States of emergency are in effect across Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, following an immense front that dumped as much as an inch of ice across parts of the Midwest. At least 23 people have died in the storm, and the U.S. Department of Energy estimates more than half a million customers are without electricity in the plains states.
This year-long curriculum will provide a deeper understanding of the scripture featured in the service and how to better live out one's faith in the world. This is a great opportunity to study the same scripture that our children will be studying. Co-led by Dan Anderson-Little and Julie March. Class will be held in room 206.
Class will be held in the Chapel at 9:30 am throughout Advent. There will be no education offerings on December 23rd or December 30th.
Watch for a new series from January 6 - Feb. 3 for a Family Wellness Series, with topics on Anxiety and Depression in Families, Conflict Resolution, and Grief and Loss, led by a therapist from Care and Counseling.
The Habitat for Humanity group rebuilding homes in New Orleans has reserved the last week of October and the first week of November of 2008 for another trip down. We stayed in a home in the uptown New Orleans area (owned by St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church and converted into living quarter for volunteers), so the accommodations, at least for what is typical for relief worker volunteers, is pretty plush. I have been there twice and recommend it highly. Anyone interested in joining me on the trip down in 2008? At this point, it looks like the last week in October is the most likely time. Contact Lisa Bernhard: bernhardlm@gmail.com
The 20 - 30-somethings of the Church are invited to gather from 6 - 8 pm on Saturday, Dec. 15th at Trinity for FEAST (Fellowship, Eating And Sharing Together). Bring your favorite pizza topping and we'll make dinner together. Childcare will be available. Call Liz (725-3840) in the office or Carissa Gigliotti for more information and to RSVP.
... led by Dan Anderson-Little will both be on hiatus until the new year. New schedules will be shared at that time.
On December 16th, we will hold our Candlelight Christmas coffee in the Dining Room. Please sign up to bake or bring a few dozen cookies that morning for our time of fellowship. Sign up sheets are in the Narthex and at the magnetic board by the elevator. On Sunday, December 23rd, we will have a service of carol singing and testimonies given by Trinity members. We have two services on Christmas Eve: the Christmas Eve Family Service (No-Shushing), 5:00 pm and the Christmas Eve Service of Lessons & Carols, 11:00 pm.
... to all who helped decorate the sanctuary last Sunday. The Church has been beautifully prepared for Advent, with a sensitivity to those who have allergies to the plants of the season and an eye toward re-usable and re-plantable items. Our poinsettias and mums will be added next Sunday.
Sunday, 12/2
Tuesday, 12/4
Friday, 12/7
Saturday, 12/8
Sunday, 12/9
Sunday, 12/16
Sunday, 12/23
Monday, 12/24
Christmas Eve Family Service (No-Shushing), 5:00 p.m.
Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols, 11:00 p.m.
Every year we gather as a congregation to prepare our building for the coming of Christ, just as we prepare our hearts. On Sunday, December 2, there will be a time for fellowship, food and decorating as we "deck the halls."
Come "trim the Trini-tree"!
All Ages - Come decorate the Church
When: Sunday, December 2nd , following worship
Where: All over the Church!
Sign Up for the Chili Cook-Off and Potluck on the sign-up sheet in the Narthex. NEEDED: crockpots of chili, dessert, drinks, side dishes, bread/crackers/chili condiments (cheese, etc.).
Decorate inside and out
*
food
fellowship
kid activities
adult crafts, too!
music
Call the Church office with any questions: 725-3840
Join some of the area's finest Early Music performers in a festive holiday program: An Early Music Christmas Celebration on Saturday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature a chamber orchestra and chorus performing Vivaldi's joyous Gloria, the Pachelbel Magnificat and several instrumental pieces. Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and students. [Note: This event was incorrectly advertised as a free concert on the mailing sent earlier this year.]
