Faith @ Fifth and Juliana

“Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
Prepare the way of the Lord.”

John the Baptist has always enjoyed a reputation as an eccentric sort of character. We know he wore strange clothes by our standards. And he ate grasshoppers…..even if they were coated with honey. Furthermore, he apparently preached the kind of message we might hear today should we be near Union Square in New York. For those of you quite unfamiliar, this has always been a well known location where impassioned speeches of any kind were heard by those who would listen. It remains today the home of any “soap box“ orator. John, the perfect evangelist, would be quite comfortable there today. Yet, in spite of this, God used John to set the stage for the coming of Christ.

So what of importance and relevance does this text have to say to us as we move further into the Advent season? I connect with two things in my mind. First, our lives like, John’s, have a wilderness air about them. Oh yes, there is a veneer of orderliness and sanity with which we often cover ourselves. When asked, “How are you doing?’, we rarely answer the truth. We hide our true feelings inside.

Much about the veneer runs deep and is good. But beneath the surface of many lives there is loneliness, lost-ness and even chaos. Only when, and if, all of it becomes so intolerable to us does it break loose. After all these years knowing so many people, I do understand there is the frustration of dead-end or boring jobs, broken relationships within the family, strong differences with once close friends , debilitating addictions and fear of personal failures of any kind.

Sometimes our plaintive thought comes to mind…”Is there more? Is there really salvation for the likes of me.”

As a priest, I am confident there is salvation for all of us! That brings me to the second point. Salvation means wholeness or oneness with God. We need to start right there. John declared that repentance must move us to that wholeness with God. Repentance means each of us needs to look at our lives critically and do something about whatever it might be that blocks a full relationship with God. It means examining the veneer and all the underlying realities of our lives. If we choose not to examine and respond, God’s grace probably cannot enter us and move us out of our wilderness. If we choose not to fully understand the word repent, the coming of the Christ child can have no more impact on our lives than the Union Square preacher.

“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and
He will clear the threshing floor, and
will gather His wheat into the granary.”

from the lectionary of 2Advent
Matthew 3: 1-12

Jack+

Much has happened since the successful meeting in Trinity Hall on Sunday, November 11th that it is quite necessary to begin updating all our people. On November 12th, your Vestry met and unanimously voted support of the project with the architectural firm of Schooley-Caldwell, from Columbus, Ohio. Everyone felt their expertise was needed to assure the proper restoration work. They have been contacted and have agreed in principle with what will be done.

To assure this, a group of eight lay people will return to Columbus on December 17th to finalize the contracts and clarify the scope of work. The general plan will be to begin work next spring, when freezing weather will be over. The work will then take three to four months to complete. Sometime in January, you will learn in detail what is planned and under contract. It is the hope of everyone that what we do will be a reasonably full restoration…….not a short term repair. With this work, we will still need a professional review of the building every ten years to re-protect it as needed. However, it should never be expected that any such future repair will be as costly as what we are undertaking now. We should be able to provide those future funds from our operating budget….or a set-aside fund for this purpose each year.

Frankly, without this restoration, the spire will fall. The bell tower (inside) is not secure. The Rose Window will be endangered within five years. The capstone (above Trevor Chapel) is gone…….temporary repairs were made last Spring. Full repair is needed now. The Jesus window needs work. Our foundation is very solid and strong but there are many areas close to the foundation that obviously need care. All this is somewhat repetitious to you. You have already heard the story in detail. Yet, it needs to be reinforced often, so that all of us know, understand and remember.

So, there must be a capital campaign. You will hear more about this quite soon …...surely before Christmas. We have every hope that the entire congregation will do its part and help when asked.

Meanwhile, we will start a column about Frequently Asked Questions that we hear asked in conversations within the church. Put any of your inquiries in the Times mailbox or give to the Senior Warden. They will answer each and every one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Has grant monies, or other funds from historical groups been considered?

A. We will explore all avenues and this is certainly one we plan to try. We will need everyone who is familiar with grant writing to assist . We have been told by preservation experts that these grants are small, $500 to $2000. But any and all grants will be helpful. Anyone who feels they might be able to contribute in this area, please come forward!

