Trinity Topics

The Newsletter of Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio

OCTOBER 2009

Don’t spend your precious time asking,

‘Why isn’t the world a better place?’
It will only be time wasted.
The question to ask is, ‘How can I make it better?’
To that, there is an answer.
Leo Buscaglia
 liturgy & events Onecombined
Our combined
service
summer continues
service
at 10:00
begins at
10:00

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4—PROPER 22 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 — PROPER 25

Job 1:1; 2:1-10; Hebrews 4:1-4; 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
9a Eucharist—Animal Free
10a Parish Eucharist & Blessing of the
Animals
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11—PROPER 23
Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
10a Worship & Tree Planting at
Pearson Metropark
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 — PROPER 24
Job 38:1-7, (34-41); Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45
10a Parish Eucharist
Job 42:1-6; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52
10a Parish Eucharist
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1—ALL SAINTS’
Solomon 3:1-9; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44
10a Parish Eucharist
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8—PROPER 27
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
10a Parish Eucharist

Canticum Novum Northwest Ohio Chapter, American Harp Society

MUSIC OF RANDALL THOMPSON MAEVE GILCHRIST
Sunday, October 25 3p Wednesday, November 4 7p
The Peaceable Kingdom
Alleluia! Singer and harpist, Maeve Gilchrist, has been credited
The newest addition to the Toledo musical scene. as an innovator on the Celtic harp, fusing chromatic
This professional 20 member ensemble makes its improvisation with the traditional folk music of her
inaugural concert debut with two masterworks by the native Scotland. She will appearing with Scottish Jazz
20th century’s foremost composer of American choral Awards recipient Aidan O Donnell on bass in an
music. evening of rivetingly compelling Celtic music.

