A gift of landscaping for the east church yard — from the retaining wall to the alley —
by an anonymous donor.

A gift for the music/organ fund from Jenny McKinstry Abel.

Numerous gifts to Holy Trinity in memory of Phil Macklin.

Mary Bausano was awarded the 2008 "Excellence in Teaching" award at Miami Hamilton a few weeks ago. Her full-time job is Assistant Director of Student Services and Student Services Counselor, but she also teaches part-time for the Family Studies and Social Work Department.

Parishioner and former acolyte Iordan (Iori) Ganev, Miami sophomore, has been awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious award of its type for undergraduates in mathematics, natural sciences, or engineering. A Harrison Scholar and student in the Honors Program, Iori is heavily involved in research with math and science faculty and contributing to journal articles. He has also participated in an archeological dig in Israel.

George McCabe has again won the singles and doubles title—this time without losing a set—at the United States Tennis Association National Men's 70–75 Indoor Championships in Houston, March 24–30.

We always need toilet paper, paper towels, garbage bags (30 gallon variety) and laundry detergent. If you can’t shop but want to contribute, write a check (“pantry” on the memo line) or give us some cash and we will happily shop for you. As always, your generosity is crucial to the success of the pantry. — Geoff and Judith

In April 2007, the Midday Music in Oxford series received high praise for a performance by High Street A Cappella, Ohio's premier men's vocal ensemble. This group was formed in 2004 and will present a FREE concert at the Oxford Presbyterian Church at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, as part of their seven-city “Farewell Concert Tour” before disbanding. Informaton: 513-523-6969. 

N.B. Starting June 8th, Sunday services at 8:00 am and 10:00 am

The films that the Cincinnati Earth Institute is showing once a month will now also be shown in Oxford on the first Sunday of the month (except May and June) at 1:30 pm at the Campus Ministry, 16 S. Campus Ave. Discussion is optional. The events are open to the public—bring a friend or two!

The schedule:

June 8..... Episode 4—Coming Home (note the different Sunday)

Pray for Holy Trinity’s Dominican Republic mission team departing June 7th and returning late on June 14th: Geoffrey Blackwell; Karen and Bob Burnard; Susan, Elizabeth, and Laura Harlan; Stephanie McCabe; Nora McVey; and Lara Osborne.

For six weeks this summer, Tom Fehr will serve as deacon at Holy Trinity. Tom will be ordained to the transitional deaconate on Saturday, June 14th at the Cathedral in Cincinnati. You are all invited to attend his ordination at 11:00 a.m. Look for more about Tom in the July Triad.

Thanks to all who made The Day of Pentecost such a success. Bishop Breidenthal and his wife, Margaret, both commented on our "wonderful community." Congratulations and Blessings to those who were confirmed or received: Elaine Brandner, Alan Burke, Lillie Hill, Lara Osborne, Laura Poppendeck, Diana Uhlman. Thanks also to our linguists: Elaine Brandner (Spanish), Alan Burke (French), Cleve Callison (Middle English), Jenny Callison (Greek), Mary Fahnestock-Thomas (German), Mila Ganev (Bulgarian), Sarah Michael (Latin), Oliver Mogga (Sudanese), Peter Williams (Italian). Please let me know if you speak other languages so we can add them next year when we will hear them individually and collectively. Susan Kay, Mary Melvin, and all are to be commended for the wonderful reception. Bishop Breidenthal was impressed with the food! What a great day to feel the Spirit among us as we celebrated so much. Thanks be to God!

+Karen

Alan Burke, Marty Ganev, Ian Greenbaum, and Devin Rodgers have recently joined our acolytes.
Welcome all! Special thanks to Bob Benson who continues to mentor all our acolytes.

8:00 a.m. Morning Prayer in the Chapel;
10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer at Peffer Park with Annual Parish Picnic to follow.
(No 10:00 a.m. service at Holy Trinity.)

