The next American Red Cross blood drive at Holy Trinity will be on Thursday, June 1.  Go to www.redcrossblood.org/give or call 1-800-REDCROSS to make an appointment.  All donors in June will receive a $10 gift card to a merchant of their choice.  Thank you for considering giving the gift of life!

On April 25^th, 1650 people of faith, including seven members of Holy Trinity, met at the Celeste Center on the Ohio State Fairgrounds for the B.R.E.A.D. (Building Responsibility, Equality, And Dignity) Organization’s Nehemiah Action meeting.  The B.R.E.A.D. Organization is composed of 44 central Ohio congregations of various faiths, and it includes five Lutheran congregations. At the annual Nehemiah meeting, B.R.E.A.D. confronts serious community problems important to its member congregations by asking public officials with power to solve these problems to commit to B.R.E.A.D.‘s proven solutions.

Achieving a solution is challenging and often takes years of research and negotiating. B.R.E.A.D. works with experts to understand the problem and identify evidence-based solutions, and then negotiates with the officials to address their concerns.  The Nehemiah is important because B.R.E.A.D. leaders ask the officials to commit publically to implement the B.R.E.A.D. proposals. Because the officials make their commitments in public, they can be held accountable.

At this year’s Nehemiah, B.R.E.A.D. celebrated progress by the City of Columbus’ adoption of three B.R.E.A.D. issues: Columbus Violence Reduction Initiative (CRVI), an Elder Care program, and an environmental issue.  B.R.E.A.D. has worked on these issues for several years and officials were diligent in following through on their commitments. The B.R.E.A.D. community rejoices in these results.

B.R.E.A.D. was also successful this year in having Jennifer Adair, President of the Columbus Board of Education, respond positively to the issue of implementing Restorative Practices in Columbus City Schools. “Restorative practices is a field within the social sciences that studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities (www.iirp.edu).”  In particular, research shows restorative practices help effectively address conflicts among students and others by working to make the victim whole and relationships restored.

Other issues on the agenda concerned affordable housing, municipal identification, police-community relations, and an Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) program.

• The affordable housing issue addresses the needs of those spending over half of their income on housing and making less than ½ of the median income in central Ohio.
• Not having an identification card is a problem for about 80,000 people in central Ohio and a municipal identification will allow access to banking, libraries, food pantries, visitation at schools, local government buildings, and emergency housing.
• Relationships between the Black community and Columbus police are tense and B.R.E.A.D. is advocating for a formal reconciliation program between the community and police.
• The ABLE program is aimed at teaching skills for police officers to act when they see other officers, including superiors, making egregious errors.

B.R.E.A.D. has identified solutions for problems underlying these issues, but at this time, no public official will commit to B.R.E.A.D.’s solution.  B.R.E.A.D. research committees will continue to work with the appropriate public officials so that these serious community problems can be addressed.

If you are interested in knowing more or becoming involved in the work of the B.R.E.A.D. Organization, please contact Dave Kriska, Sharon Hamersley or Benson Ross.

Things are moving along nicely on our Habitat house. We have passed all of our inspections, and this week we’re moving on to hanging drywall. We have subcontractors do that work so you don’t have to worry about swallowing drywall dust, we will do other things like insulating and siding work. We will be taking this weekend off due to the Memorial Day holiday but please consider joining us in June! This year’s Habitat home is located at 1272 Genesee Ave. in the Linden area, between Hudson and Weber. Please contact Benson Ross at detailsdetails96@gmail.com for more information.

Kitengela, Kenya – April 30, 2023

Elli, Melea and I had opportunity to visit Kenya from April 26 through May 8 for an introduction to the Sikhona Rescue Centre in Kitengela along with Kenyan culture and wildlife.  While we are eager to offer a fuller presentation of our experience in the coming weeks, here is a clip of our worship experience with Hope Worldwide Pentecostal Ministries which is attended by several of Elli’s Sikhona teammates and where I was invited to preach.

While Sunday activities didn’t last 5-6 hours, it was a full day from 9am to 12:45pm. Given communication challenges across cultures, faith traditions and language, I only learned on arrival at church that morning that the first hour would be focused on my teaching of church leaders around the topic of discipleship.  With help of the Holy Spirit, my attention quickly turned to Ephesians 4 and teachings on the varieties of gifts in the one Spirit that guides our own equipping model of church administration.  Interestingly enough, Bishop Richard Njiru, who serves the congregation, had led a Bible study on that passage the previous Wednesday!

