Annual Reports...
Please note that all annual reports are due in the office by January 1, 2009.

Change of Council...
The Congregation of Holy Trinity would like to thank Becky Miller and Tom Werner for all their many hours of service and dedication to our Church Council. We appreciate all that you have done to make our church function, prosper and reach out to our community.

The Congregation would also like to thank and welcome the new members of Church Council: Karen Davis and Malcolm Shuster. We look forward to the new year and appreciate your acceptance to these positions. God's blessing.

Change of Address Request...
Please take a moment and verify your address and phone number in the new church directory. If your information is incorrect, not complete, or simply not there, please complete a change of address request form and place it in the offering plate, mail it to the church office, or contact the office by phone (724-523-4378). It is important that our records are as accurate as possible to allow prompt response and mailings. **For those affected by address changes for 911 purposes, please be sure to contact Norma! **

Congregational Celebrations...

Burials
Our condolences and prayers go out to the family and friends of

• Charles Marks who entered the church triumphant on December 14, 2008.

New Members
Please welcome to our family the following new members who joined us in December of 2008:

• Russell Gongaware, Rachel Malletz, Alexis Malletz, Johnna Malletz, Jayson Miller, John Pullen II, Joseph Szabo, Diane Randolph (not in photo) and Maxwell Morris (not in photo).
  

Fellowship Schedule...

Any interested individual(s) or Committee/Team who would like to host a Fellowship during the year, please contact Norma, the church secretary. As for a Committee/Team, this would allow your group more exposure to other parishioners and allow you an opportunity to explain and/or promote something your committee/team is doing; or, to simply have a time of true fellowship and sharing. Please remember that this is not to be a money making event but a time of camaraderie. **If money is collected during a fellowship, please be sure to reimburse your Committee/Team for all expenses; left over monies can be kept by the Committee/Team to cover expenses for a future fellowship or can be donated to the church.

Fellowship has traditionally been held the second weekend of each month following both the Saturday AND Sunday church services. We ask that you please keep to the second weekend of each month to hold a fellowship eliminating confusion as to when these events will be held. Fellowship can be as simple or as complex as you would like to make it but please be sure to hold your events BOTH Saturday night AND Sunday morning. If an individual wishing to host a fellowship can not attend both Saturday and Sunday events, please team up with another parishioner so that both days are covered. If you need any assistance or suggestions regarding fellowships, please feel free to contact any member of the Transformation Team.

Fellowship Hall Rental...
Church Council reminds the congregation that the Fellowship Hall can be rented. The price is $35 for members, $50 for non-members. Renters provide clean-up unless other arrangements are made with the church office. The church secretary keeps the schedule and the key. There is a $25 cash deposit, in addition to the fee, which is returned when the key is brought back. Maximum capacity is 104 people.

Food For Thought...

• Wise are the ones who make the most of things that come their way, and spend no time in weeping for the things that get away.
  
  
• Slow me down, Lord, I am going too fast. I can't see my brother when he's walking past. I miss a lot of good things day by day. I don't know a blessing when it comes my way.

Homebound List...
Here is a list of our homebound congregation that you may contact with a phone call, card, or visit. Please note that this is not a complete list of our homebound members but only those who agreed to have their information printed in the newsletter.

• Evelyn Baughman
  309 Margaret Street
  Jeannette, PA 15644
  (724) 523-3147
  
  
• Eleanor Ernette
  Rehab & Nursing at Greater Pittsburgh
  890 Weatherwood Lane
  Greensburg, PA 15601
  (724) 834-4431
  
  
• Elizabeth Errett
  Ridgeview Residential Care
  122 Ridgeview Street
  Youngwood, PA 15697
  (724) 925-0212
  
  
• Dianna Machado
  IHS at Mountain View
  R.D. #7 Box 249
  Greensburg, PA 15601
  (724) 537-7360
  
  
• Margaret Woloshun
  136 Brown Street
  Grapeville, PA 15634
  (724) 523-3192

Membership Committee Update...
Our meeting on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 was short in some respects but, still interesting because we discussed ideas for 2009. Thank you girls.

