Home
| Persons | Calendar
|
Posta is Holy Trinity's bi-monthly newsletter.
November 2, 2003
Dear Parish Family,
Some weeks ago the vestry decided that this issue of the Posta would be our
stewardship issue and would include a report on our current financial situation,
a proposed budget and a pledge card for 2004. Those are being provided by others,
so I will turn my attention to some thoughts on stewardship, tell a little of
our story and suggest where I believe God is leading Holy Trinity.
The bedrock of our
faith and stewardship is that all we are and think we own is gift. It is gift
from God. Ah, you say, “I am deciding, working and acting. I make things happen,”
and in some ways that is true. We certainly must cooperate with God’s grace.
Yet the deeper truth is that without the prior gift of life, health and skills,
our deciding, working and acting would be impossible. The discipline of giving,
of returning to God a portion of what we have received, is the means by which
we live into the bedrock truth of our faith, that all is gift.
Another aspect of this is that we humans like to be in control. We like to have
our own way. Choosing to give freely a portion of what we have received (we
may be thinking, “earned”) is the sacramental way, the incarnational way, we
discipline ourselves to ‘let go and let God’ be God. It is the way we practice
what we preach and enter more fully into accepting the gift of our humanness.
God is God and you and I are not. Surprise and shock and thanks be to God is
our response.
What I’ve written above is some of what I’ve learned, (grown into more deeply),
about stewardship (life in Christ) over the past years. And so I turn to telling
a bit of our story.
July, twelve years ago I arrived at Holy Trinity as rector, paid part-time.
I believed myself called to this community, and trusted that the right things
would happen. At that time, a clearly stated goal of the parish was that you
wanted to grow and have the rector’s salary become full-time. Within the first
two years a major effort was made in that direction and the rector’s salary
was raised by $10,000. Over the next few years I realized that this was not
tenable and through much prayer chose to have my salary reduced by $5,000. I
was greatly influenced by Bishop Gray’s statement. “The main purpose of a parish
is to grow into and share God’s love, not paying the rector’s salary.” Also
the words of John the Baptist about Jesus came to mind. “He must increase and
I must decrease.” As this was happening the volunteer night chaplaincy at Memorial
Hospital turned part-time and five years ago I moved out of the rectory and
bought my own home. Underlying this was the recognition that the priest’s role
is to facilitate the congregation in claiming and owning its vision, not imposing
the priest’s vision on the congregation.
The budget for 2004 reflects further reduction. As the part time position at
Memorial Hospital has turned into full-time, I have decided to obtain my medical
insurance through Memorial Hospital. It has also become necessary to reduce
the rector’s salary further. I see all of this as an opportunity for the congregation
to further claim and own its own vision and for all of us to enter more deeply
into the Christian life and practice of stewardship. Holy Trinity is already
an environment where God’s love is practiced. It is a community with many gifts
and resources. Holy Trinity is a community I love, and has taught me much. For
that I continue to be thankful. So I end with a question, What is your vision
for “growing into and sharing God’s love?”
Faithfully yours in Christ,
Mother Tina+
We will be ending this year of celebration (90 years of life for
Holy Trinity) with a visit from Bishop Little on December 28, the First Sunday
after Christmas Day. According to the historical documents this is the actual
day of beginning.
FROM THE SENIOR WARDEN
During this
ninetieth anniversary year, our themes continue to be celebration and thanksgiving.
We celebrate the good gifts that God has given us: a goodly heritage, fellowship
through singing and dancing, and a sacramental life in our Lord Jesus. We are
thankful that we have family and friends in this worshipping community, a priest
who loves us, and buildings that are paid for.
One hundred people—parishioners, family, old and new friends—came together for
a joyous dinner dance on October 4. Ticket sales for the event at Saint Hedwig
have covered expenses; it was never intended as a fundraiser, but as a party,
and we broke even.
Representatives of the parish recently presented our case to the Diocesan Council,
who generously (and mercifully) voted to eliminate our parish’s diocesan assessment
for 2003 and 2004. The amount of the current year’s assessment would have been
$ 8,310.14 and next year’s assessment would have been similar.
Still the Church of the Holy Trinity is in financial crisis. This doesn’t come
as big news to parishioners. The reserve fund has been depleted to meet operational
expenses like gas and electric. To respond to the need, the vestry has been
working on a budget for 2004, which is less than bare bones. We continue to
work toward a letter of agreement between the parish, our bishop, and our rector
for the rector’s compensation. A significant cut in the rector’s salary would
reduce her pension and retirement benefits. As of October 1, 2003, the parish
isn’t paying for the rector’s health insurance. The vestry is talking seriously
of renting the rectory to help defray operating expenses. That would certainly
challenge us for storage space!
