Dear Holy Trinity,

It has been a pleasure spending the last few years with everyone here. I have really enjoyed my experience with this church and all the people in it. And I will probably see you again on school breaks, but as of August 5th, I will be moving up to the “great north” to pursue a Master’s in Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. So thanks again to everyone who has been a part of my life here, and I wish you all the very best!

Sincerely, Laura Poppendeck

… to the Macklin children, for a long white damask tablecloth that “Cora would want Holy Trinity to have”;

… and to Jim Woodworth, for his faithful and regular gifts for the common good.

The SJC will meet Thursday, August 14, 12:00 Noon at the home of Susan Fortney-Harlan,
262 Ryan Drive. Call or e-mail for directions. 523-3468, sfharlan@yahoo.com.

NEW MEMBERS WELCOME! We will have lunch and plan for the upcoming year.

We will be joining our family in Columbus again for the Central Ohio Heart Walk on Saturday, August 23. You can learn more about preventing heart attack and stroke and sponsor us online by going to the website below. Donations may also be given to us in person. Checks should be made out to the American Heart Association. All donations are tax deductible.

Thank you, Geoff Blackwell and Stephanie Nowak

http://centralohheartwalk.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.
asp?ievent=258537&supId=90456803

The Holy Trinity Gardens Committee is asking volunteers to set aside two hours of their time to assist with fall grounds clean-up on Saturday, September 6, 2008, at 10:00 am. Between now and then, there will be some professional trimming done. Put us on your calendar!

The Moggas have moved to 3078 Westminster Dr., #101, Beavercreek, OH 45431, 937-912-9191.

… The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few … (Luke 10:2)

It is just a month since our return from the Dominican Republic. So many memories. So many thanksgivings.

One day Padre Sandino, the rector of San Esteban in San Pedro de Macoris, asked me if I would come back and work with him. He explained that his bishop is assigning his assistant to another church. “So I will be by myself again,” he said. I was stunned by his invitation and immediately said, “I just got to Oxford!”
(I mean … really … haven’t we just begun?!)

I also told him my Spanish was not adequate to minister in a Spanish-speaking country. “The Dohns can interpret for you,” he said to me. “Yes,” I responded, “but when everyone speaks the common language, you (Padre Sandino) can be in one part of the harvest, the Dohns can be in another, and I in another.”

I have thought a lot about this conversation because it applies here as well. When churches are intentional about growing, they understand that there are times when we need to be in different places at the same time. Sunday is one example. During worship some people are in the pews, some in the choir, some serving as Church School teachers, ushers, oblationists, nursery facilitators, lectors, intercessors, acolytes, or Eucharistic ministers, to say nothing of what goes into the preparation before worship: proof-reading bulletins, working on the altar guild, communicating with the florist, writing homilies …

After worship some folk go downstairs to the coffee hour and some exit out the front door: ideally, there are greeters in both places, thanking those who have worshiped with us and inviting them to return.

Sharing the common language of service, seeking to spread justice and compassion everywhere we go, I give God thanks for our mutual ministry together and look forward to serving here, with you, for years to come.

Every blessing to you and yours,
Karen

Sunday, August 24th, worship at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m.

Sunday, August 24, I would like to meet with the following groups in the nave:

Lectors 11:30–11:40 a.m.
Greeters 11:40–11:50 a.m.
Intercessors 11:50 a.m.–12 noon

--Karen

As always, your generosity has helped enormously as we keep the panty stocked for the community dinners. We are in special need of toilet paper, paper towels, garbage bags (13 and 30 gallons), and baby supplies such as wipes, diapers 4 and 5. No time to shop? Give us some cash or a check and we’ll do it for you. —Geoff and Judith

Anita and Michael Dohn are physicians serving as missionaries with La Iglesia Episcopal Dominicana through the South American Missionary Society. They live along the southern coast in San Pedro de Macorís in the Dominican Republic.
E-mail: < DohnFamily@sams-usa.org >
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Manuelito was the topic of one of these missives several months ago – a 9-month-old with HIV infection who had been unofficially “adopted” by a woman who tends to take-in needy children. Manuelito arrived at the Clinic in poor shape, but is now doing well. In fact, I was at his house (a dilapidated wooden clapboard and tin roof thing) on the day that he started walking. The delighted older children were enticing him to take wobbly steps on the uneven floor to retrieve toys and shiny objects.

