Trinity Together | September 2017

session summary: august

The Session met on the 10th and Pastor Wade opened the evening leading us through the Thursday evening prayer liturgy. If you haven’t yet looked into the daily prayer practices sent out six days a week, I encourage you to consider it as part of your daily devotion.

We approved minutes from previous meetings and formally removed some folks from the membership rolls, because they had moved on from Trinity.

We next had an important discussion about the then upcoming demonstrations in downtown Charlottesville. Elder Louis Nelson urged the Session to speak into the matter through a congregational letter. This was a fruitful time for us, bringing clarity and focus to the matter. The letter we sent out on the 11th was the result. We know there is much more to be said and done.

We approved actions to move oversight of the Deacon Assistant program to Pastor Joe, who will coordinate this with the Diaconate and Mercy Committee.

We heard a report from Elders Fitz Green, Bill Porter, and David Turner about the meeting of the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) of our Presbytery, who had examined Walter Kim. The first-hand impressions of these men and Walter himself were tremendously interesting. Most of this report, the implications of it, and the next steps we reported to you already in an August 16 email. Please refer to this to help guide your prayers for the next weeks.

Because of the actions of the LDC, we offered Walter an interim position as Director for Executive Leadership at Trinity. I’m sure you share my gratitude that Walter accepted our offer and begins on September 6. Please extend a gracious welcome to Walter, Toni, Nathan, and Naomi when you see them!

Have a question about our Session? Email session@trinitycville.org.

Donations to Trinity Church

by Stu Scott, Finance Committee Chairman

Trinity is healthy financially. By the end of August, our year-to-date (YTD) contributions were $1,350,202, which tracks 8.3% above 2016 YTD giving. This is great news!

However, since 2016 giving was lower than average until our outstanding December, we need to compare our current figures with those of previous years. If we do that, we are 4% below the eight-year average for the end of August.

So we need to be diligent and faithful about giving through the remainder of this year. We want to end the year in a strong position to achieve our $2.6 million budget goal and to enter 2018 in a stable financial position.

STEWARDSHIP SNIPPET

Tithing online is convenient, right? But two harms may occur if we give only online. The first is to ourselves, the second is to others.

For us, adopting a “set it and forget it” online donation program allows us to do just that: forget it. Actually bringing our tithe/gift/offering to a Sunday service and physically placing it in the offering basket brings your gift to the forefront of your attention and changes the way you think of the gift. If you give exclusively online, give the physical method a try and see the difference for yourself. Or, rather than ignoring the basket as it passes, think about your online gift and what it actually means for God's kingdom.

And what are we showing and modeling for each other by passing the offering basket without putting anything in? Ken Elzinga recently gave a sermon to our congregation about stewardship. He stressed the importance of watching and learning good stewardship (and other Christian practices) from other Christians around us. What are we modeling for each other if we only give online? What are we modeling for our children? (Tip: If you’re nervous that a neighbor might see the amount given, use the envelope method.)

MEET DEACON BOB MALLETTE

Bob Mallette grew up in Louisa County and went to UVA. After receiving his BA he entered training programs through the UVA Hospital to become a radiology technologist, and later a radiation therapist. He worked first at a West Virginia hospital, then moved to Ohio where he met and married Sara, a financial representative and later an accounting manager. After nine years of marriage they moved to Charlottesville in 2006 when Bob took a job at Martha Jefferson Hospital where he continues working in radiation therapy. Sara was employed as a benefit consultant for a local broker's office, then recently became an HR generalist at JABA.

In addition to their professional involvement with health and medical care, they have personally experienced challenges in those areas, including extended care for Bob's father through kidney failure and their own lengthy struggle with infertility. Their 19-month-old son, Nelson, bears testimony to the blessings of adoption as a means to parenting.

In dealing with their adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, Bob and Sara were introduced to several families in the Adoption and Foster Care Ministry at Trinity. Former Diaconate chair Guy Webster and his wife, Linda, became close friends and part of a small group with the Mallettes. Guy recruited and mentored Bob as he prepared to be a deacon, being ordained and installed in 2015. As a deacon he has been involved with a work day at Southwood, correspondence with the widows group, service on the Mercy Committee, and helping as an Ally for Faith and Finances. He finds joy in the call as a deacon to help meet needs of fellow church members and others in need.

A former runner, Bob enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities with Sara and friends. The Mallettes have remained in close touch with several adoptive families who went through that process together. Bob views his service as a deacon and his professional work with people undergoing cancer treatments as different parts of his calling and mission to serve the needs of others. He may see a patient several times a week for six weeks or more, offering the opportunity to make a close connection. While respecting their views, Bob is often able to support their emotional and spiritual needs as they open themselves to talk with him, and he may be invited to join them in prayer as they see the compassion he brings to his work. Assisting family members of the patient to understand and adapt to their situation is another aspect of his caring service.

Bob invites Trinity members to consider serving our brothers and sisters through some of the Mercy Ministry opportunities that have been developed and perhaps to train as a deacon assistant or deacon. He and others on the Mercy Committee are happy to talk with you about this work.

Trinity's Officer Development Team has been introducing elders and deacons, as we did in this issue, to the congregation for several years. If you would like to see some of the previous articles, click here to reach the webpage that lists our officers. Then look for the names in green, which will offer a link to the profile. (Note that some articles are slightly out of date at this point.) Some officers have not yet been profiled, but we are working to get to all of them in the coming months.