Stewardship Newsletter - October 2011

From the Vicar The leaves changing color and falling brings thoughts of thankfulness. Growing up in Kentucky, those colors and smells were closer to Thanksgiving for me than Columbus Day. This time of the changing of the seasons brings too the time for our annual pledge campaign. This time is a time of thankfulness because acknowledging all of the good gifts God has given us and expressing gratitude for those gifts is what we are about as Christians. The sacrament that forms us as church-the coming together every Sunday and celebrating the Eucharist--is an act of thanksgiving. Indeed, the word Eucharist comes from the Greek, eucharstia, meaning thanksgiving. I offer you another poem that speaks of this feeling of gratitude. This is a portion of a poem from Mary Oliver called Six Recognitions of the Lord. 6. Every summer the lilies rise and open their white hands until they almost cover the black waters of the pond. And I give thanks but it does not seem like adequate thanks, it doesnt seem festive enough or constant enough, nor does the name of the Lord or the words of thanksgiving come into it often enough. Everywhere I go I am treated like royalty, which I am not. I thirst and am given water. My eyes thirst and I am given the white lilies on the black water. My heart sings but the apparatus of singing doesnt convey half what it feels and means. In spring theres hope, in fall the exquisite, necessary diminishing, in winter I am as sleepy as any beast in its leafy cave, but in summer there is everywhere the luminous sprawl of gifts, the hospitality of the Lord and my inadequate answers as I row my beautiful, temporary body through this water-lily world. I include this poem because I think it is easy, with the economy still struggling to right itself, for us to be come mired in fear and worry for our futures. When we are feeling insecure or fearful about money (or anything else for that matter), it is easy for us to take for granted or even forget the gifts that God has given us. We become more focused on what we dont have than on what we do have. Sometimes it is important for us to refocus, and the seasons of thanksgiving and stewardship offer us some time to do that. Last Sunday, the gospel was about the kingdom of heaven being like a man who gave a wedding banquet for his son but the people who were invited were too busy to show up. So people were brought in from the street, and there was one who was so ungrateful that he didnt even bother to wear a wedding robe. The slaves perspective on the banquet is instructive to us, I think. Stewardship is, fundamentally, about where we place our priorities. It means that we can be bothered to change our focus and attend to the feast God has set before us and that we can be bothered to dress appropriately once we get there. God invites us to this spectacular feast. We have the choice to attend. Continued on Page 2

We have the choice to notice what enlivens us and brings us joy. We have the choice to grasp those things, that beauty, so that there we may find Gods reign. Gods reign will not be found in the striving for and accumulation of monetary wealth, for that journey is a journey which takes us away from our loved ones and fellows. My friend and colleague, Lauran Pifke, wrote, The treasure in the field, the banquet that represents true wealth, is found in giving and receiving love a journey that brings us together and in doing so, brings us to God. There are so many things in our lives that compete for our time and our attention and so few of them have anything to do with loving each other. The Church is the one place in our lives where we will be reminded over and again that we are loved, that we are needed, and that there is Good News; God is having a party, and we are all invited. We need only accept that invitation and put on the right clothes. What does it mean to put on the right clothes for Gods banquet? Paul tells us, in Philippians something of how we should dress. ...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. He might just as well have said put on these things, just as he said elsewhere, put on Christ. Wearing the right clothes to the kings banquet means putting on the image in which we were made. The clearest picture we have of that image is Jesus Christ. Putting on Christ means putting on love and generosity and being willing to give ourselves away. It means opening our hearts and our hands to our neighbors. Sally and I just sent you a letter asking for your pledge for 2012. You may fear for our economic future, or have other priorities, but I urge you to overcome your fear and pledge. When we make a pledge in these uncertain times, we make a clear statement, we accept that invitation to Gods banquet. We make clear our priorities; we express the gratitude for the great gifts weve been given. Where we spend our money, where we save or give away, tells the story of who we are. Let us remind ourselves to whom we really belong and to whom we owe our lives. Yours in Christ, Johnnette+

