march 2009 trinity topics newsletter, trinity toledo episcopal church

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

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

M A R C H

2 0 0 9

V O L U M E 1 3 5 , N U M B

E R 3

May we see the Light on the hill.

May we hear the Peace in the noise.

May we touch the Hope in the fading light.

May we feel the Sorrow in the earth.

May we hold the Teardrop in the towel.

May we feel the Healing in the pain.May we drink the Water from the source.

May we give the Pardon to the one who asks.

May we sense the Victory in the failure.

May we seek the Beginning in the last breath.

May we await the Morning in the silence.Gathering Prayer by Anna Burke



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SUNDAY, MAR 8—LENT 2BGenesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s

10:00a Formation

10:45a Parish Eucharist

SUNDAY, MAR 15 ! LENT 3BExodus 20-1-17; 1 Cor 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

9:00a Eucharist w/ hymn s10:00a Formation


SUNDAY, MAR 22 ! LENT 4BNumbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21


10:00a Formation


SUNDAY, MAR 29—LENT 5B Jer 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33


10:00a Formation


SUNDAY, APR 5—PALM SUNDAY John 12:12-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1—15:47

ONE SERVICE TODAY 10:45a Parish Eucharist

Tapestry — A St. Patrick’s Day CelebrationSaturday, March 14, 7p

An evening of rollicking Celtic music for harp, guitar, and bass as Denise and Michael Grupp-Verbon return in an encore performance to celebrate this festive holiday.

Tickets: Adults $15; Students & Seniors $12

A Candlelight Concert—Perrysburg Symphony

OrchestraSaturday, March 21, 8p

A romantic evening of classical favorites by candlelight under the stars of Trinity Church.Tickets: Adults $15; Students & Seniors $12

Palm/Passion Sunday — ComplineSunday, April 5, 7p

Schutz: St. Matthew Passion

Canterbury Choir presents a meditative service to begin HolyWeek exploring the other side of Palm Sunday.Free admission



(Rector’s note: This month, I' m turning over my column space to Dan Hotchkiss of the Alban Institute. Alban is a major

resource for American congregations facing the challenges of a changing society . Their chief aim is to help congregations and

their leaders to be agents of grace and transformation to shape and heal the world.

During this t ime of Lent, we need to review how we as a community serve God. Budgets are moral documents. We must

always remember that our mission, our communal covenant with God, comes first. Let us make our financial decisions based

upon being the hands of Christ for those who need it most. Liddy) Ministry in Hard Times

by D an Hotchkiss

During the Great Depression, my grand father lost his job and started a n ew compan y. His

friends had enjoyed his Christmas gifts of homema de cand ied fruit--the kind u sed in fruitcakes--and

encouraged him to tu rn w hat had been a hobby into a business. Luckily for him, the fruitcake market

tur ned out to be coun tercyclical: wh en people can't afford exp ensive luxuries, they look for cheap

ones. Fruitcake--like liquor , lotteries, and day-old bread--sold best wh en times were worst.

Many peop le like to think religion, too, is coun tercyclical--that p eople cling to it w hen oth er

sources of sup por t fail. Religion may be countercyclical, but organized religion may n ot be: wor ship

attendance rates in mainline churches reached record lows du ring the Great Depression and record

highs during the prosperou s 1950s. Why wou ld people go to chu rch more when they have more

mon ey? The possible explanations are man y; the most likely one, in my opinion, is that peop le are

ashamed to worship where they no longer fit the economic profile of the congregation.

A m inister told me this sad story: A leading mem ber of a leading church dressed every m orning

in a suit and rod e the train to town. Hard ly anybody knew it, but he had no job to go to. To him,

keeping the ap pearance of prosperity was worth deceiving everyone, even (or perhap s especially)

everyone at church.

Like cars and h ouses, congr egation mem bership can be a costly mar ker of class member ship. Cars

and houses have p layed leading roles in the early stages of our current economic down turn; churches

and synagogu es likely will face hard times as well. To be sur e, giving to congregations is steadier

than other charitable giving in the face of economic fluctuations. Tithes and offerings m ay be the last

charitable giving people cut, but at

some point, cut they will.

