Those who are able are invited to gather along the Palm Sunday "parade route" - the sidewalk between the lower Kingsland door and the front steps to the Sanctuary. Please join the end of the procession as it passes you and heads up the stairs and into the Sanctuary. As you enter the Narthex, please place your One Great Hour of Sharing offering in the basket in the front of the Sanctuary. You may then take your seat. In case of inclement weather, we will gather in the Dining Room and process through the basement up to the Sanctuary.
Calling the war in Iraq "an offense against God" and warning that America is in danger of losing its soul, speakers at an ecumenical "Christian Peace Witness for Iraq" in Washington, D.C., March 16 drew thunderous applause.
Some 4,000 people from 48 states braved rain, sleet, snow and bitter cold to participate in the event - a prayer service in the National Cathedral marking the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, followed by a candlelight procession to the White House.
[more]Fermentation [fur-men-tey-shuhn]: 1) The process of undergoing an effervescent change; 2) A state of agitation or excitement, as of the intellect or the feelings.
Well, the last Fermentation was both fun and successful. How do you know if you have a successful fermentation? The conversation just sparkles!
This Thursday, March 22, 2007 marks the second in what we hope will be an ongoing series of meetings to discuss the state of things - whether it be in the world, our country, our neighborhoods, or maybe even just in our own thoughts. The goal is to undergo and effervescent change. So, even if the state of things is just within our own minds, perhaps we might just change the world.
And changing the world is just what our next Fermentation will discuss!
March's topic: One: The loneliest number, or the way to change the world?
We really hope to see you there. And, if you bring a friend, the first drink is on us.
So mark your calendars for
Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 6:30 PM
In the back room at
RIDDLE'S PENULTIMATE WINE BAR!
Scores of Christians from around the country, including numerous Presbyterians, are expected to descend on Washington D.C. this week to demand an end to the war in Iraq.
The Christian Peace Witness for Iraq, to be held on Friday (March 16), will include worship, public prayer, and a candlelight vigil outside the White House that could land some demonstrators in jail.
More than 3,500 Protestants and Catholics, including clergy and other church leaders, have already registered for the one-day, nonviolent, anti-war witness. The event will begin with an ecumenical worship service at the Washington National Cathedral at 7 p.m.
[more]The Presbyterian Church has always struggled with the question "who is qualified to be ordained?" What beliefs or "essentials" must one subscribe to in order to be fit for ordination? At different times in its history, the Presbyterian Church has tried to balance essentials of the faith with individual conscience.
In the early part of the 18th Century, the Presbyterian Church was embroiled in a controversy involving ordination standards. All candidates for ministry were required to subscribe to the all of the articles of faith contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith (which was written in England in 1647). No deviation was allowed. But some candidates had specific problems with Westminster especially in the areas of the role of civil magistrates and church/state affairs. The church decided that if a candidate took issue with Westminster at these "nonessential" places, they could declare a "scruple" against those sections of Westminster. The ordaining body then had to decide whether or not to accept that person's scruple. Declaring a scruple did not necessarily clear the way for one to be ordained-the ordaining body still had to decide whether or not this made one fit or unfit for ordained ministry.
In the 1920's another controversy arose about subscription to the essentials of the faith. The church was split between two parties, the Modernists and the Fundamentalists. In 1920, the Fundamentalists prevailed when the Presbyterian Church adopted five "fundamentals" that every candidate for ministry had to agree to: the inspiration of the Bible by the Holy Spirit and the inerrancy of Scripture; the virgin birth of Christ; the belief that Christ's death was an atonement for sin; the bodily resurrection of Christ; the historical reality of Christ's miracles. These fundamentals were considered "essential" until 1925 when the Presbyterian Church reversed course.
The current position of the Presbyterian Church is that all officers (ministers, elders, and deacons) are required to answer this question in the affirmative: Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God? In other words, there are essential tenets or beliefs, but they are not specifically named. Essentials have always been left to the local governing body (the presbytery for ministers and the session for elders and deacons) to determine.
