may 2009 trinity topics newsletter, trinity toledo episcopal church
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8/8/2019 May 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church
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Practice resurrection. Live in open expectation of the new thingGod is doing at all times and in all places. It means openingourselves to that new thing, recognizing that the change itbrings will cause some distress. But there is always moreabundant life on the other side of the pain and grief that comeswith change and growth.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
TrinityTopicsThe Newsletter of Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio
MAY
2009
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litu
rgy
&e
ven
ts
2
The Creation Perrysburg Symphony ChoralFriday, May 1, 7p.Haydn: CreationCelebrate May Day with this classical masterwork asarchangels Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel tell the story of thebeginning of life.Tickets: Adults: $15; Students & Seniors: $12
Anthony/Brown Piano Duo: Still HereFriday, May 15, 7pBach: C minor Concerto
The fifth appearance of the celebrated duo as they finish theirsurvey of the Bach Concertos and other assorted works forduo piano.Adults: $15, Students/Seniors: $12
Music of Aaron CoplandFriday/Saturday June 5/6 7pCopland: Appalachian Spring
Quiet CityDown A Country Lane
Nigel Burgoine and the Ballet Theatre of Toledo join theSonoNovo Chamber Ensemble with original choreography tothis Pulitzer Prize-winning score. Also on the program areseveral shorter works by this beloved American composer.Tickets: $20/$15
SUNDAY, MAY 3EASTER 4Acts 4:5-12; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18
9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s
10:00a Formation
10:45a Parish Eucharist
SUNDAY, MAY 10EASTER 5Acts 8:26-40; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s10:00a Formation
10:45a Parish Eucharist
SUNDAY, MAY 17EASTER 6Acts 10:44-48; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17
9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s
10:00a Formation
10:45a Parish Eucharist
SUNDAY, MAY 24EASTER 7Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19
9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s
10:00a Formation
10:45a Parish Eucharist
SUNDAY, MAY 31PENTECOSTActs: 2:1-21; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27, 16:4-15
ONE SERVICE TODAY10:45a Festive Eucharist
SUNDAY, JUNE 7TRINITY SUNDAYIsaiah 6:1-8; Romans 8:12-17; John 4:1-17
9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s
10:00a Formation
10:45a Parish Eucharist
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f
rom
the
rector
3
Are you the baby of the family? Do you rem ember a
time when there was a baby in your family? I hope
your experience was seeing family coming together,
happ y and excited an d w illing to help out how ever
they could. Each one of us w as the baby of the
family at one time or anoth er. I think of this as wefinally hit spring in Toledo, and as we have a cluster
of holidays and holy days this month: Mothers Day,
Pentecost, Memor ial Day, Trinity Sund ay (God as all
of those elemen ts of familywho knew ?), and as w e
take the next step w ith Natural Chu rch Development.Photo by (Zahar Oriyan)
Weve been hearing off and on about N atural Chu rch Development for about a year. The next
step in the process is a survey that m easures the health of our commu nity. We will take the survey
on Pentecost to invite the H oly Spirit into our gr owth as a comm unity. We will find out w here we
are strong, and also wh ere we are weak.
According to N atural Chur ch Development, the factors that m ake a h ealthy church are
emp owering leadership , gift-based ministry, passionate spiritua lity, effective structures, inspiring
wor ship service, holistic small groups, need -oriented evangelism, and loving relationship s. As you
will see from the image on page 7, these are represented as the staves, the slats of wood , that make
up an old-fashioned bucket. As a bucket can only hold as mu ch water as the shortest stave allows,
the church can only do as well as the minimu m factor allows. We will take our su rvey, find ou t
wh at our shortest stave is, and concentrate first on that area in the church. Then we w ill gather to
talk about how we h onestly feel about this minimum factor weve foun d, and how we w ill work
with it.
For some of you , the bucket metaphor w ill wor k just fine. It works very w ell for me, until I
picture u s talking abou t this thing. I dont wan t us to treat our m inimum factor as a piece of wood
with w hich we can hit ourselves over our heads. A church is a living organism, and I need to treat
its factors as living organism s. We may find that this factor is old new s, someth ing that has shown
up m any times in our chu rchs history. But can we try to think of it as something new ? When I
picture us together, having learned w here we are strong and wh ere we are w eak, I picture us all
with a babythe smallest member of the family, to wh om w ell pay lots of extra attention so that it
can grow up healthy and strong. It will need both strained beets and shou lder rides. As all of its
Godp arents, we w ill need t o share diap er du ty. But w e will also be able to share in the joy as it
grow s into a strong, healthy par t of the family.
