Worship 8:30 & 10:45 am Solid Grounds 9:00 am Sunday School 9:30 am Connect Cafe Coffee 10am

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1 F e bruary 3, 2012 Dear Friends, I struggle a great deal with teaching our four boys manners. I am of the strong opinion that we work very hard at directing their energy toward sharing, helping, being kind and compassionate. When my oldest was not even three years old, he was out of a high chair, potty trained, went to restaurants and nice events and fundraisers! Now, we re outnumbered. The triplets were three in December. They are not potty trained. We still use high chairs, partly, to keep some control. Even so, sippy cups, even food, and occasionally an object that could cause harm, are thrown across the room. Last year we turned our garage into a playroom and moved our old furniture in there. We bought new slip-covered furniture for our den. I had some really nice pillows made with some hooked fringe on the ends. It never occurred to me that my boys would take their little fingers and pull that fringe while they mindlessly watched a movie, but they did. I have to work constantly at teaching them to respect people and property. Three year olds don t quite get that. At the same time, I can t slipcover our lives or put plastic throughout our home. We have to live there, and that means some chaos and messiness, even for this neat freak. This Sunday we are trying something new. Let s keep in mind the word trying. We re going to serve Starbucks coffee in the south side of the narthex or foyer near the larger restrooms and on black tile floors. We are kicking off Trinity Connect Café for guests who come in before the 10:45 a.m. worship between 10:00-10:30 a.m. It is an opportunity for me and other members to welcome them and get to know them. These guests do not have Sunday school classes yet. In fact, some of them may choose to be involved in learning at another time of the week. Still, we want them to feel at home and be welcomed in a hospitable setting. Remember that Starbucks is more familiar and comfortable to some people than church. Besides, our large foyer is easier for new people to find than the Martin Fellowship Hall. Solid Grounds is perfect for those mostly members here from 9-10 a.m., but we still need something from 10-10:30. There will be carafes, cups with lids, and the condiments needed. There will be a sign that encourages people to dispose of their cups before entering the sanctuary. A concern I ve heard about the coffee being in the foyer/narthex regards spills. That is a possibility, and we ll be ready to clean those up, but I believe we have had more difficulty with wax candle lighters dripping on the floor. Besides that, we pass out M & Ms, which children often eat after the children s time. Worship 8:30 & 10:45 am Solid Grounds 9:00 am Sunday School 9:30 am Connect Cafe Coffee 10am Sermon Series Love Stories from the Bible February 5, 2012 A Lapful of Grain February 12, 2012 All the King s Women February 19, 2012 Raise Your Glass Next Sermon Series: Jesus Forgave, Why Can t I? I think the real concern some of you have, rightly so, is about respect. Our parents didn t raise us to guzzle coffee in the sanctuary during the worship! I hear you. My grand- (continued on page 7)