In seminary, most of us learned

little enough about m anaging acongregation in good times. What

we d id learn, often, was steeped in

rhetoric about abu ndan ce, growth,

and optimism that, in retrospect,

reflects a time of head y grow th,

fervent spend ing, and heed less

borrow ing. The futur e, at least in the

short term, may require us to relearn

concepts of stewardship and

plann ing that stress thr ift, the clever

use of resources, and the courage to

say no to low priorities.In times like these, endow ed

congregations, which like to think

they hav e a cush ion against economic har m, find that in fact they are affected m ore abruptly and

severely than m ember-sup ported congregations are. Members, as a group, can almost always choose

to give a little more; a portfolio of stocks cannot. You can soften the imp act by smoothing out th e

"draw ," but in th e long run , the return is what it is.

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Unfortunately, in many congr egations the process of decision-mak ing abou t money is ill-suited to the

task of allocating scarce resources wisely. The implicit men tal mod el is that the congr egation’s first du ty

is to sustain its institutional core--to maintain th e building , service the debt, meet the payroll, and keep

the lights on. If there is money left, we can then speak of mission, outreach, service, innov ation--as if

those were optional extras.

This mental map--institutional maintenance as the foundation, mission as the ground floor,

innovation a s a decorative filigree--does little harm so long as the sup ply of money grow s from year to

year. But in lean years, wh en spend ing needs to be trimmed back, this way of thinking can accelerate a

dow nw ard spiral. Who wou ld supp ort a congregation that does nothing but support itself?Which brings us to an aw kward point: over time, congregations, like all nonpr ofits, tend to fall away

from serving their mission into serving their constituen ts. One powerfu l set of constituents compr ises

long-time members who want to preserve the congregation’s familiar look and feel--appearances and

practices that comfort them . Another powerful grou p is the paid staff.

I once consulted w ith a church in a magnificent Romanesque bu ilding stud ded with d istinguished

opalescent stained glass. It had a full-time minister and mu sic director, a sixteen-member p aid choir--and

thirty-five peop le in the congrega tion on an average Sunday. This mod e of opera tion had been finan ced

by liberal spending from a once-large endow ment and even larger withdraw als from th e invisible bank

account of deferred building m aintenance.

Like most congregations in such circum stances, this one took prid e in the heroic way they had

sustained a prou d tradition against long odd s. But one d ay their treasurer reframed their situation for

them. "Every day w e open u p ou r d oors, we piss away fifteen hund red of God's good d ollars," he said.After a stunned silence, the discussion shifted. Instead of "How can we continue to prov ide ourselves

with a chu rch for the longest possible time?" the grou p began to ask, "How can w e make the m ost faithful

use of the resources in our t rust, to fulfill the true pu rpose of the chu rch?"

Luckily (or p rovidentially), the church stood n ext door to a m useum , which pu rchased the bu ilding

for its collection of religious ar t. The congregation scattered, leaving a su bstantial legacy to other

congregations, charities, and religious institutions. Not a perfect outcome, perhap s--wh at is?--but better,

ethically, than simply w aiting un til the mon ey was all gone.

This story is dr amatic but instru ctive even for a congregation that is faced with trimm ing back by 10

or 20 percent. The easy path is always to give tacit priority to existing staff positions and activities, to

ignore the hidden cost of deferred bu ilding m aintenance, and to cut wh atever lacks a strong internal

advocate. In many cases this means cutting outreach giving, denom inational supp ort, and innovative

projects. Or it means copping ou t of all pr iority decisions and enacting an across-the-board p ercentage

cut.

In times of strained finances, even more than in fat years, it is imp ortant th at the bud get process

begin not w ith the bud get from last year but w ith the congregation's mission. The congregation needs

leaders--call them the board --capable of stand ing apart from the daily management of ministry. The

board need s to reflect and pray about the congrega tion's mission and a rticulate a vision for its ministry

that reflects its special calling in a time of trouble. And it needs to m ake har d choices--sometimes

choosing what is right instead of what will keep the peace.

