TRINITY EPISCOPAL   CHURCH    Mid-Week Announcements     November 13, 2019 Change in our 10:00 a.m. Service Beginning this Sunday, November 17, at the 10:00 a.m. service, the ushers will be asking a family to bring up the bread and wine at the offertory. This symbolizes our common connection to one another as a family of God and allows our children and youth to participate in our services in an ongoing basis. It also shows that the bread and wine are gifts from the people that we share. This Sunday is Stewardship In-Gathering Sunday This Sunday, November 17, is our annual Stewardship In-Gathering at both of our services. Please bring your completed pledge cards this Sunday to place on our altar as our gift to God and one another. Pledge Payments in by December 31 Please get your pledge payments for this year (2019) in by December 31 so that we can close the books. Thank you! Gingerbread for Community Meal November 14th We plan to serve gingerbread as part of our community meal on November 14th.  If you have some time and like to bake, could you please make some gingerbread and bring it to the church Thursday morning.  Leave it in the kitchen and we will take it to St. James for sharing.    Upcoming Community Meal  St. James, Highwood November 14  Our next opportunity to prepare a meal will be on November 14th. We begin at Trinity church at 3:00 p.m. making the meal, then go over to St. James, 134 North Ave., in Highwood at 5:00 p.m. to serve the meal. It has been such a blessing to all those involved!  Please sign up on the sign-up sheets in the Choir Forming Room.  Many thanks to the Outreach Committee for organizing this event.    We will share a meal together at Alex's Washington Gardens at 256 Green Bay Road in Highwood after we serve and clean-up (around 8:00 p.m. or maybe a little earlier) Last Sunday Listening Session Sunday, November 24 Our Last Sunday Listening Session will be November 24 at coffee hour after the 10:00 service. Women's Dinner, December 2 All Trinity women are invited to the monthly Trinity Women's Dinner. Our December Dinner is Monday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Froggy's French Cafe, 306 Green Bay Road, Highwood. Please contact Cynthia Wolpert at cynthia.wolpert@gmail.com or 847-527-7433 if you are interested in attending. Service for Kenn Fambro December 7 Kenn Fambro's funeral will be on Saturday, December 7 at 11:00 a.m. with reception following. Adult Forum The Fall Adult Forum Series is studying "The Universal Christ" by Richard Rohr. The group meets at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday (September 29 to November 17). Saturday Morning Bible Study All members of the church are invited to our Saturday morning Bible Study. We meet at 9:00 a.m. and study the readings for Sunday. Please join us! Planned Giving Committee Forming We are forming a committee to help grow our endowment through planned giving. We need one more parishioner to join us. If you are interested, please contact Fr. Court. Trinity Youth Group The Trinity Youth Group meets monthly for events that give to our community while building lasting friendships. Upcoming events are listed below. Please contact Ann Duggan or Julie Williams for more information. Sunday, November 24 Serve coffee hour after the 10 a.m. service and set up the Angel Tree Sunday, December 15 Gathering of Angel Tree gifts Sunday, January 12 Serve at Holy Family Soup Kitchen, Waukegan Saturday, February 22 Feed My Starving Children Sunday, March 8 Lake County Haven Sunday, April 26 Cradles to Crayons Sunday, May 17 Evanston -- renting bikes, eating out together FROM THE DESK OF  FATHER COURT "An Attitude of Gratitude" Every morning, when my kids would head off to school, I would tell them to, "have a day!" I would not tell them to have a nice day, or a good day, because the reality is that they might not. They might have a bad day. They might have a mediocre, boring day. The fact of the matter is, most days are a mix of good and bad, with some things going well and others going poorly. But I wanted them to remember to "have a day," to live the day that God gave them and to live that day as a gift from God. No matter what they faced in life, good or bad, God gave them that day to live and I wanted them to be grateful for that gift. I also wanted them to remember that they were not alone in that day, God was with them, good or bad, and it was God's presence that would allow them to live thankful lives that day. Scientists have proven, through the use of PET scans and MRIs, that when we purposely live our lives with a focus on gratitude and thankfulness, it rewires our brains toward joy. The more thankful we are for the life we have, the more joyful our life becomes. In other words, God created us to live thankful lives. We are made to live our lives focusing on being grateful for the many gifts bestowed upon us by God, most especially the gift of our very lives. That's how God made us. To live otherwise is to violate who we were designed and created to be. I n the 17th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, ten lepers are healed by Jesus. As they go to present themselves to the priests and be certified as clean only one comes back to thank Jesus. The gift Jesus has given them is life itself. As a leper they have been separated from society. They have to stand on the edges of society, begging for scraps as they shout out warnings to others to stay away. They are shut off from their families. They are shut off from their jobs. They are even shut off from God, not being allowed to enter the temple or synagogue to worship or sacrifice. Their life is over, except that they are still alive and walking around in their suffering, perhaps wishing death to take them soon. But then, Jesus heals them! Jesus restores everything that they value in one fell swoop. It is understandable that the ten were ready to rush off