Trinity Bells, September 2007

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1 My Dear Trinitarians, Trinity Bells, September 2007 One of the things that makes Trinity a wonderful place is the way people just pitch in and get things done. We have a long tradition of lots of informal things going on that make people s lives richer visiting, lending a helping hand, and providing encouragement. This is also in many ways what makes church, church. We all join together to do God s work from big things to small. When everyone is a part of what goes on, we truly reflect God s purpose in the world. Sundays have become such a busy time for many people. For others, Sunday may be the only day they can take it a little easy. Also, we don t have as many people as we once did, and many of our most faithful members have gotten older. This has produced a difficult situation, especially on Sunday mornings. Many of our most important ministries do not have enough people participating. While this may not always be obvious (hopefully it isn t), I need to ask each and every person who is able, to prayerfully consider which of these YOU can become involved in (or add to your roster of Trinity accomplishments)! We are all part of making our church happen. Ushers: Greet people at the door and give out the bulletins and other materials. Answer questions and provide directions. Ask people to bring the bread and the wine to the altar at communion (and explain the procedure). Count the congregation. Take up the collection. Invite children and others to ring the bells at the end of the service. Pick up bulletins and other items at the end of the service. Ushers need to get to church about 15 min. early and stay for 10 min. or so after the service. Altar Guild: Serve one weekend a month. On Saturday, do about 30 minutes of light cleaning and set up. Arrive at 10:00 (or 8:00) to set up for service. May also assist with washing and ironing of linens used for services. Training provided. This is a ministry where the need for new volunteers is especially great! Speak to Margo or Maryellen Hansen if interested. Children s Ministries: People to read stories and play with the littlest kids during the sermon are needed. People to assist the older kids with projects are needed. A person to assist with coordination is needed. Speak to Margo if you are interested. Readers: Read two or more lessons at a service. No license or special training is required. Readers look up the lessons in advance of the service and check on pronunciation of names and other difficult words. Readers serve once a month or less. Please speak to Margo or Sheila Platt if you are interested. Chalice bearers: Serve the chalice at communion. This requires a license from the bishop and attendance at a workshop held at Mercer. We really need people for this position! Please speak to Margo or Sheila Platt if you are interested. Lay Eucharistic Ministers: Same responsibilities as the Chalice bearer, but a broader license is given. Please speak to Margo or Sheila Platt. Choir or Handbells: Newcomers always welcome! If any adults or children are interested, please speak to Martha! Counters: On Mondays spend about 30 minutes to an hour at church counting the collection from the previous Sunday, recording the information and taking the deposit to the bank. Counters serve once a month to every six weeks although because of need some of our older folks are serving once every three weeks and often Joan is winding up doing it because no one is available). While not in the same category as the other positions, it is still extremely important to the church! Please speak to Margo or Joan if interested. All of these ministries are not only important, but generations of people have found them deeply and spiritually rewarding. If you want to participate in any of these and can t make a full commitment, we will happily schedule you less frequently. In Christ,

