August 2017 Trinity Tribune

In This Issue:
Goodbye for Now!
The Rev. Paul Nancarrow
Later this month I will begin my sabbatical, and Lee and I will withdraw for a time from the active life of Trinity Church. We will miss you! - but we'll be back. And in the meantime there will be opportunity for refreshment and rediscovery for all of us.
 
As I wrote in the Trinity Tribune back in June, one of the benefits of a sabbatical is the reminder that no one in the church is indispensable. We are all given gifts for ministry; we are all activated by the Holy Spirit for the activities of the church. And while clergy in our tradition do have certain gifts and do receive certain training, it is the laity that is the church, and the people of Trinity have all the resources they need to thrive in Christ this autumn.
 
While I am away, Sunday services will be provided by a rotation of supply priests. Bishop Mark will be here for services on September 3. This will not be an episcopal visitation, with confirmations and receptions and reaffirmations and pomp and circumstance; instead, the bishop will share word and sacrament with one of his congregations in the normal, communal way. Other Sundays will be covered by diocesan Canons Mark Furlow, Connor Gwin, and Jonathan Harris, as well as Trinity's own John Lane and Roger Bowen, along with Ed Covert and a couple others yet to be named. Please greet them all with all the warmth and welcome Trinity does so well!
 
The Rev. Anne Grizzle will also be here several Sundays, serving as deacon, preaching the word, and making pastoral calls and visitations. One special offering will be on September 17, the first day of the fall three-service schedule, when Anne will offer a time of prayer and reflection on the theme of sabbath and sabbatical during the 10am Sunday school hour. Anne will also lead a time of "visio divina" before the windows in the church, using the stained glass art as stimulus for meditation and prayer. Watch for more information!
 
Muffie Newell is returning to Trinity's staff as Assistant for Christian Formation and Pastoral Care. In that role she will be the first contact for pastoral needs in the parish. If you need any sort of pastoral care or counsel, contact the office and Muffie will respond. Muffie - along with Carter Hannah, Maureen Gray, and Kathy Schneidermann - will work along with Trinity Cares to provide cards and simple visits in need. In case of need for deeper counseling or prayer, Anne Grizzle will be available on call. And if a priest is needed, John Lane and Shelby Ochs Owen will both be nearby.
 
Lundy Pentz, as Senior Warden, and Erik Boody, as Junior Warden, will lead the Vestry in its regular monthly meetings and responsibilities. They will keep in close contact with Parish Administrator Laurie Clements to manage the day-to-day parish business. And Treasurer Tom Fechtel will work with the regular Finance Committee to make sure the financial health of the parish stays good. You won't notice even a ripple in parish operations!
 
Members of the Stewardship Committee are already planning the Pledge Drive for October. Vestry members whose terms are coming to an end are already planning the nomination and election process for new Vestry members in November. Organist and Choirmaster Gen Bolena has already planned All Saints Evensong and Advent Lessons and Carols. All the autumn and winter things you expect to be part of the life of Trinity are in process, quite apart from the Rector's presence. I feel grateful and truly blessed to know that Trinity has so many gifted, talented, and capable people working together to keep the parish healthy and happy while I am away.
 
And most of all, the continuing lively ministry of Trinity rests with you, with the whole congregation both gathered and dispersed. You are the church, and it is through each and all of you that Christ works by the Holy Spirit to bring right-relationships of shared well-being into the world. Take opportunity this fall to really be a part of the life of Trinity. Get involved with a committee, a guild, an activity. Come to your parish leaders and staff with ideas and questions and connections. Welcome visiting clergy and worship for all you're worth. Love each other as Jesus loves you. Don'Love each other as Jesus loves you. Don'with ideas and questions and connections.  sanist and Choirmaster Gen Bolena hasr, Anne t wait for the priest! - just do it!
 
And while you're doing all that, Lee and I will be traveling about, seeing some family, visiting some favorite places, praying and imagining, writing and being refreshed in the Spirit. And will we ever have some stories to swap when we return in December!