 

As some of you know, Ellen Phelps ("Miss Ellie") has been teaching Church School this entire year, with help from Laura Harlan, Barbara Hamilton, Mila Ganeva, and Stephanie McCabe. Week after week she has planned, prayed, and taught, offering to the youngest among us. KUDOS, Ellen! Thank you very much, and thanks to your assistants, too!

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 >

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Francisco and I were driving south toward San Pedro in the late morning. We had dropped-off Anita and the rest of the community health team at a large public high school in Consuelo where they were presenting health topics to groups of students all day. As we came to one section of the road, there were barefoot boys (most of them around 10 years old) with dirty t-shirts and pants standing along the blacktop beside small mounds of melons. The melons ranged from the size of small oranges to cantaloupe size, though most of them were about grapefruit size. Francisco pulled to a stop along the road and bought six little melons from one of the boys. "My son just loves these melons," he said.

Early that evening, Anita arrived home from Consuelo. As she unloaded the materials from the day’s presentations, she also laid three little melons on the table. "Ah," I said, "You bought some melons from the gleaners."

"Yes," she smiled, " … the gleanings … 'leave them for the poor and the alien.'" The boys had gleaned the melons they were selling from the melon fields that had just been harvested adjacent to the roadway.

I do not usually think that Leviticus has much to do with my life. However, Leviticus 19:9 instructs that the harvest should not be pushed to the very edges of the fields and that the gleanings should be left for the poor and the alien (Deuteronomy 24:19–22, too). Other bits of Leviticus and Deuteronomy also make sense here, from instructions about latrines (Deuteronomy 23:12–14) to what to do when your neighbor’s livestock is roaming around free (Deuteronomy 22:1–3). The city police here “arrest” loose horses (it can be expensive to pay the horses’ fines, so it is better to avoid arrest).

Keep praying,
Michael

 

The Ohio Council of Churches’ newsletter, Ohio Christian News, for May 2007 featured an article about the United Church of Christ in Sylvania, Ohio, and its commitment to good stewardship of Creation. It stated that all of their efforts are based on being part of Creation and sharing this planet with other living things: "Their example can be duplicated in other churches and homes by raising consciousness of the impact of our behavior and decisions regarding the use of natural resources and striving to honor God’s Creation, life-giving gifts in and around us."

A number of churches in Oxford are making efforts to be Green Churches. Holy Trinity was one of the first with its adoption of the Environmental Covenant in 2000. We are implementing this through worship, education, and parish lifestyle and by supporting local, state, and national efforts.

As a supporting member of the Oxford Interfaith Climate Change Working Group, we are helping to encourage Oxford to be a Green Community. At the recent work session of the Oxford City Council (May 20), four representatives of the Interfaith Climate Change Working Group made a power-point presentation on the “U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement,” which was initiated by Seattle mayor Greg Nickels and adopted at the U.S. Mayors’ Conference in 2005. He had rallied the mayors across the country to commit to Kyoto standards in their cities. Now, in 2008, over 840 cities have signed on, including 20 in Ohio. The main three action areas are efficiency, green vehicles and equipment, and renewable energy.

More information about this will be in upcoming issues of the Triad.

Some green tidbits:

-China’s new ban on plastic bags goes into effect on June 1. The law could save 37 million barrels of crude oil each year. (Sierra Magazine, May/June 2008)
-The U.S. generated 2.6 million tons of electronic waste in 2005. Only 12% of it was recycled. (Sierra Magazine, May/June 2008)
-Climate scientist James Hansen said, “We have 10 years to reverse climate-disrupting trends or we will be living on a very different planet.” (Yes Magazine, Spring 2008).

2 Bob Benson
3 Karl Schilling
4 Bill Houk, Ginny Thiell
7 Joyce Rouse
9 Judith de Luce
12 Bessie Miller
14 Kate Harlan
15 LaVerne Pruden
17 Margo Ellis
21 Karen Schilling, Andrew Mogga, Wagner Mogga
23 Mercy Patterson
26 Betty Julian
28 Ruth Lindsey, Dick Smith, Molly Thomas