In the past 30 years, the Presbyterian Church has been split about these "essentials." Much of this split has been driven by differing views about human sexuality (specifically, can gay or lesbian persons be ordained?), but the controversy has also centered around Biblical authority and other doctrines as well. In 2001, the Presbyterian Church appointed a special task force to study and discern how the church might move past its current impasse, especially in the area of ordination. This task force included members across the theological spectrum. The Theological Task Force for Peace, Unity and Purity in the Church met for four years and made its unanimous recommendations to the General Assembly in June 2006. The Task Force recommended that the church return to its historical stance of scrupling-that is, candidates for ministry could declare a scruple about a doctrine or standard of the church. The local governing body would then have to decide whether that scruple involved an "essential" or not; if it did, the governing body would not approve the candidate for ordination; however, if the governing body did not consider the scruple an essential, it could approve the candidate for ordination.
The General Assembly, by a small margin approved the recommendations of the Task Force. By its vote, the General Assembly made this recommendation its Authoritative Interpretation (AI). Some in the church see this as an important way forward trusting local governing bodies to appropriately discern who is called to ministry and to understand what the essentials of the faith are; others are alarmed that the church would not or could not declare its "essentials" leaving such important and weighty matters to local governing bodies which would mean that every presbytery and session could have different ordination standards.
Since the General Assembly's action, some conservative churches have left the denomination and some others are moving in that direction. There is much confusion about how the church should examine candidates and then debate their fitness for ordination. Some see this action as the straw that breaks the denomination's back and other see this as the best hope for staying together in a pluralistic and diverse world.
The Road to Ordination
(There are more steps than this, but this describes the typical path)
Adult Education Opportunity - March 25th:
The season of Lent is a time of spiritual or physical pilgrimage, as we review our lives and our relationship with God. As Presbyterians, we are especially drawn to the early Christians of Ireland and Scotland. We will visit the Isle of Iona, to experience sounds and sights of Celtic Christianity. We will compare our lives with those of the early Christians, and use Lectio Divina, or "holy reading" of the Scriptures to seek God's direction for us. Led by Rev. Julie March; Weems Chapel.
Adult Education Opportunity - April 1st:
April 1st: We will view and discuss the fascinating and thought-provoking film, Parable: The Man Who Dared to be Different. Described as "a timeless story that speaks to people of all ages and backgrounds", the film (which has no verbal dialogue) explores the meaning of humanity and of the individual in light of our own lives' and our understanding of Jesus' mission on earth. Led by Rev. Julie March; Weems Chapel.
The note below is from Dick Glassey, who is in charge of construction of the meeting hall at The Good Earth Village in Houma (the volunteer village that our presbytery is sponsoring with PDA). They still need people to go down and help with construction, and it would be awesome if some people from Trinity could make a trip down to help out. (Contact Lisa for more information: 863-6505; bernhardlm@gmail.com)
I'm a little slow in getting this update out. Thanks to some tremendous help last week, we have approximately 95% of the largest room (dining area) in the building drywalled. The kitchen and one bathroom have some drywall hung. We also framed the building for soffit and fascia and were able to complete the soffit and fascia cover installation on the front wall adjacent to the roadway - 100 feet. Vinyl siding is on site ready for installation as soon as we complete the soffit and fascia cover. The Kitchen appliance quote was firmed up and as soon as our check for the down payment reaches the appliance dealer, appliances will be ordered and the fabrication of the hood for the stoves will start. The flooring has been picked out and paint color is basically picked out. I need to see a quote for the flooring before I can release the order. The floor supplier is working on reducing the cost of the flooring to us.
There was no one in camp this week and no work was done on the building. There will be plenty of people in camp next week and if I can get some direction to them, they should be able to continue hanging drywall. I will be back in Houma the week of March 5 along with a contingent form my church, St. Mark Presbyterian in Ballwin. There will be about 45 other campers in camp that week Our priority will be to first close in the building with soffit and vinyl and then to complete the hanging of the drywall. As soon as the drywall is completely hung, then we can start mudding and taping the drywall.
