September 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church

8/8/2019 September 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church

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Trinity Topics The Newsletter of Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio

S E P T E M B E R

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Time for Reflection

Where do you

look for God?

Where does God

look for you?



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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 — PROPER 18 Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-

17; Mark 7:24-3710a Parish Eucharist

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 — PROPER 19

RALLY DAY Proverbs 1:20-33; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38

10a Parish Eucharist

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20—PROPER 20 Proverbs 31:10-31; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37

10a Parish Eucharist

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27—PROPER 21

RACE FOR THE CURE

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-508:15a 15-minute Runner’s Eucharist

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4—PROPER 22 Job 1:1; 2:1-10; Hebrews 4:1-4; 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16

9a “Animal-free” Parish Eucharist10a Parish Eucharist & Blessing of the Animals

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11—PROPER 23 Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31

10a Worship, Tree-planting & Picnic at PearsonMetropark

Our combinedsummer service

begins at

10:00

Our combinedservice continues

at

10:00

Ministry Fair set for September 13

Are you fairly new to Trinity, and want to get more involved? A long-time member, but don’tknow who to ask to become a reader? Newly retired, and want to do some church-based volunteerwork during the day? Somewhere in between? Come to church on September 13 and find out moreabout the ministries available at/through Trinity.

Rally Day (traditionally, the Sunday after Labor Day) is the time when many churches officiallybegin the program year. This year, we’ll be celebrating Rally Day with a Ministry Fair. Vestry ClerkKaren Wabeke says, “This is a time more for education and discernment than recruitment.” So wewon’t twist your arm, drive slowly past your house, or call you repeatedly during dinner. This is atime for you to find out about needs, time commitments, skills, gifts, and limitations.

Some of the ministries to explore:

Do you want to help host a table? Are we missing your favorite Trinity ministry? Call Liddy atthe church.

Adult FormationAltar Guild/Sunday

SetupArts/Textiles ministriesBread Guild

Buildings and GroundsChoir/Music MinistriesChildren’s FormationFlower deliveryGreeters and Ushers

HospitalityLay Eucharistic VisitorsLiturgical AssistantsNext-to-NewOutreach

Prayer ChainReadersSocial JusticeSunday Lunch BunchVestry



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Back to School, Back to Church

My heart still runs on a school year calendar. This time of year I always feel a mix of wistful-ness and anticipation for whatever the new year may bring. I have several neighbors who areelementary and middle school teachers, and I have asked them what they like most about theirwork. All of them have had the same answer: they love seeing students grow and change duringthe year. We too will grow --and grow up-- with God in ways we did not plan, and the growth in

us will be good.

As we get back into a “school year schedule,” let’s see what we have to look forward to:

New Schedule: Instead of two ser-vices, we will have one service at10:00. We have experimented with thisschedule during the summer, and itseems to work for most people. It willalso allow for a possibility of early for-mation at 9:00 for those who want it,and later formation, confirmation class,and church committee meeting timesafterward. You can have all that andstill make it out to lunch at about thesame time as before! I realize it willnot be optimal for everybody. Give ita chance.

Home room: We will retain the elements and style of the later service, while having a blendof music and prayer styles that will represent traditions from both the early and the late service.Again, we have done this during the summer, and it seems to be working. Keep talking andworking and playing and praying together.

Classes: You will play a big part in determining what classes we have this year. First, we will

have kitchen table talks in people’s homes and at church to hear what you think about spiritual-ity and what you need from church to enhance and encourage your spiritual life. Books will bedealt with as we go along. You may already have a few of the books, which can be found in thatgreat 66-book anthology known as the Bible.

Extra/Supercurricular activities: Want to learn about all of the wonderful ways you can getmore involved and help inside and outside of church? Come to the ministry fair during coffeehour on September 13!

Supplies: There are only a few things you need to bring—a keen sense of curiosity, a willing-ness to pray, and a little flexibility. And don’t forget that box of 64 crayons that you carry insideof you. It’s perfectly fine if a few of them are broken.