Tickets: $15 / $10 Free Admission

2

It’s All Gift
(Note: This article was inspired by, and in a few places paraphrased from, a recent article from The Church Well-
ness Project. You’ll find the original article at www.churchwellness.com.)
We are near the beginning of the program year,
and near the end of the fiscal year. Some signs are
pointing to the end of the recession, but it’s not over
yet. We have had members lose jobs, find jobs, start
and end businesses. It’s still ragged out there.
I’ve been really impressed with the conversations
I have had with those of you who have made transi-
tions during this time. Many of you have told me that
you could see God in these changes, even when they
were scary ones. As a church community, we’re no
strangers to financial difficulty. As Episcopalians,
we’re comfortable with seeing God in paradox. Now
more than ever, we need to practice 360 degree
stewardship.
What does that word
“stewardship” mean, really?
Stewardship in a faith com-
munity is not just about
money. It’s a lifestyle which
involves seeing Christ in
each person, looking at all
that we have and all that we
are, recognizing that all of it
is given freely from God, and
that, at the deepest level, it
isn’t really ours. Out of that realization, we live our
lives to make the world a better place, invest in
businesses that help the world rather than harm it,
help others in need, and put our resources—time,
talent, and treasure—to the wisest uses possible.
As for the 360 degree part? Albert Einstein is
credited with saying, “There are only two ways to live
your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The
other is as though everything is a miracle.” When we
begin to see everything as gift, everything as miracle,
then we can begin to practice stewardship all the time.
It will come far more naturally.
If I have one dream, one vision for Trinity, and
one goal for myself, it is this: that we live in such a
way that we are constantly aware of all of life as
miracle, as gift from God. In order to do this, I believe
we need to embrace some practices as a community.
They may not cost much money, but they will cost in
energy, ego, and time.
from the rector
First, total transparency. Now is the time
for us to understand that things are not perfect,
but they are okay. We will keep publishing
where the budget is and how we are doing,
even if those numbers don’t always look so
good. We will talk when there are problems,
even when it is painful.
Second, total optimism. I don’t mean a
chorus of “Always Look on the Bright Side of
Life.” We are the Body of Christ, not a bank or
business. We follow one who had no home,
few if any possessions, and was resurrected
when everything looked like it was over. We
will live into grace, blessings, and the mission
and ministry we are asked to do. We will talk
and learn what we
can do to make this
deep and lasting
community of faith
even better.
Third, total col-
laboration. We will
need to pool resources
and share leadership,
recognition, respon-
sibility and reward. That means every member needs
to pitch in, not just to keep the doors to One Trinity
Plaza open, but to keep mission and ministry going so
that we can see God’s gifts everywhere, and help
others see them too.
Christianity has many paradoxes. One of them is
that when a faith community has limited resources, it
often binds together better and finds a creative way
forward into the heart of faith.
I ask you to keep talking, keep sharing your
stories of faith and places where we need more guid-
ance. This is an opportunity for us to discover what
we are truly made of, and to realize our potential as
we work toward a true kin-dom of God.
Liddy
3
 congregation/world Blessing of the Animals Oct. 4
Trinity’s annual
St. Francis’ Day cele-
bration on Sunday,
October 4 will
welcome our animal
companions as we
honor God’s furred
and feathered
creatures. There
will be two services
on this Sunday: a brief “animal-free” liturgy at
9:00, and the “animal-friendly” 10:00 service.
Please remember that your pets must be on a
leash or in a carrier.
This year we will also be collecting dona-
tions of dog and cat food (dry or canned) on St.
Francis Sunday which will be given to the
Toledo Area Humane Society. If animals are
part of your family, please consider donating a
bag or can of pet food in their honor on this
day.
Birthday Blessings
October 3..... ... ............. Nicholas Crawford
October 4..... ... ............. Helen Hilfinger
October 7........ ... ............. Patricia Kropp
October 11...... ... ............. Alice James
October 14...... ... ............. Lois Aey
October 20...... ... ............. Virginia Dickey
October 22...... .... ............ Ann Mather
October 25...... ... ............. Mary Wabeke
October 29...... ... ............. Willy Aey
Jeanette Habib
Kitty Beth Millhon
Altar Flowers
Enclosed in this month’s Topics is
a card to fill out and return to the
church letting us know which Sun-
day(s) in 2010 you would like Altar
Flowers placed in memory of some-
one, or to honor a person or event.
The requested donation (our cost) for
Sunday flowers is $45.
4
Blanket Toledo with Love
We’re making no-sew fleece blankets for those
in need in our downtown neighborhood this
winter. This is a community project, so
everyone is invited to participate!
You can make a difference in someone's life.
Help us to help the most vulnerable,
who are God’s beloved.
Our goal is 500 blankets in 3 days.
Together, WE CAN DO THIS!
When? Thursday, Oct. 22: noon - 7p
Friday, Oct. 23: noon - 7p
Saturday, Oct. 24: 9a - 5p
Blessing of the Blankets at 10:00
service on Sunday, Oct. 25
Who? Everyone. It couldn’t be easier. No
skill is required. We’ll teach you
everything you need to know.
Bring your friends, your family, your
co-workers.
Where? In the nave.
MEMBER MATTERS
Lester Armitage entered new life on Wednesday,
September 9. May Lester and all the saints, through the
mercy of God, rest in peace.
Remembering All Saints
We will celebrate the Feast of All Saints & All the
Faithful Departed on Sunday, Nov.1. If there are loved
ones that you want recalled by name during this service
of solemn remembrance, please submit their names to
the church office via email or using forms that will be on
the curved wall in the nave. Use first names (Helen
Schneider, not Mrs. Karl Schneider), and remember to
help us with pronunciation. The deadline for names is
Monday, Oct. 26.
Kroger Community Rewards Can Pay Off for Trinity
Now you can earn money for Trinity
while doing your grocery shopping. If
you have a Kroger Plus Card, all you
need to do is link your card to Trinity
Episcopal Church, and you’ll
automatically start earning contributions
to Trinity every time you shop. Kroger
will write a check to the church each
quarter.
At www.krogercommunity
rewards.com, you’ll find a 2-minute
video that explains the program as well
as detailed step-by-step instructions
about how to sign up.
Within 7-10 business days of
successfully registering your Plus Card,
you will see this note at the bottom of
your Kroger receipts: “At your request,
Kroger is donating to Trinity Episcopal
Church.”
You can earn reward dollars on
almost everything, every time you shop.
However, some items are excluded:
alcohol, tobacco, postage stamps,
Kroger gift cards, Michigan bottle
deposits, lottery tickets, fuel, fuel
center purchases and sales tax.
Please consider this simple
way of letting Trinity benefit from
the trips you already make to the
grocery. If you have questions, or need
help linking your Kroger Plus card to
Trinity’s account, contact Jane Bueche.

Budget Update August

YTD
August
YTD
2009 Budget Budget Actual Variance
August found us continuing to fall behind in prom-
ised parishioner pledge payments by almost $18,000. Revenue
Quarterly contribution statements will be mailed out Plate Offering 4,250 3,004 (1,246)
early this month; we'd appreciate your help in closing
the pledge deficit we find ourselves in. Pledge Payments 90,167 72,227 (17,939)