If you have been in our God's Creation Sunday School area any Sunday morning since September, you have seen Jayne Howard in action. Jayne selflessly volunteered to serve in our K-3rd grade class for a full 10-week session! No stranger to teaching, Jayne works full time for the St. Louis Public School system and has still found the time and energy to serve our Trinity kids with patience, grace, and professionalism. Jayne's kids, John and Katie have also been loyal attendees...you have seen and heard John lead us in worship. As Jayne's current ministry winds down, we celebrate her and her abundant gifts as we look forward to the "changing of the guard" in one of our largest Sunday School classes. We are excited in the coming months to welcome Christy Schindler, Christy Thompson, and David Nelson to this important ministry. We are blessed, too, with an abundance of support from our parents...thanks to Linda Peterson, Elaine and Larry Pontious, Sarah and David Hotaling, Julie Buchholz, and Traci O'Bryan.
Our Children's Ministries are always in need of caring adult supervision. If you can help please call me at church.
Let's work together to provide sox and undies to kids in St. Louis in need. Grab an item from the clothesline in God's Creation and replace it with a new one to pass on. Please plan ahead to donate by Dec 16.
...for their service in the Middle East and around the world. Our Christian Education Commission collected notes and letters from children and adults to forward to Sgt. David Passis and company and to Louis Washington and company who are serving in Iraq.
It takes a Village to Raise a Child. It takes a Christ-Centered, Committed Community to Make a Church. WHAT IS BREAD? Stewardship Campaign 2008 - Thank You's Abound:
"Come on kids - 'we're walking because they walk'...." and off we trotted on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to the CROP Walk to raise money for the hungry and impoverished people. (Fortunately it doesn't take much to convince my kids to spend a sunny afternoon at Forest Park!) The O'Bryan family joined about twenty other "Trinity Trotters" at Forest Park on October 14th to help raise money for the global humanitarian agency Church World Service. The CROP walk, Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty, drew people from congregations all across the St. Louis region and numerous denominations - what a wonderful representation of spiritual diversity working together for the same purpose!
Sometimes it is difficult to find the time to give back to the community and more importantly find an issue that you can engage your children and they understand the difference you can make. But they understand that in some countries, people have to walk many miles to find water to drink or food to eat. They understand that in our own country, even here in St. Louis, many children their age do not have enough food to eat on a daily basis. And through the CROP walk they had another opportunity to see how they affect change by raising money to help those less fortunate than themselves. When asked, Tessa remembers the experience as "...the CROP walk was fun and it helped people who do not have enough food to eat or even a house to live in! We raised money to help them by walking!" And raise money we did - the Trinity Trotters raised $1700. We hope you will be a Trinity Trotter next year and "walk because they walk."
In the hallway area outside the office and Chapel are a new giant calendar, new bulletin boards with sign up opportunities, and the Trinity Gallery with new moldings, hanging equipment, and lighting. As our Sunday morning routines changed, a search began for new gathering places. This completed work allows us more opportunities to share and connect with each other.
The New Calendar Goals:
A team of "Calendar Girls"- Vickie Jeter, Carol Kramer and Sue Young - manages the calendar now. Join if you'd like!
The Gallery Goals:
There are endless ways we can share and learn about each other. David Hotaling is willing to be a part of a team and is good at installation. Now we need people to help with ideas! Displays can be changed and added to whenever materials are available.
Take a moment at education time or after worship to browse, have a cup of coffee, chat and bump shoulders in the Gallery. If you would like to help or have ideas to enhance this area call me, or call Julie March or Liz Nelson at church.
I don't like saying "no," so when the elevator did not work, I was frustrated and embarrassed when people could not enter our building for concerts, worship, classes or lessons. We have a wonderful statement of welcome that we strive to embody and that clunky, old thing was standing in our way. I am happy to report that the "Elevator and Beyond" Committee and the Facilities Commission continue to collect bids, have conversation and develop plans to make the elevator and lower entryway accessible to all. We will share details as soon as we are ready to take the next steps. You may have noticed our new black and gold sign out at the corner of Kingsland and Washington, indicating that our accessible entrance is at the lower Kingsland door. Perhaps a small step, but an important one in letting all visitors know how to join us for worship and events, since our building is used most days and evenings of the week and weekend. If you have thoughts or feedback about accessibility issues, please touch base with me in the office at 725-3840.