A note from the school nurse: You will need a new pair of glasses! But don’t worry, thesewon’t cost as much as the usual pair of no-line bifocals. These are a different kind of no-lineglasses: they allow you to see that there is no line between Sunday and the rest of the week, noline between praying and worshipping on Sunday and bringing that same spirit of thanksgivingand reflection and community life to your job, your friends, and your home life.

Liddy



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Birthday Blessings

September 1 .............. Fred MillerMichael Sage

September 4 .............. Bud GartzSeptember 5 .............. Robert BoesSeptember 7 .............. Thomas Greiner

Shirley WittSeptember 9 .............. Solveig BarnesSeptember 10 ............Fred ShermanSeptember 14 ............Lyndon Stygles

Robert StyglesSeptember 15 ........... Richard GingherSeptember 16 ............ Thomas Webb, Jr.

September 17 ........... Ann StranahanSeptember 18 ............ Mary SageSeptember 21 ............ Nancy PaulasSeptember 24 ............ Jamille JamraSeptember 25 ............ Suzanne SmitleySeptember 26 ............ Pat CrawfordSeptember 28 ............ Mary WabekeSeptember 29 ............ Ruth Oatis

Making a Difference,One Blanket at a Time

Most Sunday mornings you’ll find pre-cut fleece ready to be tied in the LivingRoom by 9:15. This is an opportunity be-fore the worship service to make sleep

sacks* for the Blanket Blitz project.Consider joining the group around theLiving Room table to “Talk & Tie”.

On the second Sunday of each month,there is also a mini-Blitz for an hour or soafter church. The first one yielded 6 com-pleted sleep sacks. Join us on September

13 and October 11.

The final blow-outBlanket Blitz weekendis coming up next

month, October 22-25.

*Sleep sacks are a new style of blanketwe’re making. One end is not cut or tied,which makes them faster to complete.

Many Ways to Pray on Sept. 27—Race for the Cure

Northwest Ohio’s 16th Annual Susan G. KomenRace for the Cure will be held on Sunday, September27. For years, Trinity has embraced this neighborhoodevent by participating in many ways. We ask that

every member of the parish get involved in at leastone of our Race for the Cure efforts:

Our only worship service on Race day is theRunners’ Liturgy at 8:15, and it takes place at thecorner of Jefferson and Summit Streets. Attend andhelp with this service; greet the folks who depend onus for prayer and communion before the race.

Run or walk the 5K race, or join the 1-mileFamily Fun Walk, starting around 9:00. More informa-tion and online registration (until September 16) isavailable at www.komennwohio.org. There’s even a

registration category for supporters who prefer to“Sleep in For the Cure”.

Help with food at the corner of Washingtonand Huron, across the street from 5/3 Field:

Set-up (early risers) 6-9 amHand-out (those who enjoy chaos) 9-11 amClean-up (sleep in a bit later) 10:30-12:30

Lots of help is needed with this. Jill Snyder can setyou up.

Serve as hosts at Trinity from around 8:00 ‘tilnoon, to direct people looking for our regular liturgy or

just needing a bathroom or drinking fountain.

Purchase raffle tickets for the 2009 PromiseQuilt from Alice James or Jane Zohn.

Wherever you are on that morning, pray for theRace participants and all those touched by breast cancer.



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Regional Diocesan Gathering toDiscuss General Convention

Regional meetings will be held across the diocesethis month to share information from July’s GeneralConvention. The local gathering will take place onWednesday, September 23 at 6:00pm at St. Andrew's,

2770 W. Central Avenue. If you plan to attend, pleaseRSVP directly to St. Andrew’s (419.473.1367) so thatsuitable space can be prepared.

Our income picture through July 31st shows thatwe're behind in promised parishioner pledge donationsby approximately $14,500. As always, you can help ourbudget by staying current with your pledge.

