Dear People of God: may be out of the office, but I m rarely out of reach. Here are. 1. Phone calls: I have made my mobile number, ,

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1 Dear People of God: VOLUME SEVENˑ ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2018 Usually when I write an ar cle for Tidings, I try to talk about ma ers other than the nuts and bolts of parish life. And yet, I know part of being a parish community is making sure parishioners know how to reach their priest. As you likely know, the life of a parish priest is not primarily an office job. I realize for some, it can be disconcer ng to stop by the parish office for an impromptu visit with the priest and discover he s not si ng in the office awai ng such a visit. To that end, I thought it would be helpful to review the myriad of ways in which I may be reached, par cularly since, due to the marvels of technology, I carry my office around with me in the form of a mobile device. I may be out of the office, but I m rarely out of reach. Here are the primary ways to get in touch with me: A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF TRINITY CHURCH WAUWATOSA 1. Phone calls: I have made my mobile number, , available far and wide. It s in the parish directory. It s in my signature line. It s on my office phone voic . There's a reason for this. I would rather TALK to people than exchange s, par cularly about pastoral concerns. If I don't answer, when you call, leave a voice mail. I return calls as soon as I can, even on my days off I do not live on , and I do not receive no fica ons on my mobile device. My address is tosapriest@yahoo.com. I try to do two "sessions" per day, usually in the morning and in the a ernoon. My prac ce is to be away from on my weekly day off, which is usually Friday. I am not always successful, but my goal is to respond to s within 36 hours. Again, if you need to reach me because of a pastoral emergency on a Friday, please call me or use one of the other methods outlined here. 3. Text Messaging: I frequently receive both urgent pastoral requests, and rou ne mee ng requests on my mobile device via text. Again that number is This is probably the quickest way to get me. I o en set up appointments via text, so text away! inside: Rector's Message Con nued..2 Care Packages for College...3 Habitat for Humanity...3 Drop-In/Drop-by Hours..4 The Gathering...4 Parish Picnic...4 Vaca on Bible School..4 Awesome Auc on..5 Clothing Ministry.5 A Place for Everything.6 April Calendar..7 (Con nued on page 2) 1

2 (Con nued from page 1) 4. Facebook Messenger and Twi er: Many of our parishioners communicate with me using these two social media channels. In fact, many people seem to prefer these op ons over the tradi onal route. If you are on Facebook, you can find me on Messenger (even if we re not Facebook friends ). As a reminder, while I do not ini ate friend requests to parishioners on Facebook, my policy is to accept any friend request I receive from parishioners. I can be reached on Twi er 5. "The Barbs": If it's during parish office hours, and I'm not in, Barb Neils and Barb Thompson nearly always know where I am. Barb Neils has access to my digital calendar and is empowered to set up appointments on my behalf. Barb also frequently texts me to let me know "breaking news" in the parish if I m away from the office. We do this outside of regular office hours as well, because many pastoral care issues happen outside of regular hours. I recently gave this report to the Vestry with the reminder that there are 400+ parishioners at Trinity Church and only one priest. Prac cally, this means if I am available for any one parishioner at a specific me and place, I am, by default, unavailable to everyone else in that given moment. My hope is this very nuts and bolts ar cle has been helpful. I want to hear from you! Please know that you all remain in my daily prayers. Faithfully, The Rev'd Gary B. Manning, Rector The Ascension Chapel at Trinity Church 2

3 Care Packages for College Students School is wrapping up for the 2017/2018 school year and this semester s care package is being sent very soon! We send a care package each semester to our college students that would like to be part of this ministry. The packages let them know we are thinking of them and provide them with some goodies from the parish. Below are some ideas of things that we could use for our packages. We have 15 students, so the more dona ons the be er. Please bring items to Trinity by Sunday, April 8 th to send off in the spring semester. The basket for dona ons is in the Narthex at the bo om of the stairs in the Welcome Center. If you have any ques ons or further ideas or want to insure that your college student is included, please contact Melissa Paradowski (melp0414@hotmail.com or ) or call the parish office. - Microwave Popcorn - Granola / Cereal bars - Candy (chocolate and non-chocolate) - Individual Snacks - Gum - Monetary Dona ons / SCRIP gi cards (Walmart, Target, Pick N' Save, Sentry, etc.; to purchase items & cover shipping costs) We could also use 3 to 4 volunteers to make rice Krispy treats. Please see Melissa Paradowski if you are interested (due date Sunday, Aril 8 th ). Building Update We have contributed outreach funds to a matching gi with Thrivent who will build two houses in May, June and July. Thrivent has reached out to churches in hope that they will come together during the building of these houses. The results of a survey conducted a few months ago showed an interest in Trinity volunteers helping with a one day build or helping Habitat in some other way. Habitat is now ready to schedule help for the Thrivent build in May, June or July. Now we need to know if there is enough interest in working one day to help build or if you are interested in another ac vity. Jill Paradowski will present more informa on on Sunday April 8th in the parish hall a er the 9:30 am liturgy to determine if volunteers from Trinity want to be part of the build. If you are interested in a build day, please speak with Jill Paradowski a.s.a.p. A day needs to be reserved for Trinity volunteers to work together. Here are the build dates: May 5 and 21st framing May 23 framing and siding June 30 drywall and July 7th drywall June 6th and 7th framing on another house: Some of the other ac vi es that we can do together are bring lunch on Saturday for the workers, take part in a destruc on project, work a shi together at one of the Restores, or, run a furniture collec on for the Restore. Please contact Jill at jill.paradowski@gmail.com if you have any ques ons. 3

