A monthly newsletter of Trinity United Methodist Church ...a Stephen Ministry Congregation Volume 19, Issue 10 October 2019 Come & See … Tricks or Treats Program Ministry News Promotion Sunday Pictures Big Fish, Little Fish, Minnows Children’s Ministry Pool Party Sisters In Praise Women’s Retreat College Football Rivalry Puzzle Lay Servant Ministry Training A Prayer for Peace Memorials & Gifts Thank You Notes Those Who Serve We Care/Prayer List Birthdays/Anniversaries A Look at Beauty … Go & Tell Open Hearts Open Minds Open Hearts Open Doors Open Minds Open Doors Tricks or Treats It's Halloween time again. All of us over fifty will make a run to the store to buy a big bag of candy for the kids who don't come around anymore. Somehow in the last thirty years Halloween has become an adult holiday. Adults go out and rent or buy incredibly expensive, and sometimes risqué, costumes to wear to their favorite watering hole for a night of alcohol and indigestion causing foods. Next to Christmas, we spend more money on Halloween in the ole USA than any other holiday. It wasn't always this way. I remember the great anticipation I had as a child as the thirty-first of October drew near each year. I had a great Casper the friendly ghost costume one year. I dressed up as my favorite spook and my mother would walk me completely around the neighborhood, as I made my hollow threat of extortion to our neighbors. My reward was enough candy to cause multiple cavities and the onslaught of type 2 diabetes. I would go home and spread my “catch” out on the table and slowly start devouring it all, one piece at a time. As I grew older, I outgrew the costume and went out with only a mask to hide my true identity. I know in my hometown that there was an ordinance that prohibited kids over the age of twelve from wearing a mask. It seems some older folks decided a Halloween mask was a good cover for someone robbing a gas station. This was about the same time some idiot in our community put a razor blade in an apple. The rumor was that some child had split his face open on the razor blade and had been rushed to the hospital. Nobody knew who this kid was, but nobody wanted a smile like the Joker’s. Not wanting to take any chances, the local hospital started offering their x-ray equipment to the public each Halloween as a means of checking for foreign objects in their kids’ Halloween bags. This was the time Halloween changed. Parents went from following their children in the car to become personal bodyguards for their little goblins. The result was that fewer and fewer children started coming and knocking on our door each October. The Halloween candy would still be there for the Easter Bunny to recycle. Halloween carnivals became the in thing to do until the conservative churches and the ACLU began battling over the holiday and public funding. Some churches used this children’s holiday as a chance to have haunted houses based on their concept of hell. Their purpose was to scare children out of hell into heaven. This usually worked about as long as the Halloween candy lasted. The Halloween carnival became the fall festival. Kids quit trick or treating and adults became much more interested in the holiday than the kids were. I could hear the death knoll for the lonely trick or treater being sounded as half drunk, half clothed adults hurried by on their way to their parties. Each Halloween, however, Margo and I still go and buy a huge bag of candy in hopes that someone will still ring our door bell. This year I suggested to Margo that we buy candy that we don't like. Neither one of us needs to add 4 pounds of sugar to our waist this year and with Thanksgiving coming up we have to start pacing ourselves. I still remember one Halloween when I was in the fourth grade. I got sick the day before Halloween and my mother took me to see the doctor. I got a shot, of course, and cried all the way home. It wasn't the shot that caused the tears. He told my mother to not let me go out on Halloween. I begged and pleaded with my mother who finally relented. She went with me to six doors on our street. I got a little candy and some great medicine because she did not do what the doctor said, which was a first. There have been 54 Halloweens since then, but that is the one that still means the most. So turn your porch lights on, put a bowl of candy next to the door, and see who comes to your door this year. It will probably be a small child, holding