We have not had to use $37,000 in budgeted Trust

Spending Policy dollars during this same time. The rea-son is because we received an insurance check earlierthis year to cover major water damage that happened in

January. The work to correct that damage wasn't starteduntil recently. We used the insurance dollars to coverour cash expenses during the 1st and 2nd quarters, al-lowing our budgeted Trust Spending Policy dollars tostay in the Trust for potential earnings growth.

We've done well keeping our expenses withinbudget, except in Buildings & Grounds. We‘re overbudget in utilities and insurance. We’re also overbudget in contract services and repairs; snow removaland boiler/air conditioning service account for most ofthat.

One bright spot on the expense side is our NaveLoan interest payment, which is $12,000 below budget.Low interest rates have helped us tremendously.

With heartfelt thanks for your continued service andstewardship at Trinity,

Jane Bueche, Parish Accountant

Budget Update

2009 Budget

July YTDActual

Revenue

Plate Offering 2,845 (1,155)

Pledge Payments 64,575 (14,508)

Combined InvestmentIncome 114,603 (37,064)

Other Operating Income 294 (289)

Total Revenues 182,317 (53,016)

Expenditures

Personnel 115,922 (527)

Buildings & Grounds 103,718 15,357

Total Expenditures 279,199 (7,150)

July YTDBudget

4,000

79,083

151,667

583

235,333

116,449

88,361

286,349

Operations 18,142 16,156 (1,986)

Diocesan Assessment 24,218 19,729 (4,489)

Local Outreach 3,208 3,965 757

Programs 16,371 12,596 (3,775)

Loan Interest Payment 19,600 7,113 (12,487)

Net Surplus/(Deficit) (51,016) (96,882) (45,867)

Blessing of the Animals Oct. 4

Trinity’s annual St.Francis’ Day cele-bration on Sunday,October 4 willwelcome our animal

companions as wehonor God’s othercreatures. There willbe two services onthis Sunday: an“animal-free” liturgyat 9:00, and the“animal-friendly”

10:00 service. Please remember that your pets must beon a leash or in a carrier.

This year we will also be collecting donations ofdog and cat food (dry or canned) on St. Francis

Sunday which will be given to the Toledo AreaHumane Society. If animals are part of your family,please consider making a pet food donation in theirhonor on this day.

A Note from Susan Lowrey

Treatment is done. Life is back to somewhat normal.Practicing feeling cancer-free.

Thank you, Trinity, for your love and prayers.

Susan



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The Outreach Committee has decided to sponsor two chil-dren at the Emanuel Children’s Home in Honduras on behalf ofthe Trinity community. The children are Jose David Meijia Her-nandez (David) and Estrella Nicole Cabellero Garcia.

Sponsorship of a child requires a financial commitment of

$25 per month. Sponsorship funds are deposited in the GeneralFund of the Home, which is used to purchase food, clothingand shelter for all the children living there. In order to avoidfavoritism, no gifts are forwarded to an individual child. Trinityused funds budgeted for outreach to sponsor David andEstrella for a year.

David (seen here in aphoto with Lucia Cooper’sgranddaughter, Laura) isone of the youngest childrenat the Home. He was born

in Texas of Honduran par-ents on November 5, 2006.He and his sister werebrought to the Children’sHome last December due tofamily conflicts. David isstill adapting to life at theHome, and spends most ofhis time alongside one ofthe educators. He has avery sweet but sensitivecharacter. He is starting to participate in group activities andsome group outings.

Estrella (pictured atright) is a year older thanDavid, being born onNovember 2, 2005. In

January 2007, whenEstrella and her two older

sisters were brought tothe Home, all three werein need of medical carefrom severe neglect andabuse. Estrella is nowthriving. She is very out-

going, reaching outto play with every-one. She lives up toher name, whichmeans “star” in Spanish.

