Trinity Presbyterian Church
185 Swaggertown Road
Scotia, NY 12302
(518) 399-8782
[email protected]
www.scotiatrinity.org
Rev. Kathleen Gorman-Coombs
Rev. Dr. Timothy Coombs
Friends,
Those of you who have been in worship know that Kathy and I are currently involved in a
sermon series entitled “Questions That Matter.” We are attempting to address the spiritual and
theological issues raised by many of you in a recent query through email and social media.
In September we have already responded to questions such as “Why bother with faith if you
can be moral without it?” and two sermons on “What are we to think about the Bible today?” Coming in
October we will preach on matters of “What does Christianity have to say about other religions?” (Oct.
5 and 12) and “How can God be all loving and all powerful when bad things happen?” (Oct. 19).
I like preaching on these questions. Doing so not only provides a break from the common
lectionary, the three-year cycle of suggested readings for Sundays, but it also helps me focus on the
spiritual issues with which you are struggling.
Kathy and I understand our task in this series as offering responses to, not answering these
questions. To us there is a big difference. Answering often suggests something definitive and final,
whereas asking for a response usually implies that an opinion or even a preference is requested, that
is, something that is recognized as not the final word on a subject. In other words, we realize that our
responses to these Questions That Matter are neither exhaustive nor conclusive. In other words, we
do not believe we are done addressing these questions for the future. As long as there are people of
faith these matters will continue to be raised time and time again.
I think the main reason we can never have a definitive answer to these questions is that God is
a paradox to us. By our own definition God existed before anything was. Jesus was fully God and
fully human. The Holy Spirit is everywhere, but cannot be seen or touched. The Trinity is three yet
one. As God says through Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my
ways, says the Lord,” (55:8).
This means that we probably never will receive in this life answers to our spiritual or theological
questions that truly satisfy us once and for all. At best, we learn responses that meet our needs for the
time being, until we can further hone those questions for another time. This is why we refer to our life
of faith as a spiritual journey, not a destination. As Paul says in his famous statement on love, “For
now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face,” (1 Corinthians 13:12). The answers
do await us, but in God’s time.
Tim
Trinity’s new youth group got off to a fun start on September 21
and the good times continue. Don’t miss out on the fun. Friends
are always welcome. We meet on Sundays from 4:00 to 5:30
unless otherwise noted.
October 5
“Soul Collage”
October 26
Hayride with Darren’s group at
Burnt Hills Methodist Church:
Riverview Orchard, Details TBA
November 2
“Those Dreaded Labels”
Saturday
November 15
Concerned for the Hungry food sorting
November 30
1:00 pm ~ The Great Christmas Tree Hunt
There will be an informational meeting for potential volunteers on Tuesday,
September 23rd, 6:30 pm at Joan Nicole Prince Home,
Volunteer training will take place on Tuesday, October 7th, Wednesday, October
8th, and Thursday, October 9th, (3 nights total) all are from 6:00-9:00 pm, preregistration is requested for the training.
Contact the Joan Nicole Prince Home at 518-346-5471 and speak to Bonnie Kriss
Volunteer Coordinator for further information.
CONFIRMATION CLASS
The class of Cameron Bishop, Kelsey and Skyler Jessup, and Rhett
Parsons is finishing up their assignments and will meet with Session at its
October 15 meeting.
Confirmation Sunday will take place in November. The exact
date is still being negotiated. In the meantime, please keep these young
people in your prayers as they come to this important decision in their
lives.
Jail Ministry Gathering
Sunday, October 19th after worship
Trinity has been active in the Jail Ministry
several years. We have been assisting at the
In addition, we also have been visiting with
Sunday afternoons. Our Mission Committee has
funding as well.
at the Schenectady County Jail for
jail library on Monday mornings.
the women inmates once a week on
been supporting a warm clothing
Have you ever been interested in learning more about these programs? Has time
recently become available so you are thinking you might be able to take an
active part in the ministry? We will be holding an informational meeting after
the worship service on Sunday, October 19th for those who might want to come to
learn more about this exciting ministry at Trinity Church. If you have
questions ahead of time please feel free to contact Don Wheeler or Mariellen
Boomhower.