on to the hand of a grandparent, who is getting more out of the night than their grandchild is. Kim Program Ministry News Well, we have dropped down to the cool ‘80s in temperature around here. It’s Fall at the beach. If we hit the 70’s, we’ll think we need to pull out our winter coats to go with our flip flops. The seasons are just different here, are they not? To celebrate the Fall season, we have some exciting programming coming. Check out the details below. Plan to join us and bring a friend! Peace and Joy, Cindy Fish Club … continues every Wednesday night in October, from 5:15—7:00 p.m. for children ages 4 through 5th grade. We will be learning about Nehemiah, Esther, Job, David, and Jeremiah. We’ll have exciting crafts to go with each Bible story, a delicious meal, and music with Andy. We’re already working on our Christmas music! Thanks so much, church family, for the sound panels in Cordie Page. I’m so happy to tell a Bible story and not shout one. Sound quality in our beloved building is now much improved. Children & Youth Sunday … will be Sunday, October 27th. Our children and youth will help lead worship that day. These young leaders will one day be our church leaders. What a fun day we will have as we celebrate our Trinity young people on this special Sunday. Triple L —Hopsawee Tea in Georgetown Our seniors’ fellowship group, Triple L, will venture to Georgetown for a tea featuring the tastes and traditions of the Lowcountry region, at the Hopsawee Plantation on Thursday, October 3rd. Plan to meet at Cordia Page at 10:30 a.m. to go. Let Cindy know if you’re planning to attend. Cost is $18.50 for lunch and a tour. Operation Christmas Child … is coming. Our shoeboxes should arrive in a few weeks. We’ll begin to distribute these in late October. They are due to be returned to Operation Christmas Child on November 10th. When these are available at worship, we’ll have a flyer with more details and suggestions on items to include in your boxes. Thank you in advance for your loving generosity in sharing God’s love with children around the world. Children’s Fall Festival … is scheduled for Saturday, October 26th, from 10:00—11:30 a.m. at Cordie Page. Our families and children are invited to more fun and games. Make plans to join us for an exciting Fall Festival at Trinity! ‘Sisters in Praise’ Fall Women’s Retreat at the Beach … will be November 6th—November 9th. The program on Thursday and Friday will be ‘True Treasure.’ See the ad in the newsletter for more details, or see Tammi Seeders or Cynthia Terres. Until further notice, our Sunday morning schedule will be: Sunday School 9:00 AM Blended Worship 10:00 AM Promotion Sunday, August 25 “Faith Under Construction” ‘Sisters in Praise’ Fall Women’s Retreat @ the Beach November 6th at 4:00 p.m.— November 9th at 11:00 a.m. Program presented by Cindy Smith. Come and join us as we discover our ‘True Treasure’ Sea Watch Resort Oceanfront in Myrtle Beach. 161 Sea Watch Drive. 10 overnight spots are available. Cost is $50 per person to stay three nights. Or, please join us for the day on Thursday and Friday. ‘True Treasure’ sessions will be on Thursday, November 7th from 1:00—3:00 p.m. and lunch will be provided that day. The breakfast buffet is at Captain’s Cove (cost is $13.25) Dinner out at a local restaurant is group’s choice. To sign up, contact Tami Seeders at 864-377-4081 or Cynthia Terres. There Is Nothing Like a College Football Rivalry! This fall we are fundraising to support our youth ministry at Trinity! All of the funds raised will go to support Youth Ministry. How does football come into play? We will have 3 boxes set up each week: one Clemson, one, one Carolina, and one Others. Whoever raises the most money will be rewarded by seeing the church staff sporting their colors on December 1st, the day after the game! Support your favorite team, support your youth, and let’s play ball! Monies collected through Sunday, September 22 , totaled $1,332.13 $757.52 for Clemson , $463.11 for Carolina, and $111.50 for Others Thanks First Responders!!! Children’s Ministry Pool Party A Prayer for Peace St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian Catholic friar, is commemorated on October 4. Though it’s unclear whether this famous “peace prayer” was his, it reflects his gentle spirit as an ardent Christ-follower: Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is error, truth; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy.