- Ann Fischer

Please notice the article on the front page of the Post Dispatch on Friday, March 28 about North St. Louis Youth Build.  On March 9, Martha Brunell preached and led worship at Trinity (on Celebration of the Gifts of Women Sunday).  For many years she nurtured the dwindling flock at Friedens U.C.C. and spearheaded the conversion of the church's assets to the "Friedens Neighborhood Foundation" which has tackled Youth Build.  I am presently on the Foundation Board. Martha has been key in the evolution of this project from "dying little church" to a forward-looking foundation--a perfect example of the Easter Feet Dan preached about last Sunday...it's just the outcome that is uncertain.  The loss of federal funding has been devastating.  Please keep the individuals whose lives have been changed by this program in your prayers.

Related Links:

• Friedens/YouthBuild flickr Photo Pool
• Post-Dispatch YouthBuild audio slide show

...on Thursday, March 20 at 6 p.m. This year the meal will be both a way to enjoy fellowship and a way to share your culinary abilities with the congregation. We are changing to a pot luck style format, and sign-up sheets will be placed in the Narthex and the Dining Room. After our fellowship supper we will go to the chapel for a short, reflective worship service. Please call or email the church office so that we may plan for our meal. Childcare will be available.

...will be held on Sunday, March 16 at 4 pm in the Sanctuary. Jay Carter is lauded for his luminous tone and stylish interpretations. He is joined by the newly-formed Baroque ensemble Saint Louis Baroque. $10/ticket, $7 students/seniors.

FEAST: (Fellowship, Eating and Sharing Together), a gathering of people in their 20's and 30's, will meet in the church dining room for a light meal and board games on Saturday, March 15^th from 6-8 pm. Please bring your favorite game night snack foods (pita/hummus, etc.) and join in the fun! Childcare will be available. Please bring food to share and RSVP to Liz in the office.

You are invited to attend a workshop right after worship Sunday March 9, led by member Charlotte Landrum, entitled "Happy, Healthy Families"

Two workshops to choose from:

Adults and teens will meet in the dining room and children 12 and under will meet in the Thicket.

Kids will learn:

• All about healthy "grow" foods
• How to make the best choices using Dr. Sears' "Red light, Yellow light, Green light system."
• And they will make a project to help them remember what they learn!

Adults will learn:

• Foods that boost immune systems & prevent disease
• Foods and ingredients to avoid at all costs
• How to read a label - and understand it!
• An easy way to get the recommended 9-13 fruits and veggies into your family's diet everyday!

For planning purposes, please let the office know you are coming (725-3840, tpcucity@swbell.net)

Trinity members and friends have been all over the St. Louis airwaves this past week. You can see or hear them via the following links:

• Jenn Clodi and the Jeweltones were featured on Show Me St. Louis
• Vicki Carmichael was interviewed on KWMU's Cityscape about her March 9 Artist Presentation Society concert - Due to illness, the March 9 concert has been canceled. Watch the Trinity web site for news about rescheduling.
• Fred Onovwerosuoke of the St. Louis African Chorus was also on Cityscape to talk about the Boys Choir of Kenya, who will perform at Trinity on March 2

- Dr.Daniel Anderson-Little, Pastor, and Paul Vasile, Minister of Music

This Holy Week at Trinity we will experience the story as we have in years past but we will also find new ways to live through this special time of the church year. As worship planners we have spent a great deal of time imagining how we can find new meaning and connection to the story, for it is not enough to just be a spectator to the events. For when we find ourselves inside of the story it can open up new layers of meaning and spiritual depth to us. So, we invite you into something old and something new and pray that you will join us as we walk with Jesus this Holy Week.

Palm Sunday, March 16, 10:30 a.m. - We will gather on the front steps of the church for a time of waving palms, singing and processing into the church. This year the Sunday Morning Singers and Sunday School children will lead the procession with an exciting song from Mexico that invites us all to praise "the One who comes in the name of the Lord." During the service we will read the Passion story as a congregation, sing hymns and hear musical meditations by our choirs. Because bagpipes are much beloved at Trinity, this year instead of on Palm Sunday, we will have them lead us in worship on October 26, which is Reformation Sunday when we celebrate our Scottish heritage as Presbyterians.

Maundy Thursday, March 20, Dinner at 6 p.m. and service at 7 p.m. - We will gather in the Dining Room for a simple meal of soup and salad. Like the disciples, we will sing a hymn and make our way to the Chapel to celebrate Communion together. The Trinity Choir will also sing.