This is not, please God, a call to despair, but a call to action. Continue to
work, pray and give for the spread of the Kingdom of God. Pray before and after
you fill out your pledge card.
FROM THE JUNIOR WARDEN
Read the drama of Joel’s
prophecy. Plagues and ruin and war are followed by ultimate victory. Joel describes
victory as a time when the old people will dream dreams and the young will see
visions. The world political scene is beginning to understand the importance
of dreams and visions. Recently, a group of Israelis, being sick of the cycle
of violence, have proposed a plan for peace that promotes a vision of peace
for all people. They figure that if the people of Palestine and the people of
Israel can together picture a bright future they will together do whatever it
takes to make that vision a reality. Certainly Dr. Martin Luther King advocated
dreaming and many perceive his dreams to have been a huge catalyst for happy
change in America. Dreams must be shared and poured together into a corporate
dream to become action so below I share with you only a few of my dreams.
 |
I dream that in 2030 we will have whatever resource is necessary to do the work we are sent out to do. |
|
I dream that the vestry will spend all of its time planning ways to be a faithful church, to care for the oppressed, to proclaim the Gospel, and to glorify God. |
|
I dream that there will always be one of us to turn the porch light on, to welcome a stranger, and to minister as a neighbor on Prast Street. |
|
I dream that membership ministry will be normative and that no talent will be overlooked or willfully buried. |
|
I dream that all of our shut-ins will be visited weekly and provided with the Eucharistic meal and transportation as needed. |
|
I dream that our worship will always be beautiful and exemplary with glorious four-part congregational singing. |
|
I dream that all spaces in our buildings will be comfortable and accessible to all. |
|
I dream that the congregation will continuously provide generous scholarships for needy Anglican seminarians. |
|
I dream that we will have 50 children learning the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. |
|
I dream that we will know the service responses in Hungarian and Spanish and Arabic. |
Do you have a dream or vision for Holy Trinity? What do you hope Holy Trinity
will look like by Advent 2023? Share them with us in the Posta. You are young
enough to have a vision or old enough to have a dream.
~ Eight Rungs of the Giving Ladder ~
Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) was a 12th century Jewish scholar and philosopher who formulated the eight steps of Tzedakah. Each rung of his ladder represents a higher degree of virtue, from low to high, from worst to best:
1-Giving Unwillingly Lowest on the ladder is the person who gives only because s/he is forced to do so. This is a gift of the hand but not of the heart.
2-Giving less than one should but cheerfully Of course, one should not give less than one should. Even so, if the gift is made with good will, its smallness is partly redeemed.
3-Giving after being asked It is almost as good as giving before being asked, if one gives cheerfully and as much as one can.
4-Giving before being asked When we see a need, it is good to give without waiting to be asked. But we may spoil our giving if we make too much of a show of it and embarrass the one who receives.
5-Giving without knowing the receiver The needy person may know from whom the gift has come. But the giver does not know to whom it went.
6-Giving anonymously to someone you know is needy This gift is made, but to a person who is known to be needy.
7-Giving anonymously to an anonymous person This is the best way to give
8-Helping a person to help him/herself The highest form of charity is to help a person to find work or learn a trade, or to give a person a loan to start a business.
Guidelines for Groups Using the Parish Hall
October 20, 2003
[
Holy Trinity is collecting women’s and children’s hats, mittens, gloves, and scarves to decorate a Mitten Tree during November and December. The winter garb will be donated to Saint Margaret’s House. We are also collecting warm blankets and coats for donation. Please place your donations on or underneath the Mitten Tree at the back of the church.
The Saint Margaret’s House Wish List also includes socks and underwear for women and children, paper towels and napkins, ground coffee, sugar, powder creamer, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, body lotion, knitting needles, crochet hooks, and yarn. They are also collecting Christmas gifts for children, teenagers, and women. These items can be left in the back of the church—near the Mitten Tree—and will be delivered to the house.
The Saint Augustine Soup Kitchen, 1501 W. Washington Street, South Bend, has been serving the needy of South Bend's Westside for over 20 years. Staffed entirely by volunteers, the kitchen serves soup Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. If you can commit two-three hours one morning a week to help feed the hungry, please contact the Soup Kitchen at (574) 234-6334 Monday, Wednesday or Friday between 10:30 am-12:30 pm. -The Rev. Dr. Carol Mayernick, Executive Director, United Religious Community
Holy Trinity continues to accept non-perishable food items for local food banks. Donations can be placed in the basket at the back of the church or in the boxes in the parish hall.
Please send questions or comments to our webmaster. Last updated December 15, 2004 .