Combined Investment
As of the last Topics, we had not received an invoice
Income 173,333 129,928 (43,406)
from Webb Builders, the contractor who repaired the
damage we suffered from a burst pipe in January of this
Other Operating Income 667 295 (371)
year. This allowed us to use fewer trust spending policy
dollars, because we were using the insurance payment
Total Revenues 268,417 205,454 (62,963)
we had received. We have now received that invoice, so
we can expect our trust income draws to be closer to the
budgeted amount going forward. Expenditures
Personnel 131,353 129,179 (2,174)
We continue to be in a favorable position on our
Buildings & Grounds 99,258 117,958 18,701
nave loan interest, due to Greg Shumaker's tireless work
with our friends at KeyBank. Hats off to Greg for all he Operations 20,234 16,712 (3,521)
does on Trinity's behalf.
Diocesan Assessment 27,677 19,729 (7,948)
Respectfully submitted, Local Outreach 3,667 4,326 659
Jane Bueche
Programs 18,709 13,111 (5,599)
Parish Accountant
Loan Interest Payment 22,400 7,864 (14,536)

The financial health of our community parish is a Total Expenditures 323,298 308,879 (14,419)
shared responsibility, and we welcome your questions
or comments. Contact Jane Bueche, Parish Accountant,
at jane@epworth.com.
Net Surplus/(Deficit) (54,881) (103,424) (48,543)

5
 outreachings Tent City
Tent City is an annual event held on the Civic Center Mall in downtown Toledo that provides tens of
thousands of dollars in direct services to the homeless and poor in our neighborhood. These services in-
clude clothing, medical care, dental care, prescription medications, eyeglasses, job and housing assistance,
voter registration, and help securing government IDs, all in one weekend. Tent City also highlights the
growing issue of homelessness in our city.

Tent City 2009 will take place October 30 – November 1. Lots of help is always needed; consider how
you might be a part. You’ll find plenty of details at 1matters.org.

PERSONAL HYGIENE PACKS:

During October we’ll be filling personal hygiene packs for distribution to those living in shelters. The
bags with a list of contents will be available each Sunday during October. Please bring in your filled hy-
giene packs on Sunday, October 25.

VOLUNTEER:
Tent City runs from Friday afternoon until Sunday at noon. Volunteers are needed for a variety of
tasks, including set up and tear down, food serving, guides for Operation Homeless Connect, clothing
distribution, volunteer and guest registration, and more. Whether you can volunteer for one hour or the
whole weekend, your help is needed. Get the scoop at 1matters.org.

DONATE:
More than 1500 people received free clothing at Tent City 2008. Winter clothing is badly needed by the
end of October when Tent City is held; long underwear in particular is a precious commodity. This
month, all City of Toledo, Perrysburg, Perrysburg Township, Maumee, Rossford, Oregon, Monclova,
Springfield, Lake Township, Sylvania and Sylvania Township fire stations will be winter clothing drop-off
points. Clothing donations will be accepted through Monday, October 26.

My Brother’s Place Restaurant to Re-Open with a New Mission

Food For Thought, Trinity Church, and the CaterMe
Group have joined forces to re-open "My Brother's
Place." Many of you remember this restaurant, located
on our second floor. With Elizabeth Sorge of CaterMe
taking the lead, the hope is to have the restaurant open
before year’s end.

The new My Brother's Place will be a terrific place to

gather downtown for a reasonably priced and tasty
meal, but it will also provide on-the-job training
opportunities. The goal of CaterMe, which will be
running the restaurant, is to help those in tough
economic positions, whether through an inexpensive
meal for downtown workers, a job for some of the
many unemployed people in Toledo, or a chance at a
new life for someone who has been living on the street.

Renovation of the dining space is well underway. In contrast to the old My Brother’s Place (pictured here), the new
Watch for updates on the grand opening! restaurant will feature warm, bright colors, and pieces from the old
Trinity nave used in a whole new way.

