ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES
FEBRUARY 17TH
Trinity’s Ash Wednesday services will be offered as follows:

• 9:30 AM in the Parish Hall
• 12: 15 PM in the Parish Hall
• 6:00 PM in the Church

ST. ANNE’S GUILD
TUESDAY, febrUARY 9th
The women of Trinity meet as St. Anne’s Guild for their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 9th, beginning at Noon in the Parish Hall

Because the Rector will be away attending the annual Clergy Prelenten Retreat, there will be no worship service beforehand this month only.

PARISH DINNEr
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH
A shared meal is a prominent feature of Luke’s gospel account, which we are hearing regularly in Year C of our three year lectionary cycle. Indeed, someone has observed that, in Luke, everyone is always “eating and drinking”!

Trinity will follow that excellent example by offering a Parish Dinner on Sunday, February 14th, following the morning service.

This month’s Parish Dinner be being held one week earlier than usual, to allow for set-up of the Parish Hall for the Rummage Sale on the following Sunday, February 21st.

RUMMAGE SALE
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH
A major fundraising event for the St. Anne’s Guild in recent years has been the Rummage Sale.

This year, the Guild has set a date of Saturday, February 27th, for the next occasion to part with your unwanted items, while benefiting the Guild’s mission work, all at the same time.

Items are being collected in the Undercroft of the Church.

Set up for the Rummage Sale will occur following the morning service and Coffee Hour on Sunday, February 21st.

SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER
FEBRUARY 16TH
Tuesday, February 16th is Shrove Tuesday. It became a custom in England in earlier times to get rid of all the food items which were not permitted during Lent by cooking them on the day before Ash Wednesday. Thus, nothing went to waste, and the Lenten disciplines were followed. The Shrove Tuesday Pancake tradition got its start from these beginnings.

Trinity’s event this year will take place in the Parish Hall beginning at 6:00 PM.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS TO BE OBSERVED
BEGINNING FEBRUARY 19TH
Part of Trinity’s Lenten discipline will be the observance of the devotions which center around the Stations of the Cross.

This year, as we’ve done in recent years, Trinity will join with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are members of St. Mary’s Catholic Church to hold ecumenical services of Stations. Services will continue through Lent to Holy Week.

Friday evenings, beginning at 7:00 PM, will be the day/time for this renewal of our appreciation for Our Lord’s passion and death.

The first service will be held on Friday, February 19th. The Rota of service locations, alternating between St. Mary’s and Trinity, will be announced shortly.

Friday evening Evening Prayer services will be suspended during the time that we are worshipping together.

THIRD TUESDAY STUDY GROUP
CONSIDERS RUTH AND BOAZ
FEBRUARY 23RD
The Third Tuesday Study Group will meet one week later than usual this month, due to the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. We will meet on February 23rd, beginning at 6:00 PM, at the Rector’s home.

This month’s study will focus on King David’s grandparents, Ruth and Boaz.

Do join us!

JOIN US FOR EVENSONG
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH
The Rector and Mrs. Tucker have begun the practice of traveling to the Church of St. Michael & St. George in St. Louis to hear Evensong sung by this church’s marvelous choir, who are under the direction of a good friend of the Tucker’s, Rob Lehman. Evensongs take place on the first Sunday of each month, through May.

Generally, carpools leave the Parish Hall at 3:00 PM, and the service begins at 5:00 PM, with a reception following. The parish offers a Simple Supper following the service, at a cost of $5.00/person.

A signup list is posted in the Parish Hall, adjacent to the calendar.

TRINITY-ON-THE-MOVE
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST
Nothing can dispel the winter’s chill quite like a good meal, shared with good company.

Those two ingredients will be in ample supply when our next Trinity-on-the-Move moveable feast takes place at the Silver Streak restaurant, located on Main Street.

We convene this month on Sunday, the 21st, at 6:00 PM.

Sign up in the Parish Hall, adjacent to the calendar, and join us then, if you can.

WEDNESDAY MORNING DISCUSSION GROUP
TO FOCUS ON INTERCESSORY PRAYER

“Prayer changes things!”

The Wednesday morning Informal Discussion Group recently decided to take up an intercessory prayer ministry as part of its regular activities.

To further the Church’s prayers on behalf of those in need, illness, or any other adversity, a new prayer request form will soon be made available to those who worship on Sunday mornings.

Completed forms can be placed in the offering plate, and the Wednesday morning group will offer all needs expressed through this ministry to the Lord when they meet.

ANNUAL MEETING’S ACTIONS SUMMARIZED

At its 136th Annual Meeting, members of Trinity elected three new Vestry members. New to the Vestry are Mrs. Tracy Adams, Mrs. Stephanie Walters, and Mr. Paul Martin.

These three new members take seats which were previously occupied by Mrs. Mary Nelle Campbell, Mr. Jim Adams and Dr. H. Goff Thompson.

Vestry members are elected for a three year term on a rotating schedule, with one-third of the Vestry being elected each year. The Canons of the Church stipulate that a member must remain off the Vestry for a one year period before being eligible to be re-elected.

A new Rector’s Warden was also announced at the meeting. Mrs. Esther Schelosky will assume these new duties, replacing Mrs. Mary Nelle Campbell. A new Parish Warden was elected, as well. Mr. Don Welch will assume those duties from Mr. Jim Adams.

Trinity Church thanks each Vestry member and the Wardens who have faithfully and diligently served the Lord in this place in the past year.

A 2010 budget was approved, calling for expenditures of $113, 566.00, which is supported by revenues of $111,918.00. Revenues to support the budget come in very large measure from pledges, along with some plate offerings.