Whether you treat this factor as a bucket stave or a baby is up to you. But I hope that as we go
into this process, we can, with love, patience, and nurtu ring, help each other to be good stewards,
good Godp arents, and better church.
With much gratitud e to and for all of you,
Liddy
Of Buckets and Babies
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General ConventionWebcast
The Episcopal Chur chs 2009 General
Conven tion w ill be the top ic of a live webcast
on Wed nesday, May 13 at 11 a.m. EDT. . The
webcast will originate from Anah eim
Convention Center in Anaheim, California,
where Genera l Convention 2009 will be held
July 8 17. Participants in the live webcast
includ e the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal
Chu rch, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts
Schori; Presiden t of the H ouse of Depu ties
Bonnie And erson; Executive Officer and
Secretary of the Con vention, the Rev.
Gregory Strau b; and Bishop J. Jon Bruno of
the Diocese of Los Angeles, the host d iocese.
The Episcopal Ch urchs General
Conven tion, held every three years, is the
bicameral governing bod y of the church.
General Convention, the second largest
legislative body in the w orld, is comp rised of
the House of Bishops, with m ore than 200
members, and th e Hou se of Depu ties, withclergy and lay rep resentatives from 110
d ioceses in 15 nations, totaling over 700
members.
To access the live webcast, go to:
ww w.episcopalchurch.org/ index.htm.
For more about General Convention, go to
ww w.episcopalchurch.org/ gc2009.htm.
Spring Regional Meeting
Diocesan regiona l meetings w ill be held
on Wed nesday, May 6 from 6:00 to 8:30pm at
four locations around the diocese. The
meeting for p arishes at the western end of the
d iocese will be at Trinity.
The preliminary p roposal from the
Deanery Review Committee will be shared,
and the d iocesan dep uties to this summers
General Convention will present information
about the Convention .
Let Lidd y know if you p lan to attend.
Dinner will not be provided at the m eeting,
so plan accordingly.
4
con
greg
ation/wor
ld
You Say its Your Birthday?
In response to
several requests, we
will begin includ ing
parishioner birthdays
(month and d ay only)
in next m onths Topics.
If your birthday rolls
around but you dont
see it listed here, tha t
means the church d oesnt have a record of it.
Contact Ginny in th e office by ph one
(419.243.1231) or em ail
(trinity@trinitytoledo.org) to ad d your special
day to the m embership d atabase, so we can
celebrate it with you !
David Nelsons Ordinationto the Diaconate
David S. Nelson will be orda ined to the
transitional diaconate (the last step before
ordination to the p riesthood) on Saturday,
June 13 at 10:00 a.m. at Trinity Cathedral in
Cleveland.
You can continue to show your sup port
for David by attending th e ordination ser-
vice, by sending him a note of sup port, andby keeping him in your p rayers.
MEMBER MATTERS
Carol Statum entered new life on Friday,April 24. May Carol and all the saints, throughthe mercy of God, rest in peace.
One of our older members has moved to benear her daughter. Patricia Bechtel nowlives in Louisville, Ohio (east of Canton).
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c
ongregation/w
orld
Bishop's Bike Ride 2009
The 2009 Bishop 's Bike Ride will be heldfrom Jun e 28 to July 3. This year the ride w ill
begin in Marion, travel through Gambier,
Wooster, New Philadelphia and East
Liverpool, and en d in Steuben ville. The total
trip w ill be 250-275 miles. Riders may ride
the entire route or just a leg or two. Riders
will be hosted at churches for meals and in
par ishioners hom es for overnigh t stays.
Dont want to ride? There are lots of ways
to be involved, like volunteering sup port
services for part of the ride, pr aying for theriders, or d onating snacks and water sup plies.
It is a w ond erful, rich experience for all
involved, not just for the riders.
Money raised from the Bishops Bike Ride
supports youth mission trips in the Diocese of
Ohio. For more information, contact Rita
Rozell by p hon e (800.551.4815) or em ail
(rrozell@dohio.or g).
