Gleanings from Pastor Scott

“Is prayer your steering wheel, or your spare tire?” I

laughed at first, driving past the church marquee, but my

smile faded as the words soaked in. Is that me? Are my

prayers like spiritual spare tires, used for emergencies when

all else fails? Some people seem guided by God through

prayer, while others live as if prayer doesn’t matter? Once I

asked a church member, who was going through difficulties,

if I could pray for him. “It can’t hurt,” was his reply! I’m

wondering if we could “pray in the new year” in a better

way?

Jesus didn’t need to pray, he longed to pray. “Early in the

morning, he left the house while it was still dark outside, and

went to a deserted place to pray” (Mark 1:35). What about

us?

Scott McDermott (“Teach Me To Pray,” Good News,

Nov/Dec 2017) says the traditional “prayer list” method may

not be our best approach. He suggests thinking of prayer

more as a relationship, than a list. Here are some ideas,

adapted from his article, to improve our praying:

Start in silence

Thank God for three ways he worked in your life

yesterday

For a detailed calendar, please visit

www.trinity-first.org

Continued on page 2...

“2018: Praying in the New Year”

1.1 New Year’s Day

Church Office & Day School Closed

1.2 United Methodist Women Meeting

1.8

Worship Planning Team Meeting

1.9 Intercessory Prayer Meeting

1.15

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Church Office & Day School Closed

1.19

Family Science Night

1.20 Kelly Memorial Food Pantry Outreach

Art with Mrs. Sarah Parents Night Out

1.24

Day School Peter Piper Pizza Fundraiser

Mark Your Calendar

Koinonia focus

TRINITY-FIRST MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2018 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1

NEWSLETTER TEAM

LANI YU-RICHARDSON

MAGGIE JOHNSON

MARY RAILEY

WYNNELL DRYDEN

Ask God to show you what he wants to change in your life

Expect God to “lead your thoughts” and show you how to pray for yourself and others

Pray every day, not worrying about the length

Focus on God’s presence

2018 stands like a blank sheet before us, a chance to start new. Yes, there will be challenges, but also incredible

opportunities. Yes, there will be problems along the way, but here’s some good news: we will not be alone. God

still promises to be with us. God longs to be with us. Let’s “pray in” the New Year, asking God to bless us and

make us a blessing to those around us.

GPS Continued …

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and

fall, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles”, Isaiah 40:30.

How cool and amazing it is to trust in the Lord and walk in His

paths. For January, there will be several youth activities. We will

have a fundraiser for our trips this year! David Crowder band is

coming to El Paso and the Youth is planning to go! You are also

encouraged to join us and rejoice in worshiping our Lord. We will

also continue our confirmation classes every Sunday morning, and

our 1st Sunday Night Ablaze meeting of the year, begins

January 7th. WNT, we will resume our Book of Revelations Bible

Study with the LPI students and youth. There is also a plan to visit

a center for children or elderly day care center, look out for the

dates! Mission work is essential in our lives as Christians.

Spreading the gospel is a wonderful and special duty for a young

Christian and we plan to encourage our youth to conduct mission

focused works this year.

The mission of the church is outside as much as it is in the inside!

The Youth will be going around the neighborhood surrounding

Trinity to hand out information about who we are. Let us bring

Christ to the world in the start of a new year!

If you wish to join us for these activities, contact David Romero.

Youth David Romero, Coordinator

Discipleship Cindy Meador, Coordinator

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I always love the beginning of a new year! There’s just something about a fresh new start that fills my heart with hope and excitement! So, here’s to 2018! I believe that this year is going to FILLED to the rim with God’s abundant blessing and His favor! Let’s exercise our faith in God’s amazing Grace and His Sovereign ways in 2018 like we never have before! What on this earth have we got to lose? With God we have all that we will ever need. Are you with me?! I can’t wait to see all that God will do this year! And I guarantee you that I will be sure to give HIM all of the Glory for all that He will do in 2018! Revelation 21:5a says, “And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” You can count on God’s word! He makes all things new! All for His Glory and our good! Amen! May it be so! UPDATE: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER SERVICE PROJECT: We were able to bless the Christmas Store at Ciudad Nueva with a monetary donation of $670 and 3 boxes full of great gifts for the families of the Rio Grande Neighborhood. Thank you for your generous hearts!

