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In Thanksgiving and Memory
WORSHIP SCHEDULE: We hold one Sunday service held at 10:00 a.m.
Interested in becoming a CHALICE BEARER? Or how about a WORSHIP HOSPITALITY MINISTER? We need folks to help make and keep Holy Trinity a warm and friendly place.
Sunday School: Sunday School for children in grades K-6 will be held at 9:45 am every Sunday in the downstairs Sunday School classroom.
Monday Evening Adult Group: On February 8, 2010 the adult education gathering will take place at 7:00 PM in the library/office of the church. After a January of women in the Apocrypha, we will start February outside of it. In Chapter 28 of Samuel, King Saul ventures to Endor to meet with a Medium. The Witch of Endor will create quite a scene by giving Saul what he asks for. We will explore what led Saul to takes these steps and what is in store for Saul after the experience.
Child Care will be provided.
Hope to see you there.
Any questions: stratz@earthlink.net
From the Rector's Warden:
"A person's body is only one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts can make only one body. Christ is like that also . . . we were all baptized into one body though one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit . . . Together you are the body of Christ and each of you has a part in that body." (1 Corinthians 12: 12-13, 27; New Century translation.)
As I considered this part of Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, I found myself thinking that this is how I would want us to feel about Holy Trinity as we move into the next part of our journey together: as individual parts of the body of Christ who come together to create a community of faith. We are unique individuals with strengths and needs that we bring to the parish each week, individuals who are bound together in one Spirit, in one set of beliefs, one common desire to be Christ's representatives in the world around us.
We face challenges in our joint future, moments that will undoubtedly test our individual commitment to the parish. It is in these moments that Paul's wise words to that young church become so very important. Each and every person at Holy Trinity is important to our future and each person is needed and respected. Whether you have been a member for years or have just joined the parish, you have, as Paul reminds us, "a part in that body." While not a unique time in our parish, this is a pivotal time and it calls for each of us to think about why we're part of Holy Trinity, what we want the future to look like and what we can bring to that effort.
Yes, we have leadership in our Vestry and I am very encouraged that we have 5 new people coming into Vestry, 3 of whom have never served in this role. These men and women will work long and prayerfully to guide us through this transition. But they cannot work alone, they need each member of the parish to be working with them. They will be looking for your input, your ideas and feelings, your opinions as they navigate the process of attending to the parish's business while seeking part-time clergy. Please be open to providing them with that and giving voice to your ideas and concerns.
But there are other ways that you can help and I ask that you consider volunteering, stepping forward and lending your energy, time and talent. For example, we need people to become greeters and ushers. This team creates the critical first impression that welcomes visitors and helps them become comfortable. I would hope that you can think back to your first steps into the Narthex and remember the person who welcomed you! Will you consider being "that person" for our next visitor?
We also need acolytes and altar guild volunteers who contribute to the beautiful solemnity of our worship by carrying on the traditions and actions that speak to our history. These roles can be done by everyone and with most of our young folks being involved in Sunday School, either as attendees or helpers, we are in serious need of adults who will train as acolytes and altar guild members. We also need people who will bake our Eucharistic bread on a regular basis.
Our fellowship and hospitality team is also running with far too few members once again. We believe that our fellowship events are a critical part of our personality as a parish and we use our Sunday coffee hours to further that as well. But we have only a handful of people who are working on this team and they are becoming tired and need your help.
How about considering being part of a team that reaches out to members who are in a moment of crisis or are struggling with a life problem that has effected their ability or desire to be part of our worship service and fellowship moments? Can you sit and listen, drive someone to and from church, make a phone call to check how someone's feeling? Have you come through such moments and been grateful that someone reached out to you in love and with prayer? Or have you wished that there had been someone who would have offered you a shoulder, a hug, a prayful heart? You can be that person for someone who is also a part of Christ's body.
