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Trinity Trumpet January 2021
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In this issue: New Worship Series, Virtual Worship login info, Thursday morning Bible Study, New Year Greeting, Mission Core Report, "Save the date" for the Annual Congregational Meeting, thoughts on the coming COVID vaccine, a moment of humor, Memorial gifts and a Musical reflection.
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NEW YEAR WORSHIP SERIES
Jan 3 Epiphany Called by the Light Beyond Darkness
Jan 10 1st Sunday After Called by the Light Beyond Self
Jan 17 2nd Sunday After Called by the Light Beyond Belief
Jan 24 3rd Sunday After Called by the Light Beyond the Horizon
Jan 31 4th Sunday After Called by the Light Beyond Boundaries
Feb 7 5th Sunday After Called by the Light Beyond Chaos
Feb 14 Transfiguration Called by the Light Beyond Fear
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Virtual Worship Login Information
Sunday, 10:00 AM
To Dial In by Phone Only 1 (312) 626-6799 ID 534-284-7861
Participant ID (Not required. None provided)
"Otherwise just press #"
Meeting Password [new requirement] 760760
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Join us for Bible Study on Thursday mornings at 10 A.M.
We are reading Exodus.
Bible Study resumes January 7th.
All are invited. No advance preparation needed!
Here is the Bible Study Link: OR Phone 1-312-626-6799 Meeting ID: 420 990 480 Password: 760760
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NEW YEAR GREETINGS!
Finally. A threshhold has been crossed. Hopes, dreams, possibilities await. Though much sadness, grief, and loss not left behind. Whatever is before us, may we greet with our best intention. Whatever is in our past, may it be held with thanksgiving for lessons learned, loved shared, and seeds for our future.
God's Peace,
Pastor Dale
New Beginnings
If I have learned anything this year, it is that I won't ever be ready for what life throws at me. I won't have the right words when it counts: I won't know hwat to choose when fate itself is staring me down. But now I don't always need to have the right answer.
I've learned I can go on waiting for something, sustained by hop and nothing more - or I can put it aside and shrug my shoulders. Bravely accept the fact that I can't keep my heart sare any more than I can stop love from taking everything from me. I have learned to stop saying yeas when I don't mean it - to live as authentically as I know how. To allow the tips of my fingers to skirt the darness, as long as I remember to keep my eyes fixed on the light,. And as one door opens and another closes, I will move forward with theknowledge that unlike so many othersm I have another year ahead of me -- another shopt at making it all the way around the sun, and a chance to get it right this time round.
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Mission Core Report
Here we are looking at the first page of a fresh new calendar! The interminable days of 2020 and the first pandemic of the new century are now pages in the book of history. We are only too glad to think that 2021 will bring an end to the health crisis that has brought about so many challenging changes in daily life.
What has not changed is the visibility of those around us for whom life has become even more difficult. As winter's frigid grip settles in, the number of people experiencing homelessness, or days without any food, and / or a lack of warm clothing has doubled and continues to increase, straining all available resources. We will very likely be involved, as we are able, in the effort to address these needs.
But 2020 closed on a good note. Our most recent "hands on" project is an outreach opportunity in which we have participated for a number of years. We provide wrapped Christmas gifts for the children of Casa Central, an outreach ministry serving the Latinx communities of Chicago. The pandemic did not slow us down!
We got a bit of a late start this year, but the results were outstanding. On the afternoon of Sunday December 13th, we held a "drive-through and drop" collection of the wrapped, ready-to-open gifts. You took us 'over the top' by providing twenty-six gifts, which I delivered to Casa Central the following Monday morning. Those who were not able to go shopping participated by making online donations to Casa Central.
Here are some pictures of that delivery. Know that everyone had a real impact on many young lives!