We still need workers so talk our project up to your people - we can use any skill level!
Yours in Christ,
Dick Glassey
Don't wait for "snail mail"!
Read it on the web site, or click here to download in Adobe Reader (.pdf) format.
This Lent (the six week period before Easter that begins on Ash Wednesday, February 21), we will be focusing on the psalms during our Sunday morning worship. When I was in seminary, my professor referred to the psalms as the "Songs from a Thousand Years." Biblical scholars have determined that the psalms weren't all composed at once or even during one historical period, but they represent the hopes and fears, the agony and faith of God's people as expressed over a long period of time (probably even longer than 1,000 years).
What I find so fascinating about the psalms is that they sound as fresh to our ears and they speak as deeply to our hearts as they did when they were first sung in ancient Israel. The psalms are songs of victory, songs of thanksgiving, songs of help, songs of frustration, songs of anger, and songs of joy. This Lent, all of the psalms that we will sing in worship are psalms of joy in response to God's goodness, protection, mercy and love. I encourage you to read ahead each week's psalms. Like great songs, they don't become dull in repetition, but gain new power and we discover fresh insights each time we read them or hear them again. Here is the schedule of psalms for this Lent:
Our journey through Lent and Holy Week will be enriched by special seasonal music.
The next Reverberations program provides an opportunity for our youngest listeners to experience great music in the Thicket! On Saturday morning, March 10 at 10:30 a.m., special guest musicians will perform selections from Camille Saint-Saen's Carnival of the Animals and other engaging pieces of classical music. Children can hear the music up close and personal, will be able to dance and move, and will be invited to ask questions about the music and instruments. A reception with animal crackers and juice will follow. The concert will be best appreciated by children between 4 and 12 years old, but younger children (and children at heart) are also welcome. Free.
On Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. young musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra perform chamber music for five players. Schubert's sublime String Quintet in C will be featured. Free.
On Sunday, April 15 at 4 p.m., the Kingsbury Ensemble will perform with the acclaimed countertenor, Jay Carter, who appeared on last year's Reverberations season. They will perform the secular cantata, Medea in Corinto, by Antonio Caldara and works by Duphly, Handel, and Corelli. Suggested donation is $10.00.
Trinity hosts the BJC Hospice Widows and Widowers Grief Support group on many Tuesday evenings from 7-8:30 pm in the Youth Lounge. Support begins in small groups - usually six to eight participants - for three Tuesdays. The group provides a safe and compassionate place for the bereaved to tell the stories of their losses and begin to gain some understanding of the long, arduous grief journey. Following this closed core group, members are invited to participate in year-round monthly meetings. Interested persons may call leader Suzanne Doyle, a Bereavement Specialist at BJC Hospice, at 314-953-1806.
Trinity Presbyterian Church is blessed to have Susan Hayes as our new Interim Minister of Christian Education. Susan, who lives in north St. Louis County and is a member of First Presbyterian Church of Ferguson, is a Commissioned Lay Pastor and is about to graduate from Eden Theological Seminary. For the past three years, Susan has worked at Glendale Presbyterian Church as Pastor for Youth and Families. Susan is beginning her ordination process and she eventually hopes to be the pastor of a church. She anticipates that that process will take a minimum of six months. In the meantime, she is delighted to offer her gifts for ministry at Trinity. At this point, we are not sure when we will move to hiring a permanent Minister of Christian Education; that will in part depend on how long Susan can work at Trinity; we will keep the congregation up to date as those plans develop. The congregation won't see Susan on Sunday mornings through the season of Lent as she had agreed to a supply preaching obligation with First Presbyterian Church of Alton, Illinois, before being hired by Trinity. Susan is married to Bob and has two teen-aged daughters, Emma and Claire.