May the grace of God go with us all, and bring us through rest, refreshment, and rediscovery to a new season of mission as Trinity Church. 

The Good Old Days
Lundy Pentz, Senior Warden
If you had lived in Virginia in the 17 th century, you would have been fined heavily - typically several month's wages - for failing to attend the Anglican church services regularly, for not having your children baptized, and for participating in any other denomination's services.  (There was an exception after 1689 for Calvinists, so Presbyterians were tolerated.)  In England, every parish had two churchwardens who assisted the curate (the rector being usually a layman who hired a priest as curate or vicar) in enforcing moral standards in the community and, with the backing of the county sheriff, shaking down everyone living in the parish bounds for their tithes.  The contribution to the church was most definitely  not voluntary - the wardens would have you hauled off to debtor's prison if you did not pay up - and everyone was held to the standard of ten percent of their produce or earnings.  (There was no need for fall pledge drives back then!) 
 
The churchwarden system came to Virginia and the other Royal colonies with the established church, but alongside it came a custom from some English parishes where the householders who paid tithes (or, in towns, a selected group of them) were convened by the rector of the parish on occasion to address issues of concern to the community.  The churches were unheated so generally the meetings were held in the smaller (and often heated) room where the vestments were stored, called a "vestry."  In Virginia, with the responsible bishop (the Bishop of London) an eight-week sea voyage away, twelve landowners in each parish formed a lay governing body also called a vestry but with much greater authority.  The priest in charge of a parish was called the "rector" in Virginia, but the vestry collected the tithes (through the churchwardens) and made all the financial decisions, including hiring and firing the rector!  Until the religious revival of the 1740's, in fact, most English priests who came to the colonies were not the finest examples of clergy and most vestries insisted on an annual contract to make it easier to get rid of the rector.  After the Revolution and the disestablishment of the church in Virginia, the churchwardens could no longer demand money from anyone but the vestries continued their managerial role in the church, with decisions on worship, preaching and teaching entirely at the rector's discretion.  So this fall, as our pledge drive begins, when I stand up as senior warden and ask you to consider your annual pledge to the parish, just remember how this all worked in the "good" old days - and be thankful!
Novel Theology
Novel Theology meets throughout the year on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7pm in the Foster Room. Everyone and anyone is invited to attend. The only rule is you must read the book for that month. Come and bring your friends and acquaintances. We have lively discussions.
 
August 22 -  Saving Grace  
by Lee Smith: Florida Grace Shepard, named for the state in which she was born and for the grace of God, is the daughter of a charismatic serpent-handling preacher. She is content with her early life in Scrabble Creek, North Carolina, no easy task when her family moves whenever her father is arrested for conducting services with live snakes. She even finds a friend. With Southern style, Smith takes Grace from a young girl struggling with her own identity, though marriage, motherhood, and an adulterous affair that changes her very way of life. Led by Jean Miller.

September 26 -  
rks: Living in Staunton, Judge Scott Sampson doesn't brag about having a perfect life, but the evidence is clear: A prestigious job. A beloved family. On an ordinary Wednesday afternoon, he is about to pick up his six-year-old twins to go swimming when his wife, Alison, texts him that she'll get the kids from school instead. It's not until she gets home later that Scott realizes she doesn't have the children. And she never sent the text. Then the phone rings, and every parent's most chilling nightmare begins. 
Led by Carrie Tucker.

Administrator Notes
Laurie Clements, Parish Administrator
Thank you to those that generously gave gifts last month for TIME, Noon Lunch, and especially SACRA. 
 
Give your pledge funds through your phone!
We're making giving options more accessible while you're away from the church this summer. Turn your mobile device into your new offering plate for pledges. It's fast, easy and convenient. Just text our church's keyword "TEC" to 73256 and you'll be taken to the giving site. It's that simple. You can do it anytime, anywhere while you're on vacation or just simply on the go.  (By the way, TEC stands for Trinity Episcopal Church)

Violins and Vegetables
Carter Hannah, Noon Lunch Co-Coordinator
Violins and Vegetables and Music and Melons all came to mind as our titles for this month.  What a great time we have had at Noon Lunch lately.
 