If souls are not transformedand the world is not healed,the congregation fails no matterwhat the treasurer reports.
Dan Hotchkiss, Alban Institute
Spring Cleaning
Done Yet?
We'll also happily takeyour bedding, towels,
small appliances, pots,pans, cosmetics, jewelry,knickknacks, tchotchkes,and all that stuff you weregoing to regift anyway.
Best of all, the profits goto help folks in our citywho are counting on us.
(See back cover, lower right corner.)
Next to NewMonday/Thursday, 9:30-3:00Recycle + Refashion + Regift
REJOICE
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6
Natural Church D evelopment
Natu ral Church Development (NCD) is a long-term p rocess that
focuses on improving the health of a faith community, with the
und erstanding imp ressively documented by research that when a
congregation is sufficiently healthy, num erical growth w ill follow. NCD is
an ap proach to building healthy congregations that has been adop ted by
the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, and the Trinity vestry has d ecided that our
comm un ity can ben efit from participating in this program .
The NCD p rocess begins w ith a coach, a facilitator-guid e from outsid e
the congrega tion who has been forma lly trained in the prog ram . Trinitys
coach is Terry Kahler, a psychologist and mem ber at St. Marks. She w ill
teach u s about the NCD p rocess and be available to answer qu estions and
offer suggestions and feedback. Terry will also train Trinitys Church
Health Team, a small group of parishioners chosen by the rector and
vestry officers to lead our NCD effort.
The next step in the p rocess is a survey that m easures the hea lth of our
commu nity in eight areas. This sur vey grew ou t of a series of stud ies
involving thousan ds of Christian chu rches of different denom inations and
with different theologies, both growing and declining. These studies
identified eight Qu ality Characteristicswh ich d efine healthy churches and
are consistently correlated w ith church g row th. (See the box for details.)
The anonym ous su rvey of about 90 questions w ill be offered on
Pentecost (May 31) to anyone w ho regularly attends Sund ay w orship and
wh o is involved in som e kind of small group ministry at Trinity (e.g.,
choir, Altar Guild, ushers). How ever, only 30 sur veys can be subm itted
for scoring (compu ter-tabulation by d iocesan staff); these will be dr aw n
from all the completed surveys in ord er to get a representative sample
considering age, gender, and longev ity at Trinity.
Our survey results come as eight scores, one for each of the Qu alityCharacteristics. The lowest score is called our Minimu m Factor. This is the
area that is likely to be the biggest barrier to healthy grow th. Focusing
attention on strengthening this area is expected to prod uce the greatest
impr ovemen t in Trinitys health.
We will discern ou r next steps on th e basis of the su rvey rep ort, to
move toward health and grow th as a commun ity. Well develop an action
plan, using Trinitys areas of greatest strength to imp rove our a rea of
greatest weakness. Well work together for a year to imp lement that plan,
and then take the survey again to see how w eve improved an d w hat our
new Minim um Factor is. The imp rovem ent cycle will then be repeated .
This process must be supp orted by a grou p of parishioners who commit to
praying for Trinitys health and v itality; chur ches that have not succeeded
with N CD have often been missing this elemen t of intercessory prayer.
Though d ifferent congregations may have the same m inimum factor,
the plans they make to improve are as unique as they are. We will use our
own creativity, identity, and energy to add ress our minimu m factor in the
way that w orks best for us. NCD is intended to engage the whole
congregation. It isn't "another thing to do" - it will help Trinity find a
better way to d o what God is dreaming for us to do.
The Church Health
Team
The role of the Chu rch Health
Team is to help the congrega tion
move through th e NCD process
to add ress our m inimum factor,
thereby increasing the health ofthe comm un ity. The Team will
be responsible for creating a p lan
with a timeline, and then
guiding the commu nity through
its work.
Trinitys Chu rch Health Team
mem bers are Todd Alcroft, Don
Barn es, Jane Bueche, Mike
Lowrey, Becky Roth, Karen
Wabeke, and Joni Zechman.
Trinitys coach will meet withthe Team throu ghout the p rocess
to explain concepts, help with
brainstorming, condu ct diag-
nostic exercises, and an swer
questions.
