Steeple Notes Weekly Announcements and Events—Week of June 5, 2016

Congregational Meeting next Sunday, June 12 Our annual Congregational Meeting will be held at the 9:30 a.m. worship service on Sunday, June 12. The agenda of the meeting includes the adoption of the reports, vestry elections and major property care updates. Copies of the annual reports are in the narthex and have been emailed to members.

Lutheran Prayer Table at Penn Street Farmer’s Market Trinity and the congregations of the Reading Lutheran Parish are excited to announce that the Lutheran churches of Reading are hosting a prayer table at the Penn Street

Farmer’s Market. For 18 weeks, we’ll be set up among food vendors to offer spiritual nourishment to those in need of prayer. We’ll take prayer requests for the city and nation, for friends and families, for personal needs and anything else our visitors would like to bring before God. People will have the opportunity for a prayer “on the spot,” or can choose to

leave their request in writing for later intercessions. The Market is held each Thursday from 10:00-2:00 on the sidewalk of Penn Street between 4th and 5th Streets and runs from June 9 through September 29. Visit the Market for great local produce, live music, nutrition presentations and the RLP Prayer Table. We hope to see you there!

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Parish News Welcome New Staff Member Karen Nein We are pleased to announce that Karen Nein has joined the staff of Trinity as a part-time Administrative Assistant. Many of you know that, following Guy Irwin’s departure in October, 2014, Trinity has been short-staffed. We are grateful to members of Trinity’s support staff who have worked tirelessly to manage the challenges and transitions of the last 19 months. As we return to previous staffing levels, we believe that Karen will bring the gifts we need, both to address the backlog of the past months and to help us move intentionally into the future God sets before us. Karen will report directly to Donna Taglieri, our Church Administrator, and will assist with vendor interface, clerical duties, organization of files, property management and other duties assigned by the Administrator. This position was budgeted at our congregational meeting of December, 2015. Watch the Trinity website for an upcoming bio of Karen. In the meantime, welcome her and keep her and all of Trinity’s staff in your prayers.

Thank You to Our Garden Volunteers We want to thank Marian Jameson, Robin Oberholtzer, and Susan & Charles Randazzo for their expert and dedicated work to keep Trinity’s courtyard garden looking so beautiful.

Prepare for worship The readings for next Sunday, June 12, are 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15; Psalm 32; 2

Galatians 2:15-21; and Luke 7:36-8:3. The readings for Sunday, June 19, are Isaiah 65:1-9; Psalm 22:19-28; Galatians 3: 23-29; and Luke 8:26-39.

Parish News Welcome Our New Nursery Attendant, Lauren Wasmuth We are grateful to Trinity member Lauren Wasmuth for assuming the duties of

Nursery attendant through the summer months. It is so important to have a caregiver for our children who is responsible, loving, fun, and in tune with God’s grace. Lauren fits the bill! Thanks, too, to Rachel Himes, who has served in this position with loving dedication for the past several months. Rachel, you’ve been a blessing to Trinity’s families.

Take Stock in Trinity’s Youth This year our youth will be traveling to Appalachia July 9-16 for a week of service, learning, and spiritual growth. Our group has been assigned to the area of Huff Creek, West Virginia, where we will be working on helping create warmer, safer, drier homes. We invite

you to prayerfully consider taking stock in our youth by donating to our trip. ($1.00 per share. Such a deal!) Look for youth at the stockholders’ table. Funds from our Stock Sale will help pay for our transportation and registration costs. You can check out https://www.asphome.org/ for information about the Appalachia Service Project.

Courtyard Cafés Begin June 17 Mark your calendars for our summer Courtyard Cafés, where we provide good food and loving hospitality to those who live and work in our neighbourhood. Cafés are held on June 17, July 15, August 19 and September 16. Please see Marian Jameson and her clipboard to donate food and/or assist with serving.

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Trinity Calendar Sunday, June 5: Covenant Worship at Christ Episcopal 9:00 am: Adult Forum: Penn Street Market (Christ Episcopal) 9:30 am: Deaf Worship (Chapel) 10:15 am: Covenant Worship (Christ Episcopal Church) 1:00 pm: Appalachian Service Project Workshop (Atonement) Monday, June 6 10:00 am: Program Staff Meeting (Bard House) Tuesday, June 7

6:00 pm: Trinity Serves at Opportunity House 6:30 pm: Soul Feast Spiritual Practices Group (Hintz Room) Wednesday, June 8 9:15 am: Staff Meeting (Auditorium) Thursday, June 9 10:00 am: Bible Break (Conference Room) 10:00 am: Deaf Seniors (Auditorium) 1:00 pm: Lutheran Pantry Food Delivery (St. John’s Church) 4:15 pm: Kindermusik (Nursery) 6:00 pm: Lutheran Pantry Food Distribution (St. John’s Church) 6:00 pm: RLP Roundtable (St. Luke’s Lutheran Church) Friday, June 10 No scheduled Trinity events. Saturday, June 11 4

No scheduled Trinity events.