2 Hallo again to all. CHURCH SIGNS If you share our ways of investigating an unknown landscape, one of your first points of contact with a church is likely to be its signboard. Despite the convenience of the web when looking for a church to attend on a Sunday or holyday away from home, signboards are still the mainstay of church information as we walk or drive through a town. They tell us the church name, and often the clergy and musicians who serve there. In most cases they tell us when services begin, occasionally even in stone as above. Now and then the choice of words hints at the parish's DNA: 'The Lord's Supper', for example, and 'Solemn Mass' are good giveaways for brands of churchmanship. Of late, we've noticed a new trend on church signboards and websites; some now indicate the time at which a service begins and the time at which it ends. A few examples: 'Most of the time the service lasts about 57 minutes'. 'Our service lasts 75 minutes'; 'Our worship takes about 40 minutes'. Others have firm start and stop times. It is understandable that people should like to know when they'll be able to breakfast after communion or join friends for brunch. Others are keen to use what remains of Sunday to get on with some form of recreation: walking in the park or on the beach, finishing or starting a livre du jour, helping children with an essay due soon, or taking part in one of that most hallowed Sunday custom, the early afternoon post-church-and-paper nap. A clue about when a service will finish, as well as when it will start, can be undeniably helpful. And yet we prefer to see just the starting times of services on signboards and websites. The time we give to Divine Worship is too important to be circumscribed by calculations after the manner of railway departures and arrivals. In this all-too-human world, a sermon inevitably goes longer or shorter than planned; a hymn takes longer to sing than one thought; a baby wails to the point of delaying a baptism for several minutes. The variables in worship are at least as great as those in automobile traffic. beyond even the loveliness of occasions outside church walls when we browse and meander without recourse to our watches. Though we trust it is good for our souls as well as 'our bounden duty and service', it is true that time spent in church is lost time, lost to the clock of billable hours, lawn mowing, foodshopping and exercise. But as with so much in our earthly pilgrimage, this sort of loss can be counted as gain if we learn its true value. Call it kairos as opposed to chronos: God's transfigured, liturgical time as against the stultifying onward march of a second hand. In a rushed atmosphere driven by consumption and accomplishment, we do well to put our wristwatches away or at least refrain from glancing at them. As our weekly schedules become more and more rigid, robbing us of chance and rest (and also serendipity, wonder, and awe), it can be good to know just when something begins, but not necessarily to be sure that it will end 'about 57 minutes' later. In truth, worship doesn't really have a fixed end-point on the clock, a terminus ad watch: it goes with God's blessing out into the world with us, where we continue it as best we can in our daily lives, with all their quotidian mysteries. This side of heaven, it's surely useful to know when to gather for common prayer from week to week, but we hope to see the, well, timely end of signboards and websites with fixed finishing lines other than divine growth and nourishment. See you next week, same place, same time, with no promises about how long our letter will be. Copied with permission from: For our part, we're unable to treat time spent in bookshops, museums, churchyards, or fleamarkets as anything but open-ended. In what Kathleen Norris has called 'quotidian mysteries', we enter a kind of supra-chronological time that can't be measured much less planned on a clock. This richly textured, expanding, refreshing time is magnified in worship

3 TRINITY S MID-SUMMER S EVE BBQ AUGUST 3 RD It was a sultry, summer night, but many turned out for Trinity s BBQ and enjoyed the expertly-grilled meats, salads, and other side dishes provided by Trinity s parishioners. As the sun set, a breeze picked up and refreshed us all! We were then treated to musical selections by Don Krug, Martha Regelmann & Ken Bongort. Thanks to all who brought food, cooked, served, and/or cleaned up, and to those who sang and played and entertained us it made for a wonderful summer evening among friends. MUSICAL NOTES Fall is here and there are exciting musical themes floating through the air at Trinity. Our young people are getting involved with various musical offerings during the worship. Some are singing and others are playing violin, trumpet, flute, cello, or percussion. We have an extremely musical group of teenagers and it is a pleasure to work with them. Our vintage early 1960's original two octaves of handbells have been refurbished. They look beautiful and sound great. Their first ringing in church was at the baptism service for little Mateo Rodriguez. Handbell rehearsals are every Thursday from 7:15-8:00 in the Choir Room. New ringers are always welcome. Memorial Donation Opportunity- The two Handbell Cases for our original octaves were in dire need of replacement. The new ones, at a cost of $250 each, are very beautiful and protect the bells well. Memorial plaques with names of loved ones and/or donors can be mounted on the cases if anyone is interested in making a contribution to help cover the cost of these lovely cases. The funding for the refurbishing of the bells came from the Book of Remembrance Music Fund. The Choir is back to singing every week, bringing great joy to their director and wonderful enrichment to the worship service. We are ALWAYS ready to welcome new singers. Please encourage anyone you know who is looking for a meaningful singing experience to speak with me or send me an at MRegel@aol.com. Martha Regelmann TRINITY TRANSITIONS Welcome to the Body of Christ... Mateo Rodriguez Rest Eternal Grant Unto Them... Jean Honeyman, Bob Jewitt