During the first week of January, Trinity returned a set of hands, feet, and hearts to New Orleans to aid in the Katrina relief effort. Each of the travelers would say the work was hard, yet the efforts to make the trip effective and the stay comfortable were the ministry of many. The leadership at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian engaged the congregation in a variety of activities to convert the education building (an antebellum home given to SCAPC in the early 1990s) into a dormitory for the weekly rotation of volunteers. This building now has two furnished bunk rooms plus a shower room with a large capacity washer and dryer. A mission coordinator and a site manager were hired to work with volunteer groups.
The ongoing ministry activities of many people made the stay comfortable for us. For example:
The behind the scene ministry of many made the trip comfortable for a few.
It was truly a pleasure to join with ten others from Trinity, and those from two churches in the Chicago area, to support the work of the St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. Their RHINO (Rebuilding Hope in New Orleans) program is ably and efficiently being run by two young, yet very talented individuals, Will Perreault and Sarah Edgecombe. I have the greatest admiration for their personal skills and talents.
My initial question as we assembled on the porch to begin our first day of work was "How are 27 people going to function together as we descended upon a single residence, planning to remove all personal belongings, then stripping the interior down to the studs? How will we keep from falling all over one another?" Well, I was amazed at how organized such a work project could be handled, particularly given the varied skill levels of those assembled. It was immediately evident that everyone was there for the common purpose of helping others who were in need. We all came with something to offer, particularly open minds and open hearts, and a willingness to do what was asked of us. Will served as our on site field coordinator. He laid out the plan for us, there had already been advance contacts with the homeowner to explain what we would do, and Will demonstrated his leadership and sensitivity, setting the tone for the rest of us. The phrase "decently and in order" was not verbalized, but was certainly in evidence throughout the week.
Psalms 57, verse 1, reads: "O God, have pity, for I am trusting you! I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this storm is past." Each of the owners that we assisted during the week surely must have personally felt this verse. Some of them said as much in our presence. While we may think that the hurricane Katrina storm lasted only a matter of hours, their personal storm continues until they can fully rebuild their lives. Hopefully, what we were able to accomplish has helped to restore some of their strength, add some comfort, and ultimately, provide them a familiar shelter to weather future storms that may beset them. For me, I felt that our work group was in the shadow of God's wing while we performed service in His name.
I would like to offer a special thank you to our prayer partners. They were surely with us for every swing of the hammer and every shovel full of plaster! They provided much needed spiritual support for our labors.
Every family has one. You know - the slightly eccentric, slightly off, but ever so fun relative that gives the family and its gatherings "interest" - the person who adds color and spice to the family's life - the person who, inevitably, is a central part of every defining family story. Sometimes we are slightly embarrassed by this kooky relative, but the truth is we love her dearly and know that our lives are richer for her presence in them. She is the one we go to not only when we want to have a good time but the one we go to for a forgiving and understanding embrace. The one who calls us "my sweet darling" whether we've aced our exams, gotten engaged, or wrecked the family car. We wonder, "How can she always be so funny and so quirky? Doesn't she worry that no one will take her seriously?" We assume that she must have been very pampered, overly loved, and never experienced a serious hurt in her life. This, we say, is probably why she is so fun, so carefree, so understanding, so forgiving, so nonjudgmental.
What we don't know and what she doesn't tell us is that she, like all of us, has suffered; has stumbled; has been hurt. What we realize later is that she has made a choice to be a person of joy; a person of hope; a person of understanding and forgiveness; a person around whom we feel safe to be ourselves.
Our nation's oddball aunt, my hometown of New Orleans, has suffered a hurt that she cannot recover from alone. The hurt is too big, too deep, and too extensive. She'd prefer to remain known as our carefree, "don't worry, be happy" aunt, but "The City that Care Forgot" has fallen on hard times indeed and needs our help. The city where so many in our country have gone to "laissez les bon temps rouler," is, to use a bad metaphor, barely keeping its head above water. Yes, there is traffic. Yes, Mardi Gras will be celebrated. Yes, some people go to work, go to school, go out to eat.