A Note From Woodberry Crossing ~
Dear Trinity Friends;
It’s always amazing how much you accomplish at Woodberry Crossing! And as a bonus you bring joy, fun,
laughter fellowship and a check for $400.00. Thank you so much.
Each year is special ~ This year little Clare and Jean joined us and Bev (not to ever be defeated) managed to
secure Tax Exempt Status from Home Depot, Woodberry. Besides that it was great to have 3 generations of
Hayes’, and Coombs, Cameron and the whole Parson family. Our family always looks forward to our “Trinity
Family” and you are so gracious to let them bounce in and out the way we do.
Down at the pasture ~ so far so good ~ it looks like you foiled the rats. And the new gates are keeping the
alpacas and llama where they are supposed to be. The new arrival signs are perfect. I think now we need to
make the old ones more colorful.
Once again the holly trees are breathing a sigh of relief knowing the will not be strangled by weeds.
The enlarged pool filter enclosure is great. It will be a pleasure now to clean the filter with the new space to
work in and totally convenient for back washing and adding chemicals to the pool.
Cleaning the porch was a huge task and the new boards make it much safer. I did coat it with the Thompson’s
water seal and the water actually beaded up on it when it rained and it was not slippery.
The spiritual passes are some of my favorite times ~ thanks Kathy and Steve for helping us to be aware of God’s
presence in the little quiet moments and in our connections with each other. Thanks Kyle for the delicious
communion bread.
Bev, you continue to amaze ~ we hand you a random, disorganized list and you organize it and get it all done
plus some!
Love to you all,
Peace,
Meg & Beth etc.
Mission: School Supply Drive We will be adopting Yates Elementary for the months of October and November. More information {a list} will follow in the upcoming announcements. Thanks to all that donated during the months of August and September. Many thanks! To Darren Gundrum who begins his own youth
ministry at Burnt Hills United Methodist Church.
To Bev Burnett who celebrates 20 years as the
Executive Director of the Community Land Trust of
Schenectady, (formerly Hill and Vale Affordable
Housing, HAVAH).
To Matt and Alison Wheeler who renewed their
wedding vows in celebration of their 15th
anniversary!
Have you seen the new banner hanging in
the sanctuary? It was created in recognition
of the twenty-five years of joint ministry
between our pastors and this congregation.
Many of you had a “hand” in preparing it.
Perhaps early in the summer when you were
asked to paint up your palm and place your
handprint on a piece of khaki colored fabric
you couldn’t visualize what the final result
would be. Well, now the product is on
display and will be for a while.
The banner signifies the importance
of mission to this church and the belief that
our hands are doing God’s work in all of the
mission projects, local and beyond, that
Trinity has undertaken during the last
twenty-five years. Your handprints within
the larger hand symbolize that though we
act individually or in groups we are
fulfilling God’s call in reaching out to serve
others.
Of course, you should be paying
attention to the service but it’s OK if you try
to find your handprint among the many that
on the banner.
Thank you from Tim and Kathy:
Thank you, thank you, thank you. People keep asking us if we've "come down yet" from
the joy of the 25th Anniversary Celebration, and so far the answer has been, "No, not
yet!" It was so wonderful. Individual thank you's to all those we know of who worked so
hard are in the works, but meanwhile we just want to say to all who were there, or sent
cards or notes, or worked to make it happen--thank you so much, and please know how
much we love you all. What a wonderful place this is to live and work and be in ministry
together--all of us together.
Blessings and love--- Kathy and Tim
From the Haiti Mission School
As I write this, we are preparing for the annual meeting of the Board of Directors for the Friends of Siloam
School at Labastille AKA the Haiti Mission School. I would have preferred to write this after the meeting, but
church newsletter schedules take precedence. Several major topics will be on the agenda, most of them formed by
the decision of the Haitian government to begin paying our teachers. It will clearly affect our budget and future
plans. So much rides on how the new arrangement works out. We are taking a “wait and see” attitude with no new
programs beginning this year. And of course, we continue to pray for God’s wisdom and work in this and we hope
you are continuing to pray with us.
