Trinity Church Newsletter

Dear Trinity Family, The Advent season is upon us. Advent is a time for us to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ. This preparation is both a celebration of Christ’s entry into this world in Bethlehem, but also a hope that Christ will come again in final victory. To help us on this Advent journey, we are centering our thoughts on Jesus, the real reason for the season, with the sermon series, “Silent Night.” This is to celebrate the 200 th anniversary of the Christmas song “Silent Night.” To go along with this series, we will be doing some things that help us to celebrate Jesus’ birth. One of the key ways we can celebrate Jesus’ birthday is to think about what we are going to spend on Christmas. I am not suggesting that we tend toward the side of Ebenezer Scrooge, but that we really think about whether what we are spending brings honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. This question may lead us to find that we need to cut back on what we spend on ourselves and

We had a lovely evening with friends and family who came to hear more about Quechua Benefit.   There was one question that we were asked more than once.   It’s a common question.   “If they go away from their villages to learn and then experience the city, doesn’t that jeopardize their villages when they don’t go back?”   Many people assume that once the children are educated and have had “wordly” experiences, they would not want to return to their own people.   Last week, I received three interviews from the staff at Quechua Benefit Peru.   I would like to share with you the impact that Quechua Benefit is having on the children and two adults we met while on the trip. The mayor of Ichupampa is in her late 20s.   When Ichupampa experienced an earthquake that destroyed 80% of the village 3 years ago, she went to work gathering government support for rebuilding.   They will now have a new sewer system and potable water.   That’s better than before.   She is a product of programs in

What’s Going On (by Pastor Chris) Some of you may or may not be aware that we as a church have a Cares Team. This team is a church-driven group of servants that provide care to the congregation. Now I know this needs a little explanation because we all have different definitions and expectations of what care looks like in the church. The Cares Team provides basic support to persons in the church who are going through a tough time because of illness or loss in the family. They provide meals and other limited services for those that need and want the extra help. (One important note is that this group is not a replacement for professional assistance like home health care, mental health support, Noble County Transit, or many other forms of assistance available in our area.) The best way to describe it is an organized way for the church to be the church. To help better understand what the Cares Team does, here are a few frequently asked questions. What role do the pastors play in the

A Message From Mike Safley of Quechua Benefit Angie I have been thinking about you and the mission you so expertly led. The philosophy of involvement and relationship building by the volunteers is most often absent from volunteer effort. I have been considering why this is so important an ingredient. I think that the answer lies in the fact that the volunteers built something that will last. In the case of your group you made an improvement to the green house that will add productivity to Casa Chapi over the years. But even more importantly the group helped create memories for the children that will remain with them their entire life. Too often a child’s memories in the highland are best forgotten. These kids went shopping for the first time, saw the condors fly, rode an escalator, visited their new home for the next phase of their life and met people from far away that showed them love. We have had lots of missionaries in Peru and at Casa Chapi. To be honest they are

A Fun Game We are going to have a contest to see if you can name Pastor Chris’ favorite Christmas songs (this year.) There will be prizes for whoever correctly guesses his favorite songs first. He has picked a classic song and a contemporary song and as we get closer he will release hints. This should be a lot of fun. A good hint to start us off is to not ask his wife because she will just tell you she does not know because it changes all the time

Dear Trinity, As I write my letter today, I am deeply grieved by the terrible events that happened in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue. This event affects me for a few different reasons. I am disturbed by the flash of blatant anti-Semitism and the underlying racism that shapes it. I am also disturbed by where this event occurred. Not only did this event happen in a house of worship but also took place in the neighborhood of the man we have been talking about for the last few months. The Tree of Life synagogue sits just a couple of blocks from the real home of Fred Rogers. This shooting took place in Squirrel Hill, Mr. Rogers’s real-life neighborhood. This event has reminded me to continue to follow his anthem of acceptance and grace for others and to look for the “helpers” in this situation. This horrific event also reminds me that a large part of our work as Christians is in the area of grief. The act of grief and of grieving is one that involves a spiritual discipline t

