The Trinitarian

Trinity Heights United Methodist Church, Newton, Kansas December 2016

From the Pastor…

What is your favorite Christmas dessert? Is it homemade Candy like the UMW made for their bazaar? Or is it Christmas cookies? Spritz cookies with the little silver BB’s, ok not real BBs, but boy did I laugh when I put a real BB on my brother’s cookie and watch him try to eat it. Totally got in trouble for this; had to write sentences, “I will not put real BB’s in cookies.” Maybe you like the tried and true cookies the family recipe passed down in your family, the oldies but goodies of Chocolate chip or maybe even cut out sugar cookies. Do you sprinkle sugar on your sugar cookies, or do you ice and decorate them? Peanut butter cookies with the fork made criss cross pattern in the top were always a favorite; we liked the chewy peanut butter cookies. So now that I have you day dreaming about cookies. . .It is officially the time of waiting beginning this Sunday. Each Sunday we will light the advent candle as we begin worship. Please let us know in the office if you would like your family to light the candle on a Sunday Morning. On Thursday, December 8

th, from 2-4pm I will offer an Advent book study. Walter Bruegge-

mann has written a new study “Names for the Messiah.” We will have snacks and share the study. There will be short breaks and we will have the books to start reading soon. I hope that you will make an extra special commitment to praying to find one person to invite to one of the Christmas Eve worship services. We will have a 5pm, 7pm & 11pm worship service. We will have great music and a special message just for Christmas Eve. Yes we will sing carols, take communion, and close by singing Silent Night by candlelight. Our Christmas Eve Offering will go to Asbury Park this year. Our offering can be used to help the ministries and the shortfall for the times when our senior adult population does not have the money they need. We will also make it possible for so many to continue to get the care they need. The changes in our state aid make it difficult for our senior adults to continue to get care. If I don’t see you Thursday at the community Thanksgiving meal then I will see you Sunday for the first Sunday of Advent. Pastor Donna

A little Dessert with Donna

The

Christian

Education

Greetings!

THUMC Youth Group wants to sincerely thank

each and every one of you who contributed to our

Mission Project – Relief Bags! The support has been overwhelming. We have raised approximately

$2,000. We have started placing bulk item orders

and expect to have all items the first week in De-

cember. Our plan is to set up stations in Fellowship

Hall on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and put all

the bags together. This will be quite a chore but we

are so excited to be doing this! We are confident

with the funds raised we will meet and possibly ex-

ceed our goal of 500 bags. THUMC ROCKS!!

As a reminder Youth Group will break the same

time as USD 373. So, our last meeting for the year

will be December 21st from 5:45pm – 7:15pm. We

will have dinner then have our Christmas Party. We

will resume our regular meetings January 11th, 2017.

We have most recently been talking about relation-

ships. Our first lesson was about Family Relation-

ships and we have moved into Friend Relationships.

I think both are so important and an essential part

of our lives. I hope that during this time of Thanks-

giving and moving into the Christmas Holiday that

everyone is able to stay connected to loved ones,

nurture those relationships, and not get caught up in

all the hustle and bustle of societal expectations.

Take time for you and your loved ones, enjoy the

holidays that are coming up!

Love and Blessings to you all,

Christy Rossiter

Important Dates for December December 18- Children’s Christmas Program at

10:15 a.m. in the sanctuary

December 25- No KOOL ZONE for children and

youth

January 1- No KOOL ZONE for children and

youth

Children’s Sunday School

Christmas Program Please join us December 18th, during the Sunday

school hour, for the children’s Christmas program

called “One Starry Night”. The program will feature

the preschool and elementary classes as well as the middle school/high school class. We will also have a

few instrumental performances by the children.

Practices for the program will take place during part

of the Sunday school time on December 4th and 11th.

Please try to have your children in Sunday school as

much as possible so they can learn the music for the

program.

