a slightly shorter service than is currently planned. Most people appreciate the presence of children for a portion of worship, but many concerns were expressed about keeping young children in worship for the entire time. Many people affirmed the value of having sufficient time for fellowship on Sunday mornings.
While these thoughts and opinions are important, much of the work accomplished on June 3 was members having the opportunity to hear a variety of perspectives. Around the tables sat youth, young adults, parents of small children, parents of teenaged children, single persons, older members, newer members, and long-time members. The big learning was that we have many opinions about what we need and what will work best for the whole church.
The Session continued this important discussion at its meeting on June 6. A significant proportion of the Session was present on June 3, so the congregation's input was our starting point. The Session looked at a variety of options for our Sunday morning schedule. Each of the options has its strengths and its challenges. No one option jumped out at the Session as the option to adopt. As I said at the end of the discussion, "This is hard. There is not option that is obvious, that is easy, or that is perfect." The Session will spend the next month thinking, praying, and discussing this and will adopt a new schedule at its July 11 meeting. You will hear more about this in the weeks to come.
On Sunday June 3 several of our outstanding college age students were awarded scholarship monies from the Scholin-Weems fund. These young folks repeatedly affirmed the profound impact Trinity church has had on their journey. We are proud of their accomplishments and grateful for the generosity of the Scholin and Weems families and other donors to the fund. The scholarship recipients for 2007 are: Kirsten Campbell, University of California, Berkeley; Porter Campbell, American University; Griffin Devine, Emerson College, Boston; Katie Merritt, University of Tulsa; Tim Merritt, University of Kansas, Lawrence; Tyler Nutter, Rockhurst University; Kari Peglar, Xavier University; Lindsay Peglar, Tulane University; Claire Santoro, Brown University.
Trinity's kids (celebrating at the church picnic, at right) are seemingly as busy this Summer as when school is in session. Our kids are involved in sports and music, swimming, vacationing, reading and hanging out. While we have no formal Sunday School for these months, we are still fortunate to have kids attending worship and (the youngest ones) gathering downstairs to hear the Gospel story and share in fellowship. The kids love coming to church, they truly enjoy sitting barefoot on the rug, hearing about Jesus, singing a few songs and talking to one another about God, friends, school, families, food, pets and whatever else is on their minds. Our children's ministry remains vital all year long.
If you have 90 minutes (9:15-10:45) on a summer Sunday morning...come and be transformed by the energy, innocence, silliness and love these kids share in abundance. They have stories and love to pass on, perhaps you have time (our greatest gift!) to listen and learn also. Please phone or e-mail me (s827hayes@sbcglobal.net) if you feel called to this amazing opportunity.
What's important about the following things?:
As a testament to the power of God at work in the human spirit (and hopefully, in this human body, too!), I have embarked on an adventure to run this year's Lewis and Clark Half-Marathon (that's 13.1 miles) on September 16th, and I have signed up with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program to train for this endurance event. My decision to run this fall was solidified when I attended the LLS Team in Training informational meeting and met the coaches, mentors, staff members and honorary teammates who are involved with the team's training and fundraising.
I am asking for your support - both your spiritual support (moral support, good vibes and prayers) as well as financial support for an important cause. Team in Training is a fundraising campaign whereby individuals train to participate in endurance events while raising money for the society. In exchange for the training, I have committed to raise a minimum of $1800.00 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The cause I am running for is a great one and the fundraising commitment is a challenge to rival my physical challenge. I'd really love your help to do it! You can donate to the cause on line, with a check or with a credit card. Please see me, call or email me (vickimouse @mindspring.com) to find out how.
We are still collecting money to purchase a preaching robe for Damayanthi Niles in celebration of her ordination. If you would like to contribute to this meaningful gift, please submit a check with the words "Niles Robe" in the memo line.
Baptism is one of the central celebrations of the Christian faith. Baptism is not only about an and individual and a family, but about the whole church as we remember our own baptism and as we collectively embrace one of God's children. In an effort to make sure that every baptism has the time and space it needs, the Session has set aside one Sunday a month when we will baptize children and/or adults. This means that baptisms will not occur on Sundays when lots of other special events are going on. This new policy and a Presbyterian understanding of baptism is explained in a new brochure which is available in the Narthex. We will give this brochure to all new members and to all members when they have a baby. The services which are reserved for baptism in the next twelve months are:
If you have a child who you would like to have baptized or if you would like to know more about baptism, please speak with one of the pastors.