Pledge Sunday
Be sure to bring your pledge cards on Pledge Sunday, October 30, and drop them in the offering plate. Then join us for a festive brunch after church to celebrate. You may also mail your pledge directly to the church at 124 North Mulanix Street, Kirksville, MO 63501 Some additional pledge envelopes and forms will be available that Sunday if you forget to bring a copy. Offering Envelopes Beginning October 30, Trinity will make envelopes available to those wishing to make their offerings in cash while still indicating their name. Sometimes we forget to bring a check and we want to give cash that we have on hand. Sometimes people just dont like to write checks. These envelopes are designed to enable those who wish to count cash contributions toward their pledge to do so. Additionally, these envelopes will come with checkboxes to indicate cash contributions directed toward special collections, first Sunday collections, the Building Fund, etc. You can choose to add your name or leave it off. Anonymous cash contributions are still always welcome. We hope you will find this new alternative a convenient way to participate in the stewardship process.

to go shopping every day in order to be real, and that there is freedom in that discovery. They and others have begun to discover that it is at least unfashionable to be conspicuously consuming and that there are other joys to be found in recycling old fashions and looking for bargains. It is a start! What are the deeper joys in disconnecting your self-worth from consuming? Unemployment can be an unexpected sabbatical, even in the midst of job hunting, and an opportunity to reflect on how to put your gifts to work in new ways. Find others who will help you reflect on your skills and vocational assets. The current economic situation is an excellent opportunity for congregations of all sizes to do some gifts-discernment work. Blessings in Hard Times Look for Abundance Amidst Scarcity (Thoughts About Stewardship of the Earth) Katharine Jefferts Schori, April 28, 2009 [Episcopal Life] How do we cope in tough economic times? How do we nurture an enduring sense of hope in ourselves and in those around us? Start with gratitude for what you are and have. Begin with the simple (!) task of listing the blessings in your life shelter, family, friends, skills and your breath. Include your hungers: for relationship, greater depth in those relationships, the desire to be of service and to give to others out of your blessings. The teaching of Jean and Bernard Haldane and/or the classic What Color is your Parachute? would be a great starting place. Schedule a weekly opportunity for job seekers to reflect together on their journeys, learn from and support each other and discover something new about Gods abundant gifts to each. Vocational and gifts discernment should be a regular part of congregational life not just for those discerning a vocation to ordained ministry!

Each baptized person is challenged to put his or her gifts to work in the world in service to Gods mission. Daily life is where most of the baptized exercise their vocations as parents, teachers, firefighters, professors, students and lawyers. Unemployment or partial employment can be a remarkable opportunity to do that Look at the opportunities in your life that are the result work of discernment in a deeper way. of what others call a downturn. The society mavens in New York City have discovered that they dont have Economic restriction of household budgets can be an opportunity to reflect on the difference between wants and needs. Living more simply involves a series of Interested in Contributing to the choices that can bless us as well as others around the Trinity Newsletter? globe, for our own patterns of consumption have direct impacts on greenhouse gases, the availability of clean Send your articles, reflections, news, or ministry water and the price of food, both nearby and far away. updates to: Kevin Minch [email protected] 1 Grim Drive Kirksville, MO 63501 Think about eating lower on the food chain and from sources closer to home. Eating plants costs less both in economic terms and in environmental impact. It also makes more food available for others. Eating more locally produced food also usually costs less, as well as reduces the environmental burden of transporting

that food. It also helps to build a sustainable community support your food-producing neighbors! Our choices about the source of food can have impacts on more distant neighbors as well we will grow less corn for ethanol if we need less fuel for transportation. Less need for corn-based ethanol will have a salutary effect on the price of maize in Africa and make more food available locally there as well. Cooking a meal at home rather than eating fast food or a restaurant meal also can offer more opportunity for deepening relationships with family or friends. How might a pinched entertainment budget be refocused on relationships? Rather than go out to a movie, invite friends in to play games, read a play together or simply gather for creative conversation. Consider how your leisure time might bless a child your own or a neighbors. Take a walk in the park, read a book together or sign up to help in an afterschool program. Counting your blessings can be an opportunity to develop a greater sense of compassion. Knowing the abundance in your own life can encourage liberality toward others, born out of the fundamental reason for all acts of stewardship gratitude for the abundance we have been given. Naming a sense of scarcity or shortfall also can be a motivation toward gratitude, for knowing our own dependence on God and on others is the root of the spiritual journey. Reframe your perspective look for abundance where the world sees scarcity and discover a renewed sense of connection to, and love for, God and neighbor. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. -- Romans 12:4-6 The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori is presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

