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Listed below are the news articles for the month of November.
November 03, 2009
"Magic Words" of Thankfulness
When I was growing up, the words, “please” and “thank you” were called, “the magic words.” I am well-trained, and use the magic words in my daily life. But I don’t always feel so thankful, even though I know I am abundantly blessed.
Being thankful in our culture of always wanting more is something we need to learn and teach to our children. November, which starts with All Saints Day on the 1st, moves on to Thanksgiving, and ends with the first Sunday in Advent, gives us several opportunities to say thank you to God for our membership in the great Communion of Saints, our families, and the coming of Christ into our world.
Actually, we say thank you to God every Sunday, in the Eucharist. The word “eucharist” itself means to give thanks. You may notice that the first part of the Eucharistic prayer is called “The Great Thanksgiving.” Repetition is usually a good thing, but sometimes it causes us to overlook the meaning of what we do repetitively.
We have much to be thankful for in our own lives, and at Trinity! Teaching “the magic words,” is important. It’s also important to teach ourselves and our children the meaning and reality of giving thanks to God. Like so much of faith formation, it’s a life-long project!
Love, Beth
November 10, 2009
Fr. Matthew's Stewardship Message
Dear Friends,
In John Dominic Crossan’s book, In Search of Paul, Crossan makes a very good argument that Paul’s interpretation of Christianity has at its heart a fundamental opposition between the cultural norms of the Roman Empire and the values of the kingdom of God espoused by and embodied in Jesus. For Paul, Jesus offers an alternative vision of human life, one that is rooted in compassion, in right relationship with God, neighbor and self, and is a path of liberation from the surrounding imperial Roman culture, with its glorification of violence, its materialism and class consciousness, and its oppression of all that does not conform to its own value system. Crossan suggests that what was true in Paul’s time should be true in our own: that the church should offer a vision of life, rooted in Christ, that is different from the vision offered by our surrounding culture.
This idea is exceedingly powerful for me. While there is much to admire about our culture, there is also a considerable amount of dysfunction which serves to alienate people from God, from one another and from our own best, truest selves. The teaching of Jesus reminds us that our life is made possible by God, that we do not stand on our own but within a whole network of relationships, and that our value as human beings does not depend on the prestige of our work or the level of our wealth but comes from the deep truth that we are God’s Beloved. As followers of Jesus, we are called to participate fully in the life of the world, but to bring to that participation the values and vision of the kingdom of God.
Trinity Parish has this same calling: to be fully engaged in the life of the world while at the same time serving as a place that renews in each of us that vision of God’s kingdom that enables us individually and together to serve the world in Christ’s name. On a practical level, Trinity cannot live into that calling without each of us contributing our time, talent and treasure. Our beautiful campus must be maintained as a place of refuge and renewal. Our talented staff must be paid, and resources made available for worship and programs that comfort, challenge and inspire. As St. Paul wrote, we are all the body of Christ – and the body cannot be healthy unless each of us does what we can do to make it so.
It is an exciting time for me as your new rector, and for all of us as we have a sense of beginning a new chapter together. Please help us to build on that sense of excitement and renewal by sharing generously with this community of your own blessings.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Matthew R. Dutton-Gillett
Rector
November 13, 2009
Family Ministries Weekend Update
Dear Trinity Families:
This week's Collect is a very famous, very old Anglican prayer written for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer by Thomas Cranmer, one of the lions of the English Reformation:
"Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant us so to hear them, read, mark learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever."
The Anglican Tradition has always called us to learn scripture in an active way, to integrate the Christian Story into our daily lives.
At Trinity, we strive to do this every week at Sunday School. Godly Play students hear a biblical story or topic each week, and then respond through quiet, imaginative play. This Sunday our Godly Explorers and youth will begin to examine the Christmas Story, by reading the Infancy Narratives from Matthew and Luke, and finding errors in a "scrambled" version. Both are ways to "inwardly digest" scripture so that it becomes part of who we are.
Remember that this is Pledge Sunday, when we gather our pledges of treasure to be blessed during the service. This is a special moment in our parish life, when we dedicate and commit to the process of becoming more faithfull through giving. Pledging is another way to "inwardly digest" God's Word and make its meaning known in the world. Through pledging we show thanksgiving for this great gift of God's love to us.
Next Sunday is Adventure Sunday! Afterwards, we'll have a "Souper" lunch in Angus Hall, and make our Advent Wreaths. Doing lunch instead of brunch will give us a little more time to enjoy the process. And isn't that what getting ready for Advent is all about?
Blessings,
Madre Beth+
beth@trinitymenlopark.org
November 23, 2009
New position for Rev. Frannie
One of the great challenges that Jesus puts before us in the Gospel is the challenge to love our neighbors as ourselves. Over and over again, we find Jesus focusing on the most vulnerable members of his society. If the Gospels are read carefully, we discover that Jesus is actually challenging many of the established traditions and social systems of his time, because he perceives them to be unjust. The standard he uses in making that judgment is the way in which those at the bottom of society are treated. Jesus seeks transformation through a simple recognition that the least among us are as fully human as the rest. Our Baptismal Covenant calls us to live out this aspect of the Gospel by asking for our solemn promise that we will "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being." Every Episcopal community, including Trinity, must work out how we live into this solemn promise.
I come to you as your new Rector with the conviction that if a church in our time and place is to grow not only in numbers but also in vitality, then we must take seriously the tasks of reaching out to others, of caring for our environment and in working for justice and dignity for the whole human family. I also have the conviction that we must do this from a deep grounding in God that is the fruit of a life of prayer. In other words, I believe that we are called to be engaged with the world from a contemplative center.
As I have thought and prayed and talked with various people in this community about how Trinity might best respond to the call of the Gospel and to the solemn promises of our Baptismal Covenant, and as I have reflected on the Vestry's adoption of "action for mercy and justice" as a priority, I have come to the conclusion that the staff person in our midst most gifted and most passionate about helping us to discern our ministry as strivers for justice is the Rev. Frannie Hall Kieschnick. As a result, I am pleased to announce that, with the Vestry's approval, Frannie has been named Senior Associate Rector (in recognition of her nearly 30 years of ordained ministry) and Director of Contemplative Engagement.
To quote from Frannie's new job description, in her new role she will be responsible for interpreting "to the people of Trinity Church local, national and international social justice concerns in ways which help them to engage with those concerns in an active way, consistent with our Christian calling and commitments". In this new role, Frannie will serve as lead clergy for the Outreach Commission, the emerging environmental concerns group and for a group that is yet to be formed, whose focus will be on social justice issues.
Please know that with this change, Radical Welcoming will continue to be a priority, and primary responsibility will now rest with me as Rector, which I believe is most appropriate. This change in Frannie's role and title will have no impact on the 2010 budget, since she will be continuing in a half-time capacity. She will also continue to be a part of our worship life and will be pastorally available as much as a half-time position will allow.
Trinity Church has a long tradition of outreach to the vulnerable in our community, and I see this development as the next evolution in that tradition. Neither Frannie nor I have a complete picture of what our social justice ministry, as distinct from our outreach ministry, will look like. That is, however, as it should be, for ultimately all of us, as a community, need to prayerfully fill in that picture together. In her new role, Frannie will be helping us all to do just that.
As always, I welcome your questions and your perspectives. I hope you will always feel free to share them with me. And I rejoice that Frannie's ministry among us will continue in new and creative ways.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Matthew Dutton-Gillett
Rector