Trinity Topics

The Newsletter of Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio

DECEMBER 2009

a
child
has
been
born
for
us

artwork by Julie Vivas

from her book The Nativity
 liturgy & events Canterbury Choir
THE “O” ANTIPHONS OF ADVENT
Sunday, December 6 7p

Trinity’s annual lessons and carols celebrating the

coming Messiah through music, word, ritual and
symbol.

Free Admission

Canterbury Choir
A CANTERBURY CHRISTMAS
Wednesday, December 24 10:30p

Bennett The Many Moods of Christmas

A musical prelude to the 11pm Christ Mass. This year

will feature suites I & II of Robert Russell Bennett’s
beloved collection of familiar songs and carols.

Free Admission

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6—ADVENT 2C WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24—CHRISTMAS EVE

Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-14
9:30a Children’s Formation 5p Family Eucharist
10a Parish Eucharist 10:30p A Canterbury Christmas
7p “O” Antiphons 11p Christ Mass

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13—ADVENT 3C SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27—1ST SUN AFTER

Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18 CHRISTMAS—LESSONS & CAROLS
9:30a Children’s Formation Isaiah 6110-62:3; Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18
10a Parish Eucharist 9:30a Children’s Formation
10a Parish Eucharist

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20—ADVENT 4C SUNDAY, JANUARY 3—2ND SUN AFTER

Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 10-5-10; Luke 1:39-45, (46-55) CHRISTMAS
9:30a Children’s Formation Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a; Luke 2:41-52
10a Parish Eucharist 9:30a Children’s Formation
11:30a Greening of the Church 10a Parish Eucharist
photo by Kris Snibbe

PRAY FOR PEACE,

PEOPLE EVERYWHERE
2

Measure in Love
.Jesus said, "There will be signs in the sun, the moon,
and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations
confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People
will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming
upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be
shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a
cloud' with power and great glory. Now when these
things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21)
This may not be the lesson you wanted
to hear during the first week of Advent. We
started a new year of readings on Advent 1,
and this year the primary Gospel will be
Luke. But before Jesus’ birth, we first shoot
to near the end when Jesus is actually
preparing for his death.
Advent always ties Christ’s first coming
with his second--ALWAYS.
To prepare us for the meaning of the
child, the readings in Advent remind us
how his life and death and resurrection
should direct our lives. He will come
among us as an infant to teach us to tend
the love of Christ in this world as we would
tend and infant, and to teach us that Christ
should never be accepted out of fear, but
out of love. Do or die, turn or burn, is not
the message of Advent.
Rather, it is this: do not be distracted.
No matter what happens around you,
whether empires crumble or earthquakes
happen or life simply falls apart, keep
living with God’s incarnate love as the
focus.
Talk of the end of the world always
gives rise to conspiracy theories--so I invite
you into a great conspiracy: the conspiracy
of Advent (www.advent conspiracy.org). It’s a
conspiracy of GOOD, a way to take this season that is
still very far away from God’s dream and turn it into
love incarnate once again. Instead of buying presents
from “Santa” for folks who don’t need more stuff,
how about we plan for the Incarnate One by getting
Jesus some presents?
from the rector
Those shepherds who came to visit Jesus
lost their sheep, may have lost their jobs. Get
them--or other folks who could improve the
lives of their villages-- another flock.
(www.heifer.org)
Joseph and Mary may well have been
staying in a barn during the census because
their family would not take them in. For $5
each, they can have a warm
nutritious meal together, a step up
from shelter food. (Check to Trinity
Episcopal Church, “MPB Family
Meals” on the memo line)
Some of Jesus’ siblings in Honduras
don’t have a Mary and a Joseph--
yet. (www.hogaremanuel.com)
It might be cool weather now, but
mosquitoes can get nasty in
summer. Keep our Lord safe from
malaria and get him a net. (http://
www.episcopalchurch.org/netsfor
lifeafrica. htm)
Some pre-natal visits would put
Mary’s mind at ease and give this
young mom some education. And
while we’re talking about education, Jesus
will get one, but in some parts of the
world, his sisters need your help.
(Episcopal Relief and Development,
http://www.er-d.org)
Now, spend the time you would have
spent on shopping writing a letter to the
person you love. Speak your love and
inspiration, and explain the gift you have
made in his or her name. Add an
ornament or cookies if you’d like.
Whether you want to prepare for the infant in
humility or the risen one in glory, the focus is the
same: Do not be distracted. Prepare for the baby by
taking care of Christ’s family. And then, stand up
and raise your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near.
Liddy
3
 congregation/world Christmas Flower Memorials
Each Christmas, we decorate the church
and cloister with memorial flowers and other
decorations. Those who wish to contribute to
the cost of these decorations should provide
the names of donors and those being remem-
bered or honored by Wednesday, December
16, in order to list them in the Christmas lit-
urgy booklet.
We ask donors to provide the full Christian
name of persons memorialized or honored
(Helen Schneider, not Mrs. Karl Schneider).
$25 is the usual gift but larger donations are
especially welcomed. An envelope is enclosed
in this issue of Topics for your convenience.
Please make checks payable to Trinity.
A tiny visitor takes
a pause amid the
generous gifts of
food, pantry items
and pledges shared
by the Trinity
community at the
Thanksgiving liturgy
on Nov. 22.
Birthday Blessings
December 4... ...........Wayne Anthony
December 5... ...........Katie Stygles
December 7... ...........Peter Brown
........................ ...........Rene Salander
December 13. ...........Diane Elliott
December 15. ...........Betty Mauk
December 18. ...........Todd Alcroft
December 21. ...........Courtney McClellan II
December 22. ...........Brandt Tennant
December 23. ...........Karen Ramirez
December 24. ...........Lucie Laboe
December 25. ...........Joshua Zechman
December 27. ...........Richard Twining
........................ ...........Elizabeth Windnagle
December 29. ...........Phyllis Lavalette
December 30. ...........Erin Gadway
........................ ...........Jane Gomersall-Zohn
4
David Nelson’s Ordination
David S. Nelson is expected to be ordained to the
priesthood by Bishop Mark Hollingsworth next
month (on a date still to be chosen) at St. John’s Epis-
copal Church, 1505 E. Wooster St. in Bowling Green.
Show your support for David by attending the or-
dination service, by sending him a note of support,
and by keeping him in your prayers.
MEMBER MATTERS
Herbert Dresnek entered new life on Thursday,
November 5. May Herbert and all the saints, through the
mercy of God, rest in peace.
We will baptize Izzy Durham into the family of God on
Sunday, December 27, the Feast of the Holy Family.
David C. Nelson remains under the care of Hospice of
Northwest Ohio.
Flu Facts
Some people may have concerns about the spread
of the flu in public gatherings like Sunday worship.
The most important advice: be sensible and responsi-
ble. If you or a family member is feeling ill or experi-
encing flu-like symptoms (a fever of 100 degrees or
more, plus a cough or sore throat), you serve God’s
kingdom and the Trinity community best by staying
home and contacting your health care provider.
The single most effective way to protect yourself
and others from spreading any virus is to wash your
hands frequently using soap and warm water or an
alcohol-based hand sanitizer. There are bottles of
hand sanitizer on the communion rail.
Current information holds that intinction (dipping
the bread in the wine at communion) spreads bacteria
as readily as drinking from the common cup, as it
allows so many hands near the chalice. Remember
that the sacrament is complete in either form alone.
Find more at www.flu.gov.
 Seeking Nominations for Vestry
Do you love the community of Trinity
Church? Are you willing to get your
hands dirty? Are you a person of vision
who dares to dream as big as God's
creation? Do you have specialized skills
that might be helpful as we work toward
our vision and mission? If so, then we'd
like to hear from you.
The vestry is comprised of 9 people
who help to discern the vision toward
which God is drawing our community,
articulate and communicate that vision,
hold us accountable for its realization,
and keep the mission of the Church and of our
individual congregation clearly before our community.
The vestry is not a board of directors or a senior
management team, though there are some similarities.
A vestry is different because the
church is different. God creates the
church, and invites us to participate in
the process. A congregation’s leaders
are the stewards of that creation and
hold it in trust. We believe we’ve been
given the resources needed to do the
job God has called us to do. Our
leaders identify and allocate those
resources, enabling the parish to carry
out its mission. They also lead our
community in celebrating and giving
thanks for those resources.
In 2010, there are three vestry positions to be filled.
This continues to be an exciting time for the parish and
these leadership positions offer unique opportunities
for ministry. Nominations or expressions of interest
can be given to Jason Rahe, our junior warden.