4 ST. JUSTINS UPDATE Accra, Ghana Fall 2007 On August 26 th, 2007 Missionary Dr. Jenny Coley visited Trinity Church, sharing with us the work that she performed at St. Justins School in Accra, Ghana during her assignments. Dr. Coley spoke to the congregation about her mission, and offered a visual presentation for all to view after Church was over. The video footage showed the children of St. Justins opening supplies, letters and photographs sent by our children here at Trinity. Dr. Coley educated the Trinity community to the economic, medical and educational conditions in Accra. She also included information about the AIDS education program she conducts within the villages in Accra. DANIEL SACRIPANTE After having seen Trinity s newly designed website, new parents Connie and Justin Sacripante, who currently live in Nevada where Justin is a physician s assistant, connected with the parish. Shortly thereafter they were counseled by Mother Clark, who discussed making Danny a part of God s family and part of the Trinity Church family. During the 2006 Christmas holidays with many family members and friends in attendance, their newborn son Daniel was baptized by Mother Clark. Below is a photo of St. Justins School. Thanks to the generous work of the parents and children at Trinity, and to the parishioners in attendance on August 26 th, we were able to send Dr. Coley back to Africa with approximately $700, which she has agreed to put towards purchasing medicine for HIV infected patients. During this time of Thanksgiving, I would like to express my great appreciation and affection to the members of Trinity Church. Thank you for your continued support of me and the St. Justins cause. This year, a gently used paperback book drive will be our initiative for St. Justins. A collection box will be placed in the back of the Church. In Christ, Joanna McCloskey In February 2007 Daniel was diagnosed with a severe form of a serious and life-threatening motor neuron disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) which affects the voluntary muscles that are used for crawling, walking, head and neck control, and swallowing. Connie and Justin manage Daniel s daily in-home health care, but they recently have exhausted their insurance allotment for his medical equipment. Trinity s Outreach Committee has provided care packages and money, and the Church School continues to raise Dollars for Danny. If you would like to donate to Daniel s medical care and treatment, please send your contribution directly to The Sacripante Family, P.O. Box 3773, West Wendover, NV

5 BURNING BOOKS COMING SOON CHURCH PHOTO DIRECTORY Our next selection is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. We will meet Wed., Oct. 24 at Trinity, hosted by Mary Lou Minard. This time we will meet at 7:30 PM and see how that works. Other selections for the year, dates to be determined, but usually about 6 weeks in between meetings: David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns Alan Brenner, Molokai Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower All are welcome. It does help if you have read the book under discussion! Please speak to me or John Platt if you have any questions. Jean Henning TIME TO GET YOUR FLU SHOT AGAIN Vaccination against the prevailing flu will be available at the Glen Head Community Center, 200 Glen Head Rd., on Thursday October 25, 2007, 9am to 12 noon. The vaccine is provided by the Nassau County Department of Senior Affairs and coordinated by the Golden Ring Senior Club, for all aged 60 and over. Written registration is required.. Forms are available at the Community Center in the office. If further information is needed, you may call me at The youth of Trinity will be putting together a Church Photo Directory in the near future please watch for further details and sign up for your own personal family photo shoot! (or individual poses) FROM THE EDITORS: To those who think our efforts go unnoticed please read the 2 letters, found elsewhere in this newsletter, from organizations that have been the recipients of donations from Trinity Church. Most of these donations came from the leftovers of our Tag Sale. Some came from the particularly hard work of individuals, such as Lex Weill, who took it upon himself to personally canvass his neighborhood and solicit donations for the Veterans of St. Albans. Thank you again, Lex, and all who worked on the Tag Sale, especially Barbara Holzkamp and Ann Mingorance, who have the uncanny ability to match people in need with the things they need! By the way, if you would like to contact us with ideas or articles for the next Trinity Bells, please us: Kathy.mendall@liu.edu ruthafick@hotmail.com Dee Doxey Trinity Cookbooks are still available for $13.95 from the church office great for upcoming holiday gifts! Call Joan Murphy at to pick one (or more) up. Did you know that you can access Trinity Bells on Trinity s website? ( Please inform the editors (Kathy Mendall or Ruth Fick) if you would prefer to access Trinity Bells on the website instead of having it mailed to you, thereby saving us postage!