2 Brady School News LAST CHANCE (this year) Bring those box-tops from specially marked products by Sunday, February 12. Brady Elementary has collected several hundred dollars so far from the Box-tops for Education program. The deadline for this year is fast approaching. Bring any you have to the church office by February12 and they will be taken to Brady. (And continue to save! Hopefully the school will be able to participate in the program next year.) The students in the Gifted and Talented class at are learning to play chess BUT they really need more experienced people to play with. They are using commercial materials now but realize they would improve rapidly IF they had warm bodies to challenge them. How about one or two games of chess with an elementary student? If that sounds like something you would be interested in, contact Ms. Kimberly Brown, GT teacher at Brady. Her classroom phone number is her at These children are delightful and would be so appreciative of your help! UMW The Sarah Circle would like to extend an invitation to all women attending Trinity to join us for our next meeting. We will meet at 5:30 on Monday, February 20 at Purple Cow on Cantrell and then gather at the church at 6:30 for our program. For questions, contact Susannah Marshall at PRAYER MINISTRIES AT TRINITY By Shelley Wold When in prayer you clasp your hands, God opens his. German Proverb Prayer and meditation keep us connected with God. As members of Trinity United Methodist Church, we have each committed to offer our prayers, as well as our presence, service, gifts and witness. Note that prayer is the first item on this list of promises! During the worship service every Sunday we ask for prayer requests to be turned in on the Connect Card. Requests can also be submitted to the church office during the week. Each week, the names of those who need prayer are published in the church bulletin and newsletter. Also, Trinity has an based Prayer Chain to transmit prayer requests quickly to over 30 members who have volunteered for this ministry and promised to pray daily for each request.. Persons who prefer that their prayer needs not be published in the bulletin and newsletter can ask that only the members of the prayer chain be notified. If you would like to become a member of this prayer chain, please contact the Church Office. Also you are encouraged to pick a prayer request from the Prayer Tree posted by the bulletin board in the office wing, and include this in your daily prayer. The Prayer Tree includes requests for prayer pertaining to our church, our community, and our world, and is changed seasonally. Prayers and Presence... Julie McCaghey, Jerry Kossover, Peter and Joann Guresky, Clay Price, Travis Tunnell, Brock Holman, Linda Ferstl, The Scott Binnion Family, Rev. David Moore, Georgeann Osam, Charlene Lee, Alene Adkins, Jana Koonce, Maggie Moore, Sally Kenworthy, Henry Solis, Andrea Hines, Rubye Glaze, Jon Newman, Ron Elders, Jackson Faulkner, Mary Frances Hodges, Christian English, Toni Wilson, Nadine Renfro, Joe Baskin, Germaine Schaefer, Wini and Dick Carter, Katy Elkins, Molly Lunt, Judy Brooks, Ginny Brumback, Luby Terry, Tacy Reed, Nannie Ola Carroll, JoAnn Lane, Martha Delacey, Turkey earthquake victims. Trinity members active in the military: Dylan Blancett, Will Goggans, Derek Hays. Presence and Worship January 15 Sunday School 197 Worship 398 Visitors 60 January 22 Sunday School 195 Worship 400 Visitors 43 January 29 Sunday School 253 Worship 417 Visitor 55 Church council will meet on February 19 at 5:00 pm in the Triune classroom. CREW MEMBERS NEEDED (Greet!) You may not think of a smile and a good morning greeting as a spiritual gift, but it is! Your gift is needed one month a year as part of our Good News Crew who greet guests/ visitors/members arriving for the 8:30 or 10:30 Sunday service in addition to other special events held in our church. We especially invite new members to this greeting ministry as well as all other members. Please call Judy P a r k e r a t o r e m a i l ht2717@sbcglobal.net if you can be part of the Good News Crew! As we start a New Year, we encourage each of you to make a resolution to participate regularly in Trinity s prayer ministry.

3 Come join us to celebrate Dr. Seuss Birthday! Midtown Community Hats Off to Dr. Seuss Birthday Party Saturday, March 3, :00~11:30am Trinity United Methodist Church Martin Fellowship Hall Free Admission Featuring: Jennifer Ratola~Storyteller from John Gould Fletcher Library The Brady Bulldog Singers-Brady Elementary Magician Derrick Rose The Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two Co-Sponsors: The Knowledge Tree CALS John Gould Fletcher Library McDonalds Restaurant You could not, should not, want to miss a celebration quite like this!

4 OUR TRINITY FAMILY CONTINUES TO GROW Steve and Luanne Lewis Rob and Rachelle Maass Kevin Wade Tom and Gayle Singleton Jack and Carolyn Singleton

5 Thad and Rebecca Curtis Family Tom Miller CHECK OUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS! One of the great assets of Trinity is its people. We have wonderful groups, from children s to older adults. Trinity disciples serve in a variety of exciting ways in the community and in a variety of ministries through the church itself. The team that visited the Church of the Resurrection last fall was inspired by the many photos on their walls showing people doing ministry. The facility was neat, clean, colorful and attractive to newcomers. It told a story about who the church is and what its purpose is, attracting nonreligious and nominally religious people and helping them to become deeply committed Christians. As we continue to improve our facility and its appearance, we invite you to look at some of the new, framed photos down the hall between the main office and Martin Fellowship Hall. These new photos show our members in ministry. The frames make the photos easy to replace, so we will display them for awhile and then put new ones in. We hope to add more framed photos to this project. If any one would like to assist financially with additional photos in other areas of the church, please contact Gordon Kumpuris at arpaddler@gmail.com or call the office at The historic photos of the former pastors of Trinity have been moved to the library near the archives and will bear witness to Trinity s history and its leaders.