However, the reason behind the visit was that the family may be losing that house (not uncommon in the USA these days, either). The community outreach worker from the HIV/AIDS treatment unit was checking on the status of the problem. This family is already living in cramped quarters - eight people sharing two beds. We can keep Manuelito healthy, but there is not much we can do about the housing problem. There are always limits to how much we can do.

The temptation to try to “fix everything” is certainly there for us. But that would be a losing battle. People commonly ask us how we can do this – confront the poverty on a daily basis, see the problems, constantly run into the limits of what can be done, and resign ourselves to the harsh realities.

Mother Theresa’s answer to that question was basically that she did all that she could for the person in front of her, and then moved on to the next. We have to be content with knowing our limits, and offering what we can up to those limits.

Another answer lies in our call to mission. After a long discernment period (involving people from our parish, the diocese and far beyond), it was determined that this was the life to which we were called – this is the life that the Lord has intended for us to live. And from that standpoint the question becomes: How can we not do this?

So, we do what we can and pray for the wisdom to know where the limits lie.

Keep praying,
Michael

The National and World Mission Commission would love your help organizing the Youth-2-Mission bike ride near you on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 5. The proceeds will provide scholarships to help youth from throughout our diocese to go on mission trips in 2009. NWM’s fundraising last year enabled us to award over $16,000 scholarships to aid 70 young people to serve in many places from Appalachia to Navajoland, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Russia.

We need volunteers for three roles. Congregational coordinators publicize the event, recruit and brief riders, and collect contributions within their church. You can also serve as a watering hole coordinator along the route, or as a picnic coordinator.

Riders of all ages are welcome, and we especially encourage youth to sign up. The entry fee is $20 for individuals, but is waived if you raise $100 in sponsorships. Think what we could do with seven rides each attracting 100 riders!

Rides are being organized in Cincinnati, Columbus, Xenia, Granville, and probably two locations in eastern Ohio. If you’d like to help, please contact Paul Rank, NWM Chair, at paulrank@cinci.rr.com or 513-528-0931.

Update on Kroger cards: we receive an average of $200 to $250 a month from your use of Kroger cards. So as you can see, this really makes a difference! Keep “loading” your cards and remember that these funds go directly to Outreach and are extremely helpful as we assist local and not-so-local agencies cope with the increasing demends upon them.

            Use of Talent Sale Funds: the two agencies recently assisted by Talent Sale Funds are Ambassadors for Children, which received $1000 (see below), and Orphans International, which received $2000. As you know, we have given this agency—headed by Jim Luce, formerly of Oxford and this parish—funds over the past few years. Outreach plans to give the local Habitat for Humanity a donation, also from the 2006 Talent Sale Funds, in the fall.

Ambassadors for Children (AFC) is a charitable organization that seeks to better the lives of children around the world who live, study, and play in impoverished communities, while offering volunteers a life-changing experience. AFC partners with orphanages, schools, at-risk youth programs, and international humanitarian organizations to provide basic necessities, medical and dental care, educational support, and constructive cognitive and social development for disadvantaged, abused, and abandoned children.

In May I traveled with AFC to Malawi, where the volunteers spent about six days at the Mtendere (Peace) Village, the home of 137 orphans, ages 2–18, and 10 house mothers. In the mornings we painted the interior of a building that will be their library. After school we conducted organized activities and games, as well as less organized activities—talking and sharing hugs with children and house mothers.

Continued funding is still important—to complete more houses; to bring electricity and plumbing into the houses; to furnish a laundry building, an indoor kitchen, and a workshop where children can learn woodworking and sewing skills.

I was pleased to be able to inform Outreach that Mtendere Village is a well-established organization and that funds are being handled responsibly. Holy Trinity’s donation to Ambassadors for Children will be directed to Mtendere. I hope parishioners will feel proud to support this challenging and wonderful home for Malawian orphans.