Noth ing can make bud get cutting easy, but th ere can be some joy in it if, in the p rocess of accepting

what w e can't afford to d o, we reach a d eeper und erstanding of what w e must afford to d o, one w ay or

another.

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Reprinted w ith perm ission. Copyr ight © 2009, the Alban Institute.

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“...over time, congregations, like all nonprofits, tend to

fall away from serving their mission into serving their

constituents”



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BaptismThe sacrament of Baptism is the celebration of

God's call to us to be in relationsh ip, as the People

of God. It is an imp ortant event, not just for the

person being baptized bu t for the entire parish

community.

Easter Vigil is a traditional time to welcome

new m embers into the chur ch. If you areinterested in bap tism for yourself or for your

childr en, contact Liddy im med iately for more

information.

Easter Flower

MemorialsDon’t forget to make your

donation to honor friend s and

relatives this Easter. Thedonations are used to offset the

extra costs of flowers and m usic

for Holy Week and Easter Day.

An envelope is included in this

issue of Topics for your u se,

and the deadline for inclusion in the Easter

bulletin is Monday, April 6.

Photographers Needed

Since Marie’s m ove to Boston, Trinity ha s nothad anyone regularly taking p ictures of wh at’s

going on in our commu nity. If you enjoy d igital

photograp hy, regularly attend Trinity events

(both inside and outside our w alls), and w ould be

willing to take photos for our Website and Top ics,

please talk with Lidd y. This role can be shared

among several people (a new Photo Guild?) so

that we h ave someone taking pictures of both the

large and sm all ways we live out ou r m ission

statement.

Liturgical Assistant TrainingThere will be a training session for all curr ent

and aspiring liturgical assistants (sometimes

called liturgical deacons or chalicers) on Sund ay,

March 29 after the late service. If you serve in this

ministry, or w ant to learn m ore about it, plan to

attend this training .

Soup, Sharing and ServiceOur Lenten Community Life

“Soup, Sharing and Service” is a simp le

meal of bread and soup, accompan ied by

conversation abou t living into Lent, and

followed by Comp line. Join us on Sunday

evenings throughout Lent,

with d inner starting at5:30, and a 30-minute

Comp line (think of it as

God singing you a lullaby)

at 7:00.

Thanks from Izzy DurhamThank you so much for the wonderful care

package you sent me last week. You can’t imagine

how happy/grateful/touched I was to get it in the

mail. Your support and affection these past fewweeks have been such a comfort to me, and I can’t

wait to see you all in M arch!

Love,

Izzy

ECW Meets at COMPASSToledo Deanery ECW w ill meet on

Mond ay, March 16 at 10:00 a.m. at the h istoric

Tiedtke Hou se on the main campus of

COMPASS Corporation for Recovery Services ,

2465 Collingwood Blvd. (across the street fromScott High School). The Tiedtke House

Women ’s Residen tial Treatm ent Cen ter is for

wom en w ho need intensive substance abuse

treatmen t . William Sanford , director of

COMPASS, will give a tour and explain the

programs offered.

MEMBER MATTERS

Ann Stranahan will be recognized for heroutstanding leadership and accomplishments inthe arts at the 14th annual YWCA MilestonesAwards Luncheon. Ann is one of sevenextraordinary women from northwest Ohiowho will be honored. The awards luncheonwill be held on Thursday, March 26 at theSeagate Convention Center. If you areinterested in attending, tickets and moreinformation are available from the YWCA at419.241.3235.

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l d On the Threshold

~~ Notes from our seminarian~~

Hello Trinity family! Since the an nu al report

gave you an overv iew of my life at Episcopa l

Divinity School (EDS) so far, I thou ght I’d t ell

you about som e of my classes in this installment

of “As the Church N erd Learns.”

One of m y favorite first semester classes wason ecclesiology (that’s semina ry vocabulary –

it’s the stud y of the nature an d function of the

church) called Revisioning the Church:

Communities of Hope, Solidarity and Resistance.

