The Trinity Trumpet. Upcoming Events. Calling All Chefs. Last Year s Palm becomes this Year s Ashes.

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1 The Trinity Trumpet Upcoming Events Monday, January 29 6:30 PM - Confirmation Class Tuesday, January 30 7:00 PM - Service/Mission/Outreach Quarterly Leaders Meeting 7:30 PM - PEAL Rehearsal Wednesday, January 31 12:00 PM - ROMEO s Lunch 7:30 PM - SALT Rehearsal - New Sanctuary Thursday, February 1 7:30 PM - CAPPELLA Rehearsal - New Sanctuary Friday, February 2 4:45 PM - RSCM Rehearsal - New Sanctuary Sunday, February 4 - The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany 9:00 AM - Eucharist with Cappella 10:15 AM - Adult Forum & LOFT 11:15 AM - Eucharist with Salt Calling All Chefs Trinity volunteers will be serving dinner to families at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House coming up on Sunday, February 11 th. Volunteers are needed to donate food items, prepare dinner items and/or help to serve dinner to the families. Please see Lynn Chialastri or contact her at lmchialastri@shannondell.com if you are interested in joining in the fun! Many thanks for your support. Last Year s Palm becomes this Year s Ashes We invite you to bring your old palm back to church so that they can be included in the palm we ll burn down to make this year s ashes for Ash Wednesday. We ll be collecting the palm in the new Narthex on Sundays, January 28th, February 4th & 11th. The fire to burn the palm will happen outside on Sunday, February 11th (Transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday). Trinity s Clergy: The Reverend Janet Peterman, Interim Pastor pastorpeterman@trinityfairview.com

2 LENTEN DINNERS Lent comes early this year. Believe it or not, it s just around the corner! Ash Wednesday is Valentine s Day this year, February 14th. Trinity s Lenten Dinners will be on Sundays March 4, 11 & 18, 4-6:30 pm. On March 4th and 11th, we ll be exploring Christian practices of faith. (Lent is traditionally a time of deepening faith observances for a season.) Which faith practices shall we consider together? That s up to you! Here s the list of practices we re considering. There is a ballot box with ballots, one in the lobby outside the office, one in the new narthex outside the sanctuary. Cast votes by Sunday 2/18. If you are REALLY interested in one topic, you can mark your ballot 3 votes for one faith practice, but just one ballot per person, please! Silence/Solitude Simplicity/Space Prayer Fasting Giving & Receiving Keeping Sabbath Testimony Discernment (fill in the blank) Saying Yes and Saying No Household Economics Hospitality Honoring the Body Shaping Communities Healing Dying Well Faith in Song March 18th, we re planning a Lenten surprise. (More on that in a bit!) Nina Wason Director of Christian Ed Pastor Janet S. Peterman Interim Pastor

3 Winter Congregational Meeting Sunday February 11th One Mass At 10:00 am Winter Congregational Meeting to follow at 11:15 am Meeting Agenda Proposed 2018 Budget/Congregational Vote Pledge and Giving Update Spring Bring1/Buy1 Fundraiser Q&A Announcements Custodial Help Wanted The Operations Department is looking for part-time help to clean classrooms and bathrooms after school. No experience necessary. For more information call Ron Moorehead at Altar Flowers Availability Flowers for the sanctuary enhance our weekly worship service. We are dependent upon donations from the congregation to provide these flowers. Thank you to the parishioners who have already sponsored flowers. The following dates are open for sponsorship: 11/11, 12/2 & 12/23. Please contact Linda Stone at if you would like to sponsor flowers in memory or honor of someone.

4 The Eagles (& Our Youth) Need You! There is limited time to purchase a SuperBowl Hoagie. Each mouth watering hoagie helps our youth get closer to attending the 2018 ELCA National Youth Gathering in Houston this Summer. This Sunday will be your last day to sign up in the narthex; delivery will be on SuperBowl Sunday (February 4th). Come support our kids and help root on our SuperBowl-bound Eagles! Community Dinner Our first Community Dinner of 2018 will be held on Saturday February 10 th at All Saints Episcopal Church-535 Haws Avenue, Norristown, PA. We will be preparing food for the dinner, helping with setup, serving, and cleaning up. We organize into 2 shifts of helpers. The early shift will be from 4:15 to 5:30 pm. The later shift is from 5:30 to 7pm. At this point we are in good shape for cooks and salad providers. We are still in need of volunteers to help at the dinner especially for the 2 nd shift. If you have already indicated you will be helping via e- mail, no need to do so again, we have you on our list. If you are interested in trying out this ministry; or if you have questions feel free to contact us. E- mail: (Evwhiteside@yahoo.com); Home Phone: ( ); Cell Phone: ( ). Evelyn and Bob Whiteside Rediscover Jesus Small Groups Exciting news! We will be starting a new book called Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly. Join us on Monday, February 5th at 6:30pm at the West Norriton Diner in Jeffersonville. We will be discussing Chapter 1 - Resistance. Books will be supplied but no prior reading is required. Individual dinner checks will be provided and the diner is BYOB if you'd like to bring a beverage. Please come check it out Monday, Feb. 5th for fellowship, dinner, and discussion. If you have questions, please contact Marilou Doughty at mariloudoughty@gmail.com