Our friends at the Staunton Farmers' Market have once again shown such generosity as they donate wonderful produce and baked goods to us.  Our guests have enjoyed fresh salads every week full of assorted greens, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peas, and onions.  They have feasted on Swiss Chard, collards, potatoes, squash, beets, broccoli and cabbage cooked with fresh garlic and herbs and yummy grated cheeses.  Each week, they have had home baked biscuits, sweet rolls, pies, granola bars and scones.  It is amazing to see some of our guests come back for a second serving of vegetables!
 
On a magical day at the end of June volunteers, under the leadership of Jennifer and Benjamin Roe, from Heifetz prepared the noon lunch meal.  Well, actually it was their day to cook but because of their duties with the Heifetz summer program, they brought in sandwiches, chips, salads and desserts which the guests thoroughly enjoyed.  However, what many of them enjoyed even more, was the music. Jennifer and Ben arranged to have some of the young performers play for the guests.  Many of our guests were momentarily transformed.  They were all quiet and they all listened, but many were totally involved and only moved when the musicians were all finished.  They heard beautiful music on violin, keyboard and cello and the piece that seemed to be the most magical for several of our guests was opera!
 
This has been a beautiful time at Noon Lunch and we appreciate all that you give to this mission.  Trinity gives. . .

Education for Ministry
Carole Shriver
Every baptized person is called to ministry. During the service of confirmation we ask God to "Renew in these your servants the covenant you made with them at Baptism. Send them forth in the power of the Spirit to perform the service you set before them." Lay-persons face the difficult and often subtle task of interpreting the richness of the church's faith in a complex and confusing world. They need a theological education that supports their faith and helps them to connect that faith to their daily lives. The EfM program provides people with an opportunity to discover how to respond to the call to Christian service and carry out their ministries. Many people think that one must be ordained in order to be "a minister." In fact, all baptized Christians are called to be active participants in the church's ministry. This fundamental ministry is nothing less than the exercise of the church's vocation to continue the ministry of Jesus who reconciled the world to God. We are called to incarnate that reconciliation in our own time and in our own place through worship, service to others, and by proclamation of God's Word to all people. EfM provides a four-year curriculum that develops a theologically informed, reflective, and articulate laity who are prepared to listen for and respond to God's call. EfM helps lay persons discover and exercise their varied gifts for ministry in the places where they live and work.
 
The Seminar and Course Materials Through study, prayer, and reflection, EfM helps participants move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom as they better apprehend the connections between their faith and their lives. The seminar group is the nucleus of the program. A group consists of six to 12 participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly over the course of 36 weeks. These meetings are usually from two and a half to three hours in length. Participants are given weekly assignments to study with the help of resource guides and reading texts. The EfM Reading and Reflection Guide covers 36 group meetings in five six-meeting units plus two two-meeting interludes (in which all years read and reflect on a common text). Reading texts offer perspectives on the entire sweep of the Christian tradition from the earliest period to the present: biblical exegesis and interpretation, theology, church history, ethics, worship, spirituality, and interfaith encounter. Interlude texts offer additional voices that focus on specific themes. As adult learners, group members are responsible for setting their own learning goals and generally spend between two and four hours in study and preparation each week. In the seminars, members have an opportunity to share insights and discoveries as well as discuss questions the study materials raise for them. All program participants begin with the first lesson of year one. Participants studying at different levels may be in the same group. 
 
The mentor is not the teacher but facilitates the group's work in the seminar. While the course materials provide substantial academic content, the Christian tradition is not studied in a vacuum. The focus of the program is "life as ministry." Mentors and learners belong to small seminar groups in which the events of each person's life may be examined in the light of the materials being studied. EfM provides Christians with the opportunity to develop a discipline in theological reflection, foundational to discerning and supporting Christian ministry. Through regular group theological reflection, participants sharpen their skills of personal and cultural assessment and enhance their abilities to be effective in a variety of ministries. This process can be illustrated by the image of a two-rail fence. One rail is the Christian tradition. The other is the collective experience of the group's members. The rails are linked by fence posts that represent the seminar sessions and group practice of theological reflection where life and study meet. The fence is grounded in the soil of regular worship that is vital to the life of the group. In learning to view life through a theological lens, participants see that everything we do has a potential for ministry and manifesting the love of Christ.  
 