Finally, we have been without a Property team for far too long and the grounds and building are showing their absence. From replacing burned out light bulbs and clearing weeds to more specific skills involving an electrician's or plumber's talents, we need to have help maintaining our buildings as much as we can with volunteer effort.
"There are many parts to a body . . ." and "Together you are the body of Christ and each of you has a part in that body." Paul was speaking to a young and immature faith community that was seeking its way and learning how to be church. In some ways, we face a similar challenge: how to be the parish we want to be and move forward into our shared future. We need every person to recognize his or her role in Holy Trinity, to faithfully identify his or her gifts and talents and how he or she can help Holy Trinity by offering those gifts. In the commentary that introduces Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the New Century version offers this thought: "At the heart of the letter, Paul focuses on what it means to be Christians together, respecting each other's uniqueness and gifts and, above all, loving each other with God's love." What was true and important in Paul's advice to the Christians in Corinth remains true for us at Holy Trinity today: "Together you are the body of Christ and each of you has a part in that body." I urge you to prayfully consider how you can express your gifts and talents to strengthen that body.
Many thanks,
Cadence Smith
Rector's Warden
Episcopal Relief Services-Haiti: The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is caring for close to 23,000 Haitians in at least 21 encampments around the
earthquake-devastated country.
The information came Jan. 23 in a letter from Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin to Episcopal Relief & Development (http://www.er-d.org)
President Robert Radtke and posted here
(http://web.me.com/merelaurens/GoIntoTheWorld). In the letter, Duracin said that the diocese and the organization are working "hand-in-hand,"
telling Radtke he has "complete confidence in you and your agency."
"Please tell our partners, the people of the Episcopal Church, the people of the United States and indeed the people of the world that we in Haiti are immensely grateful for their prayers, their support and their generosity," Duracin wrote. "This is a desperate time in Haiti; we have lost so much. But we still have the most important asset, the people of God, and we are working continuously to take care of them."
The Haitian diocese suffered greatly with the quake. A number of the diocese's 254 schools, ranging from preschools to a university and a seminary, were destroyed or heavily damaged, including the Holy
Trinity complex of primary, music and trade schools adjacent to the demolished diocesan Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral)
in Port-au-Prince.
A portion of the St. Vincent School for Handicapped Children, also in the Haitian capital, collapsed, killing between six and 10 students and staff. Many of the students are living at the camp while arrangements are being made for them to be housed elsewhere.
More than 100 of the diocese's churches have been damaged or destroyed, Duracin has said.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Today Farewell Reception for Dave & Liz Rivers and Valentine's Day brunch after the service
February 27 - Annual Chili Cook-Off
A Brief History of The Church of the Holy Trinity: Pat Brownback has written a brief history of the Church (see below). We are incorporating this information into our Worship Booklets as well.
January 5, 1885: The first service is held in Freeds Hall, Main Street, Lansdale, conducted by a deacon from The Church of the Messiah, Gwynedd.
1890: The present church building is erected at Fourth and Broad Streets, built by Philadelphia architect, Samuel Milligan, using plans adapted by Mr. Weems, an English architect from St. Giles, the parish of Stoke Poges. St. Giles was built in 1222 and is the final resting place of the Penn family, founders of Pennsylvania. St. Giles was made famous by Thomas Greys Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard.
1903: The rectory is constructed.
1930: The parish hall (St. Margarets Hall) is built.
1946: Holy Trinity is granted parish status by the Diocese of Pennsylvania.
1957: The parish house is enlarged and an educational wing is added.
1965: The church building is extended and the altar is moved away from the wall, enabling the celebrant to face the congregation during the Eucharist. The linear communion rail becomes semi-circular and the choir is moved to behind the altar. A modern stained glass window depicting a descending dove is installed behind the baptismal font. The dark wood in the nave is replaced by light wood. In recent years, chairs have replaced the pews.
1990: The former Guild Room, located between the narthex and St. Margarets Hall is transformed into a chapel. Later in the 1990s two new stained glass windows are added to the nave and the rose window is replaced.
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