LOVE GOD. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. REPEAT. ~~ LOVE GOD. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR. REPEAT. ~~ LOVE GOD. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBO

Budget Update
October October
YTD YTD
2009 Budget Budget Actual Variance
You can see that the amount we've saved in our Revenue
Loan Interest Payment is around the same amount as
Plate Offering 4,750 3,296 (1,454)
the difference between our budgeted and actual
income for the year so far. The amount we're behind Pledge Payments 112,333 86,435 (25,898)
in pledge payments has continued to grow to nearly
$26,000. Combined Investment
Income 216,667 226,598 9,931

The Vestry and the Finance Committee worked

Other Operating Income 833 297 (536)
hard to develop a budget that would not take
additional funds out of the Trust. We're asking for
your help to make sure we don't end the year in a Total Revenues 334,583 316,626 (17,958)
deficit. Taking money from our Trust to cover a deficit
will reduce the amount available for the 2010 budget Expenditures
and the wonderful programming we provide. Personnel 164,297 158,491 (5,806)

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to bring or Buildings & Grounds 119,959 130,669 10,711
mail in your 2010 pledge card now, so we can build a Operations 25,117 18,204 (6,913)
budget for the new year.
Diocesan Assessment 34,597 26,729 (7,868)
Respectfully submitted, Local Outreach 4,583 5,034 451
Jane Bueche
Parish Accountant Programs 23,387 14,666 (8,721)
Loan Interest Payment 28,000 9,286 (18,714)
The financial health of our community is a shared
responsibility, and we welcome your questions or Total Expenditures 399,940 363,079 (36,860)
comments. Contact Jane Bueche, Parish Accountant, at
jane@epworth.com.
Net Surplus/(Deficit) (65,356) (46,454) (18,903)

