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Trinity Church Outreach Mission Statement To open the way for the Spirit of God to transform us, and the world, In a series of congregational meetings in 2007, the members of Trinity strongly stated that worship and outreach are the most important things that Trinity Church does. The congregation has generously supported many programs and projects over the years - with money, with time and with sweat. To be part of Trinity is to have an acute understanding of the blessings of giving - for those who receive and for those who give. Noon Lunch Program - Trinity volunteers and crews from a number of other churches and organizations serve a hot meal to people in need every weekday. Volunteers prepare food for and serve twenty to forty people per day from the Trinity kitchen and parish hall. Donations and the proceeds from the cookbook Table Grace are used to support the program, and it is registered to shop at the local food bank. We also receive leftover food from local schools and supermarkets. Ritenour Nursing Home Project - This effort was started by a parishioner, Marcy Robinson, to support the residents of Ritenour Nursing Home, a facility for elders and people with disabilities with low or no income. The project includes monthly Bingo games, gifts of calendars, books and magazines, birthday observances, music programs and special food treat deliveries. Haiti Collaborative - Started in 2009 this group of people from Trinity and other area churches and Stuart Hall School raises money to build and fund operations of St. Mark's School in Cerca-la-Source, Haiti. When the earthquake that devastated the most populous areas of Haiti hit in January 2010, the collaborative was already working on the school project. The need for long term solutions, such as better education, to Haiti's poverty and infrastructure problems was illuminated by this disaster even as relief organizations and personal giving was focused on acute problems like housing and food. Missions to Honduras Since 2003, Trinity has sent an adult mission group once a year to work in Honduras, the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere. In 2006 and 2008 we also sent a youth mission group. We plan to send another youth group in summer 2010, while continuing the annual winter trip for adults. We are working under the auspices of the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras, whose Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Lloyd Allen, has ambitious plans for building churches throughout Honduras. To date we have assisted, financially and physically, in the building of the Church of the Holy Spirit (Iglesia de Espiritu Santo) in Santa Rita de Copan, and the Mission Church of San Nicolas in El Quebracho, Copan. The Department of Copan, in the mountains adjoining Guatemala, is home to 36 small Episcopal congregations and is referred to, within the diocese, as the “Mayan Region”. They share one priest, Fr. Arnoldo Mejia, and are, for the most part, isolated communities with lay leaders and little or no financial resources and no worship space. In many cases the people walk for miles to attend worship service. When a church is constructed, it quickly becomes not only a place of spiritual celebration, but a center for community activity, including educational and health programs and possibly micro-enterprises. In addition to church construction, the diocese has a non-profit agency called Angladiche which carries on home improvement projects in remote villages were many people die or are sickened by poor sanitation, smoke from unventilated indoor fires, contaminated water, insects and molds from thatched roofs and dirt floors. Our work has been mostly construction, and more construction. It is hard work, of the most primitive kind. It is pick and shovel, hand wired rebar, cement mixed on the ground and carried by the bucket, rocks passed person to person up or down steep slopes. But it is work done with joy, with purpose, and in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes we are able to spend time doing simple craft and game activities with the children. We seem to be the equivalent of the circus coming to town, there is so much enthusiasm for anything we offer. We are now known and welcomed as part of these two communities and to worship with them has become the highlight of our trips. What we give to this mission work is our time, our money, and our labor. What we get from this mission work far surpasses the value of all that we give. The people of Santa Rita and Quebracho do have one resource in abundance and that is a spiritual joy which they have generously shared with us. This is what we are called to do by the Gospel. The need is great, in Honduras and all over the world, including here in our own country. The world is both big and small, local and far away. We are called to serve in the world. Millennium Development Goals - In response to the resolution of the 2006 General Convention, Trinity has made a commitment to the concept of designating .7 % of its operating budget to support of programs which further the Millennium Develop Goals. (See links to the left for information about how we will provide monthly support of the individual goals from October 2007 through May 2008) We have allocated a portion of our .7% commitment from funds previously designated to outreach. Our goal is to incorporate the full .7% into our operating budget without drawing from non-operating funding. We are also working to educate and encourage individuals to make a personal commitment to give an additional .7% of their income toward the fulfillment of the goals. Christmas Eve Outreach Dinner – This event is anticipated by members, families and guests: The entire congregation gets involved and many count this event as the one that ‘makes’ Christmas for them! A ‘Giving Tree’ is placed in the back of the Church on the first Sunday in Advent, with tagged ornaments placed there with names of folks in need who might not otherwise have a Christmas gift at all! Congregants bring their gifts, wrapped and tagged with the name taken from the tree, and Christmas Eve, a turkey dinner with all the trimmings is held in McCracken Hall. Santa comes, (of course!) and gifts are distributed to the guests. Everyone helps and the smiles and laughter that issue from every corner of that hall is amazing to behold! The Holy Spirit is clearly in that space. Other opportunities to serve |