6
 Welcome, Imagination Station!
Trinity’s neighbor across the
street, the Science Center
Formerly Known as COSI, is now
the Imagination Station, and its
grand opening is set for Saturday,
October 10. Having merged the
best of the former COSI exhibits
(including the High Wire Cycle,
the BOYO and the Gravity Room)
with exciting new additions and
enhancements, more than a
million dollars in renovations
have been done since COSI closed
at the end of 2007, creating a
dynamic new center that’s pure science and pure fun.
The Imagination Station will be a place where
families can explore, learn and grow together. For
information about visiting, volunteering or becoming
a member, go to www.imaginationstationtoledo.org.
Writing to the Children at Emanuel
Children's Home
Trinity is now sponsoring two children at the Emanuel
Children’s Home in Honduras: Jose David Meijia Hernandez
(David) and Estrella Nicole Cabellero Garcia.
Please send letters and cards to David and Estrella,
especially on holidays and their birthdays (David will
turn 3 on Nov. 5, and Estrella’s 4th birthday is Nov. 2).
It’s important that they know that we are praying for
and caring about them. The kids love learning about
their sponsors; feel free to tell them about yourself and
your family. But the Children’s Home asks that we
never send gifts (no matter how small) or money di-
rectly to the children or to the Home.
The address is: Child’s Name
El Hogar de Ninos Emanuel
Apartado Postal 716
Colonia Bogran
San Pedro Sula, HN C.A.
It’s recommended that you take your card/letter to
the Post Office for mailing, to be
sure it has the correct postage
and markings. Mail time from
Toledo to the Children’s Home
is around 12-14 days.
Stewart Academy Fall Collection
It’s time to collect hats, scarves, gloves and
mittens for the students at Stewart Acad-
emy for Girls. In past years we’ve col-
lected these items in January, but they
are needed much earlier. Any color is
welcome—the brighter the better! Please
bring them to church to be blessed on Sun-
day, November 15.
News From Next to New
Next to New, the thrift shop in Trinity’s basement,
has seen its revenue fall 10% this year in spite of tre-
mendous sales. A primary reason – fewer donations of
good clothing for the shop. With fall upon us and
clothes closets being changed from summer outfits to
fall and winter wear, please review your wardrobe and
bring the stuff that doesn’t fit or that you no longer
want to Trinity. Next to New will happily take both
summer weight and winter weight clothes, so bring
them to church with you on Sundays.
Last month, the shop received a huge gift of cloth-
ing from the estate of Robert Lutes, a local Vietnam
veteran who wanted his donation to especially help
homeless vets. The family contacted the VA in Ann
Arbor, which referred them to Trinity since Next to
New has always supplied clothing to homeless vets
referred by the local VA. Mr. Lutes was a very large
man and Next to New can use only so many clothes of
that size, so approximately 25 boxes of his clothes will
be donated to this month’s Tent City event.
Remember Next to New whenever you have
clothes to donate or when you’re shopping for some-
thing new.
Worship, Cookout, and Tree
Planting at Pearson Metropark
This year we’ll be holding our liturgy, picnic and
tree-planting at Pearson Metropark on Sunday, Oct. 11.
Bring your own food, beverages and table service, and
dress for the outdoors (cool temps and uneven, damp
terrain). Following worship and lunch, we’ll plant
cherry trees near the tennis courts, a site that will allow
all to be present for the tree-planting. If you can pitch
in, boots and work gloves are recommended. This is
Trinity’s third year of celebrating and supporting God’s
creation by planting trees at Pearson.
7
 NCD Kitchen Table Meetings
The Church Health Team hosted a series of Kitchen
Table meetings in the last half of September. These
small group gatherings around town gave our com-
munity a chance to talk and reflect together about
what passionate spirituality is, and why it’s the part of
our life together that needs the most nurturing.
The Health Team is deeply grateful for the honest
and open exploration that took place at these sessions.
The focus was on understanding a need rather than
solving a problem, and the thoughts and personal
experiences that you shared were critical to this under-
standing.
The next step in the
NCD process is for the
Health Team to pray, study
and discuss this opportu-
nity further, in order to
develop a preliminary ac-
tion plan for growing and
developing our passionate
spirituality. That proposed
plan will then be shared
with the community for
your review and feedback
before it’s finalized and
implemented.
We’ll be exploring ways to nurture our spirituality
throughout the next year. Please pray regularly for
Trinity’s vitality and for our involvement in the NCD
process. Our NCD prayer is printed below.
Trinity’s NCD Prayer
Merciful Creator, we invite you to be with
us here and now. As we embrace Natural
Church Development, keep us mindful of
our purpose in this work – to empower
your people, grow and strengthen your
church, and glorify your name. Fill us with
your Spirit of Wisdom and Truth as we
humbly examine ourselves and our com-
munity. Help us to embrace new opportu-
nities for growth and improvement. Re-
new our energy, guide our work, and lead
us to new life in you, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
8
Finding Time for the Timeless
Not too long ago I gave a talk at an Episcopal
church in Burlington, North Carolina. I said in
that talk that performing a daily spiritual practice
had increased the quality of my life. During the
time for questions, a young mother said, “My life
is already too full. How am I going to make the
time?”
That is the problem of our era, isn’t it?
My answer was, and is: don’t. Don’t “make”
the time. Don’t adopt a practice that you have to
force into an already crowded day. Somehow we
always find the time for that which we like doing.
Each of us has the ability to find a spiritual prac-
tice (perhaps, if we are fortunate, more than one)
that fits our nature so well that we will perform it
because we want to. When we discover that, we
won’t carry it out because it leads to something