4 Drop-in/Drop-by Rector's Drop-in /Drop-by Hours are: April 12 5:00 pm 8:00 pm April 18 10:00 am 2:00 pm Save the Date for the Parish Picnic July 14th 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Trinity Church! I'm looking for 15 volunteers to help serve approximately 200 guests at The Gathering on April 28, 2018 at the St. Ben's site at 10th and State St. in Milwaukee. Adults and teens are warmly welcomed and encouraged to help! The hours are from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. More informa on and sign up sheets will be available in the narthex beginning Easter Sunday. Please call me if you have ques ons regarding this ministry. My phone number is Thanks, Lynn Fohr Shipwrecked: Rescued by Jesus" Save the Date Trinity's Vacation Bible School will be August 6th -10th from 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Adventures await on our uncharted island...hope you can attend! 4

5 The 19 th Awesome Auc on for Outreach November 3, :30 pm 9:00 pm Awesome Auc on for Outreach: The votes are in and our theme is Kentucky Derby this year. Thanks for your help in deciding the theme and we hope you will add the date and me to your calendar. There will be a Children's Party going on downstairs again this year. It is never too early to start thinking of ideas of what you might like to donate to make the auc on successful. It is our major fund raising event for outreach. The auc on commi ee will meet in early May and create a wish list. Watch for more details in the next few months and if you want to be part of the planning fun, contact Jill Paradowski. URGENT NEED FOR SUMMER CLOTHES FOR MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN Last year as the Red Door Clothes Ministry was preparing to close, the planning commi ee reached out to the United Methodist Children's Service (UMCS) and asked them if they wanted some clothing. At that me they did not need addi onal clothing, but that has changed. UMCS is a good match to the Red Door Clothes Ministry. The UMCS serves families in the zip code. The donated clothing is given free of charge to families in need. Here is why UMCS is important for the community: They help those in poverty with the basic needs of food, clothing and support. They help with childcare and housing and more. You can check them out at info@umcs-wi.org. Here is where everyone can help. UMCS clothing ministry needs our help NOW! A fire and a broken pipe have destroyed all of their summer clothes and they are beginning to rebuild the clothing ministry. Please go through your closets and donate any summer clothes you can spare. UMCS does NOT accept shoes and purses. Place items in the black bucket in the hallway outside of the parish office. All of the clothing collected in April and May will be given to UMCS. Clothing collected a er May will be given to the Hospitality Center. 5

6 A Place for Everything.. Good Friday - "Prayer around the Cross" By Betsy Jeffery The Buildings and Grounds Oversight Commi ee will be performing an inventory of Trinity s physical assets this spring. We will begin in April and we need your help. Nothing like Spring Cleaning! Storage space is at a premium here at Trinity and one project the commi ee is also tasked with is clearing out storage areas, including the garage, and rearranging them when required in prepara on for next year s Our Faith, Our Future construc on projects. We are asking that you take home anything that belongs to you and not Trinity. We do not have room to store anything that doesn t belong to the church. If we find objects that we know do not belong to Trinity we will place them on the desk outside the office with a note and a deadline for them to be removed. If the deadline passes and an item is not claimed, it will find its way to Goodwill, Habitat s Re- Store or some other charity. We have also created a method for the parish to let us know if something needs a en- on with regard to the physical campus of Trinity. You will find Fix-It Please forms on the table outside the office windows and downstairs on the Ministry Center (where the clip boards are). If you spot something that needs fixin a wobbly kneeler, a s cky window, a burned-out light you can let us know using the form. Just fill one out and place it in the box that will also be on the table outside the office. Thanks to all as we move toward Our Faith, Our Future. 6

7 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Easter Day SCRIP 10:45 am Festival Brunch 2 Parish Office Closed 3 4 9:00 am Holy Eucharist 9:45 am Bible Study 6:30 pm Tai Chi 5 7:00 pm Choir rehearsal Easter 10:45 am Fellowship Habitat for Humanity Update 9 7:00 pm Men's Spirituality Group :00 am Holy Eucharist 9:45 am Bible Study 6:30 pm Tai Chi 12 5:00 pm 8:00 pm Rector's Drop-In/Drop -by Hours 7:00 pm Choir rehearsal Easter 10:45 am Fellowship & Christian Formation 11:30 am Vestry Meeting 16 1:30 pm Book Group :00 am Holy Eucharist 9:45 am Bible Study 10:00 am 2:00 pm Rector's Drop-In/Drop-by Hours 6:30 pm Tai Chi 19 7:00 pm Choir rehearsal Easter 10:45 am Fellowship & Christian Formation :30 pm St. Monica's Guild 25 9:00 am Holy Eucharist 9:45 am Bible Study 6:30 pm Tai Chi 26 7:00 pm Choir rehearsal Easter 30 10:45 am Fellowship & Christian Formation 7

8 8 w w w. t r i n i t y w a u w a t o s a. o r g TIDINGS Trinity Church 1717 Church Street Wauwatosa, WI April, 2018 Mark Your Calendars Now Parish Picnic - Saturday, July 14 4:00 pm 7:00 pm At Trinity Church Vacation Bible School August :00 am 11:30 am