Good Friday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m. - This year you are invited to a musical meditation on Christ's final hours. It is enough! (Es ist genug) is a series of dramatic meditations for organ and trombone choir written by Paul Vasile based on a pietistic Lutheran hymn harmonized by J.S Bach. The piece will be presented in dialogue with a reading of the Seven Last Words and help to provide a poignant reflection on Christ's suffering and death.

Easter Day, March 23 at 9 and 11 a.m. - We herald Christ's victory over death with joyous Alleluias. Festive music for brass quartet and organ and a wonderful display of flowers will fill the Sanctuary. Breakfast will be served from 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m.

Each year we at Trinity Presbyterian Church, along with literally hundreds of other faith groups, give generously to the One Great Hour of Sharing. OGSH started in 1949, in response to the devastation that World War II had left in much of the world, and has been held every year since. Over the years, the offering's mission has grown from simply emergency relief and rebuilding after disasters such as wars, earthquakes, and floods to addressing many kinds of human suffering, from the sudden to the chronic.

In today's world One Great Hour of Sharing offerings focus increasingly on the root causes of suffering, so that solutions can be sustained after our attention moves on to other communities. In our own denomination work is done not only through Church World Service, but also through the Presbyterian Church (USA), in such programs as the Self-Development of People, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

Even today, however, the offering continues the tradition it has maintained throughout its history - standing with our fellow citizens of the world in the face of suffering, walking with them toward a more hopeful future, and witnessing to the love of God in Jesus Christ in tangible ways that proclaim in word and deed that they are not alone. During this Easter season, you are invited to join this great tradition of sharing resources that truly changes lives. The One Great Hour of Sharing Offering will be received on Palm Sunday.

- Dr. Daniel Anderson-Little, Pastor

Each day I write an entry on a website that lets folks know how Linda is doing with her cancer treatments. I wrote this entry on Saturday, February 9, and it encapsulates much of the Lenten journey that all of us are invited to take:

Today This Felt Particularly Hard

Linda's battle with cancer - our battle with cancer - felt particularly hard today. I am not quite sure why. It wasn't a bad day. We weren't busy at a crazy pace. A lovely meal was provided tonight. But for some reason it felt harder than other days. Linda is still really tired, so that is hard. And then she feels bad about having no energy to do anything (anything but heal which is a LOT of work), and I feel bad because there is nothing I can do to help her get past the tiredness and that is hard. And because she must devote the bulk of her energy to healing, we don't have the same sense of companionship that we usually have when facing difficult situations - and that is particularly hard.

The point of the day that brought this hardness into focus was when I went to the Presbytery meeting. This was the first Presbytery meeting since Linda's diagnosis and surgery and so naturally many friends and colleagues came up to me to ask how Linda is doing, how the kids are doing, how I am doing. In our life before cancer when people would ask me how I was doing, I would frequently and automatically say "fine." But we are not fine these days and everyone knows it, so a dismissive "fine" doesn't work. I found myself smiling weakly and kind of shrugging my shoulders. In the long run, Linda's prognosis is excellent; in the later Spring her chemo will be done; but right now it's hard. And I really felt that today. And what's odd is that this feeling of difficulty, this feeling that this journey is hard right now comes in the midst of great concern being expressed by wonderful colleagues and in the midst of others taking care of us.

Maybe these experiences - feeling the weight of this journey and the care of others - are connected. Maybe it isn't so odd. The expressions of care and concern give us, give me, a little space to feel, to be in touch with ourselves. When we are rushing around, we can easily ignore what we are feeling. But love gives us the space to listen to ourselves, to feel a little more deeply. And what we are feeling today is that this is a hard and long journey - and we don't like it. And even though there is a part of me that would rather skip by those feelings, they are real - as real as anything that is happening right now. So in that regard, the only thing worse than having a hard day and being aware of it is having a hard day and not being aware of it. For when we know we have come up against our limitations, when life is bearing down on us, we can stop trying so hard, we can give expression to our feelings through anguished cries and tears, and we can receive the help that is so graciously offered.

So yes, it was a hard day; but it was a good hard day, and for that I am grateful.

The Seasons of the Spirit class led by Dan Anderson-Little and Julie March continues through Palm Sunday. This Lenten study invites us to discover God's steadfast love, which surrounds us intimately in all of our times, and beyond time. This season also encourages us to join our testimony, in word and deed, to that of the first witnesses to the Resurrection.

Diane O'Brien found this poem last year and shares it with us this year as we prepare for Easter...

Leave, you say,
this safe, dark crypt?

Here, invisible are
the torn wrappings,
the rotting flesh,
the timid heart,
and the huge stone
that weighs it down,
crushing the lifeblood from me
like grapes in a winepress.