5
 Christmas Angels 2009
This year we’re sponsoring eight families plus one
single woman, a total of 28 people. We’re sponsoring
fewer people this year than in 2008, in part because
many other local groups provide support for those in
need at the holidays.
Gift suggestion cards are still available from the
Outreach Committee. The gifts should be new items,
especially for children. Larger household items in
“like new” condition are acceptable. A dollar limit of
$25 per item is recommended. Some clients ask for
gift cards, allowing them to make their own gift selec-
tions.
Bring all of the wrapped gifts to church with you
on Sunday, Dec. 13 to be blessed. Gift distribution
will take place during the following week.
A deeper level of radical
hospitality
When Jesus asks us to treat everyone with love, it
sounds like a good idea. Then there’s the real world,
in which we meet people who are different, diseased,
and/or disagreeable. At Trinity we say that all are
welcome. While that’s true, there’s more – all are
welcome, but not anything
goes. Some of God’s beloved
who come in for coffee, fellow-
ship, warmth, or worship may
not have the social boundaries
or mental processes we’re
used to, and they may make us
feel uncomfortable. Here are a
few suggestions to keep in
mind when that happens:
♦ Most people just want to be
listened to. You don’t need to
fix, control, or even understand what they’re
saying. Just listen. Invite others you know into
the conversation so it is not one-on-one. Two
people listening to and praying for one in need is
beneficial on several levels.
♦ Do not give out money. We are a house of
prayer, not a bank. You can say “No, but this is
what we can give you,” - a cup of coffee, a
prayer, something to eat if we’re having coffee
hour.
♦ Find an usher or a staff person if you have
questions or are too uncomfortable.
6
New WGTE Documentary
“Holy Toledo”
WGTE, Toledo’s public televi-
sion station, has produced a new
documentary in its “Toledo Stories”
series. The program, entitled “Holy
Toledo,” showcases some of the
most significant historical places of
worship in the greater Toledo area.
Trinity, St. Mark’s, and St. Paul’s Maumee are some
of the sacred landmarks featured on this video tour of
Toledo’s historic church architecture.
This hour-long program will be broadcast three
times during the month of December:
Thursday, Dec. 3, at 8:00 pm
Monday, Dec. 7, at 9:30 pm
Thursday, Dec. 24, at 8:00 pm
Exploring Spiritual Practices
A six-week program of video/discussion exploring
a number of spiritual practices will begin on Sunday,
Jan. 10. One-hour sessions will be offered on Sundays
at 11:30am, and repeated on Wednesdays at 7:00pm.
If you’re interested, look for sign-up sheets on the
curved wall in the nave for both series. If fewer than
five people sign up for either Sunday or Wednesday,
that series will not be held. Contact Mary Figgins for
more details.
Thanks from Marie
Dear Trinity community,
As you might imagine, it was hard for me to come
back to Trinity. I am aware that my actions have dis-
appointed many of you and it wasn't easy to come and
face you all. However, as always, you lived out Jesus'
commandment to love one another as he loves us.
Many of you went out of your way to welcome me
warmly and assure me of your continuing love, which
reflects God's love for all of us, imperfect as we are.
Please know that as I continue in my walk with Jesus
and my discernment about what God has for me after
I graduate, your love and support continue to ground
me. I give thanks to God for you, from the bottom of
my heart.
Love,
Marie
 outreachings
My Brother’s Place re-opens
New life, new mission for an old favorite

You won’t believe how it looks...or tastes!

Elizabeth Sorge and her family and friends
have transformed the second floor into a
bright and warm gathering space including
many touches of “Old Trinity.”

Come taste an incredible mix of comfort

food and dishes from Toledo’s international
heritage.

Lunch is served from 11-2, Monday

through Friday.

Help Emanuel Children’s Home

Prepare for a Baby’s Arrival
Yes, they’re expecting! The first infant will arrive
at Emanuel Children’s Home within the next two
months. They don’t know exactly when, or whether
they’ll have a boy or a girl (or both!). But they do
know that a newborn will soon arrive at their door.
As they spend this Advent preparing for the coming
of their first baby, there’s a way that you can help.
Food For Thought Toy Drive
Food for Thought is currently preparing a
Christmas Shoppe for the families that use their
food pantry, where parents will be able to shop
(for free, of course) for the toys they think their
kids will love. FFT is accepting donations of
new, unwrapped toys for all age groups. Last
year, they provided gifts for 225 children.
Based on the increase in pantry use, they esti-
mate that this year they’ll have requests for
400-500 gifts. Can you help stock the shelves?

They are accepting donations through Sunday,

December 12th. Every donated toy you give will help
FFT bless others. Suggested toys include: Play-Doh;
craft items; board games; puzzles; books; dolls; Legos/
blocks; action figures; stuffed animals; toy cars, trucks
Consider participating in their “Virtual Baby and accessories; sports items (for
Shower” by sending a monetary gift representing the older boys); beauty items (for
cost of much-needed infant supplies. Whether it’s the older girls).
value of a high chair ($30), cloth diapers ($20) or a
nanny’s salary for a month ($350), all are very wel- Please – no used,
come gifts. Please do NOT purchase these items; the wrapped, violent or
Children’s Home can avoid shipping costs and oner- suggestive toys. Also
ous import taxes by buying the items in Honduras, keep in mind that
stretching your dollars dramatically. Make your teenagers are often left
check payable to “Western PA District Church of the out at this time of year.
Brethren” and mail it to 115 Spring Rd., Hollsopple, If you know a tween or
PA 15935. Your designated gift will be purchased teen who can help you
and delivered to the Home on your behalf. choose some gifts for this
age group, that would be very helpful.
For more information, or a list of the most need
nursery items, contact Lucia Cooper.