Operation Christmas Child For the second year, our WOW Kids collected items to put in shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse Op-

eration Christmas Child. We collected items such

as socks, tooth brushes, flashlights, crayons and

notebooks as well as special items like soccer balls

and dolls. Along with the monetary donations of this

generous congregation we were able to pack full 30

wonderful shoeboxes. Thank you, Trinity Heights

congregation, for your support of our WOW Kids

mission project. Below are pictures of the children

putting the final touches on packing the boxes. Our

hope is that this mission helped instill in our children

the importance of giving to others in need. We

hope to continue this as a yearly mission for the

children of Trinity Heights.

Photos of the children packing shoeboxes are on page 6

of the Trinitarian.

DECEMBER 7 IS PLAN D DEADLINE!! Time is getting short for you to take a look at your

Medicare Plan D for this year. If you want to visit

with Harlan Rittgers about it or Supplementals or

Medicare in general, make an

appointment NOW. Call the

church and schedule at 284-

6210. See you soon.

Harlan Rittgers,

SHICK volunteer

MISSION

NEWS

Christy Rossiter, our youth director, and 3 youth

group members, Kylie, Asia, and Aryanna,

along with Tom Williams, Mission chairperson,

spent a Saturday at Camp Horizon giving of

their time in mission. The group helped prepare

the new outdoor worship center for a wedding.

Trees were trimmed so the valley could be seen

by the attendees and future worshippers. The

group brushed and power washed the large

concrete platform to prepare for a sealer to be

applied the following week.

The Trinity Heights team who helped clean out

the old stone building at inspiration point last

year will be surprised in how the building looks

now...totally remodeled.

Dillon’s Update Dillons gives back

because we shop. Re-

cently we received over

$700. That is for the

shopping of 75 registered households during the

last three months. Thank you for making that

happen. If you aren't yet registered, contact the

church office for more information.

Kylie, Christy, Asia, and Aryanna take a short break from their hard work.

Trinity Heights Respite Care is thankful for:

·Trinity Heights United Methodist Church

·Trinity Heights Respite Care Board Members

·All of our awesome care-providers

·Families we serve

·Harvey County United Way-Grant

·Women’s Community Foundation

·Newton ECT Shop-Grant

·Wal-Mart-Grant

·THUMW-donation

·Knights of Columbus-Tootsie Roll Drive

Donation

·Harvey-Marion Community Developmental

Disabilities Organization-Grant

·Our compassionate community for supporting

the mission of Trinity Heights Respite Care

Tuesday, November 29th is “Giving Tuesday”. Many

non-profits will be at the Newton Recreation Cen-

ter from 3:00-7:00 P.M., and Trinity Heights Respite

Care will have a booth. The Central Kansas Com-

munity Foundation is the sponsor of this “Giving

Tuesday” event. You may donate on-line or come

to the Newton Recreation Center and donate to

your favorite non-profits on Tuesday, November 29th. For more information contact Connie Rickard,

Director of Trinity Heights Respite Care.

Santa Claus is coming to Parent’s Day Out Decem-

ber 3rd from 10:00 A.M. to noon. All families in the

Newton area who have a child with a disability are

invited to attend. Please RSVP to

respite-care@att.net. This Christmas Party is being

planned and sponsored by the JAG Club at Newton

High School. Des Martens from Mirror helps organ-

ize youth projects in our community. Major funding

for this event comes from a grant given by HCUW

(Youth in Action).

Blessings to all for a peaceful Thanksgiving shared

with family and friends.

Connie Rickard

Director of Trinity Heights Respite Care

Some Things to

Remember In December Christmas Eve Services:

5, 7, & 11pm

Our Christmas Eve Offering will go to Asbury Park

Church Office Closed:

Monday, Dec. 26

Tuesday, Dec. 27

Monday, Jan. 2

Only the Cry Room will be available for the

Christmas Eve Services; Plan to worship together

as a family -- even with your littlest ones.

