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Trinity United Methodist Church—
Annapolis, MD
Trinity United Methodist Church 1300 West Street Annapolis, MD 21401 Phone: 410.268.1620 Fax: 410.216.9197 Email: [email protected] Website: www.trinityannapolis.org
UPCOMING CHURCH EVENTS
Thursday, May 5—National Day of Prayer
Sunday, May 8—Mother’s Day
Saturday, May 14—Ladies Spring Celebration at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 15—Pentecost Sunday
Friday, May 27—Church Office Closed
Monday, May 30—Memorial Day—Church Office Closed
“What does it take for our church to be healthy and grow?
Throughout my entire ministry, I’ve always been asked this question. That’s a question we ask, too. It’s al-most as if we’re all looking for a silver bullet—that one thing that will make the difference. Maybe there’s a program to follow or a book to read. Maybe having the right pastor will make everything better!
Here’s the reality: there is no silver bullet. As you can imagine, it’s a combination of things that makes the difference between a church in survival mode and a church that is alive and growing. In my work, I’ve seen that growing, lively churches have several things in place: a shared vision that unifies and drives the congre-gation forward, inspiring worship, music and preaching, strong lay and pastoral leadership, an outward fo-cus on blessing their community, and a congregation who continually grows as disciples of Jesus.
However, there are a few things about lively, growing churches that tend to get overlooked because they can’t be quantified. They have an air of expectancy about them. They count on big things from God. They’re excited about being used by God for great things. And all this excitement and expectancy materializes in two foundational ways: prayer and tithing.
Churches who grow have members who are committed to praying and committed to tithing. How does that work? Prayer and tithing are deeply spiritual commitments that require sacrifice—a sacrifice of time and money. They are investments. And people who are excited for God and God’s work through then don’t hesi-tate to pray and give.
As a result, a praying, giving church has tons of fuel to keep them going forward. Through prayer, they are able to trust God, listen to God, and follow God’s will. They are open to the Holy Spirit using them to do seemingly impossible things that build the kingdom of God. Through giving, the church has all the financial resources it needs to carry out the work God has tasked them to do. Think of prayer and tithing as gas for the engine.
I am very grateful that Trinity is a praying, giving church. At the same time, I know we can do so much bet-ter. When more and more of us are committed to praying and tithing, we’ll only get stronger with God to do his work.
So, I have three challenges for you. I hope you’ll step up to the plate and accept them:
□ Spend at least 15 minutes each day praying for Trinity. Pray for our folks who need healing. Pray for us to discern and do God’s will. Pray that Trinity will continue to be an even better blessing to our community and world. If all of us did that, Trinity would be bathed in 30 hours of prayer each day.
Wow! You can pray all at once, or throughout the day. (I tend to pray bit by bit throughout the day.)
□ Come to our Tuesday 9:30 a.m. prayer time. You don’t have to be a “prayer warrior” type or know all the right words to say. Just come, by yourself, and enjoy a time of being together in God’s presence. We pray for all kinds of things related to Trinity’s people, our ministries, and our world. (I always look forward to this time, and I don’t always feel like I have all the right words to say. I just come, ex-pecting God to show up, and he always does.)
□ Commit to tithing at least 10% of your income to God’s work through Trinity. Or, if you don’t cur-rently tithe, commit to working up to it. If all of us committed to tithing, we would have more than enough to finance all of our commitments. (Blairlee and I make the commitment to tithe, and we’re blessed to do it!)
Let’s join together to make sure that as a church we are bathed in prayer and filled with all the resources we need to do God’s work. I’m excited to do that because I believe in us and believe in God’s work through us. I hope you are, too!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Chris
The Trinity Lamplighter is
published monthly by
Trinity United
Methodist Church
1300 West Street Annapolis, MD 21401
Church Office Phone 410.268.1620
Website
www.TrinityAnnapolis.org
Church Staff
Rev. Chris Owens Pastor
Blairlee Owens Office Manager
Jane Daugherty Director of Music
Wanda Lee Custodian
HOW CAN WE ASSIST YOU?
Prayer Chain...There is always someone who will pray for you. If you
would like to place someone on the prayer chain, please call the
church office (410-268-1620) or Cindy Sawyer at (410-757-0378) or
Everyone is welcome to join in prayer every Tuesday morning.