January Outreach: Please join the Discipleship team in providing warm hats, gloves or socks to our clients at Kelly Memorial Food Pantry on Saturday January 20th from 8 AM -11 AM. Donations and monetary gifts are gladly accepted. For more info contact Kathleen at kathleencander@hotmail.com. Thank you for your generosity.

Elkins Heritage Center Janice Bonds, Historian & Secretary

Sunday School 2018

Sunday School at Trinity-First has been a vital part of our church ministry.

There have been many classes through the years, and three that are still meeting

are the Mizpah Class, the Wedding Band Class and the New Life Class.

The Mizpah Class was started May 3, 1953 by Henry & Willie Frank Ford and Bill & Helen Douthit. George Hughes has led this

class since 1965. One of the Mizpah class members was Verdon Adams, author of "Methodism Comes to the Pass" which won the

Kate Warnick award in 1976 from the Texas United Methodist Historical Society as best local history of a large church. The projects

of this class have been many and varied through support and funding to give back to the community and to our church, such as new

kitchen equipment. The loyalty and faithfulness of longtime members in contributing to and facilitating projects for 65 years are

much appreciated and continue to be an important part of Trinity-First.

The Wedding Band Class was organized July 13, 1947 by seven charter member couples that included Welta & Wallace Scruggs.

The invitation to join went out to all young married couples. As the class grew, there was a need for more time together and teachers.

The class reached its peak in membership in 1953 with an enrollment of 115. Thelma Hammond has contributed as a teacher and

through her many acts of service and dedication for years. The Wedding Band Class has always supported Church and mission

projects sponsored through the years. The large cross placed at Wesley Foundation (UTEP campus) in memory of Dr. Charles Green

now hangs over the entrance to Resler Hall. In 1988 the class was responsible for purchasing, framing, and hanging portraits of the

Apostles in Resler Hall. This year, 2018, marks 71 years of this class being an active and productive group at Trinity-First!

The New Life Class was organized on November 8, 1964 with 19 members, the original name being the "20-30" Class. A tradition

the class began was to present a New Testament Bible to each family upon the birth of a child. In 1973 Kay Peyton calculated that the

class of 24 couples had a total of 53 children! That same year the class name was officially changed to the New Life Class. Members,

many being part of our Sanctuary Choir, have self-taught through the years, 54 so far!

All are welcome to visit, become a member and enjoy these three classes in Trinity Hall (2nd floor) on Sunday mornings before

church. You will meet some lovely people and make some good friends!

Day School Letty Ruvalcaba, Director

Science Month: We're so excited to start off a new year full of energy, excitement, and fantastic learning experiences.

Our Science month will be out of this world!

Fundraiser: A mini fundraiser is coming up soon. Please join us for Peter Piper Pizza Night on January 24th from 4-9

PM (Near Mesa & Balboa). We'd love to have you meet some of our outstanding families and break bread together.

Help make them feel like the Day School is important to you, as valued members of the Trinity-First family. If you have

any questions, please contact me at your convenience. See you there!

Children & Family Cindy Meador, Interim Coordinator

HAPPY 2018!! Don’t you just love a fresh start? I sure do! I am super excited about what we have planned for Children and Family Ministries in 2018! First of all we will be adding a monthly family activity beginning in January with “Art with Mrs. Sarah”! Sarah Ortega is the art teacher for our awesome Day School and she is excited about helping us have fun with Art!! We are planning to offer “Art with Mrs. Sarah” on a monthly basis! So that’s cool!! As well, we have been getting our nursery program up and running! We have two new ladies doing a great job with our children! Their names are Ms. Patty and Ms. Paola! REMEMBER, we moved our Nursery/toddler room to RESLER HALL Room 201! We have childcare for our Wednesday Night Together activities and Sunday mornings! As a matter of fact, on Wednesday nights once a month we have “Cooking with Mrs. Melinda”!! Melinda Whitacre is not only an awesome singer in our choir, but also an amazing baker and she’s loads of fun! No wonder the kiddos love her!! This past month, the kids made their own Nativity using graham crackers for the stable and animal crackers for the animals. The kids had a blast creating their very own Nativity! Also, we will be journeying through the bible from start to finish with our elementary age children using a curriculum titled, “The Story”. So, as you can see, we are looking forward to lots of fun and learning in 2018. We thank God in advance for what He has in store for 2018! It truly is a privilege to be busy planting seeds of faith in the hearts and minds of our precious children!! Happy 2018 y’all!! Cooking with Mrs. Melinda