—Mary Melvin

Dr. Bonnie Anderson, President of General Convention’s House of Deputies, will speak about the Episcopal Church’s national mission priorities at ECSF’s annual grantseekers’ workshop August 23 at Procter Conference Center. Anderson will also lead one of the afternoon workshops, on how local churches can work with the Episcopal Church in responding to local human needs.

The Episcopal Community Services Foundation provides grants and free planning help for community ministries of congregations in this diocese. The Aug. 23 conference will include a funders’ panel and four nuts-and-bolts sessions including grantwriting and creative strategies to leverage impact on poverty at a time when most of our churches are financially stressed themselves. Lunchtime topic tables facilitated by ECSF trustees will offer a chance to talk with others sharing issue concerns, such as hunger, housing, and the environ.

Anderson was elected President of the House of Deputies at the 75th General Convention in Columbus in 2006. She serves on numerous church boards and committees, including the Committee on the Status of Women, the Investment Committee, CREDO Advisory Board, and the Anti-Racism Training Team for the Episcopal Church. As an adjunct faculty member for several years at the University of Michigan, Anderson taught courses in the Women's Studies Department and the School of Natural Resources.

Bonnie Anderson’s weekend in the Diocese of Southern Ohio starts with a Friday night gathering in Columbus with junior and senior high Episcopal students on youth involvement in the National Church. She will preach at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, August 24.

People are welcome to attend for any part of the Aug. 23 workshop – you don’t have to be a grantseeker to come! To sign up, visit ECSF’s website www.ECSFsouthernohio.org and click on the link at the top of the home page, or call ECSF’s executive director Ariel Miller at 513-221-0547.

• about the Episcopal Public Policy Network Action Center? It’s online at http://episcopal.grassroots.com and offers interesting things to think about and express your views on, such as
… The Jubilee Act, which Congress is about to take action on and has to do with forgiving debts from developing countries so they can get on with their development, and
… how Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori feels about global warming and Iraq, and
… keeping peace in Southern Sudan, and
… supporting the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act, and
… improving health care for Native Americans.

• about http://www.self.com/tips/green? It has yet more green tips for us (duh), like
… not using paper towels (and just think how the manufacturers have convinced us we can’t do without them!), and using cloths and sponges instead, disinfecting them from time to time in the dishwasher, and
… using power strips for bunches of electrical appliances that aren’t used all the time, like the tv, dvd, vcr, stereo, etc., because they leak current even when they’re not on (just think: all those little electrons escaping and costing us money!), and
… banking and paying bills online to save gas and paper, and
• … well, I could go on and on. In fact, I just discovered “plarn,” “yarn” made out of plastic bags, including those nice red and blue ones that the newspapers come in. I’m still figuring out ways to use plarn, but there are ever more suggestions on the net; just google “plarn.” And then there are all the good things you can make with milk that’s gone off (soured) ... but I’ll save that for maybe next time. Have fun!

—Mary F-T

The Environmental Stewardship Team of the Episcopal Church was created by mandate of the 70th General Convention in 1991 and appointed by the Presiding Bishop and the House of Deputies acting on Resolution A195s. The Team’s mission is to “educate, motivate, and facilitate congregations, dioceses, and provinces toward local and regional plans, advocacy, and action for the stewardship of God’s Creation.”

7 Victoria Dobson
8 Peter Williams
9 Dave Evans, Margaret Barrier
10 Bill Hutchinson
14 Mila Ganeva
18 Sam McVey
20 Marti Ganev
21 Michael Stahr (06)
26 Venelin Ganev
28 Heidi McKee, Bob Burnard, Lillie Hill
30 Harriet Schmitt, James Coyle
31 Annette Tomarken

13 John & Susan Fortney Harlan
19 Cynthia & Bill Hanscomb
23 John & Barbara Pontius, Mary & Andrew Cayton
25 Dick & Anne Lodge, Joyce & Bill Rouse, Karl & Karen Schilling