Coaching help is one of the
best features of the NCD
pr ocess. Terry will help us as we
learn about NCD, look at the
results of our surv ey, and p lan
the work on our m inimumfactor. During the year that
follows, shell work w ith the
Church H ealth Team to
imp lement Trinitys plan, and to
evaluate the results.
The Survey
The NCD sur vey will be
offered on Pen tecost (May 31) to
anyone wh o regularly attendsSund ay worship an d is involved
in some kind of small group
ministry at Trinity (e.g., Bread
Guild, Outreach Comm ittee,
vestry). Everyone takes the
survey at the same time, so be
sure to come to Trinity on
Pentecost to receive the Spirit
and share your opinion!
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7
8 Qu ality Characteristics
Empowering Leadership.
Leaders of growing churches em-
pow er others for ministry. They
don t use par ishioners to attain their
own goals and fu lfill their own
visions.
Gift-Based Ministry. When
peop le serve in the ar ea of their
spiritual g ifts, they fun ction less in
their own strength and m ore in the
pow er of the Holy Spirit, allowing
ordinary people to accomplish
extraordinary things.
Passionate Spirituality. Do the
peop le in th is chu rch pra ctice their
faith w ith joy and enthusiasm?
Effective Structures. There is an
extremely negative relationship
between traditionalism and churchgrowth. Healthy churches con-
tinually evaluate w hether church
structures help or hind er the
fulfillment of t heir m ission.
Inspiring Worship Service. The
wor ship service style may be
liturgical or free, the langu age may
be churchy or secular it makes
no difference for church growth.
What does matter is whether
worshipers feel that they ha ve
encountered God during worship.Holistic Small Groups. For
small groups to h ave a p ositive
effect, they must be holistic going
beyond just d iscussing Bible
passages to sh aping daily life. In
such groups, people can safely share
personal concerns and learn to serve
others w ith their spiritual gifts.
Need-Oriented Evangelism. The
key to growth is for a church to
focus its evangelism efforts on
listening to th e questions and needs
of non-Christians.
Loving Relationship s. Growing
churches possess a measurably
higher "love quotient" than stagnant
or declining ones. Genuine,
practical love in action has a
magnetic power far greater than
words.
The 5-Step Quality Grow th Cycle
Natural Church D evelopment means releasing the growth p otential
that God has already implanted in Trinity. How do w e do that?
Prepare
Build a working u nderstand ing of Natu ral Church Developmen t.
Recru it a coach. Share NCD principles and pr ocess with the
congregation. Mobilize intercessors for focused p rayer throu ghou t the
process. Recru it and train initial members of the Church Health Team.
Diagnose
Comp lete the NCD sur vey and receive survey results. Process initial
reactions and responses. Expand the Church H ealth Team if needed in
light of the Minimum Factor. Use focus group s and other listening
strategies to discern key issues contributing to the Minimu m Factor.
Analyze carefully to deter mine root causes. Do add itional read ing,
study, and discussion on the Minimu m Factor. Commu nicate progress
and prayer needs.
Plan
Develop a written action p lan with goals and strategies that ad dress
the issues (root causes, not just symp toms) and remove th e obstacles to
growth of the Minimum Factor. Own ership of the plan by leaders and
mem bers is vital.
Implement
Put the plan into action. Monitor and encourage momentum . Holdpeop le accountable for implement ing their part of the plan. Assess
progress regularly and make ad justments as needed. Keep a h olistic
perspective through out imp lementation.
Evaluate
Review. Assess what h as been achieved in add ressing the Minimu m
Factor. Celebrate the work accomp lished , and consolidate the learning
that can inform the process for the next cycle. Prepa re to take another
survey. Continu e until the kingd om of God is here in this place.
Natural Church
Development uses
the analogy of the
staves of a barrel to
describe the need to
focus attent ion on a
churchs Minimum
Factor. A barr el can
only hold as muchwater as th e shortest
stave allows it to
hold. By increasing
the height of the
shortest stave, the
barrels capacity is
increased. Focus is
placed on th e Minimu m Factor or lowest score of the 8 Quality
Characteristics, and concentra ted effort goes into imp roving th e health
of the chu rch in that area.