EfM grants 18 Continuing Education Units (CEU) for each year of study. There are no examinations or papers. EfM does not grant college credits. Enrollment and Fees The Education for Ministry program is a fouryear curriculum in which each "year" is a 36-week cycle of study. Learners enroll for one cycle at a time. Groups may begin in any month from September through May, although most begin in September or January. Groups may not begin in June, July, or August. Each EfM group must be financially viable; therefore, a minimum of six learners is required to form a group. To maintain an effective learning environment and to provide participation for everyone, EfM groups may not have more than 12 participants. At the time of enrollment participants pay the full year's fee. In case of a move during the academic cycle, a participant may transfer to another group. Participants in groups with institutional sponsorship pay a fee of $375.  Fees pay for the EfM materials (all required books are provided) and the honorarium for the mentor. Participants provide their own Bible. To assist those in need, a fee reduction provision is available, based on the enrollment of the group. Proceeds from the EfM Alumni/ae Scholarship Fund also are available and are distributed each year through diocesan coordinators. . 
 
 EfM welcomes all denominations. Participants include Methodists, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and Disciples of Christ. The program also has special contractual relationships with other denominations and groups outside the United States. 
 
EfM meets at Saint John's Episcopal Church in Waynesboro, VA, on Wednesday nights from 6:30 until 9:00 pm.  Carole Shriver ( [email protected] ) is the mentor and Marty Siebken( [email protected] ) is the co mentor.  Please contact Carole and/or Marty if you are interested. Registration will be sent in early August to have materials readly to go the first Wednesday after Labor Day.

Thank You Trinity Church
Julian Hickman
This past June Ever Eliu graduated from Mayatan Bilingual school in Copan Ruinas, Honduras.  July 11 was his birthday.  He turned 19.  This is his letter to Trinity Church:
For every single person that helped me with my studies!
Dear brothers and sisters of the United States, I want to say on behalf of my parents my brothers and I: that we thank you very much for the help you have given me for my studies in the Mayatan School. We have seen and we have felt the love of God has been manifested through you in different ways. God has used you as an instrument of blessing for our church and family, we cannot pay everything they have done for us. Those of this church are very happy and grateful for this beautiful temple that you have built us with much effort and sacrifice. It gives us great sadness to remember our brother Teo because he was one of those who work a lot in this temple just like you, but today God has him in his holy glory. My family and I want to thank you because a year ago I had an illness and they did three surgeries, and it was you who helped me pay for those surgeries and I'm sure you prayed for me too. And one more thing I want to tell you and that I will never forget is that for seven long years you have helped me with the money to pay for my studies in the Mayatan bilingual School. God and we know that without your help we would not be able to pay all that amount of money since it is a lot. Thanks to you, I can be here speaking English to you, it was you who made it possible. All this we owe to God and to you and something that we will always do for you is to pray, pray and to continue praying to God at every moment. Thanks!! .. Thank you and God bless you today and always!!
For the Trinity churches Youth:
Hello! I wanted to say thank you very much for visiting us. It is great to have people like you at where we live, because we can meet new people that. I and my friends had a really good time on the soccer game! We enjoy it. Your youth are really good at soccer, we could barely tie them. We hope someday we can have you here again! And have more time to get dinner together. We will be happy to receive you again, and maybe spend more time so I can show you what we do for fun, and you can do the same. We are always praying for you so that God bless you for everything you do. Thank you very much!. And we will be waiting for you to come back.
Ever completed an apprenticeship program with a local hotel.  He hoping to find a job in San Pedro Sula or even Tegucigalpa. 
We continue to support Ever's sister, Karen and brother Helmy.  School fees will be due in August and an exciting summer will be over.  We have the chance with these kids to focus on what is important in living the life we are asked to live.  If you would like more information, grade reports etc, contact Julian (also known as Pete) Hickman at 540-241-3753.  If you would like to help, send your check to Trinity Church, marked Karen and Helmy Scholarship Fund.