else or because it makes us a better person; we
will do it because it is an end in itself.
For 25 years I played tennis. I didn’t have to
force myself to play—I wanted to. At age 51, I
found that I enjoyed golf more than tennis at that
time in my life. I don’t play golf, and I didn’t play
tennis, in order to improve myself. Playing was,
and is, an end, not a means.
My grandmother tried to get me to read the
Bible each day. It worked for her; it didn’t for me.
But 30 years later I started taking a few minutes
each morning for some spiritual reading. I only
read books that interest me. I look forward to
those 20 to 30 minutes each morning even more
than I do to playing golf.
I am told that daily life itself can be a spiritual
practice if it is lived with the right openness to
experience its magic. Of course, only saints man-
age that on a consistent basis. However, it isn’t
too much to hope that we can accomplish that for
a few minutes from time to time. All we have to
do is find the practices that bring us joy.
From Finding Time for the Timeless: Spirituality
in the Workweek by John McQuiston II
Notes on the Journey
[Editor’s note: Lois Nelson shares the spiritual practices that have kept her in touch with the Holy throughout her adult life, including now as
she copes with her husband David Nelson’s metastatic cancer.]
As I was driving to St. Luke’s this evening where
David had been admitted, the song that came into my
head was a traditional hymn tune. The words are,
“Love divine, all loves excelling, Love from Heaven to
earth come down, Fix in us Your humble dwelling…” I
had not heard this song or thought of it in some months.
I recall that we had this song in our wedding ceremony,
39 years ago this week. As I walked around the circle
tonight, I was awed by God’s love that surrounds us in
this beautiful evening, and humbled by His care for us
in the little details of each day, like David safely driving
home to Toledo when he could only see out of one eye
today. The song continues, “…bid my anx-
ious cares to cease…” and “Songs of
praises, songs of praises I will ever sing to
Thee.”
I have never been a morning person, so
my quiet time was 5-10 minutes before fal-
ling asleep until the 3am twenty years ago
when the phone rang and the song that
sprang into my mind was, “God is so
good,” which I had not heard in at least ten
years. I knew before I picked up the phone
that my mother had died. In the morning I
then started the practice of “a sacrifice of
praise,” praying a canticle Trinity often
used in morning prayer, “Glory to You, Lord God of
our fathers....”
A friend gave me a book of Catherine of Sienna’s
prayers. The first prayer praises God for 7 full pages
before there is a single prayer for intercession. Other
than for forgiveness, she did not pray for herself at all.
Very different from my prayers, that grow out of anxi-
ety or the fatigue that comes from being a Martha rather
than trusting that God is in control and that there is
enough time to be a Mary. “Trust and obey” has been
the single most frequent song entering my brain in the
last six months.
I read through at least part of a psalm sequentially
Great Web Resource for Spirituality
Looking for a treasure trove of spiritual practices you can use in everyday
life? Try Spirituality & Practice (http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com).
Spirituality & Practice is a multifaith organization providing a wealth of use-
ful resources for your spiritual journey. Check it out!
almost every day. Frequently I find something new,
and at some point I started to record the verse and what
it was saying to me. Currently, “Be still, and know that
I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted
in the earth.” (Psalm 46)
After an injury several years ago, stretching exer-
cises became part of my morning routine. During the
months that I could barely play music at all, open a jar,
or peel an orange, it took me 1.5 hours to get dressed
and undressed each day because of a skin condition, I
was able to keep up with my work schedule. This ex-
perience proved to
me that God is in
control of time.
And when I have
stayed up late to
journal during the
past month, I have
not been too tired.
Not to journal
would be forget-
ting (or ignoring)
the movement of
the Spirit in that
day.
Sometime last fall, I started waking up remembering
dreams, along with the song I also often woke with.
The song is sometimes one I’ve heard or played re-
cently, but often not. The single most important song:
“Be Thou My Vision”.
Music is an important part of every day and has
often been a source of healing. Movement—my exer-
cises, walking regularly, and the “movements of trans-
formation” from a small book on Hebrew mysticism--
was consciously added in Lent. I especially praise God
for the prayers, lunches, walks, conversations, and sup-
port of you all which I know has been with us and helps
me do new things that I find difficult, and for the oppor-
tunity to share this with you.
9
 Eucharist as a Way of Life
by Paul Galbreath
eucharist: from Late Latin eucharistia, from Ancient Greek εὐχαριστία (eukharistia), gratitude, thanksgiving
The four basic gestures—taking,
blessing, breaking, and giving—at the
center of the Eucharistic Prayer pro-
vide a shape or outline for
Christian life. As we consider the
pattern of prayer at Table, these
gestures provide a basis for
Christian action at the Lord’s Table
and at the other tables around
which we gather. The shape of the
prayer at table builds on the shape
of the gospel as it provides a
pattern for our lives.
In a world driven by consump-
tion and greed, the notion of
taking can easily be misconstrued
as an excuse to grab what one
wants. In a time when there is an
ever-growing gap between the
haves and the have-nots, taking is
not a justification for personal gain
at another’s expense. Instead, tak-
ing is rooted in the language of the
prayer at table. In this context,
taking is more akin to the act of
receiving. For example, in the
Gospel scenes of the feeding of the
multitudes, the act of Jesus’s tak-
ing bread is rooted in an act of
generosity—in one instance shared
by a young boy who offers his
lunch and, by the presence of God,
provides enough for all to eat.
Jesus accepts what is offered.