No Lazarus am I,
stirred to courage
simply by the shout
of a Messiah.

Where is the hand
that will lead me
to light?

Coax me into resurrection,
quickly,
before this crypt
becomes my home.

- Diana Seago OSB

- Paul Vasile

On Sunday, March 9, at 3 p.m. she will perform her award recital at Unity Christ Church at 33 N. Skinker Blvd. (corner of Forsyth and Skinker). The program will include works by Handel, Mozart, Chabrier, R. Strauss, Schoenberg and Bernstein. I invite all of you to show your support for Vicki.

Due to illness, the March 9 concert has been canceled. Watch the Trinity web site for news about rescheduling.

- Liz Nelson, Church Administrator

Since weather is unpredictable here in St. Louis, there is certainly a chance that we will encounter another Sunday with snow and ice. We want members and visitors to be safe as they make their way from the COCA parking lot and surrounding areas to the church property. A few weeks ago, a couple of members slipped on black ice on the red accessibility ramp between the lot and the sidewalk on Washington Ave. Although COCA cleared the snow that fell on Friday per their contract, the extra precipitation Saturday night apparently created spots of ice. Members brought their concerns to the staff, and I talked with our building insurance representative to clarify our safety responsibilities and any liability issues. I learned that, for liability reasons, Trinity is not allowed to go on other peoples' property and clear snow or ice. And, while we pay COCA to use their lot on Sundays, it is not our property.

Although it's counterintuitive to being a safe and welcoming place, we've been instructed not to touch the snow and ice in the back alley (University City property), the COCA lot, or the sidewalks between the lot and the church property line. If we did take it upon ourselves to shovel or de-ice and someone fell, WE would actually be liable for compensation if sued, rather than the property owners. What a strange and litigious world we live in!

The Facilities Commission is looking into other solutions for keeping members safe on snowy days, but we ask you each to use your best judgment on poor weather days. If you have any suggestions for solutions to this issue, please speak with me or other members of the Facilities Commission (Rick Jeter, Bob Little, Mark O'Bryan, Reed Evans, and Birty Hodgson). And remember that the Church phone system now has a choice on the main menu (option 7) where we will record cancellation updates when we have bad weather. We will also place cancellation information on the Church website calendar.

Congratulations and thank you to Chris and Stacey Carman, who will be taking over as coordinators of the Winger Food Pantry ministry, and another big thank you to the scores of other people who continue to answer the call to complete the other duties that keep the Food Pantry in service to our community. The Food Pantry as been in operation for over 25 years, and remains a vital and important ministry at Trinity. We are all very thankful that it will continue in such capable hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't preach a social gospel; I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, 'Now is that political or social?' He said, 'I feed you.' Because the good news to a hungry person is bread." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

- David Nelson

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, . . . me "versus" four to eight 2-1/2 to 4-1/2 year olds in a two and a half hour extravaganza of play and learning. Who will cry? Who will share? Who will start the inevitable train of all the children needing to go to the bathroom at the same time? And who will provide those amazing glimpses of faith that make teaching in the preschool room such a wonderful ministry?

The answers are, of course, different each week (though I haven't been the one to cry - yet), and that's part of the fun. With our new church-wide curriculum, the preschoolers study the same story as the older children and adult education, and that presents a great opportunity to move outside the stories that are frequently presented to kids. I most recently taught in the preschool during the month of January, so had the opportunity to share with the children the stories of Epiphany, Jesus' baptism by John, and Jesus gathering many of the disciples.

On Epiphany, the children had a wonderful time decorating the preschool room with paper stars that I had cut out of yellow construction paper. Every surface up to about four feet in height seemed to have at least some stars on it. And they marveled at how high I could stick the stars on the wall if I jumped. We also had fun dressing up as the mysterious "kings" and going on a journey following my flashlight star.

Later in the month, the children used a big blue blanket from my house to make the river to reenact Jesus' baptism by John. The negotiations between the children on what placement of the blanket created the best representation of a river were captivating, and their energy and enthusiasm in taking turns being John, Jesus, and the spectators was tremendous. The next week, I brought an even larger blanket from home to make the sea on which the disciples-to-be did their fishing. It was great to see that almost all of the children noticed that the blanket was bigger. We had a great time filling the sea with paper fish, although it took some convincing on my part that my rather rough paper renditions could actually be considered "fish."