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Dental Care for Stew art
StudentsThis spring w e will be collecting fund s to
allow us to g ive each stud ent at Stewart
Academy for Girls an age-appropriate
toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. We buy
these in bulk from a d entist so that each
stud ent receives similar items. If you w ouldlike to contribu te, the
suggested amoun t is
$5 but an y d onation is
welcome! Please
place your gift in one
of the special
envelopes on th e
curved wall. The
students w ill receive the toothbrushes and
toothpaste to take home w ith them at the end
of the school year. Got Bags?
If youre feeling gu ilty about not carrying
reusable shopping bags to the grocery store
with you , let Food for Thought help! FFT
needs your p lastic grocery bags. Arou nd 300
families shop in their pan tries each week,
typically taking 3 bags eachyou d o the
math...
Theyd love to reuse
the p lastic shopping
bags you collect, so
bring them in to Trinity.But p lease note these
requests:
Make sure all
bags are clean
and empty. (They have received
donations of bags w ith d irty tissues
and other trash in them.)
Make sure the bags do n ot have large
holes in them . (Dontyou hate it when
a bag of groceries suffers a blowout in
the par king lot?)
Store you r bags in a clean, dry p lace
(not with the mop or next to the
Drano).
Food for Thought ap preciates your h elp
with this reu se-recycling pr oject.
FOCUS Spring Luncheon
FOCUS will hold its Spring Luncheon on
Wednesday, May 20 at noon in the Grand
Ballroom at the Park Inn (at the corner of
Monroe and Summ it Streets dow ntown).
This is an opportu nity to learn more about
the great work that FOCUS does in thecomm un ity with our supp ort. The lunch is
free, but FOCUS hopes guests w ill feel so
stirred by th e clients testimonies that th ey
will be moved to make a don ation. For more
inform ation , call Janet at 419.729.1878. You
can register online at www.focustoledo.org.
8
ou
tre
ach
ing
s
Project Feed 5,000
Project Feed 5000 is an annu al food d rive
organized by Epworth Un ited Methodist
Chu rch, inspired by Christs feeding of 5,000
peop le with a few loaves and fish. The
pr oject is des igned to fill 1,250 boxes to feed
local Toledo families.
This month we w ill have boxes available
with a list of what goes in them. Therequested food items w ill feed a family of
four for two d ays. Please take a box, fill it
with th e items on the list and b ring the filled
box back Trinity on any Sun day in May. The
boxes will be given to the Toledo Area
Ministries Feed Your N eighbor food pantries;
since Trinity has a long a ssociation w ith
Salem Luth eran, we will take our filled boxes
there.
FFT
~~~~
St. Pauls Sunday Lunch
The next scheduled d ate
for Trinity to provid e lunch at
St. Pauls Comm un ity Center
for the hu ngry in our m idst is
Sund ay, May 17. Stay tuned
during Sunday announce-
ments for more information abou t the need
for cooks and servers.
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Everyday Gratitude
So we send you th is fun ky blue envelope once or
twice a year. Maybe you have a little blue cardboard
box on your d esk or dresser, and cant remember how
or when it got there. It can still do plenty of good .
Its for the UTO--United Thank Offering--which hasbeen around for 130 years, and aw ards grants around
the county an d th roughou t the world. In 2008, it gave
out over $2,400,000. Some examp les of the good it
does:
In the Diocese of D elhi, North India, the UTO
granted $59,622.81 to build a vocational training center
in Kalimpong w hich will house a project that combats
cross-bord er and internal trafficking of women and
children in Eastern Himalaya.
In Boone, North Carolina, the UTO granted $29,200
to the Bread of Life Comm unity Soup Kitchen to
pu rchase commercial kitchen ap pliances and up grade
their ou treach p roject. This p roject not only serves
meals to the homeless and all in need, bu t also trains
the unem ployed for work in the food service indu stry.
Smells just like our mission statement, doesnt it?
Her es wha t to do w ith the fresh envelope enclosed
and / or the dusty blue box that gives you a vague sense
of guilt w hen you look at it:
Option 1: Between now and May 17, at the end ofeach day, remember the blessings of the day . Put a
dollar in the envelope/ box for each blessing. On May
17, bring the envelope to chu rch. Repeat.