Please send letters and cards to David and Estrella,especially on their birthdays and other holidays.Feel free to tell them about yourself and your family.The children love learning about their sponsors.Their address is:

El Hogar de Ninos EmanuelApartado 716Colonia BogranSan Pedro Sula, HN C.A.

Above all, be sure to include David and Estrella in yourprayers. If you want more information about sponsoring achild, contact Lucia Cooper.

Trinity Sponsors Two Children at Emanuel Children's Home

The 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on August 21 approvedopening the ministry of the church to pastors and other church professionals living in committed same-gender rela-tionships. The resolution, passed by a vote of 559 to 451, overturns previous church policy that prohibited the partici-pation of gays and lesbians in church ministries unless they were celibate.

Discussions about human sexuality dominated the August 17-23 assembly in Minneapolis, the chief legislativeauthority of the 4.6 million-member denomination. The assembly approved a resolution committing the church tofind ways for congregations that choose to do so to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, mo-nogamous, same-gender relationships." It also approved a resolution committing the church to respect differences ofopinion on the matter.

ELCA shares a full-communion relationship with the Episcopal Church, which asserted the openness of its ordi-nation process to gays and lesbians (Resolution D025) and called for "generous discretion" for the blessing of same-gender relationships (Resolution B012) at its July 8-17 General Convention in Anaheim, California.

Lutheran Assembly Approves Ministries of Partnered Gays and LesbiansFrom the Episcopal News Service



Consider Serving Your Diocese

In every parish, gifted men and women serve onvestries, lead ministry projects, and committhemselves to stewardship and the business of thechurch. Our parish communities become evenstronger when these leaders have the opportunity toknow one another and serve together in diocesanleadership.

The Diocese of Ohio is undertaking a broad searchfor parish leaders who are ready to use their gifts asdiocesan leaders. In November, Diocesan Conventiondelegates will elect new members of the DiocesanTrustees, Standing Committee, Diocesan Council,Episcopal Community Services, and the Cathedral

Chapter.

Please consider prayerfully whether you or othersin your parish community are ready to give, grow andserve through diocesan leadership. You, and anymember in good standing of a parish in the Diocese,can nominate consenting candidates to stand forelection. The deadline for nominations is September15. Nomination forms are available on the diocesanwebsite at www.dohio.org/convention.

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Cross-Country Ride Supports theFight Against Malaria

From the Episcopal News Service

On July 17, the last day of the 76th General Con-vention, eight Ohio cyclists riding to raise money andawareness for Episcopal Relief and Development'sfight against malaria, led by Ohio Bishop MarkHollingsworth, departed Anaheim, California, ridingin relay format around the clock. The team, along withthree supporters, completed their 4,000-mile, 13-state

journey on July 28 at the Episcopal Church Center inNew York.

"This is crazy enough to be really interesting," saidBishop Hollingsworth. "Once we decided to do it, wedecided to do it for a cause." The "Riding for theirLives" ride raised more than $35,000 for ERD’sNetsforLife® program partnership, which provides

insecticide-treated mosquito nets in 17 Africancountries.

You can still make a donation to support theNetsforLife program through any of these Websites: www.er-d.org www.netsforlifeafrica.org www.dohio.org (Bishop’s Annual Appeal, ERD

Bike Ride)

Diocesan Convention

The 193rd Annual Convention of the Diocese of Ohiowill meet on November 13-14 at Trinity Commons inCleveland. On Friday, November 13, convention dele-gates will spend the day doing community service pro-

jects. All convention business will be conducted on Sat-urday, November 14.

If you’re interested in doing the business of the dio-cese by serving as a diocesan convention delegate oralternate, please contact Jeff Albright.

