PASTOR’S
PEN
Dear Holy Trinity Family and Friends:
I have to be perfectly
honest with you: I struggle to speak the Word of God in Children’s Sermons. On
Sunday, Feb. 25, I had a box full of the hymnals that I’ve used in my life,
starting with the old Service Book and
Hymnal and rolling through the new Evangelical
Lutheran Worship. I mentioned to the kids that in some places when the
Church has changed hymnals there’ve been fights over it.
“You
mean, like, wrestling, or, like, with weapons?” one of them asked. Thinking of
one congregation I knew where members wore green or red buttons to announce
their hymnal preference and the decision nearly broke the congregation in half,
I had to admit, “Both.”
Then,
the Word was spoken. One girl yelled in exasperation. “What? In Church? It’s
supposed to be about God, not fighting!”
I
could not have said it any better. I was tempted to end the worship service
then and there. The Holy Spirit speaks through everyone, and on Sunday it spoke
through one of our youngest members.
We’ve
been blessed that in the introduction of Evangelical
Lutheran Worship there’s been little to no conflict whatsoever. It warms my
heart to see so many people working so tirelessly to make the implementation
happen, and then see a congregation embrace the new book seamlessly on Ash
Wednesday and the following weekend. The Lutheran
Book of Worship was not an idol. Discarding it was relatively easy.
The
slush storm of Feb. 13 and 14 kept the Weekday Spirituality class on Isaiah
from discussing idolatry. This is a shame because Isaiah talks so much about
it, and as disheartening as it can be to discuss it, we are tempted to practice
it. Most of us are not tempted to follow Baal or Asherah or El or Bel or any
gods of the ancient world other than the God of Abraham. The idols that tempt
us take other forms. The one that is suggested so often that we almost don’t
think about it any more is still as strong as ever: money.
1
Timothy 6 tells us, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” It
couldn’t be truer in my life. If there is one thing about which I worry, it is
money. I am always horrified that there will not be enough. It’s not that I’m
terrible at managing it; it’s that I live in fear that I will exhaust it. It’s
fairly easy to say that a part of faith is placing one’s life in God’s hands.
It gets a lot tougher to trust that God will provide enough for me to survive.
I’d prefer to be the one in control. Money represents that control. Money is
the closest thing in my life to an idol.
Lent
is a time of self-denial and a renewal of our focus on God. For me, at least,
that’s the purpose of those Lenten offering envelopes and the collections we
take at midweek Lenten worship. When I let go of the money in that envelope I
let go of an idol. I turn away from a false god.
Money
has a role in our society; that role does not encompass forgiving my Sin or
redeeming me from death or giving me peace and wholeness. Those are the things
that I need. Those are things that only God can give. Money tempts me into
thinking that I’m the center of the universe and that instant, superficial
happiness is what I deserve. I need that reminder, that Word of God, to keep me
from chasing after idols. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it so forcefully spoken
as it was when cried out in last week’s Children’s Sermon, “It’s supposed to be
about God!”
In Christ,
The Reverend Timothy A. Leitzke
Assistant Pastor
h COUNCIL
CORNER h
The 2007 Church
Council was installed on Sunday, Feb. 11, and the following people are now
continuing to work to make Holy Trinity a
Cindy Markus,
Council President; Joy Blazak, Vice President and Chair of the Christian
Education Committee; Dennis Blazak, Corporate Secretary and Co-chair of the
Stewardship Committee; Ray Kaden, Co-Treasurer; Barbara DiCorcia, Co-Treasurer;
Ken Olsen and Diana Anderson, Co-chairs of the Finance Committee; Evelyn
Shibla, Co-chair of the Stewardship Committee; Lisa Beck and Grace Walton, Co-chairs
of the Evangelism Committee; Joan Bowers and Diane Guarini, Co-chairs of the
Social Ministry Committee; Rebecca Parker, Chair of the Worship and Music
Committee; Buzz Goode and Henry Schwier, Co-chairs of the Property Committee;
Kathryn Shinn, Youth Representative to the Council.
If you have any questions or
concerns please feel free to speak with any council member. We have much work
to do this year, as always, and need your help. So, look out for a very active
council in 2007, volunteers who give their time and talents to serve the Lord.
Thank you for your continued
support!
~~ Cindy Markus
h
EVANGELISM & STEWARDSHIP g
Picture
This!
Do you ever see people in
church and wonder what their names are? Have you ever heard an announcement regarding
a member and wished you could put a face with a name? Are you new to our church
and do you wish you had something to help you put names with faces? Well, help
is on the way!