Option 2: Youve had that blue box around for
quite some time. Who was the president back then
Clinton? Carter? Estimate the nu mber of years, then
pu t a ten or a twenty in the box for every year it's been
sitting there. On May 17, transfer that money to the
envelope, and bring it to church. Then go to Op tion 1.
Option 3: On May 17, write out an extra check toTrinity and pu t UTO in the memo line.
Whatever you give, well send it to United Thank
Offering, who w ill send it back out to th e w orld. And
somewhere out there, someone will be very grateful.
9
A Litany of the Holy Spirit
Promise of God, grant us hope.
Ray of light, grant us hope.
Author of all good , grant us hope.
Source of life-giving w ater, grant us hope.
Consuming fire, grant us hope.
Ardent love, grant us hope.
Spiritual balm, grant us hope.
Spirit of love and compassion, grant us hope.
Spirit of wisdom and und erstanding, grant us hope.
Spirit of coun sel and fortitude, grant us hope.
Spirit of knowledge and truth, grant us hope.Spirit of peace and reconciliation, grant us hope.
Spirit of transformation and r enewa l, grant us hope.
Spirit of justice and clemency, grant us hope.
Holy Spirit, Comforter, grant us hope.
Holy Spirit, Gift of God , grant us hope.
Holy Spirit Who fills the un iverse, grant us hope.
Amen.
I baptize you with water for repentance, butone who is more powerful than I is coming
after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit andfire. Matthew 3:11
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50 Ways to Love Your Neighborby Shan e Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartg rove
With the N ational Day of Prayer coming up (May
7), a lot of folks around the coun try are organizing
prayer services in church sanctuaries and town halls.
Were all for getting together to say p rayers but
were also challenged by the w ays scripture stirs us tobecome the answer to our prayers. So we decided to
start a little campaign.
Here are 50 ways some little, some bigger
that we can start to be the church w e pray for. If you
can join us in committing to do a t least one of these
things between now and May 7, consider yourself a
member of the movement and share the list with your
friend s. Maybe w ere a little late for a nationa l orga-
nizing committee but, then again, maybe we dont
need one.
May the Spirit spread its truth like kudzu, and may Gods kingdom come on earth as it is inheaven.
1. Fast for the 2 billion people who live on less than a dollar a day.
2. Contact your local crisis pr egnan cy center and invite a pregn ant wom an to live with you r family.
3. Ask your pastor if someone on your chu rchs sick list wou ld like a visit.
4. Join an open AA meeting and befriend someone there.
5. Ad opt a child.
6. Mow your neighbor s grass.
7. Volunteer to tutor a kid at your local elementary school. (Try to get to know the kids family.)
8. Grow your own tomatoes and share them.
9. Ask a small grou p in your commu nity to meet regularly for intercessory prayer.
10. Build a wheelchair ramp for someone who is homeboun d.11. Read the newspap er to someone at your local nursing home.
12. Plant a tree.
13. Look up the closest registered sex offend er in your neighborhood and tr y to befriend h im.
14. Throw a birthd ay party for a pr ostitute.
15. When you pay you r wa ter bill, pay your neighbors too (theyll let you really).
16. Invest money in a micro-lending bank.
17. Ask the next person wh o asks you to spare some change to join you for dinner.
18. Leave a rand om tip for someone wh os cleaning the streets or a pu blic restroom.
19. Write one CEO a month th is year. Affirm or critique the ethics of their compan y (you may need
to d o a little research first).
20. Start tithing (giving 10% of all your income) d irectly to the poor.
21. Connect with a group of migrant workers or farmers who grow your food and visit their farm.Maybe even pick some veggies with them. Ask what they get paid.
22. Give your win ter coat away to someone who is colder than you and go to a thrift store to get a
new one.
For the complete list, go to http:/ / jonathanw ilsonhartgrove.com/ news/
10
A posting from the blog Gods Politics on April 14, 2009
http:/ / blog.sojo.net/ 2009/ 04/ 14/ 50-ways-to-make-a-movement/
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8/8/2019 May 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church
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es
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Book Review
An Altar in the World: A Geography of FaithBarbara Brown Taylor, 216 pgs, Hardcover, 2009
In her critically acclaimed bookLeaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor wrote
abou t leaving full-time pa rish ministry to become a p rofessor, a decision that
stretched the boun dar ies of her faith. Now, in her rich follow-up ,An A ltar in the
World, she shares how she learned to encounter God outside the w alls of anychurch.