Similarly, at the table we practice
receiving in gratitude that which is
handed to us as a sign of God’s
faithfulness.
Blessing is the peculiar act of
naming God’s presence in our
actions. To invoke God’s name in
our daily lives is to recognize the
presence that is already there. In
this act of naming, we look for the
sacred characteristics that run
through our lives. All times have
the potential to reveal the divine
presence as we name and discover
10
God’s presence. As we take bread, witness over against the power
we give thanks for it so that we are structures of the day leads to
open to encountering God as we God’s work of resurrection.
gather around the table. At other
times in our lives, we look back Giving begins with the simple
like Jacob and declare, “Surely acts of sharing that are noted
God was in this place.” The act of above, but in following the pattern
blessing recognizes God’s presence of Christ, it moves to the point of
Blessing is the peculiar act of naming God’s
presence in our actions. To invoke God’s name
in our daily lives is to recognize the presence
that is already there. In this act of naming, we
look for the sacred characteristics that run
through our lives.
and favor on those who have self-giving. As the communion
gathered. prayer offers the gospel
proclamation, it claims us as
Breaking is the most participants in this narrative. As
problematic of these practices. In we respond fully to the invitation
one sense, breaking is simply the to the table, we find our lives
act of dividing what we have to reshaped in the pattern of Jesus
share with those around us. It is Christ.
rooted in the vision of the early
These central gestures of the
Christian life are offered in
memory and hope. In memory of
Christ’s faithful witness of taking,
blessing, breaking, and giving, we
participate in this pattern. We
offer our lives in hope that the One
who was present in Christ’s
ministry will be present in our
service. We anticipate God’s mul-
Christian community in Acts 2, tiplying the gifts that we bring in
which shared all things in common order for God’s reign of peace and
and distributed as any had need. justice to take hold. In the face of
In another sense, breaking the death, we cling to the promise and
bread metaphorically power of the resurrection.
acknowledges the brokenness of
our lives and our need to seek This is the eucharistic life. It is
God’s healing. This form of bro- receiving and accepting the mark
kenness is rooted in the Gospel of Christ’s life upon our own lives.
narrative of Christ’s brokenness on It is trusting the Spirit to call us
the cross. Christ’s act of faithful Continued on page 11
 around the kingdom
Continued from page 10—
The Passionate Church
away from the selfish patterns of greed, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the
consumption, self-absorption, and deceit. earth; it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword."
Celebrating communion regularly in a (Matthew 10:34)
community that fully participates in the prayer
at table allows the narrative of thanksgiving to Wow! If Jesus said this, he was surely not expect-
take root and grow in our lives. Congregations ing the religion of niceness, of pretty words and feel-
that steadfastly hold and embody the prayer good experiences that we have become. He knew that
and action around the table discover reliable Big Truth always divides before it can unite a few at a
resources for growth and maturity in the deeper level. I think most of the thousands of sermons
Christian faith. I've heard in my life have been about “being nice” in
one way or another. That's how domesticated the gos-
Similarly, regularly gathering around the pel has become--as if Jesus were a Divine Miss
table to participate in communion provides a
Manners, and the Church existed to maintain proper
template for Christian virtues and practices:
social order and class. Yet many are entirely content
living with thankful hearts, forgiving our
at the level, and Church has not usually been a pas-
neighbors, depending on God’s provision,
sionate search for God. The word “nice” isn't found
welcoming strangers, practicing hospitality,
anywhere in the Bible, to my knowledge.
sharing our belongings, recognizing Christ’s
presence, caring for all of God’s creation, and
There's nothing more dangerous to true religious
giving up power.
thinking than conventional thinking, easy conformity,
being like every-
In the end, this vision of congregational life
body else in our so-
that is grounded in worship renewal draws on
cial group. There's
the admonition to the church in Colossae.
no depth or power
There, the author encourages the community to
at that level. Mass
make room for the Spirit to bring gifts for the
consciousness is
upbuilding of the community: “Clothe
never going to be
yourselves with compassion, kindness,
ready for anything
humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12).
that asks them to
Wrapped up, clothed, in these virtues,
“die” or that does
Christians grow into the image of Jesus Christ.
not make them feel
Acts of charity and love hold us together in
secure and superior.
harmony and serve as a sign of peace to those
So we have settled
around us. When we gather around the table,
largely for civil re-
we practice these virtues. When we break
ligion and cultural
bread with those with whom we disagree, then
Christianity. It's so
our differences are set aside in light of this
much more comfort-
common table practice that we share. When the
ing to be nice and
cup is passed for all to share, our tendency to
“moral” at a small
think primarily of our own needs is challenged.
level--than to be faithful to Big Truth—which cuts us
In this way, eating and drinking together at the
all open like a sword.
table create a community grounded in the
language of thanksgiving. When thanksgiving
Adapted from Letting Go: A Spirituality
becomes the primary focus of our lives, then the
of Subtraction by Richard Rohr
prayer in Colossians becomes our own: “And
whatever you do, in word or deed, do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God” (Col. 3:17). “Church has not usually been
From Leading from the Table , copyright © 2008 by a passionate search for God. “
the Alban Institute.
Alban Weekly Number 197