Stephen Morrison/European Press Agency

Stewart Academy Fall Collection

Now that school is back in session for the2009-10 academic year, we’re collectinghats, scarves, gloves and mittens forthe students at Stewart Academy forGirls. In past years we’ve collected

these items in January, but they areneeded much earlier. Any color iswelcome—the brighter the better! We’llgather them in to be blessed in mid-November

Sunday School’s Goin’ to theChapel

At the suggestion of Trinity parents and grandpar-

ents, we're going to move the Sunday School down toa new home in the Chapel and get it ready for the newyear. Extreme Makeover, Sunday School Edition isplanned for Sunday, September 20 from 11:30am –2:00pm. Please pitch in to help with this Chapelcleaning and moving workday.



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Trinity’s NCD Prayer

Merciful Creator, we invite you to be with us

here and now. As we embrace NaturalChurch Development, keep us mindful of our

purpose in this work – to empower your peo-ple, grow and strengthen your church, and glo-

rify your name. Fill us with your Spirit of Wis-

dom and Truth as we humbly examine our-selves and our community. Help us to em-

brace new opportunities for growth and im-provement. Renew our energy, guide our

work, and lead us to new life in you; through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Kitchen Table Meetings to DiscussNCD Survey Results

Our Natural Church Development survey resultsidentified “passionate spirituality” as Trinity’s weakestquality characteristic, the area most in need of ourattention and nurturing. If we can strengthen this

characteristic, we can expect to increase our commu-nity’s health and growth.

In order to begin this process, the Church HealthTeam will host a series of Kitchen Table meetings thismonth. Gathering in small groups in people’s homes orat the church, we’ll be talking about what passionatespirituality is, and why the opportunity to develop thispart of our faith lives has been identified.

Plan to attend one of the4 or 5 meetings (on different

days of the week, in differ-ent parts of town) to shareyour thoughts on passionatespirituality. Why is this thearea we most need to grow?Sign-up sheets are on thepiano beside the columbar-ium.

We’ll be exploring waysto nurture our spirituality inthe next year. Please prayregularly for Trinity and forour involvement in the NCDprocess. Our NCD prayer is printed below.

Trinity’s Prayer Chain

Trinity has a group of members whoseministry is prayer. The Prayer Chain is a net-work of approximately 15 parishioners who arecommitted to praying on behalf of others,recalling Jesus’ story of our need “to prayalways and not to lose heart,” (Luke 18:1). ThePrayer Chain faithfully takes regular, prayerfulaction on behalf of the Trinity community, ourcity and the world by lifting up specific requestsand concerns.

If you want to ask for prayers from thePrayer Chain, call Ginny Shafer in the Trinityoffice. Your prayer request can be printed in theSunday bulletin and in Topics (see the backcover), or passed on to the Prayer Chain, or both.

Prayer requests are emailed once a week tomembers of the Prayer Chain. If you want tocommit to regular prayer as a member of theTrinity Prayer Chain, call Ginny.

Inching Toward God

Don't have a daily spiritual discipline? Check outForward Day by Day. It’s a booklet of 3 months worth ofbrief daily meditations reflecting on a Bible passage cho-sen from the lectionary readings.These very short reflections are richin substance and offer a wide rangeof viewpoints and experiences.Each month’s meditations are writ-ten by a different anonymous au-thor, so if one month’s reflectionsdon’t resonate with your mind andheart, keep reading!

One brief reading per day can

provide a meaningful connectionbetween your faith and your dailylife. Free copies of Forward Day byDay are available at church in both regular and large-print format.

If you prefer to get your daily dose of God’s good-ness online, add this address to your Favorites:http://forwardmovement.org/forward-day-by-day/.



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God, Creator of all people, in this month when a bil-lion people will observe Ramadan with fasting andprayer, with devotional reading and with kindness to

the needy, may your Spirit be at work in the hearts ofMuslims, Christians, and Jews (who together make upover half the world's population) as well as people ofother faiths and no stated faith.