From simp le practices such as walking, wor king and getting lost, to deep m editations on top ics like
prayer and pron oun cing blessings, Taylor reveals concrete ways to d iscover the sacred in the smallest
things we do and see. Someth ing as ordinary as han ging clothes on a clothesline becomes an act of
devotion if we pay attention to w hat w ere doing an d take time to attend to the sights, smells, and
sound s around us. Making eye contact with the cashier at the grocery store becomes a mom ent of true
hu man connection. Allowing ourselves to get lost leads to new d iscoveries. Und er Taylor's expert
guidance, we come to question conventional distinctions between the sacred and the secular, learning
that no ph ysical act is too earthbound or too hum ble to become a path to the d ivine. When w e
incorporate these practices into our d aily lives, we can d iscover altars everyw here w e go, in nearly
everything we do.
Mother Love
Some of our m others taught us w hat it was like to be loved. Some others of us grew u p w ith mothers
who couldn t really teach us much abou t love, because theyd never really learned them selves. We tend
to idealize mothers as the p erfect dispen sers of love.
Sometimes mothers do their best work by getting out
of the way, or by leaving. After all, children need th at togrow u p, too. After all, even Jesus gets out of the way so
we can try his way for ourselves.
When Jesus is getting read y to leave his disciples, he
begins to tell them good-bye. Its not so different from
the speech a m other on her deathbed might give the kids:
Now children, I wont be with you mu ch longer. You
are going to keep looking for m e. . . but you cant come
wh ere Im going. Im giving you some new instru ctions:
love each other, just the way Ive loved you. Everybody
will know w hose family you come from if you love each
other.
The kids get a remarkable challengenow its time to put to w ork everyth ing theyve been taught.
Love one another, as I have loved you.
What does love look like? Getting out of the way , so another person can try. Blood, sweat, and tears.
Feeding one ano ther. Above all, love liberates, love sets us free to be more than w e thought possible.
Love one another as I have loved you . Befriend the stranger. Engage your enemy in love. Challenge
the unlovable. Go hunting for the unloved.
~From Mother Love in A Wing and a Prayerby Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.
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8/8/2019 May 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church
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Trinity Episcopal ChurchOne Trinity Plaza ! Toledo, Ohio 43604-1585
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Parish VestryJeff Albright, senior warden; Jason Rahe, juniorwarden; Karen Wabeke, clerk; Solveig Barnes, LuciaCooper, Jane Gomersall-Zohn, Jennifer Siebold,Sherre Owens Smith, Jim Zechman.
Parish OfficesMon thru Fri, 8:30 am 4:30 pmPhone 419.243.1231 Fax 419.243.0920
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Episcopal Diocese of Ohio2230 Euclid AvenueCleveland, Ohio 44115-2499800.551.4815 216.771.4815The Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., Bishop Ordinary
Next-to-New Thrift ShopMon & Thurs, 9:30 am 3 pm;
Jeanne Mitchell,Manager
SUNDAYS 9 & 10:45 am, Holy Eucharist10 am, Formation for all ages
HOLY DAYS as announced
FOR THE PARISH COMMUNITY
Remember those for whom our prayers have been requested: David C. Nelson,Jessica Snyder, Nancy Paulas, William E. Siebold, Herb Landis, Ruth Archer; the childrenand staff of Emanuel Childrens Home; those on death row; all victims of war and violence;Marie Harkey and David S. Nelson in their continuing vocational discernment; and David S.
Nelson and Beth Anne Swartz, preparing for marriage.
Prayers for those who have died: In the parish: Carol Statum. In the world: In this springwhich marks the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, pray for the 800,000 ofRwandas 8 million people who were killed in 100 days from April to July 1994, and for the
thousands of survivors who were maimed, raped, orphaned or widowed.
services
prayers
vision & missionTrinity is called to be a progressive, inclusive and creative urban community.
# We will practice radical hospitality.
# We will be engaged in the life of our city.
# We will stand with those in need: the poor, the sick, the friendless, the marginalized.
# We will actively invite all to experience and celebrate Gods living presence.
# We will journey together toward a Christ-centered life, pursuing personal ministriesthat connect us to God, to one another, and to the world around us.
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