PROGRESS TOWARD THE DREAM!!!

 

PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE STEWARDSHIP DINNER

 

Trinity's 2011 Build the Dream Stewardship Campaign is progressing reasonably well.  As of Thursday January 13, 106 pledges have been received totaling $304,633.00.  When compared to the comparable pledge base for 2010, this represents a $39,911.00  increase.  We now need to keep this momentum going if we are to achieve our goal of raising $550,000, which will enable Trinity to position itself for expanded ministries that will ensure our future growth.

 

Speaking of the need for momentum, if you have not responded to our  recent invitation to attend the Stewardship Dinner on Wednesday, January 19, please call the church office by Friday afternoon. We need to know your intention to facilitate logistics and food ordering.   We are anticipating that the "can do" participative spirit of our members will prevail, and we will have a great turnout.

 

Ron Joaquim

Campaign Chair

                  

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (JAN 15, 1929)

 

When I was in South Africa for the summer of 1999 to study the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu), I met Dr. Nicholas Smith, who was born in 1929 into South Africa's ruling class, a descendent of Danish settlers who arrived in Capetown in 1790. Dr. Smith grew up as an Afrikaner in the Dutch Reformed Church,  believing that the separation of the races in South Africa, and the subjugation of non-whites, was ordained by God. He became a professor of theology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa's most prestigious university, and seemed destined for a life of comfort and academic acclaim, until he sensed a call not only to renounce the apartheid policies his theology had supported, but to leave his life of affluence and accept a call to pastor a black church in Mamelodi, a black township of 300,000 on the outskirts of Pretoria. In 1981, Dr. Smith moved his wife and three daughters to a house in the township where they would be the only white residents. His former colleagues thought he was either crazy or a traitor. His ministry was profiled in Time Magazine (June 27, 1988) for his role in the struggle against apartheid.

 

When I met with Dr. Smith in Pretoria, I recorded portions of our conversation. In response to the question: "What was it like living under apartheid?"  Dr. Smith replied: I received a call from a white man in Pretoria, and he said, "I heard you were the white pastor of the new black church in Mamelodi, and I really have a problem this morning. I have a black man who works in my garden, and lives on my estate during the week, and he goes home to his people on the weekends. Last night he apparently died in his sleep, and I don't know what to do with him." I said, "Well, you must contact his family, and they will come for the body and arrange for his funeral." And he said, "Well, Dr. Smith, I really don't know a thing about the man's family or where they live." So I said, 'Then contact the police in the area where he's from, and the police will trace the family and find them." And he replied, "Dr. Smith, I haven't the slightest idea where this man came from."  And I said, " Well, he must have belonged to a church. Couldn't you contact the church he attended on Sundays and they will know where he lived." And he said, 'You know, I never asked him if he belonged to a church." And I thought: Perhaps this gardener had only been working on the estate for a few weeks or months, and he hasn't had the time to learn anything about him. And I said, "How long did this man work for you?" And he said, "Forty years."  Forty years! And he never asked him, "Do you have a family? Where are you from? Do you belong to a church. Who are you, anyway? Tell me about yourself." No. That is what apartheid did to us. It turned black people into implements. If you are told all your life that black people do not belong to your society, then you take away their human dignity, their human existence from them. They just become an implement. So you don't talk to the black man who works in your garden. He's just an implement. Forty years! And you never asked him if he's got a family, where he comes from, whether he belongs to a church. Forty years, my friends! And I was shocked, and I said, "Dear God, is it possible?"  

  

Almighty God, by  the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your church, following the example of your prophet  Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

  

 Fr. Jacobs   

  

BOOK CLUB 

  

The Trinity Church reading group will meet on Tuesday, January 25th, at 10 o'clock in the Trinity media center. The book for discussion is Better, A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande. Readers and guests are  welcome. 

  

THURSDAY ADULT BIBLE STUDY - THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS  

 

Adult Bible study in the parish media center continues on Thursdays following the 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist/Healing Service. The subject will be The Screwtape Letters - listening to ( the great British comedian ) John Cleese's dramatic narration of the C. S. Lewis classic, and led by Fr. Jacobs. All materials will be provided; no preparation is necessary; and refreshments will be offered. Please come and bring a friend to experience this darkly satirical, comedic masterpiece of Christian fiction.  

  

ORDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE KING 

  

The Trinity Chapter of the Order of the Daughters of the King would like to welcome any women in the parish who would like to find out more about the Daughters of the King. We meet the second Thursday of each month in the Conference Room at 1:00PM. If you would like to learn more about the Daughters of the King, please join us for this time of sharing, prayers and caring. Our meetings are very relaxed and friendly.   

  

The Daughters of the King was organized in 1885. The mission of the Order of the Daughtes of the King is the extension of Christ's Kingdom through Prayer, Service and Evangelism. Daughters pledge themselves to a lifelong program of this mission by the reaffirmation of our confirmation vows and the dedication to the spread of Christ's Kingdom and the strengthening of the spiritual life of her parish. We wear Crosses as an outward and visible sign that we cannot live a day without Christ in our lives.

  

An instruction or preparation class will be offered for new members and will meet at 2:00PM on Monday beginning January 10, 2011. We will meet once a week and follow the study program from the National Office for potential members. Our current members will be the leaders or facilitators at these classes which are very informal but required for a member to be installed to the Order.   

 

Please contact the church office if you would like to attend these sessions so we may know how many Study Guides to prepare.

We are looking forward to a most blessed year ahead in our ministry as Daughters at Trinity.

 

For His Sake, 

Stacy Clawson  

 

NOTES ON THE NOTES

 

"Solemn Melody" by Sir Walford Davies (1869-1944) and Concerto in C Major, BWV 595 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

 

This week's prelude is the "Solemn Melody" by Sir Walford Davies, a captivating piece originally written in 1908 for strings and organ.

Davies, who studied with the Anglican greats Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry and Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, held the title of Master of the King's Musick from 1934 to 1941. From 1926, Davies hosted a BBC radio program entitled "Music and the Ordinary Listener" that opened the world of classical music to many. These broadcasts, abruptly ended by the outbreak of World War II in September, 1939, featured "Solemn Melody" as a theme song. The work begins softly and features two repetitions of the lyrical theme - the solemn melody.

 

The piece grows in intensity, requiring the full resources of the organ at its triumphant apex. A short, soft coda brings the work to a quiet close.

 

This week's postlude is the Concerto in C Major, BWV 595 by Johann Sebastian Bach - although he himself did not compose the work! The music was originally a concerto for two violins by Prince Johann Ernst of Sachsen-Weimar (1696-1715). The Prince was a violinist and composed some nineteen works before his early death at age eighteen.

J.S. Bach transcribed the concerto for organ - a good thing, since the original composition has since been lost. In the concerto, the violins would have alternated with the full orchestra in a dialogue of contrasting volume. In Bach's transcription, the organist constantly changes manuals (keyboards) to effect the contrast.

 

Jason P. Hobratschk,

 

TRINITY HANDBELL CHOIR 

  

 

2011 CONTRIBUTION ENVELOPES

 

The 2011 contribution envelopes are now available for pick up in the Narthex of the church. If you have not had envelopes in the past and would like a box you can call Diane in the office at 772-567-1146 and she will assign you a box. 

 

ECW BOARD MEETING  

 

 

Happy New Year!  Time to circle your calendars for Thursday, Jauuary 20th for ECW Open Board Meeting at 9:00 a.m. in the Media Center.