May your gentle voice call us to move beyond ourtribal visions of a deity who loves "us" but hates "them."Help us to see you more truly as youare, a God who is pure light, rich inmercy, whose mercy triumphs over

judgment, who knows us each byname, and who graciously considersus beloved, wherever we are from,

whatever our background, whateverlabels we apply to ourselves or oth-ers apply to us.

May your voice of truth call usto question the prejudices and mis-conceptions about you and aboutone another that we learned fromwell-meaning but misinformed au-thority figures, even when theythought they were speaking in yourname.

May your voice of peace make usashamed of our violence, hatred, fear, superiority, andresentment. And may your voice of courage inspire usto walk in the way of reconciliation, even when that pathis dangerous and difficult.

May your voice of compassion teach us to see oneanother - and ourselves - with new eyes, your eyes. Andso may we forgive one another where we have been hurtby one another; may we humble ourselves and admit thetruth where we have done the hurting; may we repent

where we have chosen the small ways of revenge andexclusion rather than your greater ways of reconciliationand embrace.

May your voice of wisdom call us out from our vi-cious cycles of self-destruction.

With your help, Lord, may we, who are faithful andloyal to the different doctrines and traditions we learnedfrom our beloved parents and respected teachers, not let

our loyalty to sacred teachings and traditions make usdisloyal to you or to one another. For in this age ofcrushing financial debt, we all have a beautiful and liber-ating debt, Lord, to you and to one another: a debt oflove. For as Jesus taught us, the greatest command is tolove you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength,and to love our neighbors - including those who con-sider themselves our enemies - as ourselves.

May your voice of goodness nourish in our hearts adesire that is even greater than the desire

for food and drink. May you create inus an insatiable hunger and thirst tobe filled to overflowing with yourgoodness - to everyone, Lord, but es-pecially to the poor, the sick, the mis-

understood, the rejected, the vulner-able, the forgotten. For the commongood, Lord, bring together those of uswho have all that we need and more,and unite us together with those inneed, so that all will soon haveenough and more to share.

It is good, Lord, when people prayand sing praises to your name. Buthow hollow are those words andsongs when we do not also honor you

by honoring one another. For how canwe honor the God who cannot be seen

when we dishonor our neighbor, made in your image,who can be seen?

So, Creator and Provider and Sustainer of Life, Giverof all grace, Source of justice and mercy, may your voice be heard deep in my heart, and in the hearts of all peopleon earth, this beautiful planet that displays your artistry,majesty, and power. Amen.

From an August 22, 2009 post on Brian McLaren’s blog, athttp://www.brianmclaren.net/

Ramadan 2009: Day 1

Here is my prayer today:



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1 in 8. That's the number of Americans who willstruggle with hunger today. But equally striking is thenumber of meals you can provide with even a small do-nation: 3-4 meals for every dollar given to a food bank.

This is Hunger Action Month, an effort sponsored byFeeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest)to raise awareness of the ongoing fight against hunger,and to show people just how big a difference they canmake.

As the nation’s leading domestichunger-relief charity, Feeding Amer-ica’s network of food banks supplyfood to more than 25 million Ameri-cans each year, including 9 millionchildren and 3 million seniors.

Feeding America(feedingamerica.org) will host eventsacross the United States this monththat directly benefit hunger-reliefefforts. They’re asking all of us totake action against hunger in what-ever ways we can. There’s something everyone can doto help eliminate hunger. Here are a few simple, localideas:

Food for Thought always needs peanut butter, jelly,chips, pretzels and cookies for its Saturday lunch pro-gram. If you’d rather give time than food (or both timeand food), people gather every Friday night at New Har-vest Christian Church, 3540 Seaman Road in Oregon toprepare the lunches starting at6:00pm and finishing up around7:30pm. Food sharing and rela-tionship building happen on Sat-urday mornings beginningaround 10:00am at the corner ofMichigan and Adams Streets, justoutside the Main Library and justa few blocks from Trinity. Volun-

teers are always welcome.