Thanksgiving is upon us and we truly do have much for which we are thankful.   People have asked why we needed to go out of the country when there is so much need right here.   In fact, I have been asked since our return.   I’m going to quote Erin Bloom to answer that question.   As we rolled back into Kendallville, she was looking out of her window and said, “It looks different.”   My heart was instantly full of gratitude.   She got it!   When we leave our comfort zone and enter into a world so unlike our own, it causes us to see things differently upon our return.   I was in Peru on my second trip when I was struck with the realization that if people in Peru needed mobility assistance, then there were probably people in my own back yard who needed it.   I came home and spent the next year starting a mission at Ligonier UMC that is heading into its 10 th year in 2019!   It’s called The Health Ministry Network.   Somewhere around 200 people have been helped by that program right h

What’s Going On (by Pastor Chris) In this article this month, I would like to answer a question that I have never been asked. The question is “why is it that I (Pastor Chris) never preach/teach stewardship in service?” Now many of you reading this will say there is good reason why I haven’t been asked that, because no one cares and even more people don’t like stewardship sermons. This is because many of us associate stewardship with just giving and specifically with giving money. For those of us who have grown up in the church we almost instinctively hear the word “campaign” after the word stewardship. Meaning the church in the past has leveled stewardship and more recently gratitude with raising funds for building projects, mission trips, and even just encouraging yearly giving with pledge cards. But the truth is that stewardship is so much more than this. You see I do care about giving. In fact I encourage everyone (including non-believers) to have a plan for giving to a church.

  Brothers and Sisters, It is time for us to pray, preach, and denounce hatred. 97-year-old Rose Mallinger  and ten others were  shot and killed during Shabbat worship  at the Tree of Life Jewish Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Saturday morning, October 27, 2018. Earlier last week,  two black senior citizens  were  shot and killed at a grocery store in Louisville, Kentucky . Sadly, it is reported the gunman had attempted to enter a black church in search of African Americans to shoot. Furthermore,  fourteen pipe bombs were mailed  to numerous persons, including two former U.S. Presidents, by a man, who many could describe as filled with hatred and political animus, prompting him to define certain people, including postal workers, as deserving of potential serious injury or death. While the bombs did not explode, fear and hatred has exploded and continues to ripple. We see and experience it in rhetoric, and in subtle, and often not so

Dear Trinity, As I write this letter, Michelle and I are making final preparations for our trip with Trinity’s Peru Mission Team. We leave October 13, for the Colca Canyon region of Peru. The team is made up of 10 great people (Pastor Angie Kidd, Erin Bloom, Phil Corbin, Frederick Fusco, Jim and Helen Haddock, Ben Keirn, Jessica Martin, and Michelle and me.) I am nervous and excited about this amazing experience, but the hardest part of this ministry is something different than what you may anticipate. The hardest part of this mission trip has been trying to describe it to other people. Over the last few years we (as a church and community) have started to rethink how we do missions work. I add here that this shift is not to diminish the mission work that we as a church and society have done in the past. I am so proud of the ministry of Trinity Church’s missions and our work through Project 52’s, UMCOR (United Methodist Committee or Relief), as well as many mission trips and com

As I write this, I am in Colorado visiting our kids and attending a conference about asset-based community development.    In just 17 days, the Mission in the Andes team will go wheels up headed for our mission field.   We have had a lot of questions about what we will be doing and when.   Here is the tentative schedule.   As with all mission trips, there could be some changes. Oct 13th:  Depart from Trinity at noon to head for Chicago O’Hare for a 7:30 p.m. departure to Miami. Oct 14 th :  Arrive Arequipa at 11:32 a.m. (12:32 p.m. our time) We will rest that day and explore Arequipa. Oct 15 th :  Visit Yanahuara School to spend time with the students for the day.   Oct 16 th :  Travel to Chivay.  We will settle in and explore Chivay and possibly visit Casa Chapi. Oct 17 th :  Casa Chapi (Field trip to the marketplace and Condor Cross to see the Andean Condors fly) Oct 18 th :  Casa Chapi (Field trip to take the 6 th graders to Arequipa to see Yanahuara School where they