Prayer Time for Trinity meets in the Sanctuary at 9:30 a.m. Thank
you to all who keep Trinity and the needs of the church and its peo-
ple in prayer!
May 2016 page 2
Graduate Recognition Sunday — Sunday, June 12th
If you have a 2016 graduate who we can recognize on this special Sun-day, please call the church office with their name, the school they are graduating from, as well as future plans, no later than Monday, June 6th.
In April 2016, we collected $203.09 for the Noisy Offering that will go towards funding Well #26. Each well costs $1,800. The money collected helps to provide a source for clean and safe drinking water. Be sure to look at the pictures of the wells that Trinity UMC has funded up to this point. The pictures are on the wall in the hallway between the Sanctuary and Room 209. Remember to bring your coins to church every Third Sunday so we can get closer to funding our next well. Thank you for giving to this important and life saving ministry.
Do you like to pray, especially with others? Join Pastor Chris on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 am in the Sanctuary for a time of prayer for members of our church family and the community, and our church. Holding each other up in prayer is an essential part of our discipleship. Please come and sup-port the life of Christ’s church.
Please note: If your birthday or anniversary is in
May and is not listed, please let the office know so
we can update our database. Thank you.
May 2016 ____ page 7
May 1—Louise Sunderland
May 4—Brook Fowler
May 6—Estelle Hall
May 9—Elizabeth Busch
May 10—Ron Burdge
May 11—Dessie Miller
May 14—Maxine Meekins
May 18—Nora Lee Mahr
May 19—Thomas Lorenzen
May 21—Stan Joseph
May 22—Janet Lemond
May 23—Britney Fowler
May 25—Lois Schweizer
May 25—Ralph Simi
May 25—Margy Wolfe
May 29—Kurt Shovestul
May 29—Steve Busch
May 31—Justin Green
May 7—Doug & Brook Fowler
May 23—John & Priscilla Henry
May 28—Ralph & Lynn Hudson
May 29—Terry & Penny Ericsen
Interested in learning to make beautiful stained glass projects? If so, come to the Youth Room every Thursday from 11:00 a.m.—2:00 p.m. to design and make a project. No previous experience required.
Wanda’s work hours have changed. She will work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 7:30 a.m.—3:30 p.m.
May 2016 page 6
Are you interested in and do you care about our children and youth? If so, you are invited to attend a series of workshops to be held on May 7 from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. This workshop, with Rev. Dr. Michelle Holmes Chaney as the keynote speaker, is being held at the Baltimore/Washington Conference Center in Fulton, MD. A light breakfast and lunch will be served. For further informa-tion, please contact Sylvia Spencer at [email protected] or 410 224-2654.
At last, our shoebox totals for 2015 have been finalized and our Capital Maryland Team (Anne Arundel County and northern Prince George’s County) increased our numbers by 23%. We collected 24,892 shoeboxes. Thanks for being a part of that! Trinity’s 144 boxes certainly helped. Other totals for last year were: worldwide – 11.2 million shoeboxes; US – 8.2 million shoeboxes with all of the shoeboxes going to more than 100 countries throughout the world. Shoeboxes from our area went to Togo and the Dominican Republic.
Compassion International is church-based, Christ-centered, and child focused. It’s super easy
to sponsor a child, and for $38 a month, you can change the life of a child in a developing coun-
try forever. Come support this great opportunity to help transform the lives of children around
the world. Please join Kathryn Hawes on Sunday, May 8, as she shares about Compassion and
the child she co-sponsors. Help make an eternal difference in the life of a child.
Serving in Worship—May 2016
Thank you for this important ministry in the life of the church. If you are unable to fulfill your scheduled duties, kindly switch with someone and notify the church office.