to the priests to be certified as clean. They want their life back! They want their families back! They want to be whole persons again! They are excited. But one, just one, stops in his tracks. He contemplates what has happened and he turns back and throws himself at Jesus' feet and gives thanks. He gives thanks from the depth of his soul. He sets aside all of those things which are pulling him elsewhere, and stops to give thanks. And Jesus, moved by his gratitude tells him, "Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well." But now we are a little confused by Jesus once again. What does faith have to do with gratefulness? Why is this person considered faithful when all he did was to turn back and give thanks? To live a grateful life is to trust that God is with us in all things. It is one thing to be faithful in worship attendance, to follow the rules and to say the prayers, but it is quite another thing to face all that we face in life with a grateful heart, confident in God's presence with us in all things. To have faith that God is with us in the hard parts of life allows us to have eyes that see the small gifts and blessings around us every day. We don't have to be saintly, to have the faith that allows us to face down an empire, in order to be faithful to God. We have but to be confident in God's presence with us, that allows us to see the world around us, and most especially the fellow children of God around us, as true gifts and blessings. When we set aside our fears, we set aside ourselves, which allows God to fill us with his presence. That presence enables us to see with God's eyes, to hear with God's ears, and to speak with God's voice. To live a life, trusting in God's presence, allows us to be grateful for all of God's gifts and blessings, which gives us a life filled with joy. We were created and designed for connection with God, which leads to joy on earth, and eternal life with God. As we approach our annual feast of Thanksgiving we must ask ourselves, "is this really about eating a huge feast and then watching football?" Or is it a chance to change our life focus toward gratitude. To turn our lives over to the loving presence of God and give thanks, everyday, for all of the gifts and blessings God has given us.   Yours in Christ, Court+ PLEASE SEND YOUR NOMINATION FOR A PERSON YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THE "SPOTLIGHT" TO CYNTHIA.WOLPERT@GMAIL.COM VESTRY NEWS Vestry Meetings The Vestry has voted to hold our ongoing meetings on the 3rd Sunday of each month at noon unless otherwise indicated in red.            November 17 December 15 January 19 Minutes of Vestry meetings are now available online (in .pdf format) . August minutes September minutes October minutes The Annual meeting is scheduled for February 2, 2020. MyMakom.org | 1301 Clavey Road, Highland Park 60035 (map) | View / download flyer (.pdf) INTERCESSORY PRAYER LIST Parishioners Pete Barber, Ingeborg Diebel, Dody Earhart, Ken Mines, Jodie McCann, Richard Monzingo, Fred Putz.   Relatives & Friends Alice Alix (mother of Jack Alix) Ann Amborsini (mother of Annette Johnston) Steve Baer (husband of Mary Baer) Ashlynn Baeseman (niece of Scott Baeseman) John Balke (son of Phil & Mary Balke) Tom Barber (brother of Peter Barber) Fred Berchtold (friend of Marilyn & Fred Putz) Penelope Bingham (friend of Mary Seyfarth) Sheila & Dan Brennan (friends of Jennifer Ould) Rhoda Fairheart (friend of Hilary Junkin) Linda Firstman (friend of Mary Seyfarth) Mark Freeman (brother of Nancy Freeman) Jennifer Garner (sister of Julie Williams) Bill & Liz Hagestad (brother and sister-in-law of Jim & Maura Hagestad) Mark & Megan Hallen (brother and niece of Lynn Hallen) Roxanne Hasse (friend of Cathy Mossler) Highland Park Police Department Peter Hlepas (father of Jett Hlepas) Claudia Hoogasion (friend of Hilary Junkin) Chiara Horak (great-niece of Ingeborg Diebel) Janie (friend of Mary Seaver) Greg Junkin (Hilary Junkin) Kathy Keiper (fellow parishioner and sister of Jill Lauer) David and Elly Kennicott (brother and sister-in-law of Susan Tappert) J. Kay Kolls (friend of Kathy Keiper) Nancy (fiancée of a friend of Fred Johnston) Kristin, Joseph, Kate (family of Peter Barber) Don Lang (friend of Marilyn & Fred Putz) Tom Langan (father of Peggy Hayner) Debbie MacWilliams (sister-in-law of Suzy Born) The Mark Family (friends of Paul Nelis) Patrick Nelis (father of Paul Nelis) Shawna Parti (niece of Cathy Mossler) Ruth LaVerne Pauls (mother of Laurel Lester) Residents of Aperion Healthcare (friends of Hilary Junkin) Bruno Saftschek (brother of Ingeborg Diebel) Luke Schneider (relative of Jill & Steve Lauer) Helen Simmons (friend of Seely-Browns) Toni Stanley (family of Peter Barber) Sarah Tinsley (friend of Hilary Junkin) Aileen Tyson (grandmother of Lisa Kasemir) Helene Umpleby (mother of Cheri Mitchneck) Beatrice Workman (friend of Tom and Susan Kovalcik) Caroline Yeilding (niece of Horace and Hood Seely-Brown) Those serving in the Armed Forces and their Families Ben Chellew (nephew of Cynthia Hines) The 822nd MP deployed to Afghanistan Pvt Luke McKean (nephew of Jenny & Chip McKean) Remembering all those we love but see no longer, especially those buried here in St. Michael's Chapel. Please also remember Nolen Blackstock, who passed Nov. 11, 2019 (father of Kevin Blackstock). (Please remember to send updated information for people on the prayer list when the information becomes available. Thank you.) available. Thank you.) Parish Contact Information FATHER COURT PARISH ADMINISTRATOR Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm   Pastoral Emergencies: The Rev. Court Williams at 541-525-6567   To contact Fr. Court via email - click link below:   Father Court Williams   Office Hours:   Monday-Friday, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm 847-432-6653 To contact Geoff via email - click link below:  Parish Administrator