I love the challenge of working to devise ways to make these Bible stories come alive for the preschoolers. Certainly some ideas are more successful than others, and it is delightfully unpredictable what attempts will grab their attention and what will not. One time that is consistently engaging for the children is when we say our prayer of Thanksgiving prior to our snack time (well, sometimes it's during or even after, depending on how hungry they are, and how well I did in picking a good snack . . . ). The preschool room has several simple prayers posted on the wall, and the children call for them by the color of paper. On most Sundays we end praying them all several times over ("let's do green again!"), as the children insist that we haven't yet thanked God enough for all that we have received. And that is perhaps what I love best about spending time with these wonderful, amazing children - the opportunity to learn from them.

Music from Handel Cantatas and Oratorios - Sunday, March 16 at 4 p.m. $10 adults, $7 seniors and students. Instrumentalists and vocalists from St. Louis Baroque join acclaimed countertenor, Jay Carter, in a program of arias and choruses from Handel's oratorios and cantatas.

Saint Louis Symphony Family Concert - Saturday, April 5 at 10:30 a.m. Free and open to the public.

This special educational concert features musicians from the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra performing selections that will inspire, enrich and awaken children's love for music.

Imrat Khan in Concert - Saturday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. $15 adults, $10 students/seniors. Don't miss this performance by one of the world's finest Indian musicians. His breathtaking virtuosity communicates a generous humanity that touches audiences and turns each performance into an unforgettable experience.

- Stacy Shupe

 Using a process through which we discerned our individual calls to ministry, the first task of our February meeting was to decide who would serve on each of the commissions within the church.

Over two years ago, the Session voted to support fully an initiative to begin our Equipping Ministry. We received a three-year grant from the Endowment Board to fund this project, including the salary of our part-time Equipping Minister, Julie March. This grant will expire at the end of 2008. During our February meeting, we voted to establish a four- member Equipping Ministry Review Team to review the work our Equipping Team has been doing and to consider whether this is a direction we should continue to pursue as a church. Once the members of the review team have been determined, we will be soliciting feedback from you about your involvement with our Equipping Ministry.

Pat Gibbons reported on possibilities of Trinity sponsoring part of a Habitat for Humanity house this summer. We voted to pledge at least $5000. Watch for more information regarding fundraising for this house in the coming months.

- Do Kirk, Mark and Kim Merritt

Spider webs are very intriguing to us. The variety and patterns. . . the long tunnel webs that screw in like a funnel, the perfectly symmetrical webs woven between two points that catch the sunlight, and the crazy helter-skelter webs attached at many points in every nook and cranny.

Whether hosing to clean the debris in the yard, or a child picking and poking with a stick, or a rain storm washing everything in its path down into the curb, or batting your hands to rid ourselves of a web - within the hour the spider will begin reweaving her intricate home! Her determination and perseverance are to be admired.

Like the spider and her home, we stand together steadfast and committed, knowing nothing can destroy our web because we are interconnected, we support each other, we are grounded in faith, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit!

If we falter and our threads break or sag - we re-spin! Our strength is in our diversity, our interdependence, and our faith in Jesus Christ.

As we begin our journey, we will continue to be interconnected and grounded in faith. Each of you are woven and entwined in our lives and even though we are miles away your threads of faith and love go with us.

Thank you for your steadfast and unconditional love. . . thank you for trusting us, teaching us, praying with and for us, and sharing your love and faith with us.

May the Peace of Christ be with each of you. Hugs and blessings.

- Judith Giraud

Photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My mother and her father before her took many pictures. As with many families, these were mostly images documenting events and milestones. I never knew my grandfather, who died when my mother was very young, but I heard her memories of posing for pictures and I have seen many of the glass plates on which he recorded his images. When I was growing up my mother set up her own darkroom (in the kitchen, at night) to develop and print her pictures. She would take series of pictures and create books to tell a story (such as my brother's first birthday). I remember getting my first camera and beginning to take my own pictures. At first I followed the tradition of using the camera to record the happenings of my life (my new little sister, a trip to visit my grandmother).

As I grew I also developed a great love for the beauty and complexity of the world around me. I also learned to love gardens and especially flowers, thanks to my father's great love of growing things. He also helped me learn persistence and tenacity (especially useful in photographing small children and flowers in the wind). His ability to grow roses in the desert of New Mexico showed me that if you have an idea and pursue it fully, it can come true.

When I had my own children I, of course, continued to record the important milestones of our lives. I also began to explore photography as a way to share my vision of the world with others. My first efforts were mostly scenic and nature images. As I began to travel more I added images which show this fascinating world we live in. I try to find images which indicate the essence of a place.

