1.    How has your congregation used its facilities historically to serve and interact with your neighbors?

2.    How has your history influenced or reflected the history of your community at key moments in the past?

3.    How does your congregation’s history relate to themes in American history, architectural history and American religious history?

Sunday discussion time on 8/9 will be devoted to this topic, inviting everyone to tell their stories about where TMC has been, who we are, where we’re going. Missy Randolph will lead the discussion and Sallie will supplement with specific questions. Members of the team are: Missy Randolph, Linda Robinson, Susan Weinman and Sallie vanMerkensteijn. They will facilitate the discussion.

Please plan to stay after the prayer gathering or to join in on Zoom at 11:30 this Sunday, August 9.

Notice the handiwork of our custodian, Demetrius. This is a fulfillment of Tom’s desire to spruce up the 22^nd street side of Trinity! The newly painted red door used to be an entrance to the workings of the pipe organ – we now have an Allen electric organ but still call the room the pipe room.  Just some fun in the midst of sadness.

Roof: Some shingles fell of the parish house roof a few weeks ago and the heavy rains have found a way to drip inside as well as outside! Thankfully, it will soon be repaired. However, we realize that this is a temporary fix and are getting estimates for a full reroofing. Like everything else, it will be expensive but is not something we cannot handle together! The parish house is home to Trinity PlayGroup, the WinterShelter and so many 12 step groups, among others. Please start now to pray about how you will be able to help make this necessary repair happen so that all the blessings that flow from this building will continue to affect the world for decades to come!

There is a hole in the road at the curb in front of the TPG entrance. The city has been notified. Please be careful as your park.

Potential Study Group? I just read Does God Have a Big Toe?: Stories About Stories in the Bible by Marc Gellman which was one of the books Lynn suggested for the post-Eastertide study group (the one where we ended up with Annie Lamott’s Help, Thanks, Wow). I always appreciate the books Lynn recommends and I really loved this one. It is a children’s book and has such delightful gems as the birds on the Ark choosing their perches in a true "pecking order" based on the color of their feathers. Of course, the black raven, and the gray dove are at the of the list.

I would love to have a discussion group about this book. Please let me know if you are interested ([email protected] or 215-732-1471).

If you want to read the book (discussion group or not) it appears to only be available from Amazon. Do not be frightened by the prices – go immediately to the used copies and buy one of them. Mine has a certificate inside stating that it was given to some girl upon the completion of her second year of Hebrew school! Other than that, it is in perfect condition. If anyone would have trouble getting a copy from Amazon, please send me your snail-mail address and I will have one sent to you. 

"It is what it is." This idiom has been used for years and so often it has become a cliché. "It is what it is" has come to be an "expression of frustration or resigned acceptance of a situation." It communicates fatalism and hopelessness. Unhappily it was recently said about the 150,000 plus Americans who have died from COVID 19. "It is what it is." How can anyone say that about the loss of so many precious lives? Is there truth in this statement? Are we ready to just sit back and accept the deaths of these people and more to come? How does "it is what it is" square with our Christian beliefs? What if Jesus encountered a man with leprosy, put up his hands and said "Sorry, it is what it is." Yes, our faith teaches us to accept God’s will, but it also teaches us to heal and care for the sick. Jesus’ ministry was all about change: changing our hearts, minds and spirits. It was never about giving in to "it is what it is." God is always about intervening in the world to make it better, to resist evil, to find cures for plagues. What can we do in the face of such a heartless and clueless statement? Put faces on those who have died and mourn them. Fight this virus by doing what we’ve been told: face masks, distancing, hygiene. We can resist "it is what it is" by pushing our elected officials to do their jobs and by VOTING out those whose incompetence and delusional thinking made this crisis far worse than it needed to be. Here is how you can help get the vote out: “It is what it is.” This idiom has been used for years and so often it has become a cliché. “It is what it is” has come to be an “expression of frustration or resigned acceptance of a situation.” It communicates fatalism and hopelessness. Unhappily it was recently said about the 150,000 plus Americans who have died from COVID 19. “It is what it is.” How can anyone say that about the loss of so many precious lives? Is there truth in this statement? Are we ready to just sit back and accept the deaths of these people and more to come? How does “it is what it is” square with our Christian beliefs? What if Jesus encountered a man with leprosy, put up his hands and said “Sorry, it is what it is.” Yes, our faith teaches us to accept God’s will, but it also teaches us to heal and care for the sick. Jesus’ ministry was all about change: changing our hearts, minds and spirits. It was never about giving in to “it is what it is.” God is always about intervening in the world to make it better, to resist evil, to find cures for plagues. What can we do in the face of such a heartless and clueless statement? Put faces on those who have died and mourn them. Fight this virus by doing what we’ve been told: face masks, distancing, hygiene. We can resist “it is what it is” by pushing our elected officials to do their jobs and by VOTING out those whose incompetence and delusional thinking made this crisis far worse than it needed to be. Here is how you can help get the vote out:                      https://powerinterfaith.org/togetherwevote/

Pax,

Deacon Lynn

Zoom LINK for prayer gatherings Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday.

Sundays: 9:00 children ages 0-7 and their families

Wednesdays 9:00 Morning Coffee & Prayer

Thursdays 5:30 Evening Prayer

Please pray healing and support especially for: Mark, Sarah W, Sasha, Shirley, Bill, Travis, Luca, Sallie & Jim W., Jack & Katie & Brad, Mike and Sandy, Lynn, Andrea, Susan W., Myriam & Eldridge, Peter, Bobby, Tim, Barbara & Roger, Corinne, Kate, Richard, Chris, Piswast

Grace for those who have died and all who mourn

Stamina and creativity for all essential workers, especially teachers, clerks, IT professionals, trash collectors, medical personnel, delivery, bankers, restaurant employees ...

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