7
 Bishop Mark Hollingsworth on Praying Together
(from the sermon and Episcopal Address at the Diocesan Convention Eucharist on Nov. 14, 2009)

Sacrificial giving, the spiritual surrender of self to For where two or more are gathered together in my
God that we proclaim in our diocesan mission state- name, I am there among them." (Matthew 18:19-20)
ment, is a comprehensive act. It is carried out in our
service of others, in our financial giving to parish and There is similar evidence that this sort of prayer
diocese, in our participation in the life of the church, in doesn’t come that easily to all Episcopalians. We pray
our leadership as Christians in the world, and in our in church, or go along with what is being prayed on
prayer. It is this last, giving ourselves to prayer, that I our behalf, and we “say our prayers” privately, with
want to focus on this morning... varying degrees of discipline. But I observe that many
of us struggle to pray with one another for the every-
The gospel lesson appointed for this day recounts day concerns and needs of our and each other’s lives,
Jesus’ directing the disciples about how to give them-
selves in response to the great needs of the world. “The
harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore
ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his
harvest.” (Matthew 9:38) In this story, the first act of
giving ourselves to God is prayer. “Ask the Lord.” My
image of this scene is that Jesus expected the disciples
to do just that. To pray, right then and there, together.
With each other. Not to wait for him to pray on their
behalf, nor to go home and kneel alone in prayer, but
to launch right in together, in that very moment. Jesus
knew, doubtless from his own prayer discipline, that
asking God to send out laborers would itself transform
the disciples’ own labor.

There is some evidence that this didn’t come easily

to the disciples. Prayer doesn’t appear to have been the
default response to the considerable challenges of their and for the things we either fear or yearn for in our
lives and ministries. Remember how they reacted to the own lives, in our faith, and in our congregations.
hunger of the multitudes and the storm at sea. It was
not with prayer. Remember how in Luke’s gospel, after Twenty years ago a colleague and I started a
they had seen Jesus praying, one of the disciples asked monthly Saturday morning men’s group in the parish
where I served as rector. We had a dozen or more
I want to serve a church that gives itself faithful participants, guys whom I had watched
white-knuckling it through church on the average
to the power of God’s love in ways that Sunday, who rarely said aloud the word “God”
change everyone it touches. And I am unless it was followed by “damn it.” Some
months into our meetings, one of them became ill
persuaded that it begins with our giving and was hospitalized. When he recovered, he
ourselves to God in prayer. reported to the group at our monthly meeting
how calm he had been in the hospital, and how
he had felt our prayers for him. A few minutes
him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And remember how in the later, another member of the group offered thanks for
Sermon on the Mount Jesus instructed them, “Pray then our companion’s recovery, and quite awkwardly con-
in this way: Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9) Pay attention fessed that he, in fact, had not been praying for him. I
to the pronouns. It is significant that the prayer Jesus noticed that somewhat self-consciously heads were
taught the disciples uses only plural pronouns – give us nodding all around the circle. It was in fact a general
this day our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, as we, confession. The man who had been ill was not hurt by
etc. He taught them to pray together. “Again, truly I tell this; the comfort and confidence he felt in the hospital
you, if two of you agree on earth about anything that had been genuine and the bond of companionship
you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
Continued on next page

8
 Continued from previous page —
among the group was strong. But together they began
to face in a new way both their limited experience
with prayer and their common reticence to give
themselves to it.
It is significant that the prayer Jesus
taught the disciples uses only plural
pronouns – give us this day our daily
bread, forgive us our trespasses, as we,
etc. He taught them to pray together.
Their confession reminded me of Annie Dillard’s
description in Teaching a Stone to Talk of the
Christians’ general lack of consciousness about and
confidence in the power that Jesus said can bind and
loose on earth and in heaven. She writes:
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the
catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does
anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so
blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a
word of it? The churches are children playing on the
floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of
TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear
ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should
all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life
preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our
pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and
take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to
where we can never return.
Crash helmets, life preservers, and signal flares.
Being drawn out by the “waking god” to where we
can never return. That is the church I want to serve. A
church that gives itself to the power of God’s love in
ways that change everyone it touches – the members,
the community, the beloved of God it serves, the
world. And I am persuaded continually that it begins
with our giving ourselves to God in prayer. “Ask,”
instructs Jesus. “Get together and ask together.”
...The two things I hear week after week from com-
municants and vestries in the parishes I visit is that
they need more people and more money. This sounds
familiar, doesn’t it? Yet never, not once, have I heard
people praying explicitly for those things during the
intercessions. Now I recognize that a few prayers on
a bishop’s visitation are alone unlikely to change the
life of a parish, but I am certain that a sustained life of
praying together will. Jesus tells us so. “Ask the Lord
of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Ask.
Proposed NCD Action Plan
After listening to your input from the fall Kitchen
Table meetings, the Church Health Team has put
together a draft action plan to nurture the passionate
spirituality of our community during the next year.
The Natural Church Development process specifies
that this plan should involve 2-3 specific, measurable
steps intended to develop our spirituality. The whole
congregation will work together for a year to imple-
ment the plan, and then take the NCD survey again.
The proposed plan involves 3 components:
1. Spiritual education programs to be offered Sundays
at church & Wednesday evenings in the community
A video/discussion series on spiritual practices
A group reading Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible
Again for the First Time
A series on the “spiritual classics” and spiritual
formation
2. Small group prayers
Each parish group will develop a prayer for itself,
specific to its ministry. The group will pray its
prayer together every time it gathers/ministers.
3. Online community for Gospel chat & prayer requests
The upcoming Sunday’s Gospel reading will be
posted for online discussion.
This might also be a place where prayer requests
can be submitted.
Community prayer calendar – with links to small
group prayers (from #2 above) on appropriate
days (so all could pray the Choir’s prayer on
Thursday, Next to New’s prayer on Monday,
Bread Guild’s prayer on Saturday, etc.).
Consider these, pray about
them, and share your questions,
ideas and reactions with mem-
bers of Trinity’s Church Health
Team by Dec. 20th.. Health
Team members are Todd
Alcroft, Don Barnes, Jane
Bueche, Liddy Hoster, Mike
Lowrey, Becky Roth, Karen
Wabeke and Joni Zechman.
And please pray regularly
for Trinity’s vitality as we work
through the NCD process.
9
Five Reasons to Celebrate Advent
5. It’s the Antidote to the Commercial “Christmas Season”.
Modern culture has replaced the babe in a manger with an ever growing list of products for sale. What better way
to keep the truth of Christmas in mind than to intentionally focus on Advent?