Finance Update Teri Reinert and Members of the Finance Committee

Here is our summarized financial report on the church’s General Fund revenue and expenses for the

eleven months ended November 2017. Please keep in mind that not all revenue and expense are received

and incurred evenly though out the year. Also the financial statements are presented on a cash basis

(cash in and out).

Revenue Actual Budget

Variance

Over/(Under)

Pledge revenue 234,801$ 265,544$ (30,743)$

Non pledge revenue 59,340 98,542 (39,202)

Foundation - general use 1,989 1,823 166

Foundation - specific purpose 11,558 13,809 (2,251)

Foundation - Blessing Foundation 39,981 53,784 (13,803)

Foundation - fund balance deficit (SG) 37,661 - 37,661

Foundation - Parsonage housing fund 15,000 18,333 (3,333)

Building use (rental) 24,520 21,083 3,437

Other 13,750 13,419 331

Total revenue 438,600 486,337 (47,737)

Expenses

Payroll, taxes and benefits 209,080$ 236,644$ (27,564)$

Occupancy (Utilities, R&M, insurance etc) 174,634 188,606 (13,972)

Program (Music, children's, worship) 11,355 14,271 (2,916)

Shared Ministries 24,684 32,437 (7,753)

Total expenses 419,753 471,958 (52,205)

Net Revenue over expenses (deficit) 18,847$ 14,379$ 4,468$

General fund net cash balance (deficit) at 11/30/17 (18,388)$

Revenue - The distribution from the Foundation discretionary fund, to cover the general fund cash

deficit as of December 31, 2016, in the amount of $37,661, is reflected in the above financial statements.

Without this distribution, (to reimburse the Special Gifts fund), the General Fund would have a

net LOSS of $18,388 at this time.

Thank you for your 2018 General Fund Pledge. If you did not get a chance to make your pledge, it

is not too late. You can place them in the offering plate or turn them in at the office.

Thank you for your continued gifts and prayers!

2 Corinthians 8:3 – I assure you that they gave what they could afford and even more than they could

afford and they did voluntarily.

If you have any questions, please contact any member of the Finance Committee.

Prayer List Family of Jennifer Sinclair

George Norris

Randy Herd

Jerry Johnson

Rene Saiz

Shauna Reinert

Judy Gatley

George Norris

Families of the Aztec School Shooting Victims

Family of Britney Hinson

John S. LeBorious

Jenna Johnson

Robert Booker

Family of Bill Driscoll

Military, Deployed, & their families

Congregation

Kelly Memorial Food Pantry

Birthdays

4 Betty Larson

Togo Railey

7 Steve Davis

8 Polly Perry

13 Joan Stone

14 Jenna Johnson

15 Ann Horak

Betty McCombs

Jacobo Wedemeyer

18 Jeff Lane

19 Thom Lujan

21 Ceci Quintana

Melinda Whitacre

23 Lawrence Belk

Renee Hager

29 Lois Agee

30 Faye Johnson

31 John LeBorious

Anniversaries 2 John & Gloria LeBorious

11 Rod & Jeanene Smith

Expectant Moms: Renee Drake, Camille Kerr, Karla Perkins Deployed Troops: Eric Whitacre

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Call us: 915.533.2674

Email us: info@trinity-first.org

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801 N. Mesa Street El Paso, TX 79902 Return Service Requested