In an effort to shorten our Sunday morning worship service, we are going to try an experiment to cut down on verbal announcements during our worship service. Throughout the summer, we are going to limit ourselves to no more than one announcement. Most verbal announcements are already printed in the bulletin, so we will, as a rule, not repeat them. We will make reminder announcements for lunches and all-church after-worship events. We will also make announcements to correct printed errors (a wrong time or wrong date for instance). Of course, we will still welcome visitors and let them know that all announcements are contained in the bulletin. If you have an announcement that needs to be communicated on Sunday morning, you are requested to send it to Liz Nelson no later than first thing Thursday morning. We will reassess this announcement policy at the end of the summer.
Henry Biggs has resigned his position as an active elder. Henry will begin Law School in the Fall and his classes will conflict with Session meetings. We wish Henry well in his new endeavor and thank him for this service on the Session.
Do you ever think of what you do in life as ministry? Perhaps you are a mother of young children, or you are retired, a teacher, a gardener, or a physician. Whatever our circumstances or walks of life, we can minister to others in a multitude of ways: raising children and telling them about God's love; giving time to the church or community services; teaching persons of all ages in order to enrich their lives; beautifying the natural world, or nurturing and healing - whenever we do these and other things for God's people, we are in ministry. The essence of our Triune God is overflowing and unconditional love. When we show generosity and mutual self-giving, when we live with and for each other, we minister on behalf of our loving God.
This mutual ministry can be found in Equipping Ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church, where members find their greatest joy in meeting the world's greatest needs. The core of Equipping is helping each member find the ministry that feeds their soul, and here at Trinity many members are involved in hospitality, worship, music, Christian Education, fellowship, community service, efforts to eliminate hunger and poverty, and much more.
New Teams are forming every week, such as Faces of Trinity, a team to coordinate a much-needed new pictorial directory. The Green Team not only plans flower arrangements and plants to beautify our worship space, but also shares them with the community for planting in public gardens. The All-City, Ecumenical Crop Walk, coming up in October, is an opportunity for members to walk and/or contribute food and money in a concerted effort to feed the poor and eliminate poverty around the world. Other invitations to ministry are on the horizon through Equipping Ministry, including a team forming to plan the alternative second worship service, a new music-related hospitality team, and a gardening team to beautify the grounds around the church.
Ministry possibilities are endless, and there is a place for EVERYONE here at Trinity, as we reach out in love and service and celebration. Consider joining one of the new teams, or discover your own gifts for service through Trinity's Equipping Ministry. Call me, 725-3840, or email juliammc@sbcglobal.net for information, or to talk about your own ideas to love and serve God.
When is the right time for a new member to get involved in ministry opportunities? The last thing we, as a church, want to appear to do is rush a new member into action, or have them sit on the sidelines too long.
Having heard feedback that we as church have done both, Equipping has implemented a solution to this issue. We have decided to simply sit down with each new member and have a frank discussion about what their interests and prior church experiences are, what, if anything, we as a congregation can do to help or support them, and how, if at all, they might want to get involved. Equipping then maintains this information, helping to make connections with ministry opportunities if a new member wants to get involved now, and alerting ministries if the new member is in need of support. Equipping also monitors connections to ensure that things are going well. The interviewer serves as a contact person within the congregation for the new member.
It has been the Equipping Ministry Team's pleasure to work with the last two groups of new members, and we look forward to meeting with the members of the confirmation class next. It is our goal that these interviews put all new members at ease, whether the time is right for them to get involved or not. This interview process will also expand to include current church members as the Equipping Ministry Team works to help each person in the Trinity family find their place.
Five youth and two adult leaders returned from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 15. Look for their reflections in next month's Trinity News!
Has it really been six months since Trinity's Adult Mission team spent a week in New Orleans mucking out houses, meeting new friends, and exploring the ramifications of "mission"? I recently heard about an exhibit at Maryville University that reminds us of our work and of the ongoing needs in storm-ravaged areas. Several members of the team may make a trip to view the exhibit. Would you like to join them? If so, give me a call. Below is a portion of the press release about the exhibit.
ST. LOUIS - Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, victims of the natural disaster continue to rebuild their damaged homes and shattered lives. Members of the Louisiana chapter of the national Women's Caucus for Art (WCA) have channeled their anger, sadness, frustration and optimism through their paintings, photographs and quilts to create "The Katrina Diaries," an exhibit that has been touring the country for the past year.
"The Katrina Diaries" made its St. Louis debut when the exhibit opened in Maryville University's Morton J. May Foundation Gallery on Thursday, June 14. Hosting the exhibit, which runs through August 3, will be the WCA's St. Louis chapter, whose members will create a "second line" of artwork that will be displayed alongside "The Katrina Diaries" exhibit, said Janice Nesser, president of the WCA's St. Louis chapter. Nesser serves as an assistant professor, photography program coordinator, and gallery director at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley.