A Pastoral Teaching from the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church Quito, Ecuador - September 2011 We, your bishops, believe these words of Jeremiah describe these times and call us to repentance as we face the unfolding environmental crisis of the earth: How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who live in it the animals and the birds are swept away, and because people said, He is blind to our ways. (Jeremiah 12:4) The mounting urgency of our environmental crisis challenges us at this time to confess our self-indulgent appetites and ways, our waste and pollution of Gods creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us (Ash Wednesday Liturgy, Book of Common Prayer, p. 268). It also challenges us to amend our lives and to work for environmental justice and for more environmentally sustainable practices. Christians cannot be indifferent to global warming, pollution, natural resource depletion, species extinctions, and habitat destruction, all of which threaten life on our planet. Because so many of these threats are driven by greed, we must also actively seek to create more compassionate and sustainable economies that support the well-being of all Gods creation. We are especially called to pay heed to the suffering of the earth. The Anglican Communion Environmental Network calls to mind the dire consequences our environment faces:

We know that . . . we are now demanding more than [the earth] is able to provide. Science confirms what we already know: our human footprint is changing the face of the earth and because we come from the earth, it is changing us too. We are engaged in the process of destroying our very being. If we cannot live in harmony with the earth, we will not live in harmony with one another. (i) This is the appointed time for all Gods children to work for the common goal of renewing the earth as a hospitable abode for the flourishing of all life. We are called to speak and act on behalf of Gods good creation. Looking back to the creation accounts in Genesis, we see Gods creation was very good, providing all that humans would need for abundant, peaceful life. In creating the world Gods loving concern extended to the whole of it, not just to humans. And the scope of Gods redemptive love in Christ is equally broad: the Word became incarnate in Christ not just for our sake, but for the salvation of the whole world. In the Book of Revelation we read that God will restore the goodness and completeness of creation in the new Jerusalem. Within this new city, God renews and redeems the natural world rather than obliterating it. We now live in that time between Gods creation of this good world and its final redemption: The whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for . . . the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:22-3). Affirming the biblical witness to Gods abiding and all-encompassing love for creation, we recognize that we cannot separate ourselves as humans from the rest of the created order. The creation story itself presents the interdependence of all Gods creatures in their wonderful diversity and fragility, and in their need of protection from dangers of many kinds. This is why the Church prays regularly for the peace of the whole world, for seasonable weather and an abundance of the fruits of the earth, for a just sharing of resources, and for the safety of all who suffer. This includes our partner creatures: animals, birds, and fish who are being killed or made sick by the long-term effects of deforestation, oil spills, and a host of other ways in which

we intentionally and unintentionally destroy or poison their habitat. One of the most dangerous and daunting challenges we face is global climate change. This is, at least in part, a direct result of our burning of fossil fuels. Such human activities could raise worldwide average temperatures by three to eleven degrees Fahrenheit in this century. Rising average temperatures are already wreaking environmental havoc, and, if unchecked, portend devastating consequences for every aspect of life on earth. The Church has always had as one of its priorities a concern for the poor and the suffering. Therefore, we need not agree on the fundamental causes of human devastation of the environment, or on what standard of living will allow sustainable development, or on the roots of poverty in any particular culture, in order to work to minimize the impact of climate change. It is the poor and the disadvantaged who suffer most from callous environmental irresponsibility. Poverty is both a local and a global reality. A healthy economy depends absolutely on a healthy environment. The wealthier nations whose industries have exploited the environment, and who are now calling for developing nations to reduce their impact on the environment, seem to have forgotten that those who consume most of the worlds resources also have contributed the most pollution to the worlds rivers and oceans, have stripped the worlds forests of healing trees, have destroyed both numerous species and their habitats, and have added the most poison to the earths atmosphere. We cannot avoid the conclusion that our irresponsible industrial production and consumption-driven economy lie at the heart of the current environmental crisis. Privileged Christians in our present global context need to move from a culture of consumerism to a culture of conservation and sharing. The challenge is to examine ones own participation in ecologically destructive habits. Our churches must become places where we have honest debates about, and are encouraged to live into, more sustainable ways of living. God calls us to die to old ways of thinking and living and be raised to new life with renewed hearts and minds. Although many issues divide us as people of faith, unprecedented ecumenical and interfaith cooperation

is engaging the concern to protect our planet. And yet, efforts to stop environmental degradation must not be simply imposed from above. Those most affected must have a hand in shaping decisions. For example, we welcome efforts in the United States to involve Native American tribal leaders and to empower local community organizations to address environmental issues. Similar strategies need to be employed in myriad communities in various locales. Our current environmental challenges call us to ongoing forms of repentance: we must turn ourselves around, and come to think, feel, and act in new ways. Ancient wisdom and spiritual disciplines from our faith offer deep resources to help address this environmental crisis. Time-honored practices of fasting, Sabbath-keeping, and Christ-centered mindfulness bear particular promise for our time.