4. It’s An Opportunity To Rehearse and Emphasize The Whole Gospel as Part of the Christian Year.
To know the seasons of the Christian year is to know the milestones of Christ’s earthly ministry — from the prom-
ise of His coming at Advent through His resurrection at Easter and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

3. It’s a Way To Live In Hope (Even In Perilous Times).

Advent is about anticipation and hope. It’s about putting our faith in God’s promise to send a Prince of Peace.
2. It Provides A Place and Structure For Lament.
As the great Advent song cries: “O come, o come Emmanuel - and ransom captive Israel.” This world is filled with
suffering and injustice. Christians must acknowledge it and be saddened and outraged by it. This does not show a lack
of faith; it’s what the Bible teaches us to do — particularly in the Psalms.

1. It Reminds Us to “Watch and Pray” For the Second Coming.

Just as God’s people waited for the first coming (advent) of the messiah, we await His promised return. And we
aren’t literally awaiting a newborn baby in a manger. Rather, by rehearsing the expectation that saints of old experi-
enced before Jesus came, we’re reminded that Scripture has promised one more “coming”.

“What good is it to me that Mary gave birth to the Son of God fourteen hundred
years ago, and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my cul-
ture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born.”
~Meister Eckhart

NIGHT OF SILENCE
An Advent carol by Daniel Kantor

Cold are the people, Winter of life,

We tremble in shadows this cold endless night,
Frozen in the snow lie roses sleeping,
Flowers that will echo the sunrise,
Fire of hope is our only warmth,
Weary, its flame will be dying soon.

Voice in the distance, call in the night,

On wind you enfold us you speak of the light,
Gentle on the ear you whisper softly,
Rumors of a dawn so embracing,
Breathless love awaits darkened souls,
Soon will we know of the morning.

Spirit among us, Shine like the star,

Your light that guides shepherds and kings from afar,
Shimmer in the sky so empty, lonely,
Rising in the warmth of your Son's love,
Star unknowing of night and day,
Spirit, we wait for your loving Son.
(Listen for this to be sung simultaneously with “Silent Night,”
marking the transition from Advent into Christmas,
at Trinity’s Festive Christ Mass on Christmas Eve.)

10
 around the kingdom
Border Walls Keep Out Mary and Baby
by Maryada Vallet

She walks the trails until her ankles swell and her back pulsates with pain. Her abdomen, swollen with eight
months of pregnancy, slows her down, and with each step she cannot help but think, “Will I be left in the middle
of nowhere to give birth among the dirt and desert pines? Does anyone out there care to take me in, give me
shelter?

Similar questions were certainly asked by Mary, the brave young woman who carried Jesus across borders
trying to please the mandates of the Roman Empire. Only this time, “Mary” does not have a partner or a donkey
to help, and there definitely is no pleasing the empire.

After two days of searching and wandering, someone does hear her cry, but instead of giving her shelter,
warmth, and hospitality, she is thrown into a cold detention center without medical attention, food, or water, and
she is told, in no uncertain terms, “at the United States border, there is no room at the inn.”

This “Mary,” or Maria, pleads and cries as

she is released back to the other side of a
borderline, dumped into the violent and
vulnerable streets of Northern Mexico. That’s
where, as a No More Deaths humanitarian
volunteer, our lives recently connected and my
season of Advent came to life. Maria asks me
how it is possible that there is no room on the
other side, when in comparison to the
desperate and poor conditions of Oaxaca, the
land to the north is like a five-star hotel. Even
more, she wonders, how it can be that there is
no room when she has already spent years
laboring in U.S. factories and chicken
slaughterhouses? Indeed, the situation is even
more complex as Maria thinks about her other
children, two little boys — American citizens,
waiting for her with anticipation and grief to
return to their home in a Midwest city.

With every day that passes, Mary is closer to her due date, which could possibly be Christmas. It appears as
though she has no other choice but to give birth on Christmas day in a humble stable, far from all family and
friends. More than likely, poor shepherds and neighbors who have heard the news will visit her and the new
baby. This stable sits juxtaposed to great power, wealth, and large walls.

As we sing carols, look at lights, and admire the miniature nativity scenes adorning our homes this holiday, let
us not forget the most foundational elements of the Christmas story and how they come to life in our lives even
today. All around us are strangers wandering the land looking for an open door and asking for compassion and
justice — not detainment or criminal status. May we not miss our chance to welcome them, as they have much to
bring and to teach. In fact, they are the hope for our future that comes to us humble and expectant. Not unlike the
baby Jesus.

Maryada Vallet works with No More Deaths (nomoredeaths.org), a humanitarian initiative on the U.S.-Mexico border that
promotes faith-based principles for immigration reform.

From http://blog.sojo.net

11
 Waiting
by Molly Marsh

Advent is the time in our church We get lonely, then angry. Is God It's a story so familiar to us that
calendar that redirects us toward our ever going to show up? How could we've stopped hearing it. The full
source of sustenance, the hope that God leave us? And when we've weight of each word has been
God will come, and the promise that waited for oh, so long, and in the crowded out by gift lists and good
God is with us now and forever. We meantime suffered the loss of some- intentions.
need the reminder desperately, for one we love, the horror of cruelly
images of burning buildings, breath- aimed airplanes, the roar of war, we This baby is delivered and named:
taking greed, and continuous terrorist start to believe we are mistaken. God Immanuel. God with us. The name ties
alerts have taken their toll. Advent is a is not going to come. everything together: the birth that
time of preparation, of patience, of marked a moment in history and the
remembering what grounds and Or worse, God is not even there. Word that's been with us since the
sustains us. Fear sets in. We've been fooled, and beginning, the Word that dwells
we've been fooling ourselves. We've among us now. God with us. Present
In one sense, we are always living based the foundation and structure of tense. Here and now.
in Advent: As people of faith we are our lives on a product of our imagina-
tions, and we are We've been sitting on the front
Somewhere, everyone else is gath- utterly alone in
our pain and
stoop of an unlit house, blinking into
the darkness, waiting, or so we
ered, admiring by candlelight the soft suffering. thought. What were we waiting for?
skin of the baby Jesus, seeing the More minutes,
Fear and anger have kept us from
remembering. Oh yes, we were ex-
sweetness of Mary's face. How am I months, or years pecting God. We're not sure how we
here in this desolate place, by myself? tick by. At times
we beat the dark
missed this, but suddenly we know
God's already been by. The night air is
continually waiting and watching for air; at others we live buoyed by a electric, the faint sound of a familiar
signs of God. But waiting is a risky kindness, perhaps, or an unexplained music plays, somewhere a door has
venture. When we wait for any- calmness, or a string of good luck. been set open; the moment is pregnant
thing—a friend, our turn at the gas And when we're tired of being alone, with possibility. God is near.
pump—we wait expectantly. We are of living in this dimly lit place, we
in a state of suspension, temporarily look around to see who
neglected, unattended to. Minutes or or what else is out there.
months or years tick by, and the Pieces of a story surface
outcome we're hoping for may fail to and we remember that
materialize, at least not that we can there was a moment in
see. And then we start to wonder. Am history that God chose
I in the wrong place? Did I get the to come to us, in a form
time wrong? Where is everyone? we could easily
Somehow I've taken the wrong bus, recognize, a baby with
and it's dropped me off in a neighbor- skin, eyes, hair, and a
hood, alone, where all the houses are mouth, who grew into a
dark. Somewhere, everyone else is man who sometimes got
gathered, admiring by candlelight the fed up with the people
soft skin of the baby Jesus, basking in around him, many of
the glow of his holiness, seeing the whom he loved, a man
sweetness of Mary's face. How am I who also suffered and felt utterly From: www.sojo.net
here in this desolate place, by myself? abandoned, all the while being loved
by God.

ENTER THE STORY. THIS YEAR, GIVE PRESENCE.

12
Advent Speaks to the Power of Smallness
by Joan Chittister

It's Advent again. And if anyone
cares about Advent, Americans
should.
Advent may have more to do with
American life than any other season of
the year. Yet, Advent remains the
period of spiritual preparation that is
too often least appreciated, little
understood and commonly ignored.
The Jesus "who did not cling to
being God," but is like us in all things,
models what most of us take the
greater part of our lives to learn: how
to "be ourselves." The divinity who
comes to us as an infant is the
paradigm of what it means to learn
from life as we grow into who and
what we're meant to be. The God who
comes without retinue or riches is the
metaphor of a humility that requires
us to remember how really small we
are in the universe--and to come to
the point where that is enough for
us.
Advent is about the power of
emptiness and the spiritual mean-
ing of smallness.
When we have little to begin with,
we have even less to lose. We know,
then, that we don't have all the ideas
or all of the answers. It means that
we have nothing to fight over and
even less to boast about in life. We
become full of possibility.
Then we can't possibly be destroyed
by losing because we never anointed
ourselves entitled to win. We become
full of confidence.
Finally, when Advent seeps into
our souls, we come to understand that
small is not nothing and empty is not
bereft. To be small is to need, to
depend on the other. Smallness bonds
us to the rest of the human race and
frees us from the arrogant isolation
that kills both the body and the soul.
To be empty is to be available inside
to attend to something other than the
self. We become full of the blessings of
life.
Then, emptied out by the
awareness of our own smallness, we
may have the heart to identify with
those whose emptiness, whose
poverty of spirit and paucity of life is
involuntary. Then, we may be able to
become full human beings ourselves,
full of compassion and full of con-
sciousness.