11
 Made in the Image of God the Giver
There is God. And there are im-
ages of God. And some people
don’t see any difference between the
two… But in fact, our images of God
are rather different from God’s real-
ity. We are finite beings, and God is
infinitely greater than any thoughts
we can contain about divine reality
in our wondrous but tiny minds.
We are sinful beings, and God is
different from what we conceive in
our selfishness and pride. Finite
and self-centered as we are, we of-
ten forget God’s warning through
the prophet Isaiah: “For as the heav-
ens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your
thoughts” (55:9). When we forget
that, we unwittingly reduce God’s
ways to our ways and God’s
thoughts to our thoughts. Our
hearts become factories of idols in
which we fashion and refashion
God to fit our needs and desires…
Two false images of God are
particularly irresistible to many of
us – mostly unconsciously. The first
I’ll designate as God the negotiator
and the other, God the Santa Claus.
Thought we have fashioned both to
serve our interests, they are each
other’s opposites. With one, we
want to make advantageous deals.
From the other, we want to get
warm smiles and bagfuls of goodies.
We run from one to the other. Some
of their features are reminiscent of
the God of Jesus Christ. But we’ve
drawn these images of God mostly
from the two currents of the culture
in which we swim – the current of
hard and unforgiving economic re-
alities, in which we exchange goods
to maximize benefits, and the cur-
rent of soft, even infantile, desires,
in which we long to be showered
with gifts simply because we exist.
God the Negotiator
…Many of us… believe that God
12
is a negotiator. We propose to do
something for God, and God in turn
agrees to do something for us. Al-
ternatively, God demands some-
thing of us, and if we do as God de-
mands, then God gives. This is the
way God is, such reasoning goes.
God is basically a negotiator.
We don’t think very far ahead
when we embrace the image of God
as negotiator, however, because if
that really were the case, human
beings would always end up with a
raw deal. For one ting, God doesn’t
need any thing we have to offer.
God can walk away from any pro-
position. And as any negotiator
knows, it is impossible to strike a
good deal under these conditions…
Second, even if we could entice
God into making a deal with us, we
would have no way of enforcing
compliance. Since God doesn’t need
anything and divine power infi-
nitely exceeds human, God can
break any contract – give us a bit of
“cash” as compensation, and leave
us out in the cold…
But that’s not the end of our dis-
advantages if we basically see God
as a negotiator. Before we even
think of offering anything to God,
God has already made demands on
us, tough demands. Take, for exam-
ple, the law of Moses as encapsu-
lated in the Ten Commandments, a
summary of God’s will for human-
ity. It was a heavy burden for the
people of Israel. Even though God
gave it to them for their well-being,
it proved to be too difficult for them
to fulfill, and we today find it
daunting as well.
If we see the God of Jesus Christ
as negotiator, we’ll experience the
law of Christ as an even heavier
burden than the law of Moses…
Even tougher than the Ten Com-
mandments, what Jesus is urging
upon us in the Sermon on the
Mount is nothing less than to be
“perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Clearly an
impossibility for mere humans!
And yet if we had to relate to God
as a negotiator, we would have to be
divinely perfect before we could
fulfill our end of the bargain and
receive anything from God.
But God is not a negotiator. It is
true that Scripture portrays God in
ways remarkably similar to that im-
age. In the Old Testament we read,
for instance, “If you will only obey
the Lord your God… all these bless-
ings shall come upon you and over-
take you, if you obey the Lord your
God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). Yet
before the commandments were
given to the people of Israel, God
delivered them from slavery in
Egypt. But it wasn’t to get some-
thing out of them. They were deliv-
ered for the simple reason that God
heard their cried of affliction, kept
the promises made to their ancestor
Abraham, and through deliverance
and faithfulness wanted to manifest
the greatness of God’s love in the
world…