We are producing a
pictorial directory for our church. There is no cost to you or the church to
have your photograph taken, and you will receive a complimentary 8-by-10-inch
portrait and directory for participating. You will be able to view your images
electronically immediately after you are photographed. At that time, you will
have the opportunity (but not the obligation) to purchase additional portraits
to share with family and friends. Portrait sessions will run from March 13
through March 17. Sign up using the link on the Holy Trinity web site, www.holytrinity-nj.org or in person
following services. Call Dennis Blazak at (732) 892-9735 with questions about
the directory project.
We look forward to
“seeing you in pictures.”
Goodie,
goodie!
The Evangelism Committee
will be preparing to mail its famous goody care packages for college students
in late March. We are asking all parents with college students to contribute,
please, a jar of your child’s favorite peanut butter and a box of crackers.
Please leave these items in the church office, in a bag with your child’s name
on it. A list of the children’s names and addresses will be posted on the
Evangelism bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. Please check to be sure we have
the correct mailing address and add your child’s info if he or she is not on
the list.
If
members of the congregation would like to contribute, we will accept donations
through Saturday, March 17. (Ideas are listed below.) That gives us one week to
inventory items and make a shopping list for any additional items we may need
to “round out” the packages.
Suggestions:
·
Home
baked cookies and/or brownies (in baggies, ready to be placed in individual
student’s boxes)
·
Canned
fruit or snack size pudding
·
Popcorn
·
Raisins
·
Hard
candy, gum, LifeSavers
·
Granola
bars
·
Juice
boxes
·
Pretzels,
chips (individual packages)
·
Cup
of Soup
·
Tuna
fish
·
Peanut
butter
·
Crackers
·
Cookies
(No
glass or personal items, please.)
If
you prefer to make a cash donation and let us do the shopping, please put your
donation in an envelope marked “Care Packages” and put the envelope in the
offering plate or in the church office.
If
you would like to bake goodies at home or have any questions, please call Pat
and Chuck Augustine (732) 282-0813. Homemade items may be brought in on and
left in the church kitchen on Saturday, March 24. They will be included in the
packing on Sunday, March 25.
Thank
you for supporting this very special outreach to our college students.
LIBRARY
As a retired library educator in the area
of library services for children, I am always excited when my UPS carrier
delivers a box of new children’s books to my door. I see about 10 percent of
the approximately 5,000 books published for children and young adults each year
in the
I
rejoice that so many talented writers and illustrators are working in the
children’s book field today. The quality is generally quite high but every now
and then a real gem arrives. Today was one of those times, when I received a
copy of Grandfather’s Dance by Patricia MacLachlan, the author of Sarah,
Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Award, the highest honor given to a
writer of children’s books. In the Author’s Note, Ms. MacLachlan informs us
that Grandfather’s Dance is the final book in her saga about the
Whitting family. We will miss them.
The
concluding story is framed around the preparation and celebration of the
prairie wedding of Anna and Justin, but the heart of the story is family
relationships and especially the relationship between Grandfather and his
preschool grandson, Jack, and with his fourth-grade granddaughter, Cassie.
There is both joy and sorrow (the book ends with the death of Grandfather) in
MacLachlan’s “poetic celebration about the enduring spirit of family.”
My
hope is that this book will be made into a film as was Sarah, Plain and
Tall. It is a wonderful read-aloud, not to be missed. You can find it in
our Sunday School library.
~~ Ellin
Greene
g
Date to
Remember:
Adopt-A-Book
Coffee Hour, April 15
g
All Cats Have Asperger
Syndrome,
by Kathy Hoopman, is a sweet and touching introduction to the very special
world of children with Asperger Syndrome (AS). It allows us to begin to understand
what goes on inside the unique mind of the child with AS. Of all the creatures in the animal kingdom
the cat most nearly replicates the moods and individuality of such a child and
provides a perfect medium to “tell the story of … ”
“… AS and how it makes a
child exceptional. Like snowflakes, we are all different. Appreciating that
allows us to enjoy and foster the individuality of the AS child.”
This sensitive and
insightful book helps us to enjoy the special attributes of the child with AS
by relating the pictures of cats with their captions We learn to accept each
child and love and care for them because
“ … they are who they are.”
Thank
goodness for their difference.
~~ Joan and Ira Wallace
(The grandparents of a remarkable child with AS.)
A BIBLE: PRICELESS
How many bibles do you
have in your house? I think we must have
seven or eight. My first one was a
confirmation gift. We have acquired
others through the years, and I confess, I take it for granted that I can read
scripture whenever I want. Below, from
the ELCA quarterly publication, is an article that reminds us that what we take
for granted can be out-of-reach treasure to others.
“Imagine a land where the
average income is only $500 a year, books are a precious luxury, there are no libraries,
and people stand in lines to enter a bookstore so they can merely look at a
book…one they cannot afford to buy. How
priceless then, is a book of the word of God …in their native language!