When we know who we really An Advent spent in serious

One of the problems with Advent
is that it gets swallowed up by
Christmas. The truth is, of course, that
Advent signals the coming of Christ-
mas. But the kind of Christmas the
liturgical period of Advent is meant to
signal is not the Christmas we cele-
brate in the United States. Civil
Christmas is about the storing up of
things. The Christmas to which Ad-
vent points is about being emptied
out so we can become full.
Advent is about the spirituality of
emptiness, of enough-ness, of
stripped-down fullness of soul.
Advent points to the essentials of life;
commercial Christmas points to its
superfluities…Advent is about the
riches of emptiness.
are, when we present no disguises reflection on the power of emptiness
and parade no pretensions, when we and the meaning of smallness puts
are honest both
with ourselves and The God who comes without retinue or
with others, we
find ourselves free
riches is the metaphor for a humility that
to be ourselves. requires us to remember how really small
We have no image we are.
to keep up, no lies
to gild in a gilded society. We become everything else in perspective. Most of
full of integrity. all, ourselves.
When we learn to live with the
basics rather than to hoard what does
not belong to us, we can never be
made bereft by the loss of life's little From the National Catholic Reporter,
baubles because we never depended by Joan Chittister, O.S.B.
on them in the first place. We become
full of contentment.
When we recognize our own
limitations, we need never fear failure.

13
 Putting Herod Back Into Christmas
by Joy Carroll Wallis
How people love Christmas
carols! When I was a priest back in
London, carol singing around the
parish really seemed to get everyone
in the mood for Christmas. We al-
ways had a real accordion and an
old-fashioned lantern on a pole; we
were always wrapped up warmly,
and we would stop and sing carols
under selected streetlights. It was a
scene fit for a Christmas card....
People came out in droves, mostly
non-churchgoers, to listen and put
money in our collecting box for the
homeless. When we were finally all
sung out, we would trudge back to
someone's house for mulled wine
and minced pies… all very English!
Great memories.
But we need to beware! Our cul-
ture loves a sentimental Christmas,
and the Christmas carols that we sing
are a big part of that. The words
often paint an idyllic picture of sani-
tary bliss that has very little to do
with the reality of what Jesus came
into this world to do. This week Jim
was reading the Christmas story to
our son Luke. He read of how Mary
and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem on
the donkey, that there was no room
in the inn. But there was a stable,
and, as Jim read, "the stable was
warm and clean!"
But this sanitization of the
Christmas story is a relatively recent
development. It's interesting that
before the Victorian era, Christmas
songs were much more likely to
reflect the reality of Jesus' entry into
our world. Carols would not hesitate
to refer to the blood and sacrifice of
Jesus or the story about Herod
slaughtering the innocent children.
As an example of the contrast, read
through the words of "Away in a
Manger." Jesus is the perfect baby,
and "No crying he makes...." My
guess is that Jesus cried a lot. We
know from the gospels that the more
14
Jesus saw of the world in which he
lived, the more he mourned and
wept regularly. A Jesus who doesn't
weep with those who weep, a Jesus
who's just a sentimental myth, may
be the one that our culture prefers,
but that Jesus can do nothing for us.
In Britain there's a very popular
musician called Cliff Richard. About
10 years ago he released a Christmas
song that reached the top 10 in the
charts. The lyrics of "Saviour's Day"
reflected his Christian faith and in-
cluded lines such as, "Life can be
yours on Saviour's Day, don't look
back or turn away...." I picked up a
teenage pop magazine where there
was an article reviewing the season's
Christmas songs. When it came to
"Saviour's Day," the writer said, "This
song is OK, but there's no holly, no
mistletoe and wine, no presents
around the tree, no snow, no Santa,
in fact this song hasn't got anything
to do with Christmas at all!" A radio
DJ in this country once said, "What
Christmas is all about is the celebra-
tion of living in a great nation like
this." It's not a celebration of this
Herod represents the dark side of the gospel.
He reminds us that Jesus didn't enter a world
of sparkly Christmas cards or warm spiritual
sentiment.
"great" nation; it's about Jesus Christ.
It's so easy to let the world reduce
our spirituality to nostalgia and
sentiment. As Evangelical Covenant
Reverend Dr. Michael Van Horn
said, "We must be careful not to lose
the connection to the truth of the
story because it is that story that
shapes our identity as the people of
God."
Another danger of sentimentality
is that we tend to lose interest in the
parts of the story that are not so
comfortable. We smile at the warm
cozy nativity scene, but have you
ever spent a night in a barn? Or given
birth in a barn? The reality is very
different. Most scholars suggest that
in Luke's account it's not just that the
inns were full but that Mary and
Joseph were forced to take the barn
because their family had rejected
them. Joseph has relatives or friends
of relatives in Bethlehem. So rather
than being received hospitably by
family or friends, Joseph and Mary
have been shunned. Family and
neighbors are declaring their moral
outrage at the fact that Joseph would
show up on their doorsteps with his
pregnant girlfriend.
No sooner have the wise men left
the stable then King Herod plots to
kill Jesus. He is so determined that he
is willing to sacrifice many innocent
lives in order to get to this one baby.
Herod recognizes something about
Jesus that in our sentiment we fail to
see: that the birth of this child is a
threat to his kingdom, a threat to that
kind of domination and rule. Jesus
challenges the very power structures
of this evil age. Herod has all the
male infants in Bethlehem murdered.
Not so cozy. This is the Jesus who
entered the bloody history of Israel,
and the human race.
But we don't want to think about
Herod. Van Horn calls him the
"Ebenezer Scrooge without the con-
version, the Grinch without a change
of heart." We Christians like to talk
A Jesus who doesn't weep with those who weep, a
Jesus who's just a sentimental myth, may be the
one that our culture prefers, but that Jesus can do
nothing for us.
about putting Christ back into
Christmas, but let's not forget to put
Herod back into Christmas.
Herod represents the dark side of
the gospel. He reminds us that Jesus
didn't enter a world of sparkly
Christmas cards or a world of warm
spiritual sentiment. Jesus enters a
world of real pain, of serious
dysfunction, a world of brokenness
and political oppression. Jesus was
born an outcast, a homeless person, a
refugee, and finally he becomes a
victim to the powers that be. Jesus is
the perfect savior for outcasts,
refugees, and nobodies. That's how
the church is described in scripture
time and time again - not as the best
and the brightest - but those who in
their weakness become a sign for the
world of the wisdom and power of
God.
My boys and I enjoy watching the
animated movie Rudolph the Red-
Nosed Reindeer. Do you remember the
island of misfit toys where all the
strange and unusual toys lived? The
island is an interesting picture of our
church communities. The church is
not a gathering of people who have it
all together, who look and act alike,
who have no problems to speak of.
The church is a community of people
who are broken and needy, who in
their weakness trust in the grace of
God. This is the kind of church that
Jesus the outcast, the misfit has
created. The gospel that ac-
knowledges brokenness, pain, and
the tragedy of life is good news for us
all. There is hope for all who find this
season tinged with despair or pain.
Perhaps we mourn the loss of a loved
one and their absence on Christmas
day is more painful each year. Per-
haps our lives are full of struggle.
Perhaps we despair over the state of
our world.
The news of ever-increasing pov-
erty in this country and the news of
the war in Iraq - whose mission was
supposed to be accomplished by now
but is clearly not - is a mess and
getting worse by the day with more
and more casualties. A war, like most
wars, that has not lived up to its
promises seems so much out of sync
with the message that we sing in our
Christmas carols. The Jesus of the
Bible came to give life to those who
are living with real grief and pain.
This is not often the stuff of our
Christmas carols.
The greatest Christmas song is
that of Mary's, found in the second
chapter of Luke:
He has shown strength with his arm; He has
scattered the proud in the imaginations of their
hearts. He has brought down the powerful from
their thrones, And lifted up the lowly; He has filled
the hungry with good things, And sent the rich
away empty.
Mary's "Magnificat" tells us that
this new king is likely to turn the
world upside-down. Mary's declara-
tion about the high and mighty being
brought low and the lowly exalted is
at the heart of the Christmas story.
The son of God is born in an animal
stall. Mary herself is a poor young
woman, part of an oppressed race,
and living in an occupied country.
Her prayer is the hope of the down-
trodden everywhere, a prophecy that
those who rule by wealth and
domination, rather than serving the
common good, will be overturned
because of what has just happened in
the little town of Bethlehem. Her
proclamation can be
appropriately applied to
any rulers or regimes
that prevail through
sheer power, instead of
by doing justice.
This story that begins in
a smelly barn finally
ends on a cross. By
human standards it is a
message of weakness.
Christmas reminds us
that our God has come
into our broken world,
and that human judgments are not
the last judgment, human justice is
not the last justice. The power that
humans exercise over us is not the
last power. As we enjoy our caroling,
let's remember to put Herod back into
Christmas. Amen.
Joy Carroll Wallis is an Anglican
priest and the author of The Woman
Behind the Collar.
From www.sojo.net
15
TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL — PLEASE HANDLE PROMPTLY
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Trinity Episcopal Church U. S. POSTAGE
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Parish Staff services