world around us. Such spiritual perception should make faithful people alert to the harmful effects of our lifestyles, attentive to our carbon footprint (ii) and to the dangers of overconsumption. It should make us profoundly aware of the gift of life and less prone to be ecologically irresponsible in our consumption and acquisition. In assuming with new vigor our teaching office, we, your bishops, commit ourselves to a renewal of these spiritual practices in our own lives, and invite you to join us in this commitment for the good of our souls and the life of the world. Moreover, in order to honor the goodness and sacredness of Gods creation, we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, commit ourselves and urge every Episcopalian:

To acknowledge the urgency of the planetary crisis in which we find ourselves, and to repent of any and all acts of greed, overconsumption, and waste that have contributed to it; Fasting disciplines and heals our wayward desires and To lift up prayers in personal and public worship for appetites, calling us to balance our individual needs environmental justice, for sustainable development, with Gods will for the whole world. In fasting we recand for help in restoring right relations both among ognize that human hungers require more than filling humankind and between humankind and the rest of the belly. In God alone are our desires finally fulfilled. creation; Commended in the Book of Common Prayer, fasting is To take steps in our individual lives, and in comgrounded in the practices of Israel, taught by Jesus, and munity, public policy, business, and other forms of sustained in Christian tradition. The ecological crisis corporate decision-making, to practice environmental extends and deepens the significance of such fasting as stewardship and justice, including (1) a commitment a form of self-denial: those who consume more than to energy conservation and the use of clean, renewable their fair share must learn to exercise self-restraint so sources of energy; and (2) efforts to reduce, reuse, and that the whole community of creation might be susrecycle, and whenever possible to buy products made tained. from recycled materials; To seek to understand and uproot the political, Sabbath-keeping is rooted in the Book of Genesis, social, and economic causes of environmental destrucwhere the seventh day is the day in which God, hution and abuse; (iii) mans, and the rest of creation are in right relationship. To advocate for a fair, ambitious, and binding In our broken world, keeping the Sabbath is a way of climate treaty, and to work toward climate justice remembering and anticipating that world for which through reducing our own carbon footprint and adGod created us. Sabbath requires rest, that we might vocating for those most negatively affected by climate remember our rightful place as Gods creatures in rechange. lationship with every other creature of God. Such rest implicitly requires humans to live lightly on the face of May God give us the grace to heed the warnings of the earth, neither to expend energy nor to consume it, Jeremiah and to accept the gracious invitation of the not to work for gain alone, but to savor the grace and incarnate Word to live, in, with, and through him, a life givenness of creation. of grace for the whole world, that thereby all the earth may be restored and humanity filled with hope. RejoicThe practice of Christ-centered mindfulness, that is, ing in your works, O Lord, send us forth with your the habitual recollection of Christ, calls believers to a Spirit to renew the face of the earth, that the world may deepened awareness of the presence of God in their once again be filled with your good things: the trees own lives, in other people, and in every aspect of the watered abundantly, springs rushing between

the hills in verdant valleys, all the earth made fruitful, your manifold creatures, birds, beasts, and humans, all quenching their thirst and receiving their nourishment from you once again in due season (Psalm 104). _________________________ (i) From The Hope We Share: A Vision for Copenhagen, a statement from the Anglican Communion Environmental Network in preparation for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), December 2009. (ii) Carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating, transportation, etc. (iii) We are indebted to the Episcopal Bishops of New England for their earlier 2003 Pastoral Letter, To Serve Christ in All Creation. Several of these commitments and other phrases herein are quotations or adaptations of their work. -- For more info contact: Neva Rae Fox Public Affairs Officer The Episcopal Church [email protected] 212-716-6080 Mobile: 917-478-5659