In the summer of 2006, the General Assembly (the highest governing body of the PC[U.S.A.]) adopted a new way for presbyteries and sessions to examine and approve officers (elders, deacons, and ministers). The new Authoritative Interpretation (AI) allowed officers to "declare a scruple" (a departure from the denomination's faith or practice) and allowed governing bodies (presbyteries and sessions) to decide if that scruple was an essential or not. If it was determined that the scruple did not involve an essential of the faith, the governing body could ordain the person; if the scruple did involve an essential, the governing body could not proceed.
This new method of examination was adopted as a way to help the church deal with twenty-five years of conflict over sexuality and ordination. Many in the church greeted this new way forward; it did not give blanket permission for the ordination of all gay and lesbian persons, but it did allow the local governing body to not only determine whether a candidate for office was in full compliance but to more widely discern whether this person was called to service. Others in the church were critical of this new interpretation because it did not prescribe a list of essentials for all officers.
Since then, some presbyteries and churches have sought to implement this new method, forming task forces to recommend procedures for examining officers and have admitted that each time the governing body meets a different set of essentials may be articulated. Other presbyteries have essentially rejected the AI of the General Assembly and have declared that every mandatory part of the Book of Order and every doctrine outlined in the Book of Confessions are essential and that no candidate may deviate from any belief or practice. Many of us in the church worry that this pre-emptive decision to declare all beliefs and practices of the church's constitution essential not only guts the work of the General Assembly, but also violates a basic belief of Presbyterian theology - that the Holy Spirit guides governing bodies as they work in real time.
As a way to give the General Assembly's work more time to take root in our life together, the Session of Trinity Presbyterian Church has joined in an overture that we hope will be sent to the General Assembly for its meeting in the summer of 2008. The overture commends presbyteries and sessions that have wrestled with this new policy set forth by the General Assembly and asks the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly to collect models that have been developed that honor the Assembly's authoritative interpretation. The overture, which has also been adopted by Westminster Presbyterian Church in St. Louis and is being considered by other sessions in the St. Louis area, first goes to the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy. If it is adopted by the presbytery, it will be sent to the General Assembly.
The purpose of this overture is threefold: first, it shows that congregations and presbyteries around the country are committed to figuring out ways to live together in times of disagreement; second, it signals that we believe that while we have not yet achieved full justice for all people to serve in the church, we recognize that this is a step in the right direction; and third, this overture allows progressive voices to take part in the debate over the authoritative interpretation that will happen at the General Assembly this coming summer.
The Session also discussed the results of the interior and exterior building "physical" completed by George Sallwasser, Bob Little and Tom Wilhite over the past 9 months. Their thorough work was applauded, as it lays a foundation for the Facilities Commission to prioritize projects, budget for needed repairs and develop a long-range building plan. Copies of the findings will be put on the Church website.
On February 19, 2008 we will be joining a St. Louis based group to travel to Antigua, Guatemala to build homes and provide other care for the children of this poverty-ridden country and their families. You can assist in this effort by contributing clothing and supplies which we will carry with us on the trip. Each member will carry a suitcase in addition to our personal luggage filled with baby supplies, children's clothing and shoes, drug samples and other medical supplies, personal hygiene items, school supplies and small toys. In addition we will need 23 "old" large suitcases that we can fill to the brim with these items, and leave in Guatemala. The "packing party" will be held on February 10, 2008, so watch Trinity News and the Sunday bulletin for further information regarding the collection of the items. Thanks in advance for your willingness to contribute.