Thank You to Helping Hands Volunteers
Laurie Clements, Parish Administrator
THANK YOU to those that have volunteered to help with Helping Hands Day camp. We have closed our registrations now. We have a full enrollment of over 70 children! During the first week in August the children will be enjoying visits from many neighbors in our community, such as the Staunton Fire & Rescue and the Augusta County K-9 unit who show us how they protect and keep us safe, George Laase (coach of the Staunton Braves) and some of his players will help teach us how to work together and be team players, and we will also learn how to take care of God's earth be visiting with beekeepers and members of Project Grows. With the love and guidance from each of our area churches that help run this program, it is looking like a fun week ahead! (Photos from 2016)


Urgent Need for Ushers
Ken Monroe
Recently several 10am services have had only one usher with additional ushers being recruited from members when they entered the church.  In some cases, only two ushers were available.  If ushers were only needed to pass out bulletins and receive offering, two ushers would seem to be sufficient.  However, for the Communion, four ushers should be available, two to manage the flow of communicants to the altar, and more important, two to assist those who are unstable to approach and exit the altar safely. 
 
Therefore, with the shortage of available ushers, new ones need to be recruited.  Please let Deidre know (886-9132 or [email protected]) about your interest and availability.  For more information about what an usher is expected to do, you may visit the Trinity website link below. You will find the usher duties at the bottom of the volunteer resources section or you may ask Deidre to send you a copy.  Also, a training session will be available. Your willingness to serve as an usher will be greatly appreciated by all Trinity members and especially those who may need help during the Communion.
 
http://trinitystaunton.org/worship/volunteer/
Trinity Historical Highlight
Lilchy Huffman
The Miller - Braxton - Holt Windows
When I began researching the people in whose memory the windows are given, I discovered there are several windows that are connected through family or one of the homes in Staunton. This month, I am doing the 4 windows connected by family.

Benedicite Window
Michael Erskine Miller and Harriett Echols Miller came to Staunton from Sequin, Guadalupe County, Texas in the mid 1880's with their son, James Mason Miller, and his six children. James' wife, Bettie, died after giving birth to their 7th child, Betty, in 1884. James moved the family here when he accepted a position at The Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. The whole family became members of Trinity.

Michael's and Harriett's grand-daughter, Mary Patterson Miller (Jewels of The Lord window) married Allen Caperton Braxton (Archangel Michael Window). Their grand-son, Alexander Erskine Miller is on the WW I plaque and has a plaque to him and his wife on the back wall of the St. Columba Chapel. Both Michael and Harriett are buried in Thornrose Cemetery.

Jewels of the Lord Windows
Mary Patterson Miller, born in Sequin, Guadalupe County, Texas in 1874, was the 3rd child of James Mason and Bettie Kounslar Miller Miller. She came to Staunton in the mid 1880's (see Benedicite Window). She married Allen Caperton Braxton (Archangel Michael window) in December, 1913. After Allen's death, Mary stayed in Staunton and never remarried. She died in 1958 and is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond beside Allen.

The Archangel Michael
Born in Monroe County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1862 Allen Caperton Braxton was a son of Dr. Tomlin and Mary Caperton Braxton. He grew up at his father's ancestral home Chericoke in King William County.

Allen came to Staunton in the late 1870's, read law under Gen. John Echols, took a class at UVA and received his law license in 1883. From 1885-89, he was twice elected Commonwealth's Attorney and Staunton City Attorney. In 1902, he established the State Corporation Commission and in 1906, served as President of the Virginia Bar Association.