NO VESTRY MEETING IN FEBRUARY
Trinity’s Vestry will meet briefly on Sunday, January 31st following the morning service, but does not plan to meet again during the month of February.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Vestry is set for Sunday, March 14th.

Any interested member of Trinity Church may observe Vestry meetings, which are held in the Rector’s office.

HIGHLIGHTING A MINISTRY:
LAY EUCHARISTIC VISITORS
As a parish, we gather around the Lord’s table on Sunday morning. Some are easily seen as they come forward to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion, while others are less visible, but no less a part of the worshipping congregation, for they, too, are strengthened for service by virtue of receiving that same Sacrament by the visitations of our Lay Eucharistic Visitors (LEVs).

Connecting these two parts of the Church family are those who carry on the ministry of taking the Sacrament of Holy Communion to our shut-ins and to those who are in the hospital, our LEVs.

While at the communion rail on Sunday morning, you might notice that extra hosts (communion bread) are placed in a small container, which is called a Pyx, as the Celebrant makes his way down the row. These hosts are being taken by the LEV to those who are a part of our congregation that day, but who cannot be physically present by reason of illness or some other circumstance.

Trinity is deeply honored to have two LEVs: Mrs. Anne Campbell and Mr. E. Minor Pace. These two faithful servants alternate Sunday duties as their schedules allow. As they leave the Church, they make their way to those they will visit. Once there, the LEV, who is the Officiant for the service, will use a version of a service entitled Communion under Special Circumstances, which may be found in the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, beginning on page 396. The Sacrament is administered in one kind only, the host. (A theological note is in order here: A person receives the full benefit of the Sacrament, whether both elements – the host and the wine – are received, or if only one element is received.)

An important part of the visitation is the bringing of the bulletin for the day, a copy of the sermon for the day, the monthly newsletter (if it’s toward the beginning of the month), and news of events within the Parish. Once the visit is complete, the LEV makes a report to the Rector, so that he is aware of the individual’s current welfare.

Once the service is complete, the LEV returns to the Sacristy in the Church and completes the entry for this service in the Register of Church Services, noting the number of persons present, the number of persons who received the Sacrament, and the person for whom the visit was made, specifically. Finally, the LEV either signs or initials the service register, since they were the Officiant for the service.

Trinity could use one more LEV. Could God be calling you to be that person? Let the Rector know, if so. It is one of the most rewarding ministries one can engage in.

RECTOR’S RAMBLES
“You get one bath a week (whether you need it or not!).” That was the sage advice that I used to hear when I lived in a farmhouse as a child.

We could apply a version of that saying to Lent, which begins with the arrival of Ash Wednesday on February 17th….The saying would then go something like this: “We get one Lent per year (whether we need it or not!).”

Lent – like the weekly bath in that old farmhouse of ours – can be regarded as a chore, or it can be regarded as a blessing.

Allow me to explain: Taking a bath in that old house was a chore, for it took a lot of work to get the bath ready: For one thing, there was no running water. So, the water we used either came from the windmill, which was about a hundred yards away from the house, or from the hand pump that drew from a cistern out in front of the house. Either way, one had to work to get the water. From there, it had to be heated on the top of a wood-burning cook stove (in which my mother burned corn cobs). Once it was hot enough, it went into a galvanized tub, into which one family member after another stepped to take their bath, in the kitchen. That was a lot of work! No wonder we got just one bath a week (usually on Saturday night, in advance of Sunday church).

But, from another perspective, that bath – for all the work involved – was a blessing. For it washed away the dirt, grime and sweat of a week’s worth of hard work on the farm. We felt so good afterward! Many times, we felt good enough to think that the preparatory work that went into providing the bath was all worth it.

Lent is a little like that….We can dread its arrival. We can regard its onset and its demand for spiritual regimens as drudgery, a little like chores that have to be done, but never with a smile.

Or, we can look at the benefits that the disciplines of Lent can provide. For they can allow us to cleanse ourselves of a whole year’s worth of spiritual dirt, grime and sweat, just the sort of stuff that can accumulate during the living of a whole year since our last systematic undertaking of Lenten disciplines.

The modern approach to Lent encourages us to think of this 40-day period as a blessing, not a chore. It encourages us to take on a Lenten discipline, not necessarily to give something up (although giving something up, like a favorite food or an overall tendency to overeat through a regimen of fasting, can provide unparalleled spiritual blessings). It invites us to renew our faith with a regimen of study, prayer, Bible reading, and so forth.

So, the choice is ours: chore or blessing, drudgery or a fresh start?

May God enable us to keep a holy Lent, walking with the Lord on the way to Jerusalem, to Good Friday and to Easter Sunday.

- Fr. Gene Tucker, Rector

Birthdays & Anniversaries for FEBRuary
Lucille Hanson (4th); Pam Lewis (8th); Larry Williams (9th); Minor & Helen Pace (20th); Art Pryor (26th); Doug Williams (26th).

See an addition that needs to be made, or a correction that needs fixing? Let the Rector know. (Thanks!)

PRAYER LIST FOR FEBRUARY
Loren & Pauline Ellis, Doris Williams, Blake, Warren Hattendorf, Marcia, T. J. Collier, Ann; Grace; Barbara; Fred & Laura; Jim; Matt; Nicole; Sharon; Bette; Patricia; Jeff; Esther Bassett; Phil; Emerson; Mary Ellen; Eugene; Marty; Kathy; Jacob & Sarah; Norma; Ann Nancarrow, Michael Reginato, Bill; Clay & Yuko; Pat Lusby; Hope in Christ Ministries, The Standing Committee of the Diocese and the election process for a new Bishop Coadjutor.

Inspiration for february

”Almighty and everliving God, we humbly beseech thee that, as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”

- Collect for the
Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ
in the Temple (February 2nd)