5 Superman Wears a Beige Sweater From the Desk of Nina Wason, Chris Ed Director A few weeks ago I was at the soup kitchen in Norristown, handing out blankets we had made in Loft. They disappeared in minutes it was one of those very, very cold days right after Christmas. The place was crowded that day, not only with guests coming in for a wonderful hot lunch, but also the kitchen crew buoyed beyond its usual cast of characters by several young people off from school that week. Also working hard was a group of teens and adults led by Beth Barainyak, handing out winter coats and personal care bags. Every corner of the big room was filled with guests and volunteers. Warm place, good food, the joy generated by the still-pervasive Christmas spirit: it was a pleasant time. Until it wasn t. Suddenly amid the buzz of people choosing a dessert or a coat or a blanket, one man s very angry voice rose above it all. Everyone was watching a tall man stand and lean across the table and shout at the guy sitting across from him, I TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION THAT!!! EVER!!! The receiver of this message, a man with a knit cap and an army-style coat, muttered something and then the first man came back with, I DON T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!HOW MANY WAYS CAN I SAY THAT?! The second guy mumbled more, the first guy shouted in capital letters again. I was sure a fight was about to break out and, self-preservation rearing its powerful head, I began to edge away. Just as I was getting a few more tables between me and the action, a man in a beige cable-knit sweater arrived from the other side of the room, stood beside the tall man and calmly said, Hey, Sam. Time to settled down a bit. I know you re angry. Well, I didn t curse or nothin, said Sam, somewhat more quietly. Yes, said sweater-man, that s good, but now you really need to stop yelling. Let s see if we can find a way out of this. And bit by bit, sweater-man de-escalated the situation. The whole room was soon back to its jovial hum, the whole business probably taking less than 2 minutes, though it felt much longer. I m telling this story because in the gospel reading this week we learn of an encounter between Jesus and a man possessed. There is a lot of shouting (Note: Jesus does some of it!), and in the end, a volatile situation was de-fused as Jesus de-demoned his antagonist. But it s not just the exorcising of the demon that got my attention, it was the exercise of engagement. Where I was backing up, and wanting to stay out of the melee at the soup kitchen, Jesus decided to have a conversation with the wild man in the Temple. He did not ignore the man who was ranting at him; he did not back away or just try to talk over him. He addressed him. This is grace and gospel. There is more to it, of course the truth-telling, the challenging, the casting out of the demon. But it all starts with Jesus addressing the one I would have avoided, or, at best, waited for someone else to deal with. I m not advocating throwing caution to the wind, but rather trying also to see if I am willing to make myself uncomfortable in order to bring grace to a difficult situation. Clearly sometimes, Jesus calls us to be sweater-men, bearers of grace.

6 Doris Mohr February 2 Katrina Stansbeary February 5 Gerri Vattimo February 6 Emma Mulligan February 7 Ralph Berky February 9 Christine Steiner February 9 Kate Taxis February 9 Shaun Carlson February 10 Courtney Martin February 11 Benjamin Dixon February 12 Bill Rice February 12 Colette Zahour February 12 Chris Botzum February 15 Arabella Escoto February 16 Vivienne Escoto February 16 Justine Fry February 17 Delaney Lacerte February 17 Jerry Linfoot February 17 Sandy DiPrinzio February 22 Herb White February 23 Jim Wolfe February 27 Happy 50th Anniversary! John & Alma Nowmos February 10 Church Council Contacts Ann Dungan, President rella1@comcast.net Susan Chambers, Vice President schamb2795@aol.com Mike Martorelli, Treasurer michael.martorelli@fairmountpartners.com Dan Ditzler dand@newtonassociates.com Marilou Doughty mdoughty@montcopa.org Rick Cole earl6949@aol.com Lynn Chialastri lmchialastri@shannondell.com Craig Moyer reyom0825@comcast.net Rebecca Shadle rebwynn@gmail.com Meredith Booz booz1887@comcast.net Reese O Brien, Youth Representative reesepiecy4@gmail.com