Author: kminch

Adult Formation:  Adult formation was cancelled this week so we are planning on starting again this Wednesday, May 17 starting at 6:30 p.m. We will be starting the book “Why?  Making Sense of God’s Will,” by Adam Hamilton.  You can purchase the book new, used, or on Kindle here.  The book is only 4 chapters, and we will meet for 4 weeks.  If you plan to attend, please read Chapter 1, “Why do the innocent suffer?” prior to our session.  Please join us!

Deaconess Anne House Visit: Many thanks to Episcopal Service Corps members – Christian, Jose, and Katie – for travelling to Kirksville on April 29-30 to share their work with us. Their mentor, Rev. Rebecca Ragland, inspired us as well. Thanks too to all at Trinity who made their visit memorable, including Ian, Karen Croarkin, Jennifer Finley (from UMC) and her college students, as well as those who gave generously to a plate offering for Deaconess Anne House of over $100.

Fill the Ford:  Fill the Ford was once again a huge success! Generous Kirksville shoppers donated and the totals were:$228 in monetary donations: 1228 individual food items donated; $1612.30 worth of food, weighting 1070 lbs!  Thank you Kirksville Hy-Vee shoppers!  That’s just a shade over a half ton of generosity!  We have many, many additional thank yous. First, thank you to the (at last count) 23 people associated with Trinity (members or “friends of Trinity”) who helped in some way with the Fill the Ford – PR, Hy-Vee door duty, or sorting/packing/tallying the food to make it ready for the Food Depot pick up.  We’ll miss someone if we try to name everyone individually….so please accept this “en masse” thank you. 

Food for Kids:  Summer is rapidly approaching, and so is our (usually week-long) commitment to feeding kids in the Kirksville parks.  If you would be willing to chair or co-chair this Trinity effort, please contact Diane Johnson  (text or phone) at 349-9137.

From Maria About Her Next Assignment:  It is simultaneously with deep hope for the future and with the bittersweetness of all “goodbyes” that I announce the timetable for my departure from Trinity.

I have accepted the post of Chaplain of what will be a new community of faith in the Diocese of Missouri–The Community of St. Brigid at Shepherd Farm.  God willing, following priestly ordination, I will also be Priest Associate at Church of the Good Shepherd and have some duties there.

My duties at St. Brigid’s begin June 11.  God willing, following ordination on June 29, I will return to Trinity one last time on July 2 to preach and preside over the Eucharist, and make that my “official goodbye”.

There will be some awkwardness with this departure as it is a part time position and I will still be working at Chariton Labs and living in Kirksville part of the week. It means you will be bumping into me at Hy-Vee and Pancake City, but I will no longer be a part of the life of Trinity-Kirksville, and drawing good boundaries setting limits to the level we will interact in the future. These are difficult but necessary steps so that you can begin to welcome new clergy and love them, just as I need to begin to love the people I will serve that I have not yet met. We have several weeks left together, and time to talk about what that looks like.

In closing, please be assured that you will be in my prayers–often–as you work through the search process and the call process, and for the lifegiving future of this faith community.  You may not know it, but when you gave my my Prayer Book/Hymnal at my diaconal ordination, I taped the pages of the card inside its covers.  Every time I use my Prayer Book, I see your names, and I see you.  You will be with me wherever my ministry takes me…at least until someone revises the Prayer Book!

In love, deep gratitude, and appreciation for being raised by you and the privilege of serving you in the name of Christ,

Maria L. Evans
Transitional Deacon