That class was w hy I came to seminary: to figur e

out h ow to create the kinds of commu nities that

help bring about God’s mission in the world . I

learned that our starting p oint is the w orld, not

the chur ch. God’s mission is not to preserve the

institutional church, but to bring a bout tru e

shalom on earth. How d o we create

comm un ities that do that, so that we can

par ticipate in God ’s mission?

That mission spring s from and is reflected in

our liturgy. (Think of it like this: if a bu nch of

strangers watched Trinity’s principal Sunday

liturgy and then had to answer the question,

“What d oes this comm unity believe?” wou ld

they get it right?) This is my a rea of passion,

wh at’s called my “special competency” h ere. It’s

like m y m ajor. I started with a class called

Liturgics last semester, in wh ich I learned abou t

the history of liturgy. Fascinating for m e,

probably not so mu ch for norm al people.

In January I took a class called Psalms and Worship. For years I’ve had sort of a love/ hate

relationship w ith the Psalms. (I mean really,

wh at do I d o with a line like, “Happ y shall they

be who take you r little ones and dash th em

against th e rock!”) This class certainly did n’t

answer all my qu estions, but it gave me some

persp ective on bringing em otions before God in

prayer and in worship.

I’m now in a class called Liturgical Practicum

wh ere we learn things like wh at gestures go

where in th e Eucharistic prayer, how to do them

gracefully and how to really embody w hat w e’reabout as futu re priests. We’ve also worked on

our read ing, chanting and overall presence as

presiders. It’s no surp rise that I love th is class!

Next m onth I’ll write about my field

edu cation site, an emerging comm un ity called

The Crossing. In the m eantime, I’ll be with you

on M arch 22. I can’t wait!

Marie

Notes of a hospital pilgrim…[Editor’s note: David Christian Nelson (sometimes called

David Nelson the Elder) shares his observations on his experi-

ence of metastatic cancer.]

In late December I, a spiritual director, felt very

mu ch overdue for my own p ersonal renewal re-

treat. I didn’t expect that retreat to begin with m y

discovery a few w eeks later that I could n’t walk.

Testing revealed a cracked spine with nervecompr ession (a complication of my pr ostate

cancer’s getting into my

spine and w eakening it)

requiring emergency sur-

gery. I had eight vertebrae in

the mid dle of my back joined

with rods and pins. I spent

three days in intensive care,

then I moved to a rehab u nit

wh ere I re-learned how to

wa lk. I’ve had minimal spi-

nal dam age, and I’m at hom e now, walking with a

cane, picking u p th e pieces of my life.

My hospital stay proved to be a w inter retreat

of the highest order. Prayers bore me up as I went

into surgery, and the One I love was w ithin m e

wh en I awoke in a d rug h aze, gently calling m e to

attend to my bod y’s needs. This was my first

“retreat” confrontation. I could feel sorry for

myself and let the hosp ital staff take care of me, or I

could begin the slow march back to health. I made

a “tiny effort” to find m y fun ctions. So man y care-

givers, family, and faith commun ity were by m y

side that I never dou bted, nor feared the “shad ow

of death.” Each day, I had to make a “tiny effort,”to feel my feet, to roll from one side to th e other, to

sit in a spinal brace, to balance in a walker, to use a

cane, to retrain mu scles, to walk again. Each day,

others helped by r efusing to feel sorry for me, and

by presenting me w ith wh at I could d o for m yself.

I’m n ot “out of the w oods” w ith my cancer. I

face more rad iation therapy and chemotherapy,

but each day I crawl out of bed and pick up my

calendar a nd work a little toward my goals, with a

firm determination and a faith that God w ill never

leave me.

Do you have some imp ediment to living fully?Are you p aralyzed, or just p aralyzed with fear?

Make a “tiny effort;” reach out to the On e who

waits for you and will respond. If you don ’t know

how , find someone w ho w ill listen, who w ill

remind you of what you already know about

coping. You don’t know h ow pow erful your

commun ity is until you’re weak, and you d on’t

know h ow strong you are un til you m ake that tiny

effort.



