Following the God of Abundance into Our Parish
An update on your Christmas giving, from Leah Dillman
Dear Church Family,
When I initially contacted Juana, the social worker at St. Jude’s Landing, regarding Christmas giving this year, my expectations were modest. After so much uncertainty over the past few years and knowing that inflation, and fears about the economy were running high I wasn’t sure what I could expect for people’s capacity to give.
I asked Juana to identify 4-5 of the most needy families and we would hope for enough to bless that many and if there was any extra I would let her know how many others I thought we could help. After about a week, I contacted Susannah for an update to see where we were at. I was astounded by the amount. I immediately called Juana and said, “The giving for this year is already twice what it was last year, put everyone who needs help on the list!”. She was overjoyed to hear this as she had been given the difficult task of selecting the families who would receive help—knowing all the while that there were many others that might have to go without. She told me later that when she called some of the families that had been put on the waitlist several of them broke down in tears of gratitude and relief. We decided upon a dollar amount based on family size and I got to work buying gift cards.
We were able to help a total of 12 families at St. Jude’s Landing. But the money kept coming in! It is a wonderful ‘problem’ to have more money than you are quite sure what to do with. We were able to identify one other family in need with ties to the church and help them in a significant way, but there was still more!
That’s when it was decided that the rest of the money would go into replenishing the Parish fund. Trinity’s Parish fund is used year-round to help with needs that come up for folks in our congregation and the Parish. It has been used to support local charities like Serve Wenatchee, and to support people with needs ranging from counseling to utility bills—whatever financial needs come to the attention of our church. Thanks to your generosity, the hope of Christmas and the witness of God’s presence coming into our world, especially in those moments of darkness, will be experienced year-round by those in need in our community.
I often find myself asking, “How can we show others Jesus’ heart, his character, his gracious, abundant, no-strings-attached love? How can we reshape what it means to be a ‘Christian’ to those in our community who are hurt, or skeptical, or on the margins?” Jesus was always taking care of practical, earthy needs, barrels brimming with fine wine, complete physical healings, all-you-can-eat lunches for thousands (with leftovers!), impossibly large catches of fish, cups overflowing and good measures poured into laps. He is truly a God of abundance! Thank you for following his example and giving abundantly this year.
We wanted to make sure that others got to experience the joy of delivering gifts to St. Jude’s Landing this year; Dawn Klinge was one of the people who was available to come. I asked her to write down her thoughts on the experience and this is what she shared:
“A few days before Christmas, I got to experience the sweet pleasure of helping deliver gift cards to several families at St. Jude’s Landing. These gifts, provided through the generosity of the members of Trinity, allowed the folks we met to buy gas, groceries, and presents for their children. People received the cards with smiles, hugs, and words of gratitude to pass along to the church. I loved hearing from the kids about what they wanted for Christmas. With the cards received that day, their parents would have the joy of being able to fulfill those desires. Having lost my dad a year ago last month, he was on my mind as I met the families. I couldn’t help but think of a story he often told me. When he was young, his parents struggled financially, and the Salvation Army provided his family with groceries for Christmas. They also gave my dad a red wagon. He always said this was his favorite Christmas memory. I think of my dad now when I see opportunities to give at Christmas. A simple act of love over fifty years ago still has an impact, like ripples on a pond. I imagine the gifts given by the people of Trinity to the families of St. Jude’s will have a similarly lasting impact. May God continue to use your generosity and multiply it far beyond what we could ever hope or imagine.”
Coming Up
Godly Play starts this Sunday!
Baptism Classes // Jan 17 + 24: RSVP
Congregational Meeting // Jan 22 at 5pm: More info
Parenting Conference: A Weekend of Grace & Truth // Jan 27-28: Sign up
February Newcomers Dinner // Feb 11: RSVP
Reminder to All Parents
We love that Trinity Church is growing and we want to be a safe and hospitable place.
Here's how you can help:
1. Please remain downstairs during fellowship after the 9:45 am service and avoid the Narthex behind the Sanctuary to respect WBBC's worship time.
2. Children should always be under adult supervision.
We are excited to share our vision for our whole church family working together to ensure we all practice child safety while at church and in our community at the Congregation meeting January 22nd.
Small Groups
We will be starting several small groups in mid-January on various topics. If you’re interested in leading one, reach out to Carson to talk about your idea.
In February, we will start a 4 week Sabbath Study in local parish homes using Practicing the Way material. We greatly enjoyed their Lenten study we did as a congregation last year. Within these small groups, we will gather together to share a meal, watch a video and enjoy discussion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Start the New Year with the habit of Sabbath. If you are interested in hosting a Sabbath Group, please speak with Guy Evans. You can reach him at 509-670-3608.
On the same topic, our friends at Christ Church (Austin, TX) have asked if we could beta test a 6-week curriculum on Justice & Mercy (as part of a wider initiative called Matthew 25) that will eventually be made available to all parishes in the ACNA. There is leader training, a complete curriculum and a facilitation guide available. If you’re interested in potentially leading this kind of group, you can get in contact with Carson.
Key Info for Church this Winter
Our services are at 8:30am and 9:45am.
- Live stream our 9:45am services HERE
- Watch past services on YouTube
- Listen to Sermon audio
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