Garden season is finally here! The snow has melted, the garden is ready with aged manure, we’re ready to plant and we need you! This spring marks the beginning of the second year of our community garden, one of 12
community gardens in the Grow Local urban community garden network. Grow Local's vision is to build, nourish, and nurture community through establishing and growing urban gardens. Through Grow Local, each garden is assigned a Master Gardener and provided resources and support. Community gardens are intended to be shared with the community, and if enough produce is available, with food pantries. Our garden engages residents of Centennial Neighborhood and contributes to St. John’s Food Pantry. The garden is an important part of our neighborhood because Trinity is in the middle of an urban food desert, where residents must travel 1 mile or more to the nearest healthy food vendor. You can learn more about urban food deserts at www.trinitylafayette.org/garden. On top of that, nearly one in six people in Tippecanoe County are food insecure, which means that while most people have a source of income, there is a gap between what they earn and what they need to provide three meals a day for their family. Food insecurity has far-reaching impacts in neighborhoods, classrooms and the workplace including health issues. Tippecanoe County has one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the state of Indiana. Mel Shoaf returns as our Garden Manager. This year Gloria Thompson will be the garden volunteer coordinator and Julieann Davis will be our Master Gardener. But, our garden and the Garden and Grill meals cannot thrive without volunteers. Did you know that last year, approximately 63 million Americans (or about 25% of all adults) volunteered 8 billion hours, valued at $193 billion? That’s a huge contribution to our communities! Your experience, skills, expertise, enthusiasm and passion are valued here at Trinity. Get involved with the garden!
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By Pastor Tracey Leslie
This year during Lent our Sunday worship has included a segment called “We Are the Church Together;” an “interview” with church folks about their engagement with Trinity. We’ve heard from a variety of people (Bronwen Everton, Morris DuBose, Amanda Atkins, Dr. Steve Ash, and Susan Eicher). They’ve shared with us some of the ways they have connected and served and what has made Trinity a special place for them. Many of you are aware that Trinity was awarded a grant from the conference last year; and received a DNR grant for our brickwork. We are currently applying for additional grants to fund the care of our facilities and our community outreach programs. Many of these grants require reports on metrics related to Trinity’s membership and worship attendance. While membership and worship attendance are important, they represent only a small piece of what Church involves. Being part of a church involves far more than showing up for Sunday worship. The Book of Acts tells the story of the Church’s beginnings. Early in Acts, right after the story of Pentecost, we read a summary statement about what life was like among the early Christians. So, what did it mean to be a part of the early Church? What kind of “metrics” might they have used in the first century? Acts 2:42-47 tells us that the early Christians spent a lot of time with one another: they fellowshipped together and ate meals together; they learned stories of Jesus from the apostles; they prayed together; they worshiped together; they practiced generosity and sharing, being willing to sell possessions so that they might distribute the proceeds of those sales to their brothers and sisters who were in need. Not surprisingly, our “We Are the Church interviews” have named some of these very same things. Trinity folks have shared the joy they experience in serving those in need, in supporting the church financially, through worship, prayer and being a part of one another’s lives. That’s what it means to be the Church! When we say “We are the Church Together,” the word “together” is just as important as the word “church.” Church is about who we are together in Christ and the work that God is able to do through us together. Recently, one of our church members, Richard Jewell, had a need. His apartment has steps leading up to the porch. Because Richard now uses a walker, those steps are difficult for him to manage. Richard needed a ramp to allow him to more easily and safely get out and about to church and other places as well. One church member responded to that need by giving a financial contribution to construct a ramp. Maintenance team coordinator Bob Lilly did some initial research on constructing the ramp and putting a plan in place. We received permission from the landlord. Then, Trinity’s volunteer maintenance team (see the team picture on the front page!) worked together to construct a ramp for Richard. Richard is so thankful for this blessing. I can’t think of a better example of what it means to be the church together! Our “We Are the Church Together” interviews will conclude in mid-April. I hope you have taken time to check out the green sheets in the Sunday program to consider ways you can get more engaged at Trinity. I hope you’ve responded by turning in your sheet. On Sunday, April 22, during morning worship, we’ll place all of the green sheets – representing our commitments to being the Church together – on the altar. And we’ll say a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving for those who have committed to being the church together. Miller Team Call-Out Meeting: Thursday, March 22