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Personal Hygiene ItemsDur ing Lent w e’ll be collecting personal

hygiene items for men, wom en and children

staying in local shelters. The bags (blue for

men, pink for wom en and yellow for children)

will be available on Sund ay morn ings, and we

will gather them in on Sund ay, March 22 for

blessing p rior to distribution to th e shelters.Please take a bag or two and fill it with the

items on th e list.

Food For Thought also gives out hygiene

items along with food. They offer soap,

shamp oo, toothpaste and

toothbrushes, and w ould

welcome these items –

place donations in a bag

marked “Food For

Thought” in the Feed

Your Neighbor basket.

Food For Thought also

welcomes large packs of med icated foot

pow der (available at the dollar store), which

they tu rn into sm all, single-use packages to

help soothe sore feet along with their sock

exchange. They also welcome large packs of

cough d rops (packs of 50 from the d ollar store)

and they give out sma ll bags containing a few

cough d rops and a pack of tissues.

Feed Your Neighbor

ChallengeFor the 12th consecutive year, the

Feinstein Found ation of Rhod e Island w ill

divide $1 million among hunger-fighting

agencies all over the countr y that ra ise

matching fund s during March and A pril,

2009. The more donations mad e to Feed

Your N eighbor from March 1 to April 30,

the more Feinstein Challenge funds they

will be eligible for. These dona tions can

includ e cash, checks or food items (valuedat $1.00 per item ). In 2008, FYN r aised

$102,000 and received $575 from the

Feinstein Foundation.

Make your sup port for Feed Your

Neighbor even more valuable by

contributing food or funds to FYN du ring

March and Ap ril.

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Food For Thought NeedsFood for Thought helps to supp ort an

estimated 1000 local families each month

through its stationary and mobile food pan-

tries. It also offers arou nd 1200 lunches per

month to those who gather on Saturdays at

the Mail Library.If you can help w ith donations of

canned soup or canned p rotein (tuna,

beans, chili, canned meat), please bring

those donations to the chur ch and w e will

pass them on to Food For Though t.

Toledo NetworkA growing number of local spiritual and

civic leaders (includ ing ou r rector) are meetingweekly to explore local community needs and

resources. They are discussing how the 700+

churches in the greater Toledo area can come

together to serve the needs of the city and

slowly transform it into the kingdom of God.

While this network is still new, it’s first

visible step w ill be to wor k with the d irector of

the City of Toledo Dep artm ent of Neighbor-

hood s. It has issued a call to the peop le of all

metro Toledo churches to meet on several

Saturd ays in March and A pril to help clean up

neighborhoods that the city can no longer

afford to m aintain. The first clean-up effort

will take place on Saturd ay, March 14 from

9:00 to noon. Participants will gather at the

Marina District near the shu ttered Acme Power

Plant on Front Street in East Toledo.

Watch local news m edia for more

information abou t this project.

Blanket GrantIn February, the Episcopal Community

Services (ECS) Developmen t Cou ncil award eda total of $168,514 in gran ts to 55 pr ogram s re-

spond ing to the basic needs of vu lnerable

pop ulations in th e Diocese. Trinity received a

grant of $3,721 for ou r Blanket Blitz. This will

help pay for the huge quan tity of fleece needed

to put together the hund reds of blankets we

give away to local ministry partners.



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A Visit To Emanuel Children’s HomeIn late February, several Trinity members visited San Pedro Sula, Hond uras and spent time w ith the

kids living at Emanuel Children’s Home.

Watch for photos in next mont h’s Topics of the nu rsery un der constru ction.

THAN K U ALL FOR COMIN G TODAY!

U GAVE US A WO NDERFUL ART PRESENT!

U R SO SPECIAL & NICE!

U WERE SO FUN TODAY!

WITH LOVE, NELSY B.



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A Lenten Message from Bishop Hollingsw orth

Ash Wednesday 2009

Today begins the penitential season of Lent. Once again, we em bark

with Jesus on the journey that leads to the cross and the empty tom b.