Elizabeth M. Hoster, Rector SUNDAYS 10:00 am, Holy Eucharist
Wayne F. Anthony, Associate for Music and the Arts
Susan Lowrey, Associate for Community Life HOLY DAYS as announced

prayers
Virginia Shafer, Executive Secretary
Jane Bueche, Parish Accountant
Bridget Blanchard, Organist

Parish Vestry Remember those for whom our prayers have been requested: Linda Keblesh,
Tina Kerr, Herb Landis, Susan Lowrey, David and Lois Nelson, Joann Nelson, Nancy
Jeff Albright, senior warden; Jason Rahe, junior
Paulas, Jessica Snyder, and Mary Winsor; the children and staff of Emanuel Children’s
warden; Karen Wabeke, clerk; Solveig Barnes, Lucia
Home, especially David and Estrella; the vestry and wardens; those on death row,
Cooper, Jane Gomersall-Zohn, Jennifer Siebold,
including Kenneth Biros, who is scheduled to be executed by the state of Ohio on
Sherre Owens Smith, Jim Zechman.
December 8; all victims of war and violence; our involvement in the Natural Church
Development process; our new ministry with Food for Thought and Cater Me.
Parish Offices
Mon thru Fri, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm Prayers for those who have died: Herbert Dresnek (Mary Hitchcock)
Phone 419.243.1231 Fax 419.243.0920
Email: trinity@trinitytoledo.org

Episcopal Diocese of Ohio

vision & mission
2230 Euclid Avenue Trinity is called to be a progressive, inclusive, creative urban faith community.
Cleveland, Ohio 44115-2499 We will practice radical hospitality.
800.551.4815 216.771.4815 We will be engaged in the life of our city.
The Rt. Rev. Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., Bishop Ordinary We will stand with those in need: the poor, the sick, the friendless, the marginalized.
We will actively invite all to experience and celebrate God’s living presence.
Next-to-New Thrift Shop We will journey together toward a Christ-centered life, pursuing personal ministries
Mon & Thurs, 9:30 am – 3 pm; that connect us to God, to one another, and to the world around us.
Jeanne Mitchell, Manager