Trinity Journals

Trinity Voices

February 01, 2008

The Heard Word

A little known ministry at Trinity involves flowers. Each week one of four people take flowers to members of Trinity who are homebound. They go to the sacristy on Monday... Keep Reading »

January 06, 2008

Rector's Reflections - A New Year

Jesus said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15). As we look toward a new year,... Keep Reading »

November 26, 2007

Rector's Reflections for Advent

Sunday, December 2, will be the start of a new church year and the beginning of the season of Advent. ADVENT, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is a season of expectation, of a waiting that is both joyous and solemn. It is a time when we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth with our ‘hearts filled with praise.’ It is not easy to be mindful of the solemnity of Advent when all around us the message of Christmas seems to have little to do with the birth of the only begotten Son of God. The following poem says it better than I ever could. Happy Advent! Fr. Mike Keep Reading »

October 28, 2007

Rector's Reflections

What a blessing it is to write and thank you for your prayers and support of the programs and ministry at Trinity Parish over the past year. I extend my own personal thanks and also those of the Vestry and clergy. A few weeks ago, we were studying the gospel of Luke 19:1-10 where we are introduced to a character by the name of Zacchaeus, a dishonest tax collector whom Jesus called down from a sycamore tree to have dinner with him. It was, the gospel tells us, through this personal encounter with Jesus that Zacchaeus was converted. But there is more!!! Keep Reading »

August 25, 2007

BLESSINGS OF JOY...BEACONS OF LIGHT

We all know how blessed we are to live in this amazing part of the world, a center of education, wealth and power, with a pretty nice climate too. Yet we also live in an area of terrible impoverishment—a desert really—in terms of faith and connection to God. The Bay Area, a world leader in science and technology, is sadly also leading the way into what sociologists are calling, “the post-Christian era.” As members of Christ’s body, this realization should call us into action; we have work to do. Keep Reading »

April 19, 2007

Reflections on the tragedy at Virginia Tech

I write this on April 16, the day that the terrible, unspeakable tragedy on the campus of Virginia Tech took place. Thirty two young people senselessly slaughtered. Thirty two young people with bright eyes and bright minds gunned down on a campus that was alternately described as ‘tranquil,’ ‘close-knit,’ ‘a family town,’ and ‘a nice safe place.’ My heart immediately went out to the parents – all of the parents who had children at that school. Can you imagine the horror, the shock, disbelief, the grief and the pain of knowing the child you loved, birthed, raised, and finally, but reluctantly, sent off to college had been meaninglessly murdered. How do you make any sense at all of what happened? What do we as Christians do or say about such horrific events? Keep Reading »

April 03, 2007

The Heard Word

Making Community

We are often reminded that “it takes a village to raise a child” and I agree with that. I would also like us to acknowledge that we need a community to live as adults.

Some months ago, I went to a senior residence to take communion to a long-time Trinity member and she invited two friends to join us…one was a Baptist and the other a Presbyterian. She asked me if it was all right and I said it certainly was. Time went by and another Episcopalian joined the little community. Now we are five. When the owner, a Roman Catholic, is on the premises, she joins us. She asked me some months back if I would mind formally bringing the Eucharist to the others, and so it all began.

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March 08, 2007

New Rector's Reflections

As I sit at the computer writing this first reflection for the Trinity Church newsletter, my daughter, Kim (age 7), is upstairs, brimming with excitement and anticipation as she gets ready for the Daddy/Daughter Valentine Day school dance that takes place this evening. A new dress has been bought, we’ve been practicing our dances all week (we will skip the hip-hop moves, because as she says “you’ll embarrass me”) and in a very short time we will begin our evening with a ‘meal’ at Delsa’s, a local ice cream parlor. It will be a great evening, full of memories. Keep Reading »

December 29, 2006

The Heard Word

During this time when we are hoping and praying for peace on earth, we tend to think of war—and only recently our Bishop was even arrested in San Francisco as he rightly protested the war in Iraq. Dr. Martin Luther King taught us so much with his non-violent protests during the 1960’s. But peace isn’t always an international or national affair. There might be that relative or friend where an estrangement has occurred; and years or months have passed, and it is on your mind. There might be a time when you have said something about someone, or where there has been a serious disagreement and it is bothering you. Year’s end is a good time to bring that to closure. It is peace we seek, and peace we can bring. Keep Reading »

May 30, 2006

The Endowment Trust - Leaving a Legacy

Trinity Parish is fortunate to have accumulated an Endowment Trust worth more than $1.7 million. Each year distributions of 5% of the balance are used to maintain our facilities and to expand our ministries beyond what might otherwise be possible. The 2006 distributions will total nearly $85,000 and will be expended as approved by Vestry.

Endowment Fund gifts are typically planned gifts. They are not ordinary gifts, such as annual pledging, nor extraordinary gifts, such as the Room for the Journey capital campaign. Instead, they are the ultimate gift—leaving a legacy after we die. Often parishioners will leave bequests to the Endowment in their wills or trusts. Yet, there is an easier way to leave a legacy.

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