Miller Elementary is located near downtown Lafayette. There are approximately 420 students enrolled in grades K-4 with a full time faculty of 20 classroom teachers, 3 special education resource teachers, several paraprofessionals, an Instructional Coach, Counselor, ELL teacher, and a Speech and Language Pathologist. Support staff includes an art teacher, music teacher, physical education teacher, library assistant, school nurse, secretary, attendance clerk and custodial staff. Miller operates a school-wide Title I program, with all students eligible for Title 1 services, which allows for flexible small group approach to reading and/or mathematic intervention. In addition, 84% of students are eligible for free lunch (which means their family income is $15,171 or less) compared to the 40% in Lafayette as a whole. The curriculum at Miller Elementary School is anchored in a program integrating rigorous state standards into the educational experiences of every child. The teachers strive to increase student achievement in all content areas by linking state standards, systematic performance assessments with ongoing data analysis, instructional decision-making based on research-verified best practices, and professional development grounded in the ongoing review of research. Thomas Miller Elementary School has a number of community partnerships. Trinity UMC strives to be one of these community partners that support the teachers and staff, and through them, the students. Supporting our local elementary school (Trinity is in Miller’s district) is just one way that we seek to grow stronger relationships with our community. Pam Delaplane leads this ministry. Our Miller outreach initiative is part of our Ready Set Grow Program, advancing our goal to connect to our community. Over the past year, she has met with the principal to see where we can support the teachers, and has helped coordinate opportunities to support the teachers, and through them, the students and their families. In 2017 and early 2018, we:
On Thursday, March 22 at 6 pm in the Parlor Conference Room, come to the Miller Ministry Team call-out meeting. The team will be discussing upcoming opportunities to serve Miller and make plans for the spring and summer. Some possible opportunities expressed by the principal include:
By Ruth Smith and Melissa Kramer
One aspect of the Ready, Set, Grow grant was to redesign the Care Fund, our emergency assistance funded by your communion donations, to be more relationship driven. Over the past few months, Ruth has been researching programs and learning more about our community’s resources to figure out a way to better serve our neighbors in need. We found that we needed to bring together our Caring Fund and the F2F ministry, because both focus on building relationships with low-income families and individuals while supporting their financial, relational, and spiritual growth. This month, we began our new process. The Caring Fund works to support and encourage low income people and people in recovery to improve their lives, building on their own actions, gifts and resources. Our goal is to develop transformative relationships with individuals and households, and through our daily life and work, glorify God, support ourselves and our families, and benefit our community. Our guiding verse is 1 John 3:17-18. We offer gas/grocery cards, utility, and rent assistance to church members and individuals referred by our community partners: Home with Hope, YWCA Domestic Violence Program, and Food Finders. Other forms of assistance are determined on a case by case basis, and require approval from the head pastor. If others stop by, and have been helped by us in the past, we will meet with them and determine if they are a fit for our program. For those who agree to participate in Family-to-Family, are already in case management, or would like individual on-going support through the Caring Fund, we will support their development as determined with the individual/family. Volunteers with the Caring Fund work with individuals requesting help and referred to us from our partners. They connect individuals with jobs around the church with the maintenance team, coffee cart ministry, second Tuesday meals, community garden, and more and then follow up with them. If desired, volunteers work with individuals to develop an action plan for longer term support. We need volunteers that will commit to calling families and individuals to check in with them, follow up, and help us build relationships with our neighbors. Training will be provided. We also need volunteers to attend and assist with the monthly gatherings. If you are interested, please contact Ruth or Melissa. |
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