The exploration of patterns in both nature and architecture is an area of special interest. I especially love playing with abstracts and reflections. Close-ups of flowers and plants show both the beauty and the mathematical wonder of our world. Creating the images allows my imagination to play and sharing them with others gives me great pleasure. I think these words which I wrote in 1999 express this:

Herald the sun's rising

with trumpet sounds.

Lift my soul's joy

on the glad notes.

Reaching, reaching

for connection to my home.

Then, like the sun

my life can dance,

sparkling on the water.

Sharing beauty

with all who see.

Enjoy an exhibit of Judy's photographs of flowers in the Trinity Gallery next to the chapel.

On Sunday, March 9, Trinity Presbyterian Church, along with many other Presbyterian congregations, will join in celebrating and recognizing the many and varied gifts of women to God, the Church and the community. This day is set aside each year to celebrate and honor individual women who contribute their gifts to church and community, and to lift up issues of women's rights. Today women have unprecedented freedom and leadership opportunities in many denominations, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) recognizes the equality and diversity of gifts of each person. In the 21^st century Presbyterian Church, women share in each and every program that makes up the gifts of the church. But it was not always this way.

Christian churches in America, first organized in the 17^th Century by several faith groups, were created by, led by, governed by and ministered to by men. Only the Quakers practiced equality for all members. Women of the Presbyterian Church followed the traditional role of wives, mothers, cooks and homemakers. In 1832 the General Assembly sent a pastoral letter to the churches, saying, "To teach and exhort, or to lead in prayer, in public and promiscuous assemblies, is clearly forbidden to women in the Holy Oracles." Forty years and a bloody Civil War later little had changed. In 1872 the General Assembly reaffirmed the 1832 statement after Sarah Smiley, a Quaker minister, spoke at Lafayette Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, N.Y.

As the 20^th Century approached, women of the church were deeply involved in mission work. Not only were many women and men being sent all over the world to work in the mission field, but Presbyterian Women organized and ran the largest Missionary Society in the United States. At this time women still could not be church officers, but in 1906 The United Presbyterian Church in North America began allowing women to be deacons. Not until 30 years later were women approved to become elders, and in 1931 five women became the first female commissioners to the General Assembly. In 1955 it was agreed that there was no theological ground for denying ordination to women "simply because they are women," and in 1956 Margaret Towner became the first woman to be ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church. (In her first church, the only time Margaret Towner was allowed in the pulpit was the Sunday after her ordination when she gave the benediction.) Other dates of note include 1974, when Katie Canon became the First African American woman ordained as a pastor; 1979, as Rebecca Reyes became the first Hispanic American woman ordained to the ministry; and 1987, when the first Native American, Holly Halle Smith, was ordained.

Women in all walks of life have contributed not only in being deacons, elders, commissioners and pastors in the church, but also in teaching, politics and human rights. They include:

• Nelle Morton (1905-1987), theologian, professor, author and ecumenist who had far-reaching influence on churches and the international women's movement.
• Bella Abzug (1920-1998), Civil rights and labor attorney elected to Congress from New York City in 1970.
• Mary McCleod Bethune (1875-1955), teacher who began a school in Florida to help educate young black women with only $1.50, a school which developed into Bethune-Cookman College.
• Marion Wright Edelman (1939-present), attorney, civil rights advocate and author who founded the Children's Defense Fund, the nation's strongest advocacy group for children.
• Sojourner Truth (c.1797-1913), abolitionist born a slave who became an advocate for women's rights, a Quaker missionary and traveling preacher.
• Susette La Lesche (1854-1903), member of the Omaha Tribe and campaigner for Native American rights.

On March 9 we will gather in worship to celebrate God's call to women whose stories are told in the scriptures and God's call to women throughout time. God's various gifts are handed out everywhere, but they all originate in God's Spirit. Be a part of this service of thanks and celebration as we praise God for all good gifts.

On Saturday April 19 churches and service organizations all over St. Louis will join together, roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help over 100 St. Louis homeowners stay safe and independent in their homes. If you can paint or rake or lay tile or plant flowers, this is your big chance to serve God and neighbor. The session of Trinity Presbyterian Church has agreed to sponsor a house for "rebuilding."

Mark April 19 on your calendar NOW and stay tuned for more information.

The Funraiser raised $1,500 towards the purchase of new robes for the choir. Thank you to all who attended and who have donated so far. This is a great beginning, but, the more funds we raise, the more design and fabric choices we have (those who saw the "fashion show" know what we mean!). Checks with "choir robes" or "Funraiser" in the memo line can be sent to the office or put in the offering plate. Thank you in advance!