The tradition of a "second line" parade, she remarked, stems from the days when African Americans were not allowed to march in parades in New Orleans. They would dance and form a second parade line on the sides of the streets where the parade was occurring. Also, it refers to a second line of musicians that often follow funeral processions in New Orleans.
Nesser, who also serves as the regional vice president of the WCA's Midwest chapter, said she became aware of "The Katrina Diaries" when the exhibit was on display in California last year. She and other St. Louis chapter members were determined to get the exhibit to St. Louis. "As women artists, we are concerned about the human spirit," Nesser commented. "We hope that those who come see the exhibit will get a sense of how it feels to be disenfranchised, to lose everything and the emotions that go along with that."
Gallery hours are 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday thru Thursday; 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m.-10p.m., Sundays. For more information on "The Katrina Diaries" or the St. Louis chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art, click on www.wca-stl.org. or call Nesser at 314 741-3772.
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The Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy, of which Trinity is a part, has been helping to build Camp Good Earth, a 90-bed Presbyterian Disaster Assistance volunteer village in Houma, Louisiana. A city of about 70,000 people, Houma was high enough in elevation that it was not directly affected by the 6-10 foot storm surge that resulted from hurricane Rita. Houma volunteers are serving in mostly residential areas found along the five bayous (rivers) just to the south. These bayou areas experienced water up to 10 feet, some of which stayed for up to three weeks. The volunteer village is in the heart of Cajun country. Volunteers who come learn about the environmental and cultural aspects of the area and get a taste of Cajun cuisine and hospitality. Recent volunteers have worked at area sites, have made improvements in the village and have helped construct a permanent building on site, the result of collaboration among PDA, the local Elks lodge, and Giddings-Lovejoy. A recent update reports that this building, the Sheltering Space, is 95% completed and that there will be a dedication service at the end of July in Houma and one at St. Mark Church in St. Louis as well. As of June 2007, the camp's greatest needs were for rebuilding and skilled labor such as roofing, drywall, carpentry, plumbing and electrical work. Less skilled volunteers can be helpful in jobs such as scraping and painting. They can also learn from and work alongside skilled volunteers in jobs such as drywall and roofing. |
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 this musical small group experience. Using a diverse collection of songs, chants, hymns and spirituals, participants will learn some practical ways to develop their singing voices. We'll also read John Bell's insightful book, The Singing Thing, and 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, July 8 at 7 p.m. Regular attendance is an important component of the class; we'll do our best to plan our meeting times around busy summer schedules so everyone can be in attendance. If you are interested in join us, speak with me or drop me an email (paul_tpc@swbell.net).
In this article I hope to plant a seed of thought in those of you who are curious or intrigued about the art of Spiritual Direction and want to learn more about what it is and is not. In a second article I will address the nuts and bolts of how Spiritual Direction will be offered through Trinity. In a third article, I hope to "interview" some of the folks around Trinity who have been receiving Spiritual Direction for a time, so that you can hear in their own words how it benefits them.
For now, I encourage you to prayerfully consider whether Spiritual Direction might just be what you are longing to find.
Spiritual Direction is not:
Spiritual Direction is:
The Winger Food Pantry received a $1,000.00 grant from the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Matthew 25 Hunger Fund - Summer Grant program. The money will help with the monthly food purchases during the summer. Last year our monthly food purchases averaged $1128.50, per month. During May of 2007, $1745.41 was spent to stock the food pantry.
This year, 2007, our numbers of people served continue to grow. In May, the Food Pantry served 210 people/92 families. Of these, 51 families had income of less than $600, and 9 families had no income.
The lost and found box in the office is overflowing with clothing, glasses, a cell phone and even a camera left at the May 20th church picnic. Please stop by or call the office (725-3840) to describe the camera.
Jane Rand recently completed 24 years of service on the Board of Directors of Eden Seminary. Jane also spent 12 years on the Board of Directors of Care and Counseling. This investment of time and effort is truly a gift to the community. Many blessings to you, Jane, for your generous and faithful service!
To Mike Krivonak and Lorie Damon on the birth of son Zachary Andrew Krivonak on June 3, 2007.
Our congregation raised $3,466 for this offering. The Presbyterian Hunger Program receives 36 percent of undesignated One Great Hour of Sharing gifts, while the Self-Development of People and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance each receives 32 percent.