Then, after a brief interlude for conversation with the Bishop over hot ginger lemonade, we rejoined the expanding worship community at 10:30 where I offered some homiletical reflections on one of the theme verses for the community:  Job 14:7-9. You can hear those comments and a couple other glimpses of worship at this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXI5zSMK3t0

In the printed newsletter are a few pictures of the blessed occasion until we make an opportunity for sharing the experience with you more fully. In the meantime, to say the least, our impression and experience of the worldwide family of God is forever strengthened!

Peace,
Pastor Steve

Holy Trinity has been asked by LSS Food Pantry if our church would like to have a designated day to help out at the 1460 S. Champion Ave. Food Pantry. The facility is extremely well-run and one of the nicest pantries in town. Its patrons have three options as they go through with a cart. There is a weekly meat choice, milk, eggs and bread. Mid-Ohio Food Bank keeps them well-stocked with a nice variety of vegetables and fruit which are distributed daily by volunteers at the end of the line. And then once a month, if the patrons have gone on-line and ordered, they receive a box of canned and dry good items, laundry and paper products and assorted personal care items. We would need to choose a day of the month that works best for us, figure out transportation and contact them with our decision. Do we have any interest?? I wondered if we might meet after worship on Sunday, May 21 for a short meeting in the church library to gauge our thoughts. LSS said we would need 6-8 volunteers to be able to have a designated day, which seems very doable since Cathy Steffen and I have been going down on a regular basis since January.  It would just guarantee us a set day instead of taking what’s left. Please call or text Cyndy Decker with questions.

From Elizabeth Sammons With Love from our Neighbor to Neighbor Ministry Team

Simon B. Rhymin’ Takes a Stand, The End of Bias, and Lady Blackrobes are books that I’ve read myself or seen as books of note. This literature intends to expand our awareness, theology and/or acceptance of diverse viewpoints. We on the Neighbor to Neighbor team hope you’ll discover how these writings from various generations embrace what it means to be human and to walk in spirit. …

Simon B. Rhymin’ Takes A Stand by Dwayne Reed
When Simon and his crew notice inequality in their school and neighborhood, they use rhymes to help bring their community together. For grades 5-8. 2022.

The End of Bias: A Beginning by Jessica Nordell
The author examines strategies for eliminating unintentional bias and discrimination by discussing the impact of unconscious bias in medicine, the workplace, education, policing, and more. She also explores what tactics to mitigate this have been shown most effective, citing specific examples. 2021.

Lady Blackrobes: Missionaries in the Heart of Indian Country by Irene Mahoney.
In 1884, the nuns of the Ursuline order left their Toledo home for the plains and mountains of Montana with hopes of bringing Native Americans into their religion. This book draws on journals, letters, and other archival material, to relate the nuns’ diligent efforts in the face of hardship while providing a critical look at the mission’s negative impact on Native culture.

Thanks to all who have contributed eyewear to send to VOSH – Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity. This year members of Holy Trinity donated 45 pairs of eyeglasses in cases, 3 pairs of uncased classes, 3 pairs of sunglasses, 2 clip-on sunglasses and 4 pairs of broken frames with lenses. These items have been sent but the box with glasses pictures continues to welcome your contributions as we go through the coming year. Thank you!

We had great weather and accomplished great things last week at our Habitat house! Almost all of the siding is done, and most of the trades have been inspected and passed. This week we will start insulating and getting ready for drywall as well as working on the outside trim. Come on out and help out! This year’s Habitat home is located at 1272 Genesee Ave. in the Linden area, between Hudson and Weber. The house we are building is a two-story, four-bedroom, two-bath style with a full basement and a front porch. Please contact Benson Ross at detailsdetails96@gmail.com for more information.

The Vacation Bible School planning team is looking for shepherds to lead children as they rotate through the various VBS stations (Monday-Thursday, July 10-13).  As a shepherd, there is no formal lesson to prepare.  Shepherds help the children with crafts, learn songs, play games, and converse about the theme of the day.  Your guidance and leadership will be appreciated as we all have fun during our VBS days.  Please reach out to Noelle Fox at Noelle.fox@engagedbygrace.org to volunteer or ask questions.

We accomplished a lot at our Habitat house last week. The roof is on and the house is drying out. We’ve installed the windows and the front and back doors so the house is secure. We are now working on inside framing and when the weather is good, we are putting up siding on the exterior of the home. Come on out Thursdays and Saturdays to join the fun and help us build a home for Kateresa and her family. For more information, please contact Benson Ross at detailsdetails96@gmail.com.