The season takes its length (Ash Wedn esday throu gh H oly Saturd ay, not

includ ing the Sund ays) from Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, wh ere heengaged the pow er of evil’s temptations intended to separate him from

God. Likewise Lent is for u s a season for facing th e wild erness of

obstacles to our ow n faith, in wh ich to den y those things that ar e not of

God, that we might become more fully of God ourselves.

The Church’s observation of Lent provides us with an intentional

period of self-examinat ion and repen tance, a time of removing those

things that separate us from God an d one an other, a path by wh ich w e

may be led to give ourselves ever more fully to all that God d reams for

us. As we jour ney w ith Jesus, we are challenged by his deepening

self-awaren ess to become more aw are of ourselves – what is given us

and what is forgiven us – and encouraged by his surrend er to surrender our tru e selves more completely to God’s

service and love. It is at times a hard journey, at times a comforting one, and wh en w e und ertake it with hu mility

and dedication, always one of greater conversion.

In the w ords of the Ash Wedn esday litur gy, I invite you to the observance of a holy Lent. Enroll in a Lenten

Stud y program at your chu rch. You w ill find in you r congregation w orthy companions; God always provides

them. If it fits your schedu le, join m e at St. Pau l’s, Medina, on Saturd ay, March 7, from 9:30 to 3, for a Lenten

retreat d ay. Med itations, contemplative practices, and lu nch w ill be provid ed. (To register, call 216-774-0460 or

email [email protected] .) Comm it to a simple prayer discipline…. Open you rself to wh erever God may be

inviting you. With Jesus’ own journey a s your guide, give yourself back to God.

The Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr.

Bishop of Ohio

Once upon a time, an ancient story tells, the

master had a visitor who came to inquire about

Zen. But instead of listening, the visitor kept talk-

ing about his own concerns and giving his own

thou ghts. After a wh ile, the master served tea.He poured tea into his visitor’s cup until it was

full and then he kept on pouring. Finally the

visitor could not bear it any longer. “Don’t you see

that m y cup is full?” he said. “It’s not possible to

get anym ore in.” “Just so,” the master said,

stopp ing at last. “And like this cup , you are filled

with your own ideas. How can you expect me to

give you Zen u nless you first emp ty your cup ?”

A monastic Lent is the process of emptying our

cups. Lent is the time for trimming the soul and

scraping the slud ge off a life turn ed slipshod . Lent

is about taking stock of time, even religious time.

Lent is about exercising the control that enables usto say no to ourselves so that w hen life turns hard

of its own accord we h ave the spiritual stamina to

say yes to its twists and turns with faith and

hope… Lent is the time to make new efforts to be

what w e say we wan t to be.

From The Ru le of Benedict: Insights for the Ages

by Joan Chittister (Crossroad, 1996).

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Emptying Our Cups



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Lenten Blessings

Lent is a time to honor the journ ey – the jour ney tha t leads us from life to dea th and back into life again.

For days that seem h ard , and even n egative, there is a path of blessing that can be accessed and u tilized for

the grow th of our soul. Life takes us into the core of our ow n self, it travels throu gh trou bled wa ters of

suffering and lonely spaces of emp tiness, urg ing us to seek the God beyon d u s and r ecognize the new life

that issues forth from d eath. Lent itself is but a mirror of this jour ney of life. Lent cond enses the jour ney of

life into 40 days, yet when those days are watched with care and openness, blessings emerge that mightnever hav e been expected. Let these blessings be an aid to you on your Lenten journey. May they be holy

word s that strengthen your soul, word s that engender and create life.

A Bless ing f or the Journey i nto Self

May the Wind of God d rive away impurity

and bring fresh and vigorous possibility to your soul.

May the freeing Spirit un bind th ose places within

held captive by hop elessness, anxious th oughts an d internal discord.

And may you find a midd le place of awareness,

between the blowing and the stillness, to feel and w atch the movement from old to n ew.

A Bless ing for the Journey into Suf fering

May the suffering that stretches your soul

also render it pliable in the han d of God.