One of the hardest things about the holidays is grieving the loss of a loved one while everyone else, at least on the surface, seems to be full of good cheer. Sometimes it's hard to "ring in the holidays" when you have a hole in your heart; some days you don't want to "shop 'til you drop" when that certain person is no longer on your list. Grief has a life of its own. You will be doing just fine and then a song piped into an elevator, the smell of someone's cologne passing by or the familiar smirk on a grandchild's face brings back a flood memories and the ache of loss suddenly feels as palpable as the day the person died.
Holidays often evoke one of two responses for those of us who have experienced loss - we seclude ourselves as much as possible, isolating ourselves from community and family and the attendant celebrations, so that we do not have to pretend to feel happy nor be around those who are. Or we steel ourselves for the season, putting a barricade around our heart, hoping that if we don't feel anything at all, don't let anyone in, we can get through one more holiday season without feeling like we are coming apart.
Having had three losses in our family from May through October of this year (Dan's uncle, Henry Little; Dan's mom, Joan Little; and my favorite Aunt, Margaret Swenson), I am approaching this holiday season with more sadness than cheer. I already feel the temptations of isolation and steely barricades. But as I begin to prepare for the in-breaking of God in human form in Jesus, I am mindful of a third way to approach the holidays with a grieving heart: to invite my sadness and those I have loved and lost into the holidays with me.
What would this look like? First it would mean that I would stop pretending that I am happy when I am not. I can become willing to find a moment with a friend or family member, even in the midst of celebrations, with whom I can acknowledge my sadness and loss in an appropriate way.
Second, I can share memories and tell stories at our family events. I think we mistakenly believe that we can't bring up a deceased person's name for fear of upsetting someone. It's the silence about them that is upsetting - as if they have been forgotten. Bring up their name; remember what they loved, their favorite carol, their favorite holiday food, what you remember, what you miss. Uncle Henry was a great Yankees fan and we have his old Yankees hat - we can hang it on the tree and give thanks for the gift that he was. Grandma loved to give the kids baths and sing while she dressed them; she was nuts about health food and loved to tap dance and we have an antique ornament from her childhood Christmas tree. Aunt Margaret made wonderful Swedish Limpa bread at holiday time and my son Daniel plays the trombone she and her sister, my Aunt Vivian (who died two years ago), bought my dad when he was in Middle School 60 years ago. We can drink a toast to these wonderful gifts.
Third, I can clarify what creates a meaningful holiday celebration for my family regardless of the consumer frenzy happening in our culture. Death has a way of putting things in perspective. Dan and I have spent much time lately talking about our values and how and why and what we want to spend our money on for the holidays. We will be using the ELCA's [Evangelical Lutheran Church in America] Good Gifts catalog more than ever to help those in true need around the world. Being in touch with our own need for God puts us more deeply in touch with the needs of those who are living much more desperately than we. This also means letting go of an "ideal" in my head about how many teacher gifts I have to buy and wrap, how many cookies I have to bake and whether or not I have made pumpkin bread as the measure of whether I am a "good mom." It is a step in the right direction of making this a truly meaningful holiday, sadness and all.
When we invite our sadness and those we have lost into the season with us, we open ourselves to the deepest meaning of the Incarnation: God with us. God is born not into the perfect neatness of bows tied brightly, lives ordered cleanly, hearts confessed purely and houses decked happily; God is born into sadness, brokenness, despair - into the bleak midwinter of our lives. And there, Jesus comes. Jesus comes to walk this earthly life with us and in so doing, suffers with us, dies with us and shows us that death does not have the final say. God does.
A Showing of the movie "The Nativity" is scheduled for Friday, December 7 at Trinity with a meal and a time for discussion following. All are welcome to come at 6 p.m. for a Pasta House dinner. Then watch this 2006 movie (see reviews at www.christiananswers.net, www.christianitytoday.com, or www.kids-in-mind.com to determine whether or not the film is age appropriate for your kids) at 7 p.m., with a discussion after the film for parents/kids. Talk with me (martink@wudosis.wustl.edu) for more details and RSVP to the church office.