Tom and JoEllen will travel to Haiti in November to see how things are going at the school and to meet the
board in Jeremie, We also hope to meet with a representative of the Education Dept. in Port Au Prince. We have
numerous questions and some thoughts for them. First, we wonder if they have future plans in the area and if so
how they will affect our school.
We anticipate having a full school this year with somewhere in the range of 125 students in k-6th grades.
As far as we know, all our teachers will be returning. We are continuing to provide scholarships for the five
students that passed their exams in secondary school last year, and are adding six more from last year’s graduates
of HMS.
We have just learned that the school they are attending which is sponsored by a Catholic organization in
Canada has outfitted a classroom with brand new computers, printers, etc., and a generator to provide electricity.
As a result, we have been told all the students at the secondary school will be getting an hour of instruction in
computers daily and it will cost us $3 additional tuition per student. Imagine, $103/year total tuition including
computer instruction!!!
IMAGINE!
BY TOM PARSONS
Searching for a book today-‐-‐ Looked on first one shelf -‐-‐And then another. Too many books? Visited a Haitian home near our s chool. Saw no books—not one! It isn’t just poverty. If you can’t spell-‐-‐What would be the point? If you can’t put letters together and make words. If perhaps you can’t tell an “A” from a “Z” What’s the point of a shelf full of books? What would be the point Of a bible-‐-‐ Of great poetry-‐-‐ Or the adventures o f Moby Dick, Dick and J ane and Spot, Or a h istory o f your native land? What would be the point of a shelf of books If you can’t read? Imagine that you can’t read— Now -‐-‐ Imagine that you can!
October Ushers
10/5 M/A Wheeler
10/12 J/S Savoie
10/19 L Rockinger & C Molyneaux
10/26 ME Boomhower & ME Giroux
October Counters
10/5 D/P Wheeler
10/12 D/P Wheeler
10/19 D/P Wheeler
10/26 D/P Wheeler
4
Nicholas Garvey
7
Rina Bell
10
Marge Giaminelli
16
Brian Clune
18
Lindy Sue Czubernat
22
Eileen Hutchinson,
Kevin Pietrow
25
Bev Burnett,
Barbara Kausch
27
Tracy Cayer
29
Ruth Quinn
31
Kathy Hargis
~Save the Date~
Sunday, November 2
“Guatemala Sharing”
The women who went to Guatemala this summer will be sharing their experience (either in worship, or
in the evening, or both), and we hope to have a special guest preacher, Judith Castaneda, the founder
and Executive Director of CEDEPCA, the organization in Guatemala that hosts all our trips. In the
evening, I am hoping we will be able to have Judith along with Emerson Morales, another CEDEPCA
staff person and long time friend of many of us, as well as perhaps another friend from Guatemala to
join us for dinner and sharing about CEDEPCA’s programs and about Guatemala in general. This is
still very much “in the works” so keep an eye out for more definite information soon.
Trinity’s Prayer Chain is a form of ministry in which members
pray for concerns brought to their attention in the form of a telephone
chain. Please contact Shirley Savoie at 557-3070 or email her at
[email protected] You may also contact Kathy Gorman-Coombs using
her email [email protected] or phone 441-9286 with any concern that you
have.
SICM Food Sunday
The first Sunday of every
month, you are invited to bring
a non-perishable food item to
church. The next collection
will October 5. Place it in the
grocery cart at the back of
the sanctuary. At offering
time, some of the children will
wheel the cart up to the front as part of our
"offering" for that week-if you forget to place it in
the cart at the beginning of worship, you can put it in
the cart as it goes by. See Jean Hayes, Linda
Rockinger or Pat Wheeler with any questions.
The Scrapbooking Group
Scrapbooking will meet at Trinity, on
October 3 and October 24
Come give it a try, please bring a snack
to share & any ideas you may have!
See Amy Jessup with any questions.
Peacemaking Offering
Trinity is once again supporting the denomination-wide
collection of the Annual Peacemaking Offering. 75%
of the proceeds collected will go toward assisting the
national programs. More information on these programs
can be found in the hymnal inserts or by going to
the Presbyterian website.
25% of the funds donated through our church
this year will be used to support the Jail Ministry at the Schenectady
County Jail. We will be dedicating these funds on October 5th which is
also World Communion Sunday. Thank you in advance for your participation.
