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Pathways
March 2009TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
TRINITYPRESBYTERIAN STAFFPastor
Gary HansonHome: (651) 501-1820Cell: (651) 373-1821gary@trinitywoodbury.org
Administrator/PastoralCare Coordinator
Dee LindblomMon-Fri 8:30am-2:00pmdee@trinitywoodbury.orgCell:(651) 353-6724
 Christian EducationDirector
Carmen Speich
carmen@trinitywoodbury.org
 Cell: (715) 310-7006
Church Musician
Joyce Piper
 Choir Director
Neal Strand
Seminary Intern
Joa SevlieCell: (952) 303-2679
Child Care Providers
 Ali PetersonNicole Rucker2125 Tower DriveWoodbury MN 55125Phone & Fax:(651) 738-0045
Daylight Saving Time begins onSunday, March 8, 2009 at 2a.m.
Set your clocks an hourforward
before you go to bedSaturday!
TRINITY’S NEW SOUND SYSTEM
Did you know that one of the top reasons why visitors choose achurch is audio quality? It’s true: if visitors can’t hear the wor-ship service clearly, they will probably choose another church.That’s one reason why Trinity’s session decided to spend desig-nated and memorial funds on a new sound system.For months Trinity has been getting by with a borrowed soundsystem from member Brad Wright until a permanent replace-ment could be installed, and in February technicians installed anew sound system into the sanctuary.The original system had been in place since the church was builtin 1987 and it was clearly time to replace it. Numerous prob-lems prevented the system from being fully effective in the pastseveral years and when the system finally stopped working lastyear, Brad graciously loaned his personal equipment to thechurch.But that’s all changed now. While replacing the central controlsystems, the church installed new speakers supplying a moreeven sound pattern across the entire sanctuary, rather than justin the center aisle. The new system also permits on-going up-grades as the church’s needs and budget dictate.For now though, the system supports up to three wireless micro-phones (from one in the past), and several other audio inputsincluding state-of-the-art microphones to capture musical per-formances, CDs and cassette tapes all of which were difficult orimpossible with the old equipment.Interested members are invited to speak with Pastor Hanson orBrad Wright about running the new system during worship.
 
PathwaysPage 2
MUSINGS AND AMUSINGS FROM THE PASTOR…
I
t is no secret that this country is in troubled economic times--whether it’s themortgage meltdown, the plummeting stock market, or high unemployment andcompany closings. The result is billion dollar bail-outs for some, budget cuts, belttightening for others, and cutbacks. The official diagnosis is a “severe global eco-nomic recession,” the likes of which Americans have not seen since the Great Depres-sion. Now I understand a little bit more of what my mother always talked about whenshe said, “I grew up during the Depression, and we reused tin foil; we never threw awaypaper or magazines; and you sat at the table until you cleaned every morsel on yourplate!” 
In times like these
, I think it’s a natural inclination for us to simplify, and focus onwhat really matters—things like family and friends, and investing in relationships. And,along with this “hunkering down,” we try to become even more self-sufficient. Unfortu-nately, this can often lead to additional problems. In tight economic times, experts saythat people are more prone to “cocoon”—we go out less, we stay home more. And forsome, especially one person and single heads of households, the decrease in humanconnection can spiral into a deepening sense of isolation and loneliness. The result is theloss of social capital, a “social recession,” so to speak.
Social recession hits hard
. When you lose your job, self-doubt sets in. When you loseyour house, you lose your neighbors, your school, your community. Expectations dimin-ish. Pessimism creeps in. The church suffers, too--when the dollars disappear, some of the church’s specialties like outreach and mission giving also suffer. The temptation forthe church is to do what everyone else is doing—pull back, play it safe with no increasein the budget; just take care of ourselves.
I heard that Mr. Rogers
, the kindly, cardigan-wearing kids’ TV show host and the in-spiration for my “Mr. Hanson’s Neighborhood” at recent Trinity talent shows, came to re-gret saying and singing to a generation of American children, “You are special.” Appar-ently in his later years, Mr. Rogers was afraid he had taught these children to feel toospecial about themselves, too loved! He was concerned they weren’t balancing an ap-propriate sense of self esteem with a sense of humility and regard for others.
Congregations can miss this balance
, too. I believe now more than ever thatchurches must be on the look-out for reaching out and cultivating a strong sense of mis-sion toward others. It’s been said that the
church exists for those who are not yet a part of it.
A humorous sign says: “Due to rising energy costs and recent budget cuts, we re-gret to inform you that the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off!” Since weat Trinity are serious in our church commitments and mission outreach, we need to re-main what Jesus calls the “Light of the World,” especially during this social recession.
Gary 
 
Committees
  Adult Education
Marnelle Anderson 735-3287
Building & Grounds
Greg VanderVeer 739-3032
Christian Education
Kirk Breen 436-4212
Clerk of Session
Pat Kimbrough 714-0704
Communications
Susan Jamison 578-7100
Long Range Planning
 Darryl Willison 739-2674
Mental Health Group
Dee Lindblom738-0045 or 353-6724dee@trinitywoodbury.org
Mission & Action
Pat Channer 735-7741
Moderator of Deacons
Cheri McCreary 735-9094
Newsletter 
Mark Allen 204-3188
newsletter@trinitywoodbury.org
Nominating
Stacie Anderson612-483-2630
Nursery Coordinators
 Tina Hacker 714-9671
Pastoral Care
Gary Hanson 738-0045
Personnel 
Steve Theiss 578-9348
Prayer Chain
Dee Lindblom738-0045 or 353-6724dee@trinitywoodbury.org
Shared Ministry 
Wilson Ekinde 501-3661
Special Events
Barb Freeman 731-1220
Stewardship & Finance
Jay Wilkinson 731-7607
Worship
Ruth Bloom 739-0715
MARCH 2009 Page 3
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
What a busy time of yearit has been!The youth have beenkeeping me on my toeslately…we have beenworking hard during Sun-day School and LOGOS,planning the Ash Wednes-day service, planning thePizza Fundraiser, and in-between we have FirstSunday’s, cinnamon rollsales, a ski retreat, andplanning for retreats andmore.These same involved andbusy youth are going toMexico this summerthrough the Intercambio Cultural Exchange, and there has beentalk of taking a week this summer to do a more local missionopportunity as well! A big thanks goes out to the youth forworking so hard these last few months. We are excited to seewhat happens with the pizza fundraiser and are hoping to makeit an annual event!Not only is Trinity keeping me busy, and working at camp too,but there is one interesting thing that I have been up to that Ithought I would share. I have recently joined a team of peopleworking at a new non-profit organization called Thirst Missions.(You can find the website atwww.thirstmissions.orgfor moreinformation and beautiful photos!) With this group I am goingto be a Mission Consultant and Trip Leader to their mission des-tination of Belize in Central America. I had a training in Atlantaa few weeks ago, and am spending 10 days in Belize during thefirst weeks of March for hands-on training.International mission is something that I’ve experienced beforewhile working in Germany, and I am excited to see what Godwill be teaching me and others as we embark on this new ad-venture! Please feel free to ask questions if you’re interested inmission work or if you’re just curious.
Carmen, Christian Education Director 
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