We are concluding our church budget year, so it is time to see how we have used our budgeted funding. To that end, all three of our "Love of" teams, Children, Neighbor and Creation reviewed their budgets to make sure they had been fully and appropriately used. The result of the review is that our Love of Children team chose to donate $500 to Casa Central, and $500 to The Night Ministry. Both these donations have an immediate impact on children. Love of Neighbor concluded their year with donations of $200 each to the Lake County Haven and The Northern Illinois Food Bank in Waukegan. It is important to know that this food bank operation serves all of the many pantry and feeding operations primarily in Lake County, including our own West Deerfield and Moraine Township operations. Our Love of Creation team is pleased to share the news that, due to the many projects in which they were involved, actually overspent their budget by $84.00 this year, and our campus is becoming a leading demonstration site of environmental stewardship for all of Deerfield. Thank you for all you do! Roger
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2021 Annual Meeting
Happy New Year! I hope everyone was able to enjoy time with loved ones and have a meaningful Holiday season.
Mark your calendars for the 2021 Annual Meeting, which will be held immediately after virtual worship on January 31st.
In that meeting, we'll recap the events of 2020 and look ahead to the year to come. We'll review financial results for the year and present our budget for 2021. We'll also elect members for the Council and Core Committees.
Logistical details for the meeting, which will be conducted by Zoom, are being finalized. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
(As a side note and reminder to those affected, the schedule for the regular monthly meetings of Council as well as the Worship and Program and Operations Committees has changed in order to allow us to finalize plans for the Annual Meeting. Meetings, which are normally held on the third Monday of the month, will be held on January 11th this year.)
Thanks,
Kim
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How the polio vaccine sugar cube ended up in Mary Poppins!
- Jeffrey Shermann
When I was a kid, they rolled out a vaccine for polio. We were given it at school on a sugar cube. I went home and my dad, who was working on Mary Poppins, asked how my day was. What I didn't know was that Julie Andrews, who was hired to play Mary, had not really liked the song my dad and uncle had written - "Through the Eyes of Love" - and it was rejected. It was their favorite song for the movie. Walt asked the Sherman Brothers to come up with a new song that would be in line with Mary's/Julie's philosophy. Dad asked me how my day was and I told him about getting the polio vaccine at school. I was known for rejecting the booster shots at my doctors' office and running away. He said, "Didn't it hurt?" I told him they put it on a sugar cube and you just ate it. He stared at me, then went to the phone and called my uncle Dick. They went back to the office and wrote -"A Spoonful of Sugar" (Helps the Medicine Go Down.") It's my little corner of film music history I suppose. Inadvertently. For anyone I know here on FB, trust the doctors. When the vaccine for COVID comes out, get it. We are all codependent on each other in this pandemic. Trust science and doctors and epidemiologists.
We are a small world and we will beat this enemy if we listen to those who know. Be safe. Wear a mask. Be kind and thoughtful and considerate to your fellow man and woman. We will beat this.
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A MOMENT OF HUMOR submitted by Susan Morgan
Here are 12 things to consider as we get closer to closing the door on one of the most horrible years of our lifetime:
1. The dumbest thing I ever bought was a 2020 planner.
2. I was so bored I called Jake from State Farm just to talk to someone. He asked me what I was wearing.
3. 2019: Stay away from negative people.
2020: Stay away from positive people.
4. The world has turned upside down. Old folks are sneaking out of the house & their kids are yelling at them to stay indoors!
5. This morning I saw a neighbor talking to her dog. It was obvious she thought her dog understood her. I came into my house & told my cat. We laughed a lot.
6. Every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit. Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.
7. Does anyone know if we can take showers yet or should we just keep washing our hands?
8. This virus has done what no woman has been able to do. Cancel sports, shut down all bars & keep men at home!
9. I never thought the comment, "I wouldn't touch him/her with a 6-foot pole" would become a national policy, but here we are!
10. I need to practice social-distancing from the refrigerator.
11. I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to the backyard. I'm getting tired of the livingroom.
12. Never in a million years could I have imagined I would go up to a bank teller wearing a mask & ask for money. Here's hoping for a happier new year!
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The following memorial gifts have been received by Trinity UCC:
In Memory of: Given by:
Christopher Hargitt R.J. & M.J. Hargitt Noel Peltier The Peltier Family |
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FOR YOUR MUSICAL REFLECTION
The Work of Christmas by Dan Forrest
Based on: Now the Work of Christmas Begins By Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost,
to heal the broken, to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
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Please note that the church office is closed, but Lisa is working from home, and regularly checking Trinity's email: [email protected]
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