Date Times Greeters Liturgists Usher Captains
May 1 9:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Lucille Oliver
Richard & Susan Sienkiewich
Diane Gilligan
Darlene Robbins
Bill Busch
Bill Busch
May 8 9:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Claire Hayward
Dick & Nancy Brown
Diane Gilligan
Craig Miller
Dick Brown
Bill Busch
May 15 9:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Sharon Chace & Amber Trivette
Harry & Cindy Sawyer
Susan Sienkiewich
Pete Salvatore
Pat Linthicum
Steve Busch
May 22 9:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Dottie Goodman
Penny Ericsen
Jo Anne Smith
Carol Dakin
Bobby King
Steve Busch
May 29 9:30 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Joyce Brimhall
Richard & Susan Sienkiewich
George Lewis
Kitty Cawood
Bruce George
Jack Spencer
May 2016 page 3
MUSIC NEWS
Mark Sunday, June 12th on your calendar!!! This is the covered dish dinner and special program by the choir that you will not want to miss! Good food, good fun, and good fellowship! Bring a friend!
SUMMER MUSICIANS WANTED
The months of July and August at Trinity are always spe-cial because we are treated to solos, duets, and instru-ments—any combination of voices and instruments you can think of—at our Sunday services. You don’t have to already be involved in our music program, though you will also hear from of our “regulars.” This is an opportu-nity to sing or play your favorite piece for your favorite congregation. Or if you think you might like to try but don’t know what to do, speak to me and I will be happy to help you prepare. We are also happy to have talented relatives or friends of our members to sing or play. I hope you will consider sharing your talents with Trinity. Please feel free to contact me with any thoughts or ques-tions. I will look forward to hearing from you. Thank you! ~ Janie—Director of Music ([email protected] or (410) 570-3189
May 2016 _________________page 4
Beautify our Sanctuary, enhance our worship experience, and honor a loved one by donating flowers to the altar on Sunday morning. A donation of $20 will provide a beautiful arrangement and you may dedi-cate them to someone or give them “To the Glory of God.” Please enclose cash or a check payable to Trinity UMC in the amount of $20, mark it “Flower Dedication,” and include the Sunday you want to
dedicate the flowers. Place in the offering plate or mail/deliver to the church office.
Trinity United Methodist Church
1300 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
I would like to dedicate the flowers on Sunday _____________________________
Your Name: __________________________________
Your Phone Number: ___________________________
Person you want to dedicate flowers to (please write “in memory of” or “in honor of”) and print the dedi-
cation below:
Please put Saturday, May 14 at 5:30 p.m. on your calendar. All ladies (mothers, daughters, grand-daughters, sisters, etc.) are invited. Remember that all of you are someone’s daughter. See the news-letter insert to RSVP with the number of guests you will be bringing and make your menu selection. Please return your RSVP to the church office by Sunday, May 8.
May 2016 page 5
NEW SERMON SERIES ~ May – June 2016
iBelieve: The Building Blocks of the Faith
May 15 Created & Adopted by a Father—Isaiah 45:18-21; Romans 8:14-17
May 22 Jesus, God Made Flesh for Us—Hebrews 2:5-18
May 29 Jesus, Raised Up to Life & Authority—1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
June 5 The Holy Spirit, God in Us & Among Us--Galatians 5:16-25; 1 Corinthians 12:1-7
June 12 The Church, the People of God—1 Peter 2:4-10
June 19 Abundant Life that Will Never End—Ephesians 2:1-10
The Finance Committee would like to share a snapshot of our church's financial health at this point in the year, since as of the end of April, we are approximately a third of the way through 2016. All of our monthly expenses (salaries, mortgage, insurance etc.) are paid and up to date. This is great news!
Where we are lagging behind is in our commitment to missions and apportionments. At this point in the year, our support to missions should be at 34%, but we are only at 10%, which puts us ap-proximately $5,500.00 behind. Our missions provide critical financial support to local missions (such as Arundel House of Hope, Good News, ROAD ministries, and the Lighthouse ministries) and international missions (such as Light International, Church Without Walls, and Hummers-International Outreach). In apportionments, we have paid only one month, leaving us three months behind. The deficit for this critical church responsibility is approximately $15,000.00. The combined amount we owe, then, is approximately $20,500.00. Apportionments fund the many ministries our Conference does- with youth, equipping churches, international missions, and our Conference staff who do so much to support our work.
Please do all you can to financially support Trinity. Tithing is so essential to our spiritual health. If you tithe, thank you! If not, pray about working up to giving a full tithe- 10% or more of your in-come. It will be a huge blessing for God's work through Trinity and for you, too.