Feed Your Neighbor can always use donations ofnon-perishable food items and/or money. Bring thefood to Trinity on Sunday mornings and put it in theFeed Your Neighbor basket. Or make your check pay-able to Trinity Church, and write “Feed Your Neighbor”on the memo line (then Trinity will keep track of thesetax-deductible contributions for you).

There’s a local Hunger Action Month event: onThursday evening, September 24, the Toledo NorthwestOhio Food Bank will host its 4th annual Hunger Aware-ness Interfaith Celebration at Our Lady of LourdesCatholic Church, 6149 Hill Ave. near Holland-Sylvania

Rd.

Two online anti-hunger efforts are no effort at all –you click, and someone else donates and delivers thefood!

Share a Little Comfort is a partnership betweenFeeding America and Kraft Foods. Knowing the comfortthat a simple dish like macaroni and cheese can bring totables across the country, Kraft is sharing that feelingwith those in need with this campaign. With the click of

a mouse, visitors to www.ShareALittleComfort.com cancontribute one box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese per dayto Feeding America, up to one million boxes.

The Hunger Site offers a way to help prevent hun-ger in mere seconds a day. With a daily click of the bigyellow "Click Here to Give - it's FREE" button at TheHunger Site (www.thehungersite.com), visitors helpprovide food to those in need. Visitors to the site paynothing; the food is paid for by the site's sponsors anddistributed by Mercy Corps and Millennium Promiseworldwide, and by Feeding America to food banks

throughout the United States. In 2008, visitor clicksyielded more than 8.2 million pounds of staple food forhungry people. Bookmark this site and click every day;no spam will follow. On those days when you feel likeone person can’t make a difference, your click here willmake a difference.

Hunger Action Month is a reminder to all of us tobecome engaged in ending hunger in God’s world.

September is Hunger Action Month



Madison Avenue has longknown that word of mouth is thebest advertising — a truth regularlyplayed out on Facebook, the onlinesocial networking site.

Brandon Mozingo, 32, ofChattanooga, Tennessee, became afan of the Episcopal Church onFacebook after noticing a friendbecame a fan. The same with AnnRedmond, 54, of Tallahassee,Florida, a member of St. John’sEpiscopal Church and a singer inthe choir.

As of August 16 the 2.2 million-

member Episcopal Church had7,455 Facebook fans. Another 883people follow the Church onTwitter, the social network/micro-blogging online instant messenger.

The Episcopal Church created aFacebook presence in early 2009and began sending “tweets” viaTwitter in April. Initially theFacebook page saw a huge spike infans, but adding new fans nowtrends toward gradual growth.Tweets from the recent 76th GeneralConvention in July in Anaheim,California, spiked the number offollowers on Twitter, said webproducer Barry Merer.

Elizabeth Apgar Triano, 45, ofPatterson, New York, became a fanthrough Episcopal Café, an onlinesource of aggregated Episcopal

news, blogs, visual arts andspiritual readings produced by theDiocese of Washington.

“One of the reasons I signed up

for Facebook in the first place wasto keep track of Episcopal things,”she said in a telephone interview. “Ilike it because when something getsposted it is sent straight to me, I

don’t have to go over and check. Ilove my church and it’s veryhandy.”

It works like this: top storiesposted to Episcopal Life Online andnews posted to the Office ofCommunication’s News Line arefed automatically to the church’sFacebook page by Real SimpleSyndication, or RSS. The article’sheadline appears on the main page.

Clicking on the headline takes youto a “note.” The full article can beviewed by clicking on the “ViewOriginal Post” link on the notepage. Fans of the page can alsoshare links, news stories, photos,videos, etc. (News stories posted toTwitter link directly to the story.)

Merer administers the site,which so far has policed itself, withfans respecting the open, unediteddialogue approach, he said.

Rex Tomb, 59, of Arlington,Virginia, posts stories to the Episco-pal Church’s Facebook page todraw attention to the suffering andpersecution of Christiansworldwide.