God’s goods are not for sale;
you can’t buy them with money
or good deeds. God doesn’t
make deals. God gives.
God the Santa Claus
We know that we are at a dis-
advantage in trying to make
deals with God. Size and
strength matter. So we run to a
God who will shower us with
gifts. We want God to be our
heavenly Santa Claus…
Santa gives. He doesn’t lay
down any conditions prior to giv-
ing the gifts, even if parents
lamely try to warn little imps that
Santa gives only to good boys
and girls. After dispensing his
gifts, Santa makes no demands.
With a bottomless bag of goodies,
he comes out of nowhere – well,
almost nowhere. And after
granting everybody’s wishes, he
returns to nowhere.
Some scholars of popular re-
ligion describe Santa as a god of
consumerist materialism whose
sole purpose is to give. And in-
deed, many people think of God
in this way, as a Santa Claus con-
veniently enlarged to divine pro-
portions. God is an infinitely
rich, always available, and unfail-
ingly generous giver – or at least,
that’s what we feel a god worthy
of divinity ought to be. God
gives without conditions and
without demands. As the sun
We embrace the conviction that God
is an infinitely generous source of all
good, but conveniently forget that we
were created in God’s image to be in
some significant sense like God.
shines and a spring flows, so God
gives – solves our problems, ful-
fills our desires, and makes us
feel good. A Santa Claus God
demands nothing from us…
But is it true that God de-
mands nothing? If it were true,
how could Jesus urge us, as he
does in the Sermon on the
Mount, to be perfect as God is?
Here is what we do as worship-
ers of a Santa Claus God: we em-
brace the conviction that God is
an infinitely generous source of
all good, but conveniently forget
that we were created in God’s
image to be in some significant
sense like God – not like God in
God’s divinity, for we are human
and not divine, but like God “in
true righteousness and holi-
ness” (Ephesians 4:24), like God
in loving enemies (Matthew
5:44). To live well as a human
being is to live in sync with who
God is and how God acts.
If it weren’t for our propen-
sity to sin, we’d live like God
lives, just as little bears live the
way mother bears do. Sadly,
around the kingdom
however, in some mysterious
way, it is possible for us to think,
act, and exist contrary to the
ways God does. In fact, without
exception, all of us live contrary
to God… For this reason, and in
light of our God-given purpose
to mirror who God is in the
world, the infinitely generous
God in whose image we were
created becomes for us the God
who demands. As a help to our
frailty, God gives a law that says,
“You should…”
Unlike Santa, God doesn’t
just scatter gifts, smiling in bliss-
ful affirmation of who we are and
what we do no matter who we
happen to be and what we hap-
pen to do. God also urges us to
this or not to do that… God’s face
twists in the pain of disappoint-
ment and even frowns in angry
condemnation when we fail to
live as we ought to, bringing dev-
astation to ourselves as well as to
those around us.
God generously gives, so
God is not a negotiator of abso-
lute dimensions. God demands,
so God is not an infinite Santa
Claus. So what is the relation
between God’s giving and God’s
demanding? In other words,
what is the difference between a
Santa Claus God and a gift-
giving God? The bare bones an-
swer is this: a Santa Claus God
gives simply so that we can have
and enjoy things; the true God
gives so we can become joyful
givers and not just self-absorbed
receivers. God the giver has
made us to be givers and obliges
us therefore to give.
From Free of Charge: Giving and
Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of
Grace by Miroslav Volf.
13
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Trinity Episcopal Church U. S. POSTAGE
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Fax: 419.243.0920
Email: trinity@trinitytoledo.org

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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: Sam Bish, Joshua
Cowan, Caroline Daman, Marie Harkey, Herb Landis, Tracy Lewis, Susan Lowrey, David
Jeff Albright, senior warden; Jason Rahe, junior
C. Nelson, Nancy Paulas, Jessica Snyder and Mary Windsor; the children and staff of
warden; Karen Wabeke, clerk; Solveig Barnes, Lucia
Emanuel Children’s Home, especially David and Estrella; those on death row, including
Cooper, Jane Gomersall-Zohn, Jennifer Siebold,
Lawrence Reynolds, who is scheduled to be executed by the state of Ohio on October
Sherre Owens Smith, Jim Zechman.
8; all victims of war and violence; our new ministry with Food for Thought and
CaterMe.
Parish Offices
Mon thru Fri, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm Prayers for those who have died: Lester Armitage (Joan, Brenda & Jeff Armitage)
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