AFTER THE LILIES

Eastertide is the 50-day season of which the Day of the Resurrection is Day One. For forty days our Lord Jesus Christ lingered with His apostolic band, presenting…."himself alive after His passion by many proofs...and speaking to them of the kingdom." (Acts 1:3)

Those six weeks were apparently used in revealing the awesome Truth of His bodily Resurrection from the dead, fulfilling His prophetic promise to return to them from the dead after three days, teaching them about the kingdom to come and their mission, and celebrating with them the newly released power of the Holy Spirit. He ate with them, once cooking breakfast on the beach (St. John 21). He walked and talked with them, receiving their hospitality and breaking bread with them in an astonishing way that surprised them and opened to them the mysteries of the sweet Sacrament of Holy Communion (St. Luke 24:13 ff).

Yes, he also reproached them for doubting the initial Resurrection testimony of Mary Magdalene and the other women. He made a tender but severe visit for the sake of Thomas’ weak faith. Jesus had to prepare them for His departure to the Father and the self-sacrificial mission of evangelism, which He would require of them. Nevertheless, the first Eastertide was a moveable and inspiring feast during those forty days. It was serious joy!

On the fortieth day, Jesus ascended to the Father, exactly as He had told the apostles (through Mary Magdalene) He would do.

The last of the 50 days of Easter is the Day of Pentecost. From our adopted Jewish heritage, we have the feast of firstfruits of the harvest and the flocks (Leviticus 23:15 ff). Fifty days after Jesus’ Resurrection, a harvest of souls occurred, as the Holy Spirit came in wind and fire, lighting upon the Apostles, whose testimony convicted and converted 3,000 persons that day..

The Rev. Stuart B. Smith,
All Saints’ Church,
Memphis, TN.

….as printed in The Anglican Digest

The Diocesan Convention: This year’s Diocesan Convention will be held next weekend from Friday April 30th thru Sunday May 2nd. This year’s convention will be in Wheeling and is hosted by the Wheeling Cluster. In addition to our priest and elected delegates, all members of the Diocese are welcome to attend and to participate in the Saturday morning forums and the two festive liturgies, Evensong on Friday night and the Sunday Eucharist. The five Resolutions that are to be presented at Convention this year are as follows: Resolution to Forgive the Debts of Nicaragua and Honduras, Resolution for Clergy Compensation Standards, Resolution to encourage all delegates to General Convention to report all their individual votes on all matters to the Diocese, Resolution regarding Christian persecution in the Middle East and the Resolution on National Church Assessment. More detailed information on each of the Resolutions will be in next week’s Times.

As many of you already know, the Youth Convention takes place during the same time as the Diocesan Convention. Although registration for the Youth Convention was due a couple of weeks ago, if anyone is interested in going there still may be time to get a few more people "squeezed in." So if you would like to attend please contact Father Hunter immediately. We would love to have a youth representative from

Trinity!!!!

Relief Efforts for Kosovo:

As the war continues, relief efforts also continue. Although we are half a world away and may not be able to help directly there are many organizations that are accepting donations and contributions. A couple of the ones I have found are:

The Salvation Army: Donations of clothing and non-perishable items can be sent to Salvation Army, 814 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230, or you can call 1-800-SALARMY.

The American Red Cross: The Red Cross will accept monetary donations which can be sent directly to American Red Cross International Response Fund, P.O. Box 37243,

Washington, D.C. 20013. You can also call 1-800-HELPNOW to make a donation, or if so inclined you can also make a donation over the internet at the Red Cross website. Their site can be found at www.redcross.org/index.shtml.

Additionally, the Vestry has authorized a special offering to be collected the 1st Sunday of May at all services — designated and loose offerings will be included!

Peterkin Sunday was held this past Sunday and a great time was has by all. Executive Director Frank Coe was here and provided the sermon as well as many insights regarding the Peterkin experience. He also brought along a 3D model of Peterkin which included buildings that are to be completed in the future. We also enjoyed casual attire and some great Peterkin music with guitar accompanyment provided by Connie and Jim. It was a fun service !!!

We encourage everyone who is interested in attending Peterkin this summer to please register as soon as possible. Registration forms are available at the church office and can also be found in Trinity Hall. Scholarships are also available. For more information about Peterkin and scholarships you can contact the church or Peterkin at (304) 822-4519.

Peterkin Work Weekend: Peterkin is also having a work weekend scheduled for May 14th-16th. The weekend begins at 6:00 pm on Friday and concludes Sunday afternoon no later than 12:15 pm This summers Permanent counselors and Volunteer counselors will be there and the youth will be cleaning up Prayer Hill and straightening up the grounds around Peterkin in preparation for the camping season. If interested call the church office (422-3362) for registration information or you can contact Matthew Holcombe at (304) 622-2720.

Thursday May 6th will be the observance of the World Day of Prayer. A gathering at Government Square in downtown Parkersburg is being planned for 12 noon to

1:00P.M. The Parkersburg Christian School Choir will perform, Mayor Jimmy Columbo will speak and the invocation is to be provided by Trinity’s Fr. Hunter. Participants will be divided into prayer clusters and asked to pray for local and world issues as well as for Evangelism and for the "harvest of souls".

Blood Drive: The Red Cross has its next blood drive scheduled for May 12th. For more information call the Red Cross office at 485-7311 and sign up to donate the gift of life !!!!!

Our Friends are like angels,
Who brighten our days.
In all Kinds of wonderful,
Magical Way.
Their thoughtfulness comes,
As a gift from above.
And we feel we’re surrounded,
By warm, caring love.
Like upside-down rainbows,
Their smiles bring the sun.
And they fill ho-hum moments,
With laughter and fun.
Friends are like angels,
Without any wings .
Blessing our lives,
With the most precious things.

Source unknown 

Webmaster note: If you would like to see a new topic, link, issue, or any other content on this site, please leave a message with one of the webmasters below, or sign the guestbook. There is a comment box there.