6 Making a Pledge to Trinity Is for All Members By Rev. Betsy Singleton Snyder I recently reported that we have approximately 600 giving units in our church. This data was confirmed through our Church Windows membership software. The only way in which Trinity receives support is through our members, or from those who graciously donate from time to time through memorials, for example. Last year, almost 200 families made a pledge, and I am so appreciative of that commitment because it helps us plan what we can and cannot do each year. If you are one of the other 400 families who gave, but didn t make a pledge, I want to thank you for giving regularly and encourage you to make a pledge for 2012 because it s not too late! I would really like to see us increase our pledging units by at least 100 families, so that we have 300 or more out of 600 families committing resources instead of under 200 committing. Let me explain why it s so important for as many of us to give regularly as possible. First, it s good for us to give. Jesus asked us to give because it s good for our souls, so that we don t get focused on those things which are not important. Second, I want to show you a chart I came up with to see how valuable gifts are when they combine to make the whole. Since Trinity has about 600 giving units or families, let us see what would happen if at least 550 units made the following commitment: if 100 families gave $25 52 weeks of the year = $130,000 if 100 families gave $50 52 weeks of the year = $260,000 if 100 families gave $100 monthly for the year = $520,000 if 100 families gave $500 monthly for the year = $600,000 if 50 families gave $1,000 monthly for the year = $600,000. If at least 550 giving units gave these amounts, our total budget would be $2,136,000. It is currently, $875,000., the same as last year. My family will give in the $ column because I believe our church s future is important to us and to the community. Sometimes that commitment s difficult because we re older and have four young children to raise. Nonetheless, I also want to invest in our future as a faith community. If we could all see our giving as part of the whole, then we could pay our apportioned giving that supports retired pastors and Methodist schools, camps, and missions. Our total apportioned giving is $132,840.00, but it would be easy, if we all pitched in regularly. It would also be easy to add additional staff that is so needed for areas like children s music and worship, middle school youth, pastoral care, Christian education, building improvements, maintenance, and communications. Think about it! Pray about it! Make a commitment to an amount that you can handle, and feel great that you are part of the future! To receive a pledge card, go by the welcome center in the foyer or check with Administrator Laura Hofman at laura@tumclr.org or call her at SUPPORT THE YOUTH BASKETBALL TEAM Basketball Schedule for 9th & 10th grade team Thurs. 2/2/2012 9:00 PM Trinity UMC Holy Souls PHUMC GYM Sat. 2/11/ :00 AM Trinity UMC PHUMC 1 PHUMC GYM Sat. 2/18/ :00 AM Trinity UMC PHUMC II PHUMC GYM Thurs. 2/23/2012 8:00 PM Trinity UMC FUMC PHUMC GYM Tues 2/28/2012 9:00 PM Trinity UMCV C the King PHUMC GYM Basket ball Schedule for the 7th & 8th grade team. Mon 1/30/2012 7:00 PM Trinity UMC St. James UMC I PHUMC GYM Mon 2/6/2012 6:00 PM Trinity UMC PHUMC PHUMC GYM Sat 2/11/2012 9:00 AM 2nd Pres Trinity UMC PHUMC GYM Mon 2/13/2012 7:00 PM Trinity UMC St. James UMC II PHUMC GYM Sat 2/18/2012 9:00 AM Asbury UMC Trinity UMC PHUMC GYM The tournament will start on March 3rd.