“It [Facebook] providestremendous freedom,” Tomb said,

adding that he sticks to postingstories from credible news sourceslike the Washington Post, theChristian Science Monitor, andUnited Press International (UPI).

Redmond said Facebook is agood way to “get better in touchwith the lay community,” andlikened it to the old days when“people went to the town square to

pass information around.”

In a church as widespread as theEpiscopal Church and the AnglicanCommunion, it’s nice to hearmembers’ voices in an open,insightful dialogue, said Mozingo,who is also pursuing the priesthoodin the Episcopal Diocese of EastTennessee.

A drawback, however, Mozingo

said, is that people don’t alwaysread the articles they postcomments on.

An article in which the EpiscopalPublic Policy Network requested

that Episcopalians supporthealthcare reform drew a recordnumber of responses: 95 people“liked” the story and 89 peopleposted individual responsesranging from “The EpiscopalChurch should try spreading theGospels and should stay out ofpolitics,” to “Every tax-payingAmerican should have affordablehealth care coverage.”

Ginger Mortimer O’Connell, 60,of West Virginia, said she followsthe Episcopal Church on Facebookbecause, she says, “I think it is themost convenient way to be daily re-minded that the church is a livingorganism in transition.”

—Lynette Wilson is staff writer for

Episcopal Life Media.

11

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Episcopal Life Online: www.episcopalchurch.org/elife

Who Would Jesus Friend?by Lynette Wilson



TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL — PLEASE HANDLE PROMPTLY

Trinity Episcopal Church One Trinity Plaza Toledo, Ohio 43604-1585

Phone: 419.243.1231

Fax: 419.243.0920Email: [email protected]

Serving Downtown Toledo since 1842.

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PAIDToledo, Ohio

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www.trinitytoledo.org

Parish Staff Elizabeth M. Hoster, Rector Wayne F. Anthony , Associate for Music and the Arts

Susan Lowrey, Associate for Community LifeVirginia Shafer, Executive Secretary

Jane Bueche, Parish Accountant

Bridget Blanchard , Organist

Parish Vestry Jeff Albright, senior warden; Jason Rahe, juniorwarden; Karen Wabeke, clerk; Solveig Barnes, LuciaCooper, Jane Gomersall-Zohn, Jennifer Siebold,Sherre Owens Smith, Jim Zechman.

Parish Offices Mon thru Fri, 8:30 am – 4:30 pmPhone 419.243.1231 Fax 419.243.0920

Email: [email protected]

Episcopal Diocese of Ohio 2230 Euclid AvenueCleveland, Ohio 44115-2499800.551.4815 216.771.4815The Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., Bishop Ordinary

Next-to-New Thrift Shop Mon & Thurs, 9:30 am – 3 pm;

Jeanne Mitchell, Manager

services

SUNDAYS 10:00 am, Holy Eucharist

HOLY DAYS as announced

prayers

FOR THE PARISH COMMUNITY

Remember those for whom our prayers have been requested: Roxan Burke, Joshua Cowan, Hank Coyle, Mary Figgins, Marie Harkey, Ronald Heider, Herb Landis,Susan Lowrey, Gordon McIntosh, Rowena Meeks, David C. Nelson, Nancy Paulas,Robert Romick, Jessica Snyder, Charlie Sturm and Mary Windsor; the children and staff of Emanuel Children’s Home; those on death row, including Romell Broom, who isscheduled to be executed by the state of Ohio on September 15; all victims of war andviolence; Sean and Nina Elliot, awaiting the birth of their first child; our new ministry withFood for Thought and CaterMe. Prayers for those who have died: Kathleen Masters (Karen Landis)

vision & mission

Trinity is called to be a progressive, inclusive, creative urban faith 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 God’s 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.

September 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church

Documents

Transcript of September 2009 Trinity Topics Newsletter, Trinity Toledo Episcopal Church