When Allan developed Bright's Disease, Mary Miller (Jewels of the Lord window) wanted to go with him to Atlantic City and take care of him. Her step-mother refused to let her go unchaperoned, so Allan's older sister-in-law Esta (for whom the Braxton Room is named) went with them. Allen and Mary wed in December 1913. They came back to Staunton to his home on E. Beverley Street, but sadly, Allen died in March 1914. He is buried the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

The Madonna and Child
Allen Caperton Braxton's (Archangel Michael window) younger sister Mary Caperton Braxton was also born in Monroe County, Virginia, in 1863 and grew up at Chericoke. Mary loved the white Cherokee Rose that grew on the estate which is represented in the window above her name.
She came to Staunton in the 1880's to be with Allen. In 1891, Henry Winston Holt came to Staunton as the new Commandant of Staunton Military Academy. He and Mary were married June 6, 1894. At the time of his death in 1947, he was Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court of Appeals.

Mary and Bessie Catlett (Nativity window) were very good friends so when Bessie died in 1905, Charles asked her to be one of Mary Mercer's Godmothers. Mary Caperton Braxton Holt died in 1935 and is buried in Thornrose Cemetery.  Her great-granddaughter (Allen's great-niece), Lisa Braxton Moore, is a member of Trinity as are her son and grand-daughter.

This is the last of the Tiffany windows to be installed and came in 1937. It is the only one of his 12 windows to have his name, Louis C. Tiffany, on it.

New Printed Newsletter Format
Deidre Jones, Parish Communications
For the past several years, I've been formatting both the printed newsletter and the online newsletter separately. In order to streamline the newsletter process, beginning in September, the hardcopy newsletter will be a printed version of the online newsletter. We will test this format for several months and make a decision at the end of the year whether or not the new format works. We thank you for your patience and your helpful feedback.
Commemorating Ted Jordan in Honduras
The Rev. Paul Nancarrow
The Church of the Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo) in Santa Rita, Honduras, installed this plaque in memory of Ted Jordan in February. When they sent the team at Trinity a picture of the plaque, we sent the following message of thanks:
 
"On behalf of the mission team and the entire congregation of Trinity Church in Staunton, I want to thank you for the beautiful plaque and commemoration of Ted Jordan at Iglesia Espiritu Santo in Santa Rita. It is deeply meaningful to us to know that you share in our grief at Ted's death, and yet also rejoice with us in the gift of his life and the promise that he is with our Savior Jesus in eternal life. May our shared memory of Ted bind us in deeper friendship for many years and missions to come."
 
The scripture verse is translated, "Those who have died believing in Christ will rise first."


Calendar
If you open the following link, you will see our current Trinity Church calendar. You may wish to bookmark this page as it will automatically update with any changes.
Birthdays
When we switched database systems, the new system did not keep on file anyone's birthday that lacked the year. Therefore, if your birthday is not listed below please contact the office with your birth month, day, and year to be added into our system. Thank you.

2
Janie Malone
 
3
Amelia Herring
 
4
Carol Brown
Lynn Manka
 
5
Libbey Buckley
Tom McPherson
 
7
Brian Stisser
Mary Timberlake
 
8
Jack Jones
Caroline Sheridan  
Benjamin Spagnoulo
Toni Stallworth
 
11
Linda Mahler
Ann McPherson
Kyle Vanhoy
 
12
Julian Hickman
Don Plambeck
Wayt Timberlake
 
14
Betsy Pinkston
 
15
George Carney
Buckley Cason
Iris Lockhart
Bill Mitchell
Sharlene Richards
 
16
Elaine Boody
John Stathos
 
17
Anita Richardson
 
19
Tom Beam
Bob Boyle
Vickie Einselen
 
22
Geri Carney
Jean Kivlighan
 
23
Hunter Moss
Sally Rogers
Jamie Simmons
 
26
Richard Landreth
Ralph Ruedy
 
27
Dave Cangalosi
Lynn Hogg
Misa Kobayashi Stuart
 
28
Nick Baldwin
 
29
Allen Jackson
 
30
Bill Frazier
 
31
Nick MacNeil