7 Calendar of Events Sunday, February 5 8:30 am Worship* 9:00 am - Solid Grounds Coffee Fellowship (Martin Hall) 9:30 am - Sunday School* 10:00 am Connect Café (Narthex) 10:45 am - Worship* 5:30 pm Youth Super Bowl Party Monday, February 6 11:35 am Mom & Me Yoga 1:00 pm Line Dancing (Triune) Tuesday, February 7 6:30 am Men s Bible Study 9:00 am Tues. A.M. Bible Study 9:30 am Strong Women 7:30 PM Open AA Meeting (Serendipity) Wednesday, February 8 5:30 pm - WNF (Martin Hall) 6:00 pm Prayer Shawl Guild 6:15 pm Miracle Team (Fr. In Faith) 6:30 pm - Chancel Choir* Thursday, February 9 Friday, February 10 9:30 am Strong Women (Triune) Saturday, February 11 Sunday, February 12 8:30 am Worship* 9:00 am - Solid Grounds Coffee Fellowship (Martin Hall) 9:30 am - Sunday School* 10:00 am Connect Café (Narthex) 10:45 am - Worship* 2: 00 pm RSVP (Martin Hall) 5:30 pm Youth 6:00 pm Trinity Presents *childcare available **childcare available by request OFFICE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We still need volunteers in the office at specific times: Tuesday morning and afternoon Thursday morning Friday afternoon ( continued from page 1) mother would be spinning in her grave at the thought! But my grandmother didn t live in a time when the Methodist Church was dying. What I want to invite us all to remember is that we are making it a priority at Trinity to Build a Christian Community where nonreligious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. Many nonreligious folks don t know WHAT OR WHERE the narthex is, much less what church manners are! Those are learned over time in community with people who are caring, helping and being kind and compassionate to the newcomer. The apostle Paul talked a great deal about how we model our love of Christ and neighbor to new people. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul tells the church not to create unnecessary drama over the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Some of his members are quite concerned about the source of the meat and want no one to eat it. Paul makes it clear that meat sacrificed to an idol isn t bad in and of itself because an idol is a false god with no power. But, if eating such meat causes newcomers to the faith to stumble, then the whole community ought to refrain from eating meat sacrificed to idols. Paul s point is that it s not the meat. It s the community that s most important. Paul was such a practical guy. I d like to think that coffee is not such a big deal. I think Paul would say that we must pay attention to the newcomer. Start where the newcomer is and help her to grow. I believe most of our newcomers are going to respect our instructions to dispose of their coffee before entering the sanctuary. But even if we have some slip ups, we longtime Christians know the best response. Love. Be loving and patient and kind, and throw your own cup out. That s what we all need to remember, whether we are three or ninety-three. Peace, Rev. Betsy MIRACLE TEAM RAISING DOLLARS During the month of February, the Miracle Team is raising funds to send to the Wounded Warriors Project (WWP). This organization honors and empowers Wounded Warriors who incur service-connected injuries. Offering a variety of programs and services, WWP is equipped to serve warriors with every type of injury from the physical to the invisible wounds of war. Tens of thousands of Wounded Warriors and caregivers receive support each year through WWP programs designed to nurture the mind and body, and encourage economic empowerment and engagement. Take a moment to read more about this organization at With President s Day on February 20 th, what could be a better way to honor our Nation and those that serve than making a donation to the WWP! So take George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses Grant or even Ben Franklin out of your wallet and place them in a Combat Boot located in the various Sunday School Classrooms. Every dollar counts. The Trinity Miracle Team will match your dollars (up to $500) for a nice donation to WWP. Now that s a great way to celebrate President s Day! If you could help at any of these times, please call Laura Hofman in the church office,

8 Contacting your Church Staff PANCAKES AND ASHES Wednesday Night, February 22 Pancakes - Martin Hall at 5:30 pm Ash Wednesday Service-Sanctuary 6:30 pm Sponsored by the Miracle Team. Donations benefit 2012 Lenten Missions Rev. Betsy Singleton Snyder revbsb@aol.com David Glaze DAGMusic@tumclr.org Paul Owen powen@tumclr.org Jay Sweningson jay@tumclr.org Laura Hofman laura@tumclr.org Judy Gribble judy@tumclr.org Tammy Childress tammyc@tumclr.org Gordon Kumpuris arpaddle@gmail.com Trinity United Methodist Church Main # Rev. Betsy s emergency #