 

Q. Is there money available from the Diocese or the National Church?

A. As of this moment, we know of no resource that might be helpful.

 

Q. Would removing the spires instead of fixing them be more economical?

A. Our church is listed on the National Historic Register. To remove the spires would, in essence, also remove us from that list. One would also assume there would be those in our congregation who would object to damaging the architectural integrity of our Gothic structure.

For many years, Trinity has had a part in the program at our sister church….Good Shepherd, where we have helped provide new children’s warm clothes, (socks, mittens, underwear and outerwear), blankets and toys that will help many local families have a more joyful holiday. Our Jesse Tree is up and in Trinity Hall waiting to be filled with your gifts. It’s late for this notice and that’s the Interim’s fault. Let’s try to “hang it full” this year.

Also, it has been our plan to provide full-sized personal care kits for at least 100 families. The donations should be left in baskets in the back of the church. Scott Ramsay and his Outreach team will do the rest !

The items to bring are…...soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, combs and brushes, etc. You may wish to leave a cash donation….you may do that too…. either through the alms basin (plain envelopes are available from the ushers) or send your gift directly to the church office. We do need volunteers to help put together the packets. See Scott Ramsay on Sunday or telephone him direct.

Finally, we might add a few cookies to the list. They always are important!

THE LAST DAY TO BRING ANY OF THESE ITEMS IS THURSDAY , DECEMBER 13TH

P.S. For the Christmas project, we use full size items but Old Man Rivers Mission can use any hotel-size products. These, and anything else of a like nature, we will deliver to the Mission promptly.

St. Anne’s Brunch is at the home of Lynette and Jack Neilson on Sunday, December 16th…..Time is 12:30 pm.

Our annual Advent Dinner will be on Wednesday, December 12th. We begin with Evening Prayer at six sharp in the Church. Dinner and fellowship follows immediately. One of our guest speaker is Phil Munger, the new Director of Habitat For Humanity. He will speak to us during dinner giving a brief history of the program both in Wood County and nationally. After dinner, we will be treated to the Neale Choir under the direction of Barbara Full. The choir has been here before and it will feature 75 fifth and sixth grade students singing holiday music. Rick Sears will play the violin and Paul Miller the recorder.

The early Christmas Eve services will be at 5 pm as it was last year. However, the late service will begin one half-hour earlier to make it possible to be on our way home before midnight. The prelude and Choir Christmas Carol sing will begin at 9:30 pm sharp.

The Christmas Day said service will be at 10 am.

The Annual Meeting of the congregation will be held on Sunday, January 13th. We expect to have a balanced budget ready and approved by the Vestry for your approval as well. A report of church activities for the year including updates on the Restoration and Search processes. It will show “where we’ve been and where we’re going”….brief but important for all to hear.

Our installation of new church officers and Vestry will be on January 20th. Just as last year, there will be an Open House after church at the Neilson’s for all incoming and outgoing members of our leadership. More about this in a later issue of Trinity Times.

We are going to make every effort possible to have the Trinity Times mailed from Church on Tuesday afternoons. Many of you have justifiably complained that you receive it far too late in the week. This means our Staff Meeting must be changed to Friday mornings. In order to do most of the preparation work to accomplish this goal, any, and all, communications for the next week’s issue has to be received at the Church Office before Friday.

    Our Parish Prayers

Please hold these people, events and circumstances in your daily prayers. Also, we encourage you to always say a prayer for those unknown persons who have no one to pray for them. By-the-way, please remember to renew prayer requests monthly

Gene Smith, Julia Davis, Walter Kafka, Justine Eby, Woody and Gloria Thacker, David and Jane Couch, Bob Lawrence-Berrey, Jennie Miracle, Tiffany, Gabe and Mason Bennett, Roy Uppwall, Tom O’Shea, Celia Smith, Philip Roper, Jim Snider, Jane Wood, Ron Taylor, Mary Glen Rice, Delores Sayres and family, Wayne and Virginia Wiles, Nellie Johnston, Danny, and little Joey Bowersock.