The Mission Committee
0
 Nicky Boehm who will be leading the Daniel Project throughout the fall.
 Polly Benjamin who taught Sunday school this fall.
“In Her Shoes” and Take Back the Night March
Thursday, October 23
YWCA-Northeastern NY
44 Washington Ave
Schenectady 12305
Since 1975, women and men have been participating in “Take
Back the Night” marches to protest sexual assault and
domestic violence. The event was introduced to instill and
reclaim a sense of safety during the night hours w hen
w omen are traditionally cautioned and taught to be afraid. Of
course, violence against women happens at all hours and in
many places—but “Take Back the Night” has become a
symbol, in the US as well as internationally, of proclaiming the
right of all people to feel safe in their homes, on the streets,
and in the workplace.
On Thursday, October 23, 2014, the YWCA Northeastern NY
will hold our 16th Annual Take Back the Night March, and we
w ould love for you and your organization to join us. Please
bring your organization or business banner and flashlights.
Prior to the Walk, there will be an opportunity to participate in
an exercise called “In Her Shoes” which simulates the
process a victim of Domestic Violence goes through when
seeking help or a way out of Domestic Violence. This event
will last up to 2 hours, and is fairly intense, though very
profound.
To get specific information about the times of these activities,
see Kathy Gorman-Coombs, or call the YWCA at 3743394, or check the web page at y wca-neny.org, or
Facebook:YWCA of Northeastern NY.
YWCA is collecting Shoes
we need your help!
We are collecting new and gently-used
shoes; Fund2org pays us for collecting
them. The shoes are then sorted and
delivered to Micro Enterprises who
distributes them to vendors in
countries like Haiti, Uganda and
Bolivia. The goal of the program is for
people in underprivileged nations to
become employed by setting up their
own businesses, selling the shoes. The
YWCA will receive $.40/pound for
collecting the shoes. Funds will support
our programs here at the YWCA.
What can you do? See Kathy GormanCoombs if you have shoes to donate or
they can be dropped at the YWCA.
Our first goal: 5000
pounds of shoes for women, men, &
children’s! Thank you for your
continued support for the YWCA!
Joan Nicole Prince Home announces its
9 th Annual “Night of a Thousand Stars” Gala
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Glen Sanders Mansion ~ One Glen Avenue, Scotia, New York
Cocktails/Appetizers - 6:00 P.M. Browse the Silent Auction
Dinner in the Ballroom - 7:15 P.M.
Presentations, Silent Auction, Live Auction 8:00 P.M.
Auction Closes - 9:30 PM
Dancing until 11:00 P.M. to music by . . . Rebecka Bombard, Disc Jockey
Please join us in providing safe end of life care to the residents of our community who at this
time in their life are so vulnerable!
Forms are available by visiting www.joannicoleprincehome.org or our Facebook page
If your business would like to sponsor this event, please contact
Susan Tomlinson at 518-346-5471
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
Choir
3
4
5
Worship 10am
World
Communion
Sunday
Peacemaking
Offering
SICM Food
Sunday
6
7
Deacons Meet
8
9
Choir
10
11
12
Worship 10am
13
14
15
Session Meets
16
Choir
17
18
Tim Away
Tim Away
Tim Away
23
Choir
24
25
YWCA Week
Without Violence
YWCA Week
Without Violence
19
Worship 10am
Jail Ministry
Meets
20
21
22
YWCA Week
Without Violence
YWCA Week
Without Violence
YWCA Week
Without Violence
Take Back
The Night
26
Worship 10am
Tim & Kathy
away Earl
Johnson
Preaching
27
28
29
30
Choir
31
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
Worship 10am
SICM FOOD
SUNDAY
3
4
5
6
Choir
7
8
Deacons Meet
Guatemala
Dinner
9
Worship 10am
10
11
12
13
Choir
14
15
Vendor Fair to
Support Mission
17
18
19
20
Choir
21
22
27
Choir
28
29
Harvest for the
Pantry
16
Worship 10am
Session Meets
23
Worship 10am
24
30
Worship 10am
Trinity Presbyterian Church
25
26