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A "Ministry Minute" from Jim Ashworth of Trinity Church...
You can't do it alone - you need a chart, a home port, and a family
When I arrived at Trinity Church, I had moved down here from Maine and was looking for a new church to join. Trinity's welcoming atmosphere appealed to me. You folks made the effort to remember my name. I was brought up in the Congregational Church, but I had some exposure to Roman Catholicism as a young adult through friends. There were some things I liked about the Catholic Church as opposed to the aloofness of rational New England Protestantism. There are times in life when you need a priest to lay hands on you. A blessing, a confession, a ritual. A kind of personal touch that you don't find in the rock maple of New England "help yourself!" religious thinking. So that experience combined with my English family background made the Episcopal Church an easy transition for me. The Episcopal Church offers a blend of tradition and tolerance that was a natural fit for me. I come to love the beauty of our ceremony and our liturgy. I don't pretend to stand before you as any perfect person, I have my list of human imperfections like anyone else, but I think that faith isn't about human imperfection, it's a journey toward grace, a roadmap to find your way through the wilderness of the soul! I know so many that call themselves "spiritual but not religious" I see them try to suck some connection out of an inexplicable universe with a belief in nothing and it doesn't work. If I have one real message today, it's that you can't do it alone! You can't navigate life's shoals and reefs by yourself; you need a chart, a home port and family. Trinity Church is for me that home port. Thank you! Jim Ashworth More "Ministry Minute" speakers to share their stories Each Sunday between now and Nov. 10, we will hear from a parish member about some aspect of the ministry we are called to support through our offerings. This week: At Christ Church, Portsmouth... Paul Seward - One of our newest active members; choir member; property co-chair At Trinity Church, Hampton...
Phoebe Bischoff - Member of welcoming committee; counter;
Soup Kitchen team leader
Bishop Hirschfeld to sign Shared Ministry Covenant Saturday, Nov. 16 - 5 p.m. at Trinity Church Bishop Rob Hirschfeld will be with us on Saturday, November 16 to sign our Shared Ministry Covenant and join us for a Celebration Dinner to follow. Holy Eucharist with the Signing of the Covenant will be held at Trinity Church at 5:00; dinner will follow in Hobbs Hall at 7:00. All are welcome as we celebrate the culmination of many months' work - and many years' anticipation. Be watching for your invitation with full details. Pledge forms went out this week - it's time to prayerfully decide We are enthusiastic about the stewardship journey we are embarking on this year. We have reflected with gratitude on the many blessings we share as we draw closer to one another to become a family in Christ. Every day people in our congregations and our larger community are impacted by the ministry we have to offer in the Seacoast area, and through companion ministries we are part of, both near and far. As members of the Stewardship Team, it is our privilege to serve you and an honor to invite you to participate in our "We're All In This Boat Together" campaign. An essential element of this campaign will be the exercise of Christian stewardship by each of us as church members, not only to provide support for the ongoing ministry of our congregations, but to serve as encouragers and examples to those around us as they make their stewardship decisions for the coming year. This week, our second mailing has gone out, including our Pledge Form for 2014. We invite you to join us in prayerful discernment as we consider how best to offer God the first fruits of the gifts we have received at God's hand, and in making proportional and sacrificial pledges reflecting this dedication for 2014. Even in the midst of what, for some of us, remains challenging economic times, nothing can separate us from the love of God; we are blessed. If you have not previously made a formal financial commitment, we ask you now, as we reinvigorate stewardship at both Christ and Trinity Churches, to offer a pledge. It is our goal to increase participation; we cannot do that without your generosity. Whether you pledge 3% or 5% - or even 10% of your income as the Bible (e.g., Malachi 3:10) encourages - whatever you offer, we are grateful for the way it makes our life together as a shared ministry possible. Please consider your pledge prayerfully this year and respond as you feel led by the Holy Spirit. Your Stewardship Team Fall backward!  On Saturday night, Nov. 2, it's time to "fall backward" - that is, turn your clocks back one hour for the start of Standard Time. and here's a good reason to be on time Sunday, Nov. 3... All Saints' Sunday: A day to remember those who have blazed the trail for us in faith All Saints' Day is not among the most ancient of Christian festivals (it is only about 1,200 years old), nor among the most universal (the Orthodox churches commemorate the saints in conjunction with the Feast of Pentecost). The feast is believed to have been originated in the British Isles, and emphasis on it remains characteristically Anglican. This Sunday is an absolutely splendid occasion to sing some very stirring hymns, to renew our baptismal vows, and to dramatize the meaning of being "the communion of saints" as living members of the Body of Christ. At Christ Church, it will be one of the half dozen occasions on which we pull out the incense and, as Jean Wadman would lovingly put it, "go whole hog." Speaking of Jean, and others who have passed into God's eternal presence in the past year, we will pray this Sunday for the souls of those who have been buried from our congregations since All Saints' a year ago. If you would like the name of a loved one (whether or not from the last year) added to that list, e-mail it to Nita in the shared ministry office or call her at 926-5688 no later than noon, Wednesday, Oct. 30. Some have found this an occasion to make a thank offering to the congregation in memory of those so listed. You are invited and encouraged to do so. | 