What’s Happening at Trinity October 3 – Apple Festival – fudge cutting,  (12:30 pm) 5 – Apple Festival – set-up / decorate (Fairgrounds) (10:00/10:30) 6 – Apple Festival (9:00 am – 6:00 pm) 7 –Traditional worship as usual (8:25 am); no 10:45 contemporary service 7 – Apple Festival (9:00 am – 5:00 pm) 12 – HeartSTART 5K at Bixler Lake 13-21 – Casa Chapi Trip (Peru Mission Trip) 18 – Cub Scout Pack 3105 pie order deadline 28 – Peru Sunday

What’s Going On (by Pastor Chris) As many of you know over the last few years we have been using a back stock of supplies. This is why for a period of time we used mismatched bulletins and sometimes you get older stationary that is covered by a sticker. We do all of this to be good stewards of all that we have and not be wasteful. We have done a very good job of using what we had and I want to personally thank MJ Judt for her extra effort to help us in this effort. One of the largest asks that we asked the congregation to help with was to reuse boxes of offering envelopes as we had two unused cases. Thank you so much for helping us to use up these materials. Now that we have used all of the back years the time has come to order new envelopes as we seek to offer you many ways of giving your tithes and offerings. If you would like to have a box of dated envelopes next year we need to know by October 31 st . I will remind you that we will continue have pew envelopes available and

Do you know the story behind this clock? The clock was hanging in the office until even after winding it would not keep time. Pastor Chris would like to know the clock’s history and where it came from. Please let the church office know or e-mail Pastor Chris at chris@trinitychurchum.org

Dear Trinity, After all of my time as a pastor, one of the hardest things in ministry has been saying goodbye to our loved ones. Since I have been at Trinity we have lost many of our spiritual pillars as they have passed from this life and gone home. We celebrate the fact that they have finished their course in faith and yet we still feel their loss. If you have been to one of the funerals I have officiated, you know that I emphasize the fact that our loved ones have gone home. I also point out that we have to deal with the real loss of our loved ones in our lives. We have to deal with this loss in the form of grief. The world many times tells us the lie that grief is something for us to “get over,” but the truth is that there is no getting over our grief. The only way to deal with our grief is to get through it. And the way we get through grief is together. The way I suggest moving forward together is to honor the memories of those who have passed. By celebrating those who hav

As we prepare to welcome our first exchange student, the word courage has really been on my mind.   The amount of courage it takes for a 16-year-old student to travel half way around the world to live with total strangers for 9 or 10 months is mind-boggling.   The courage it takes for parents to allow them to do this is equally mind-boggling AND humbling that they would trust us with their son.   I have friends who have said the courage WE have to turn an empty nest into a home for a teenager we have never met is mind-boggling…or if it isn’t now, our minds might boggle a little getting used to having a teenager in the house again.   Not to mention that he will be involved in playing soccer and swimming!   Our kids were in music!   We never did the sports gig except golf for Andy. My favorite scripture about courage is represented in Joshua 3:14-17.   The Israelites are finally preparing to cross the Jordan into the promised land.   The waters of the Jordan were at flood stage and

What’s Going On (by Pastor Chris) I write you today because I have begun to receive questions regarding the changes that have been proposed by the larger United Methodist Church concerning human sexuality. At the 2016 General Conference (the large gathering of United Methodists from all over the world that sets the policy for the United Methodist church,) there was a call from the floor for the bishops to help us find a way forward on our disagreements over the issues of homosexuality. The answer the bishops brought was the creation of a commission to study this issue called the “Commission on the Way Forward.” This group was designed to bring many different points of view and to present options to the Council of Bishops for them to present to a special General Conference that will be held February 23-26 th in St. Louis, MO. This group has completed their work and presented it to the Council of Bishops. The Council has an option that they feel is best called the “One Church Pl