Tuesday evening, December 4, the ladies of the church are invited to our annual Christmas party. We will assemble at church between 5:30 and 6:00. Please bring a salad to share; dessert will be provided. Dinner will be at 6:00. Also please bring a wrapped white elephant as a Christmas gift for someone else at the party. We will sing Christmas Carols and conclude the evening by 7:30. If you have any questions or need a ride, please call me. See you there!
Sunday, December 2 - The Festival Choir will lead worship. Anyone who loves to sing is welcome to attend rehearsal on Thursday, November 29 at 7:15 p.m.
Sunday, December 9 - The Trinity Choir and guest musicians from the St. Louis Symphony will present A Little Advent Music by the German composer Hugo Distler. Written in 1931, this rarely-performed cantata is based on the Advent chorale Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (Savior of the Nations, Come).
Sunday, December 16 - The Handbell Choir and Sunday Morning Singers will offer music of the season.
Sunday, December 23 - We will begin our morning with a Christmas Carol sing at 10:15 p.m.
Monday, December 24 - The Sunday Morning Singers will sing at the 5 p.m. Family Service. The Handbell Choir will ring the prelude at the 11 p.m. Lessons and Carols service and the Trinity Choir will sing a diverse selection carols during the service.
We will offer one Adult Education class on December 2, 9 and 16 - the Seasons of the Spirit curriculum. Come study and discuss Advent passages as we prepare for the coming of Christ the Lord. The class, led by Dan Anderson-Little and Julie March, begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends before worship. We will meet in the Chapel.
The Trinity Congregation really was amazing. We received $785.00 to purchase turkeys, plus we had many families purchase turkeys and drop them off to be given away on November 14. We were able to give away 73 turkeys to 168 people. This was the largest collection ever and thanks to your generosity, most of our clients will have a very Happy Thanksgiving. The picture shows one regular client who walks to the pantry each month from north of Olive and North and South. You will note he has his back pack so he can carry his turkey home. These were many hugs from the grateful families receiving a turkey. Thanks to all who participated by donating money, bringing turkeys, and Jane Gibbons, George Sallwasser, Kitty Underwood, Nancy Wagoner, Dave Nelson, Birty Hodgson and Meleia Carter for their strong backs and participation to make turkey day a success.
In the Spring of 2008, we will offer another sampling of remarkable and diverse concerts, including:
Your attendance at these events is one important way to show your ongoing support for musical outreach to our community. We are also seeking volunteers to serve as ushers and greeters and to help set up and host receptions after the events. Please contact me if you would like to be part of our Concert Series Team, which is dedicated to enriching lives through engaging performances in eclectic styles!
Web Alert! I have started a blog: www.lovedintobeing.wordpress.com. I welcome the congregation's comments and interaction as I explore music, faith, sexuality and other topics in this format.
A huge thank you to the "Three Amigos" - George Sallwasser, Bob Little and Tom Wilhite - who spent nine months and multiple visits crawling into nooks and crannies, taking pictures and notes, deciphering ancient architectural drawings and dodging icky stuff (don't ask what's in that bell tower!) to create a professional and comprehensive "state of the building" report on the interior, exterior and bell tower. They have provided the Church with an incredible gift - information about the health of the building so we can be proactive and wise in our prioritization of projects and development of a long-range plan for the care of the building.
A big thank you to the OASIS Band (who rehearses every Monday in the Dining Room), who collected $109 from its members for our Food Pantry. They quite often bring canned goods as well. A nice example of community collaboration.
And, as always, thanks to the many people who help me out in the office with mailings and projects.
We had a beautiful day for the CROP Walk last month, as The Trinity Trotters and hundreds of other walkers stepped out briskly to raise money and awareness of poverty in our world. The results of our own efforts surpassed our wildest dreams, as over 43 members and friends participated in CROP Walk, and we raised $1,755 for Church World Service outreach. Thanks to you all for your dedication and generosity for CROP Walk!