On casual inspection, it may not seem so bad. However, what this achingly thin veneer of normalcy cannot hide is that New Orleans is perilously close to sinking back into the mire for good. 80% of the homes in the city cannot be occupied; many are still jam packed with the water-logged and moldy possessions of a lifetime. The decaying and damaged buildings that were once people's homes stretch out city block after block; subdivision after subdivision; rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods alike. Businesses remain boarded up, and many large national retailers are gone for good. Small locally-owned businesses struggle valiantly for their own survival and that of their neighborhood and their city.
The people in New Orleans, among the most generous, fun-loving, and tolerant in the country, are starting to despair. It has been 18 months since Hurricane Katrina submerged their city, and signs of coordinated recovery are not even to be glimpsed on the horizon. People in New Orleans wonder why crazy, yet "oh, so loveable" Aunt NOLA (New Orleans, LA.) has been forgotten. Can't people see that Aunt NOLA needs some of the love, comfort, and sustenance that she has always given freely to others? Can't the rest of the country see that eccentric old Aunt NOLA needs us to turn around and proffer not just a hand for a perfunctory clasp but both arms opened wide for a true embrace?
It was a bittersweet privilege for me and the rest of us on the mission trip to embrace a few of the people in New Orleans this past January. Despite the depressing and dire circumstances of their lives, we were greeted with smiles, hugs, and gratitude by the people of New Orleans. We worked side by side with volunteers from Chicago, North Carolina, northern Illinois, and New Orleans. New Orleanians cooked for us, hosted us in their homes, conducted tours through the city for us, thanked and celebrated us at local businesses, and shared their stories with us. The people of New Orleans are doing their part and doing it with grace, humility, and a dash of Tabasco. I only hope that it is my good fortune to respond in kind, not just once, but over and over again. After all, we all have a crazy old Aunt NOLA, don't we?
January 3, 2007
Yesterday we gutted Don's house in East New Orleans. My fears were pretty big going out there - mostly fear of smells and of toxins. Turns out neither of those was any big deal as we worked yesterday. We made fairly short work (5 hours or so) of removing all of Don's belongings and then tearing apart his trim and taking down the drywall. As we removed the contents of the house, we set them in debris piles in the street. The common debris pile contained all furniture, fixtures and personal items that were ruined as well as all of the window and door trim, baseboards, doors, and drywall. Other piles were specified for food items, chemicals, electronics, etc. When we finished that day, the common debris pile was the length of Don's yard, the width of 1/2 of the street (one full lane) and, at its height, was taller than me by a couple of feet.
The last pile was one for "salvageable" items. It was the smallest pile and sat in Don's front yard. (At each house we gutted that week, the homeowners let us know if there was anything in particular they were hoping we could find and save for them.) Don asked us to keep an eye out for an envelope containing some letters from his father. I don't know if we ever found those; though I did see several envelopes matching that description make it out him.
Since most things were at least partially ruined, it was hard to know what ought to go in the yard pile. I put a portrait of a beautiful young Greek woman there which was moldy around the edges, a prayer book, someone's fifth grade report card and a Greek workbook with answers scrawled in the hand of an elementary school student.
Onto the debris piles I tossed scuba gear, umbrellas, clothing, maintenance manuals, various membership cards, old batteries, bills, key rings, electrical appliances, shoes . . . the list continues - anything one might happen to have in their house.
Don was an elderly gentleman, I would guess in his 70s. He wore a white dust suit all day but only rarely went into the house. He spent most of those five hours looking through the debris piles and moving things around. Saving something we had tossed away and tossing to garbage things we had deemed salvageable. At first I thought it very sad and couldn't imagine what might be going through his mind as 27 strangers made seemingly random decisions on what to put in his "salvage" pile and what to throw away.
There were two tennis balls on the floor of his main living room and, although I know they may have floated from a rec closet or who know where, I found myself choking on the thought that he may have had a dog: "If he did, was the dog saved? Or would this grimy, mold-covered tennis ball be meaningful to him?" It was one of many similar questions that popped into my head as we worked that day.