Sunset Angel Trees Angel trees for Sunset Elementary

school are located in both foyers

behind the Sanctuary and Fellowship

Hall. The trees contain ornaments

with gift items that are needed by

families and children at Sunset as

well as the school’s Social Worker,

who utilizes the requested gift cards

throughout the year to provide food

or to take care of other critical needs as they arise.

Please take an ornament with you and purchase the

requested gift. Return the gift unwrapped with the

ornament attached by Monday, December 12.

Thank you for helping, THUMC Mission Committee

Harmonies in

Holiday Homes The annual Charles Olson Har-

monies in Holiday Homes at 2:00pm or 7:00pm will be Sunday,

December 11. Music participants

from this church are Connie

Rickard, Ben Peyton and Nancy Johnson - with

Nancy coordinator of a musical event at each home.

Others assisting in this event to benefit Newton

High School Instrumental students are Lee Cannon,

Eileen Kloster, Kay Larson, Joan Wulf and Iva Reber.

A reservation donation of $13 each is available at

Prairie Harvest.

Staff Christmas Gifts The Staff Parish committee would

like to show our appreciation of our

church staff and pastor with a

Christmas bonus. Please join us in

thanking them for their significant

contributions to the life and growth of our church.

Envelopes marked “Staff Christmas” are available in

the pew holders. The memo field on your check

should also indicate “Staff Christmas.” Your contri-

bution may be placed in the offering plate, mailed to

the church, or left in the church office. The last

Sunday to give will be December 11.

Report on

Trunk or Treat

Thank you to everyone

for your help with our an-

nual Trunk and Treat. We

had 27 cars, one three

wheeler and an antique fire

truck and around 1200 people come through the

event. We had lots of candy, pencils, play

dough and ghost rings and the weather was almost

perfect, could have used less wind! The band

"Outside the Walls" was excellent. They played

secular and Christian music that entertained the

crowd. We had many families that were dressed up

and lots of creative costumes. What a FUN night

for everyone. Think about doing it again or for the

first time in October 2017.

Salvation Army The Salvation Army is get-

ting ready to hand out their

Christmas boxes. They still

need the regular items like

pb&j, canned veggies,

mac & cheese, pork &

beans. They have lots of spaghetti, but need some

sauce to put on it. They have also received enough

stuffing for the boxes, but still need canned cran-

berry sauce. So don’t forget to pick up food to

share with others while you are shopping for your-

self.

Mission Committee

What a great day for the Trinity Heights

Christmas Bazaar. Thank you to every-

one who helped in any way, from work-

ing the day before or the day of the

bazaar, making candy and cookies or

cinnamon rolls and supporting the ven-

dors. We had good attendance and

think we will have profits similar to last

year. Again, we will be donating our

proceeds to local charities in Harvey

County. We could not do this event with-

out everyone's support and willingness to

help. A big THANK YOU to Christy and

the youth for their delicious lunch. We

have some great pictures of the youth

and adults working together in the

kitchen. Save the date for the 2017

Christmas Bazaar--Saturday, Nov. 4th.

Dear Members,

Can you believe it. It’s December. Christ-

mas is here. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and

good luck getting everything done before Christmas.

Let’s all try not to lose the joy of the season in the

rush and stress. We have set the book study date,

so you can get it on your calendar - Sunday after-

noon, February 12th. The exact hours will come

later. The study has to be four hours so you need

to block out the afternoon.

Well, regular things go on also. Elizabeth

Circle will be meeting on Mon, Dec 12, at 6:00 pm

(an earlier time) for their Salad Supper. It will be at

Pam Wedel’s home. I’m sure there will be good

food and good fun. Martha Circle will meet on

Wed, Dec 21, at 9:30 am at the church. There is

always good fellowship at these Circle meetings. So

if you’ve never been, come join us and get to know

us better.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Holi-

days, Judy Rittgers, President

Dear Trinity Heights,

Thank you very much for your prayers

and thoughts. I wanted to share how

awesome you are as a church. You are

very welcoming and warm. I loved the

hand bells and the choir, those things

reminded me of being young and real

church. I am thankful for you. The UMC

is in need of more churches like yours.