“This was the land GayAnn
Colliton and her husband found in
“We were always
distressed to see the lack of any reading material for people,” Colliton
explains. “They are so thirsty for books
in bookstores that lines start forming by
“I mentioned to a member
of Lutheran Men in Mission (LMM) that I would be returning to
“Although there are a
number of religious mission groups in the country, the Lutherans are the only
group to bring Bibles.
“The Bolivians were very impressed that the
Bibles were written in Castilian Spanish, their native language, instead of
Mexican Spanish,” Colliton tells us.
“When I presented the Bibles to people, you would have thought I gave
them a million dollars. They looked at
the books like precious gold.
“One Bible, for example,
went to a mother and her nine-year-old son.
They live in a one-room thatch and concrete home with three other
people. As a nurse, she only gets $100 a
year. To her, receiving the gift of a
Bible was like winning the lottery. The
young boy wanted to read it right there in the hotel. His mother just cried with joy.
“I cannot thank the
Lutheran Men in
“The people we know and
have met in
“Although
~~ Carla
Conaty,
Hymnals in Motion
The old Lutheran Books of Worship are resting on
the stage in Fellowship Hall. They lie there through the first weekend in March
for those who are interested in retrieving copies that they donated when the LBW was introduced. After Sunday March 4
the books will be available to anyone who wants them. Those that remain will be
donated to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Meanwhile
the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship
pew editions are in place and made their debut on Ash Wednesday. Making this
happen took a tremendous amount of work. Many thanks go to Becci Parker, Cindy
Markus, Joy Blazak,
The
worship bulletins now contain the “orders of service” for both the
In
short, this has been a lot of work, but now we have our Sunday worship
contained in one resource and our Saturday hymns in one place. That, and we sound
pretty good singing ELW Setting Nine!
h
W.E.L.C.A. g
The
At our next meeting we plan to do a
coffee hour. The hostess will be Eleanor Gaiser. Devotions will be by Marjorie
Delaney. We welcome with joy all newcomers. Please contact Louise Moenke (732)
899-6846, if you have any questions about the
We will meet at
Peace to
You!
A few moments of peace
and quiet a week is all some women ask for.
We are offering one and one-half hours a week.
Join Sister Gerri
Contento and your faith family sisters to practice T’ai Chi Chih, a meditation
that employs slow movements.
(If you went on retreat
this fall you will remember Sister Gerri led T’ai Chi Chih there, too!)
Classes will be held from
Sign up sheets will be
available in the Holy Trinity church office during the week of March 5. First
come, first served.
h
CHILDREN OF GOD g
Holy Trinity welcomed
Ella Flynn Morbee into the Body of
Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism on Saturday, Feb. 17. Ella is the
daughter of Richard and Megan Morbee. She was born on
h
REST IN PEACE g
A memorial service occurred here on Wednesday, Feb. 21 for Rudolf Buser,
husband of Waltraut, a long-time member of our adult choir. Please keep the Buser
family in your prayers.
Holy Trinity member Oscar Olsen entered eternal life on Feb. 26 and was
buried on March 2. Our faith family’s love and prayers are with Oscar’s wife, Phyllis.
h MAIL
BAG g
Dear Church family and friends:
Thank
you for the beautiful sympathy cards sent to me for the loss of my sister,
Hertha Maggs. They were very comforting and deeply appreciated.
~~In Christian Love
Emma Olsen and family
♥
The
Manasquan Food Pantry wants to thank all the children for bringing food to your
church throughout the year. There are needy families in our area who really
appreciate your generosity. Thanks, also, for the 10 turkeys.
~~ The Manasquan Food Pantry
©
Thank you for sending Pastor Mary
and me to
One of the things we learned (a very
important one) is that it is Christ who does the curing. He heals the broken
hearts and bodies. It is He who mends broken relationships. Our focus is to be
one of caring for each other and bringing Christ to them in their time of need.
In spite of the hectic schedule,
Pastor Mary and I managed to share much laughter and joy this past week
together. One of the joys for me was our sharing at morning devotions. Yes, and
even in devotions we managed to “laugh for joy” as we read various Bible
passages that appeared to be speaking to us and our mission in this church. We
are much blessed to have her as our spiritual leader! I trust that the
knowledge we received at the conference will help to empower all of the Stephen
Ministers in our congregation to share the love of Christ within our church and
in our communities.
There is a Bible verse on which I
reflect each morning, along with my usual devotional material. It helps to lend
more focus to my day and reminds me who I am, a child of God. This is my hope
for our church as a whole and a personal desire.
“What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
~~
Yours in Christ, whose name we share and serve, Nancy Sabo
©