But we didn't have time to ask questions about every detail of every recognizable item we assessed and tossed. I was very aware that I didn't know this man, except as a fellow earthling. He was a human being created of the same spirit that I believe is the "greatest common denominator" of all of us. At our core, we are all the spirit of love, the spirit of God. While it was impossible for me to strike up a conversation about everything I found - from membership cards for Parents without Partners to a collection of dainty white ribbons to the imagined dog's possible toys - I found that faith in that common spirit, faith in God, allowed me to move forward and make decisions. God knew Don and so it was not important that I did not. God would see that Don had what he needed and if I had a part to play in that then God would inspire me to toss things in the appropriate pile.
I threw away the tennis balls and then later found a box of cat de-wormer from what must have been the 1970s. Immediately I was asking myself the question that often spurs me to make a quick judgment about whether or not I have something in common with another person: "Is Don a cat-person or a dog-person?" I didn't ask him. In fact, I didn't ask him any questions that day except for one.
I could say I didn't talk to him much because it was easier not to, and it was. I could say it was because it was impossible to really know this man in the time that we had with him, and it was. But I believe it was also because I didn't need to. Just as God takes care of me and shows me what I need to see, God was caring for Don and knew what and how to inspire each of us as we worked.
I spoke to Don only twice in those 5 hours. I said goodbye and wished him well at the end of the day. And once when I passed by him, he asked me how I was doing. I was surprised at his question and at his concern for me and I was tricked into asking him the very question that was on my mind every single time I passed him pushing a wheelbarrow or dumpster full of what were once his things to dump in the street. "I'm OK," I said, "How are you doing?" I can tell you that he answered something innocuous and I found it hard to believe it was the truth. Except that it was the truth, really, and maybe Don knew that. Maybe Don had enough faith to realize God's ability to provide for him when he answered, "I'm OK."
The kingdom of God is like a city built by the water that was bold and beautiful. A tremendous storm came and the rains were so great that the levees could not hold the water back and the city was flooded. The people of the city were unprepared and many had to climb to their rooftops for safety. They cried out to their leaders to send help and to save them. Help came, but it came slowly and not everyone survived. And many of those who did survive returned to find their homes devastated. The people again cried out to their leaders to send help to restore their homes and their city but help from the officials was slow in coming. The people began to lose hope thinking no one cared or understood their plight...but then, suddenly, help began arriving from unexpected and faraway places. Men and women, old and young, skilled and unskilled, joined together offering their time and energy so that the people of the city would know they had not been forgotten. As they worked together their spirits lifted and faith and hope were restored...not just for the people of the city but for all.
We tried to opt out of the tour. We came to work and spending a morning driving around the city with church members didn't seem like a good use of anyone's time. But our hosts seemed to think that the tour was important, so we agreed to go along.
Our tour guide, Barbara Bush, lives in the "sliver by the river" that didn't flood, but her family ended up living in their vacation home for three months because while their house was okay, they couldn't live in it because there weren't any city services. Barbara wasn't even going to evacuate except that her daughter-in-law was nervous, so she agreed to leave with her. She said that all we'd seen on the news was the Lower 9th Ward and that it was only one very small part of the devastation. She wanted to show us some of the other areas that were hit, places where some of their members lived.
What got to me was Lakeview. We were driving through a large subdivision of what appeared to be high- end custom-built homes, but it was like a ghost town. There was almost no landscaping and when you could see into the houses, many were empty and gutted. Maybe one in ten looked like there was actually someone living there.
I can't remember why we stopped; I think Barbara was pointing out something on the right. But what I saw was the lovely house on the left, all decked out for Christmas. There was a big sign in the front yard - "Santa's Wish List." Their number one wish, understandably, was for Category Five Levees. But it was wish number five that really got to me. It was one word: Neighbors.