6 REV. NIGEL MUMFORD, HEALER SAVE THE DATE Please mark your calendars for the Healing Ministry of the Reverend Nigel Mumford, coming to St. Paul s Episcopal Church in Glen Cove on the weekend of November 17 & 18. SCHEDULE: Saturday, November 17 th, :30 p.m. - Session 1 Encouragement and Empowerment 2:45 p.m. - Break with refreshments 3:00 p.m. - Session 2 Forming Prayer Teams 4:30 p.m. - Prayer Service 5:00 p.m. - Holy Eucharist with Laying on of Hands and Anointing for Healing Sunday, November 18 th, :00 a.m. - Holy Eucharist & Healing Nigel Mumford, Guest Preacher 9:00 a.m. - Coffee and Conversation Nigel Mumford, Leader 10:00 a.m. - Holy Eucharist & Healing Nigel Mumford, Guest Preacher CENTENNIAL YEAR WRAP-UP On behalf of the Centennial Committee, I want to express my appreciation and gratitude for all who supported the events which took place this year. Not only did we see a revitalization of the congregation, but we shared fellowship with each other and welcomed visitors into our church home. We had some of our friends who have moved away come back to share in the festivities. We learned about the history of the church and of our glorious stained glass windows. The many skilled cooks shared their favorite recipes in our Trinity cookbook. The committee worked tirelessly throughout the year to plan the wonderful events we had, but we couldn t have been successful without the support of the entire congregation. The final total of funds we raised throughout the year, after expenses, is $13,500. This money will be used for the preservation and restoration of our historic landmark church building, plans for which are currently underway. Thank you again for a wonderful celebratory year! Kathy Mendall GREAT NEWS! Please tell your friends to come out for the healing services. SHORT BIOGRAPHY: THE REV. NIGEL MUMFORD The Reverend Nigel Mumford, a former drill instructor in the Royal Marine Commandos, was born and educated in England. After witnessing the healing of his sister, Julie Sheldon, a ballet dancer with the Royal Ballet in 1989 he dedicated his life to the healing ministry. From 1996 to 2004 Fr. Mumford was the Director of the Oratory of the Little Way, a healing retreat center in Ct. In 2004 Fr. Mumford became the Director of the healing ministry at the Christ the King Spiritual Life Center with the Episcopal Diocese of Albany. Mumford s books include Hand to Hand From Combat to Healing Church Publishing Inc. NY 2001, Heartfelt Prayers for Healing and The Thirty-one day Healing Devotional. Fr. Mumford is a regular contributor for Sharing and Fishnet magazines. Fr. Mumford is a Paul Harris Fellow from Rotary International and the recipient of The Wittnauer Humanitarian award Fr. Mumford lives with his wife Lynn in Greenwich, near Saratoga Springs, NY. He is a circuit speaker for the International Order of St. Luke and he serves on the international board of directors of Christian Healing Ministries, Jacksonville, FL Rennie Archibald (a.k.a. "the new guy") has agreed to head up our Buildings and Grounds committee. Rennie brings the unusual combination of previously having been both a warden and a sexton to the position! There will be a start-up meeting in St. Martha's room immediately after the 10:30 service on September 30. All are invited to participate! ALL SAINTS DAY BRUNCH, NOV. 4 There will be one service (9:30 am) on All Saints Day, November 4. Please join us for a Brunch following the service. Details to follow at later date.

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9 The Mission Statement of Trinity Episcopal Church Trinity Church is a community where all are welcome. We seek to love God, to learn and practice Jesus' teachings, and to answer the call of those in need. Sunday Services 8:30 AM Holy Eucharist 10:30 AM Holy Eucharist and Full Choir Programs for children and teens The Rev. Margaret A. Peckham Clark, Rector (516) Joan Murphy, Administrative Assistant Martha Regelmann, Organist and Choir Director Michael Callahan, Sexton Wardens Rob Alexander Barbara Holzkamp Warden Emeritus Jim Hebron Vestry Maryellen Hansen Brigitte McConnell Roger Gerber Ruth Fick Michael Rodriguez Dawn Weill Ruth Hinrichs Donald Kavanagh Donald Krug Trinity Episcopal Church 1579 Northern Boulevard Roslyn, NY 11576