Love, Tricia (Pastor Donna’s daughter)

PS: I’m getting better and improving in

my health.

Trinity Heights

Thank you for sharing most surely your

gift of $5,000 as a reminder of that

greatest of all gifts, Jesus Christ.

With you in loving the needy of Harvey

County,

Newton Ministerial Alliance and

Salvation Army

Wendy M Basye

“...A brighter future begins with caring and

sharing.”

Couples Wedding Shower

Dec 4 Shanna (Adams) and Nathan Bren-

zikofer will be honored with a couples wedding shower on Sunday, December

4, at 2:00 at the church. They have

combined 2 households - no gifts, please. They

would love a copy of your favorite recipe(s) and

some of the ingredients to help them make your

recipe turn out just right when

they make it. Everyone is invited

to attend.

December Anniversaries

Jim & Susie Wickiser 12/20

Michael & Julie Sadowski 12/21

William & Judy Hand 12/24

Jerry & Donna Friesen 12/27

Bob & Edna Mae Grant 12/28

Willis & Jan Heck 12/28

Frank & Sue Meacham 12/29

Update on 2017 Pledges As of Nov 23, 108 pledges have

been received for the General Fund

for a total of $288,854.50. For the

Building Fund 81 pledges have come

in for a total of $106,726.50.

Last year 129 pledges were received to fund the

2016 budget of $372,000.00. This year Finance

hopes to fund a budget of $378,000.00.

If you have not yet turned in your pledge card,

please do so as soon as possible so our Finance

committee knows where we stand. Thank you.

Stewardship Committee

Your Year-End Financial

Contribution Deadline Don’t forget, per IRS regulations all contri-

butions for 2016 must be received no later than close of business on the last working

day. This will be Thursday, December 29, 2016, by

4:00pm. (The church office is closed on Friday & Satur-

day, Dec 30 & 31.) If mailed, the contribution must

be post-marked no later than mid-night on Decem-

ber 31, 2016.

Thank You!

HOW TO REACH US . . .

Trinity Heights UMC

PO Box 232, 1200 Boyd Ave

Newton, KS 67114

(316 283-6410

Church email: trinityheights@att.net

THUMC Website: trinityheightsumc.org

Barb Stucky 12/1

MaKayla Reeves 12/2

Mason Crumrine 12/6

Linda Lyles 12/6

Marguerite Perfett 12/6

Whitney Williams 12/6

Naomi Baker 12/7

Lucas Kaufman 12/9

Dan Timmons 12/12

Sherri Rawlins 12/14

Karen DeGrazio 12/15

Jonathan Colvin 12/16

Lindsay Davis 12/16

Laurie Schroeder 12/16

Judy Brenzikofer 12/18

Kristen Webb-Wiens 12/19

Tristan Meyer 12/23

Joanne Kilgore 12/24

Pat Rosing 12/24

Jodie Thach 12/24

Dan Barnard 12/25

Deneise King 12/27

Taylor Jaworsky 12/28

Roslyn Kealy 12/28

Richard Sadowski 12/30

Phyllis Schneider 12/31

December Birthdays

THUMC CALENDAR . . .

The church calendar can be

viewed by going to the Trinity

Heights website:

trinityheightsumc.org.

TRINITARIAN DEADLINE Thursday, December 12 for the January 2017 Trinitarian

Our Website / Facebook Please help keep our church

website and facebook up-to-date.

Send information and photos to Nancy Johnson at

nsjohnson@bethelks.edu.

Urgent / Emergency Pastor Contact

For urgent / emergency contact with the pastor on weekends and in the

evening, please call the pastor’s cell phone: 816-806-0482.

Sunday Morning

Screen Information Information to be shown on the

screens for Sunday morning worship should be sent to Nancy Johnson at

nsjohnson@bethelks.edu, the Wednesday prior to

the Sunday it should be shown.