I'd already helped gut a house, so I had some idea of what it might have felt like to come home to a mess and how much work it would take to make it livable again. But I hadn't realized that fixing up your home doesn't necessarily get you back to where you started.
It's important to me to live in a neighborhood where I can walk, and I love strolling through my area, checking out what people have done to their houses, speaking to the people out working in their yards. It was heartbreaking to think of strolling through a wasteland, noting who still hadn't returned home, wondering when someone else might start the reconstruction process, seeing more For Sale signs going up and knowing that others had given up on your neighborhood. Hoping that your example might encourage others but having no concrete way to reclaim the neighborhood.
Gutting houses is hard, dirty work but at least you're doing something to make things better. We may have left the house a shell, but at least it was ready for the next step and it was possible to believe that we were restoring hope. But how do you sustain hope after you've done your part as an individual? When your house is fixed up, the yard replanted, but your neighbors haven't returned and you still aren't sure what will be done about the levees. It will be years before that neighborhood comes back and it may never really be the same. It's in a low lying area that is dependent on the levees, so it makes sense that some people don't want to put any more money into their homes without assurances that the levee will hold next time. It's probably easier to start over somewhere else. But what about the people who don't want to give up their homes?
Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between courage and foolishness but I admire the people who have gone back and reclaimed their homes. I just hope that it isn't too long before they have a real neighborhood again.
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On February 4th we celebrated Karen Coletti's service as Minister of Christian Education by presenting her with a gift certificate to the St. Louis Art Museum gift shop and presenting the Christian Education program with a basket of percussion instruments for Thicket use in her honor. If you would like to make a donation toward these gifts, please contact the Church office (725-3840).
Easter and Spring give us a chance for renewal and we have an opportunity to make this renewal very visible on Easter.
Spring flowers may be purchased by members and friends of Trinity. Donors may take their flowers home after the last service on Easter to be enjoyed all spring and summer in the garden.
Easter flowers may be ordered by filling out this form. Please enclose a check with your order form which may be (1) placed in the offering plate, (2) taken to the church office, or (3) mailed to the church. Checks should be made payable to "Trinity Presbyterian Church" with a notation "Easter flowers." Deadline for orders is Sunday, March 25, 2007.
There are many opportunities for ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church. To respond to invitations to ministry, or to list your own, please contact me at the church (725-3840) or email, juliammc@sbcglobal.net.
Most new members comment on how warm and welcoming our Church family is. Are you interested in helping Trinity become an even more welcoming place? Join the Welcoming Committee to share your ideas and help coordinate Sunday fellowship refreshments. Please contact Cheryl Evans (963-3152) or Dave Nelson (862-7466).
The Winger Food Pantry needs food shoppers for July, August and September. Particularly helpful are a big car and strong muscles. Substitute baggers are also needed for the food pantry to fill in for regular baggers when they are unable come. Please call Sandy Norkaitis (863-7699) or me (725-3840) to join this ministry.
The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit coming to Kansas City February 8 through May 13 includes documents never before seen in the United States, as well as artifacts from the ancient community of Qumran, near where the scrolls were discovered. Several members are interested in going to this exhibit. Please contact me soon to join in this trip.
[more]Sunday, March 18 - "Women's Stories-Women's Songs": The St. Louis Women's Chorale will celebrate Women's History Month with this theme at a concert at the Missouri History Museum on Sunday, March 18th at 3p.m. The program will relive history through the telling of tales, sharing of stories and singing of songs. $15. RSVP to Sandy Norkaitis (863-7699) by March 4th.
Tuesday, March 27 - Friendship Salad Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-1p.m. Bring a salad to share. Church Dining Room.
Tuesday, April 24 - Friendship Salad Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-1p.m. Bring a salad to share. Church Dining Room.
Tuesday, May 29 - Friendship Salad Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-1p.m. Bring a salad to share. Church Dining Room. Special Event: Jane Rand Quilt Display
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.
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Prayers for Homebound Members
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Prayers for Health Concerns
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Prayers for Comfort
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