May the stretch be soft, so you can endure it

with u nyielding p atience.

May you r vision be clear so that,

no ma tter the trial, you can

see the wonder stand ing quietly nearby.

And in the very thing you long to cast away,

may you find a gem w orth keeping.

A Bless ing for the Journey into Emptiness

May the days that beckon the journey open a spacebetween what is and w hat will be,

a space of emp tiness waiting to be filled.

May the th ings that sit at the ed ge of revelation

move silently into that emptiness.

May they be noticed with attention and claimed as gifts

given from the h oly hand of heaven.

When th e gifts have been offered and received ,

may you r soul be filled w ith gratitud e

to God w ho initiated the journey and provided the blessing.

A Blessi ng for the Journey of Seek ing Go d

When you r soul w hispers of its deepest longings,may you qu iet yourself to listen.

May you follow th e path of yearning to the One alone w ho blends the u neven edges

into a life of mean ing.

May you meet and be un ited w ith God

and give thanks for the whispers

that led you th ere.



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The Emptiness of Our Hands: A Lent Lived on the StreetsPhyllis Cole-Dai, James Murray

September 2007 6 x 9 format (paperback), 268 pp.

During Lent and Holy Week, 1999, Phyllis Cole-Dai and James Mu rray lived

volun tarily on th e streets of Columbu s, Ohio, America’s fifteenth largest city.They did n't go ou t on th e streets to satisfy idle curiosity, or to experience a

strange new world. They didn't go out to find answ ers to questions or

solutions to problems. They didn't go out to save anyone, or to hand ou t

donations of food or blankets. They went out for one primary reason: to be as

present as possible to everyone they met – whether it was a homeless person, a

university president, or a cop. In other words, they set out, in their own way,

to love their neighbor as them selves. In doing so, they wer e reminded just how

difficult the p ractice of compassion can be.

The Emptiness of Our Hands: A Lent Lived on the Streets is a meditative narrative accompanied by

black and wh ite photographs, most of them taken by James Murray on the streets using crude

pinhole cameras he constructed from trash. This book will thrust you out the d oor of your

comfortable life, so that you m ight better un derstand wh at being w ithout a hom e can do to a

person.

“They went out for one primary reason: to be as present as

possible to everyone they met… in their own way, to love

their neighbor as themselves.”

11

A Bless ing for the Journey o f D eath

May your end ings be embraced w ith fervor equal to what

you gave your beginnings.

May the stopping p laces in your life create a space

for w hat is yet to be known.

Instead of sorrow, may you find joy.

Instead of hopelessness, may you find p ossibility.Instead of terror, may you find peace.

When you face an end ing,

may you know it as another beginning

tinged w ith the poten tial of a small seed in d ark soil.

In the blackness of grief may life push t hrou gh

and soften your sadn ess. from explorefaith.org

╬ ╬ ╬



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

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Virginia 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 419.243.0920Email: [email protected]

Episcopal Diocese of Ohio 2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, 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

Building Services C3 Services, Housekeeping

SUNDAYS 9 & 10:45 am, Holy Eucharist10 am, Formation for all ages

HOLY DAYS as announced

FOR THE PARISH COMMUNITY

Remember those for whom our prayers have been requested: Jessica Snyder,Bonnie Loss, Nancy Paulas, Carol Statum, William E. Siebold, Izzy Durham, Barbara ClarkeDavid C. Nelson, Herb Landis, Ruth Archer; the children and staff of Emanuel Children’sHome; all those on death row; all victims of war and violence; Marie Harkey and David S.Nelson in their continuing vocational discernment; and David S. Nelson and Beth Anne

Swartz, preparing for marriage.

Prayers for those who have died: In this month which marks the 6th anniversary of the Iraq war, we pray for all who have died, including 4,255 American troops, 318 troopsfrom other countries, and uncounted thousands of Iraqi men, women and children. Each

one was God’s beloved.

services

prayers

vision & mission Trinity is called to be a progressive, inclusive and creative urban 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.

march 2009 trinity topics newsletter, trinity toledo episcopal church

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