Trinity Episcopal Church, Parkersburg, West Virginia
Week of February 16, 1999
(Last updated 09/12/99)

Forty Days...

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

Lent is upon us. You will find many Lenten Offerings available to you in this issue of the Times. I am excited to have been asked by the ECW to lead the Quiet Morning on February 24th. I am also excited to have been invited to be one of the featured preachers in a Lenten series that has some twenty-five plus years of history. On March 3rd, I will preach at Christ Church, Greenville, South Carolina, as a part of a Lenten Series which has included, over the years, bishops, archbishops, the President of the Anglican Consultative Council, and some of the great preaching voices in the United States. It is truly humbling company and I ask for your prayers. To the best of my knowledge, I am the first native son to be invited to participate in this series.

This year’s Lenten Series is truly exciting. "Good for the Outside, Good for the Inside" is our theme. Our guest presenters in the "Outside" part will include Susan Maluski of Faithlink and Old Man Rivers of Old Man Rivers Mission on the Southside. These two people will offer us glimpses of ministries which are both outside Trinity and outside ourselves — that is to say a good work manifestation of the faith that is in us. I have heard them both. They are both excellent. Don’t miss either one, if possible.

Good for the Inside (which will be the last two weeks of the series) will fulfill, in part, the Lenten bidding to read and meditate on God’s holy word. We will be looking at some very important Scriptures and their place in our salvation history. Bring your bibles, it will be fun.

Some other Lenten Features:

Bishop Smith joins us on Maundy Thursday evening for this major Holy Week worship.

Ecumenical Stations of the Cross through downtown Parkersburg on Good Friday in association with the Churches of the Business District

Trinity has the honor of hosting the most important service of the Christian Year, the Great Vigil of Easter. Good Shepherd and St. Luke’s will be joining us.

May these and other offerings open the door for each of us to observe a holy Lent.

Blessings & peace,

In tribute to our Mustard Seeds…

When I was a child, someone gave me an unusual necklace. It was a round globe of glass attached to a silver chain. Inside the glass was a small seed. I loved peering at the seed, wondering how it had gotten trapped inside the glass. But to tell the truth, I would have liked it even better had the glass encased something really interesting – like a bumblebee or a mosquito. I didn’t realize that my new bauble was supposed to remind me of the words of Jesus: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

But what are these mountains that Jesus speaks of? Is he encouraging us to start rearranging the surrounding landscape, moving mountains as we would the furniture in our living rooms? Somehow I doubt it. Instead I think he is saying that even the tiniest amount of faith can create spiritual earthquakes. These earthquakes can happen in families, where one person prays for the conversion of the rest. Or in communities, where different individuals are touched by God’s power and his love. Sometimes they involve matters of life and death, and at other times they shake things up more gradually and quietly.

If you know of particular mountains that need moving, remember the role that faith plays. Strengthen the faith you already have so that you, too, will experience a miracle in your life.

As printed in A Miracle a Day, by Ann Spangler

Don’t forget the Bowling party this Sunday sponsored by Pairs and Spares! And meet their challenge by inviting a friend (or another family) to join the fun! Time 1:30 pm. Location: Emerson Lanes.

 FEBRUARY AT A GLANCE…

In Our Parish Prayers

Tom Patrick, Charlotte Martin, Larry Bellew, Nellie Taylor, Terri Hindman, Alex Northrup, Mary Carolyn & Bill Mildren, Sr., Donna Tyo, Ruth Greer, Ray Hofmann, Mazie Smith, Betty Rodda, Mary Glen Rice, Bob Lawrence-Berrey, Maggie Crofton, Mary Harlow, Butch Shaver, Carr Leavitt, Esber Tweel (priest) and Rocky Rachell (priest), Gladys Fitcher, Helen Waterman.

This week we offer prayers of thanksgiving for the calling of a new Missioner to the Ohio Valley Cluster. The Reverend Richard Kellogg will begin his work in the cluster on March 1st..