Trinity Calendar Sunday, June 12: Congregational Meeting 9:30 am: Holy Eucharist and Congregational Meeting (Nave) 9:30 am: Deaf Worship (Chapel)

10:30 am: Fellowship sponsored by the Property Committee (Hintz Room) Monday, June 13 10:00 am: Program Staff Meeting (Bard House) 7:00 pm: Vestry Meeting CANCELLED Tuesday, June 14 No scheduled Trinity events. Wednesday, June 15 9:15 am: Staff Meeting (Auditorium)

Thursday, June 16 10:00 am: Bible Break (Conference Room) 4:15 pm: Kindermusik (Nursery) 7:00 pm: Worship & Music Committee Meeting (The Highlands) Friday, June 17 11:30 am: Courtyard Café (Auditorium) 6:30 pm: Trinfinity: Pizza and Movie Night – location TBD.

Saturday, June 18 No scheduled Trinity events.

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Dear Trinity Family,

May 20, 2016

I write this letter of deep gratitude as I begin a new chapter in my faith journey. This past Tuesday I joined over 40 other graduates at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, PA to celebrate the 152nd Commencement of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), as the class of 2016! There are far too many ups and downs to mention here, from the wonderful friendships made and incredible learning experiences, to my struggles with my health, culminating with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia in December…it has been winding path indeed. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your various roles of support over the past 12+ years, especially during some extremely challenging times these past two years. Without your prayers or financial contributions to my education, I would never have been able to reach this exciting moment! From June 22 through July 3 I will be traveling with a group from the New Jersey Synod of the ELCA throughout BosniaHerzegovina to participate in their annual international servant trip. For the past fifteen years volunteers from the NJ Synod and beyond have been traveling to Bosnia-Herzegovina to work with local partners to help facilitate a number of friend ship and

peace camps throughout the country. Due to the cost of the trip, along with organizing and running of the camps, each volunteer is asked to raise a minimum of $2,000. If you’d like to make a contribution towards my fundraising for this trip please let me know. Checks can be made in my name, with “Bosnia IST” written in the memo line. If you have any questions about the servant trip or otherwise please don’t hesitate call me (484-332-2778) or email me

([email protected]). Any support you are able to lend would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all again for your continued prayers. I look forward to sharing news and updates with you all as the next steps in my journey become clearer. In Christ’s Peace, 6

Kristen Opalinski

Speak to Deaconess Deborah for more information and registration forms for the following events:

June 20-23 5:30-8:30 pm – Earth, Wind, Water, Fire! Intergenerational VBS at

Christ Episcopal. Wednesday, June 22 – WBMD youth trip (ages 12 and up) to volunteer at Church World Service center in New Windsor MD. Bus transportation provided. Tuesday-Friday, July 5-8 - WBMD Day Camp with Bear Creek Camp! (K-5) We are bringing the staff and program from BCC for a fabulous week of day camp for children of the WBMD. It is being held at Allegheny Lutheran in Knauers. Transportation will be available. Wednesdays, July 13, 20 & 27 – West Berks Wednesdays at French Creek State Park! Nature program, trail walks, Bibles stories, games, crafts, lunch and swimming – Wow – sure sounds like a great day!

Donate Your Extra Stuff to the Opp Shop Spring cleaning? One person’s “stuff” can be someone else’s “treasure.” In June the Mission & Service Committee invites you to donate your extra stuff to the Opp Shop to benefit Opportunity House. Clothes, books and household items are welcome. See their website at http://opphouse.org/shop/oppshop.aspx for a complete list of the many items they welcome for donation. You may bring your items to Trinity or see the Opp Shop website for drop-off bin locations. If you bring your items to Trinity, please bring them to the auditorium stage in boxes or bags so that they can be loaded easily for transport. Thank you!

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Broadcast Schedule All of our programs listed below and more can be watched on Comcast Channel 190 or online at our TV Website (www.oldtrinitytv.org) or on YouTube (www.youtube.com./oldtrinitytv). Sundays in June

Wednesdays in June

6:00 pm Deaf Worship Service

4:00 pm Trinity Worship

6:30 pm Music From Trinity: Centre Park Flutes 7:00 pm Trinity Worship Service

5:00 pm Deaf Worship 5:30 pm First Friday: Youth, Media, and Social Justice

Praying for our family members in Christ This week is Covenant Worship at Christ Episcopal Church. Next week: Laura Rohrbach-McGettigan & Neil McGettigan; Eric, Brooke, Reagan, Jillian, & Declan Rosenbaum; Daniel & Sarah Rothermel; Irene Routté; and Emily Mooney Routté, Jesse & Amani Routté.

Immediate prayer petitions We pray for members of Trinity who are in need of healing: Jennifer Smith, Neil Rush, Mae Sunderland, Nancy Lombardo, Pr. Rick Chaveas, Barbara Ketchum, Abby Care, Glenn Himes (father of David Himes), Ronald Gregory, Tom Shultz, Brian Trupp, and Emily Stump (daughter-in-law to Steve & Beth Welz).

Trinity Lutheran Church 527 Washington Street, Reading, PA 19601 (610) 374.4861 www.oldtrinity.org 8

Media: www.oldtrinitytv.org

A congregation of the Reading Lutheran Parish and West Berks Mission District