1. We supplied the necessary items for the New Members on November 23, 2008.
   
2. We will supply the items for the baptism on January 11, 2009.
   
3. We talked about the fact that when the church cupboard is used it is left very unorganized quite often. Some of the Membership ladies try to keep it orderly and would appreciate help to keep it that way. Please Help!
   
4. Some of the time was used to discuss some other projects that will be decided on in 2009.
   
5. The rest of the time was spent to finalize our plans for the Fellowship on Saturday, December 13 and Sunday, December 14, 2008. We hope to see you there.

We in the Committee want to Thank All who in anyway helped us to have successful projects in 2008. We pray you will help us the same way in 2009. God Bless You All -- we can only succeed if the congregation supports us. We surely could use some new members in 2009. Our group is small which limits us in what we can and can't do. If you think you would be interested, call me (Alice Shotts - 724-523-2661). Our next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

Before I close we in Membership pray that ALL of you have a Blessed, Healthy, Prosperous and Happy 2009. God be with you All.

Yours in Christ's Work,
Membership Committee
Keep on - Keep on going - Working for God.

If interested, please go down the following list of prayer chain members between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. until someone answers the phone in person. If there is an answering machine, please leave your message, and call the next name in our prayer chain.

If you need to contact Pastor Defassio, please try to contact the church office during regular business hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. In case of an emergency, please call his home phone at 724-853-6595. Thank you.

I'd like to thank everyone who donated items and helped out in anyway with this event, especially:

Elysia Defibaugh
Nicole Pratt
Jessica Long
Rachel Defassio
Ceara Davis
Mike Davis
Pastor Defassio
Debbie Defibaugh
Tom Werner
Robert Arduino
Norma Varsafsky
Josh Brown Carol Stough
Robin Highlands
Tyler Tatters-DeWalt
Adam Fields
Karen Davis
Heidi Wertz
Suzie Defassio
Glenda J. Heinlen
Thrivent Financial
Monster Golf
McDonalds of Greensburg
Rich Gongaware

Sincerely, Joyce Wertz

Nine Methods of Giving:
Outright Monetary Gift
Bequest in Will or Trust
Investment Gift
Life Insurance Beneficiary
Life Insurance Contract
Charitable Gift Annuity
IRAs and Qualified Plans
Charitable Remainder Trust
Zero Estate Tax Plan

Giving through a zero estate tax plan combines giving gifts to charity with gifts of life insurance. Using this plan, a donor typically transfers an asset to a charitable remainder trust (CRT), which provides an income to the donor. The donor than acquires a life insurance contract on his or her life with a death benefit equal to the value of the asset given to the CRT. The life insurance policy is placed in a separate irrevocable life insurance trust. The donor then uses the income from the CRT to make gifts to the insurance trust as needed so that the trustee of the insurance trust can pay the annual insurance premiums. This arrangement allows the donor to benefit the charity while maintaining the amount of assets that will pass to his or her family.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its respective associates and employees cannot provide legal, tax or accounting advice or services. Work with your team of professionals, including your Thrivent Financial representative, your attorney and tax professional to determine and implement the appropriate option.

For further information of for assistance in establishing a gift, contact Tricia Henry, Financial Associate, 724-836-7772.

We send a message of Thanks for the food given, the many cards of sympathy received, and the thoughts and prayers offered up for us. We appreciate the kind thoughtfulness extended to us.

The family of Ron Losten
Paula, Diane, and Kirsten Testa

Why Prophets Are Not Popular

I recently heard a lecture by Dr. Murray J. Harr. Harr is a Jewish scholar who teaches at our Lutheran college in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

As many of you know, the prophets of the Bible (and true prophets today) are seldom "popular". That's because prophecy is more about "forthtelling" than it is "foretelling". Forthtelling is when a prophet speaks the truth against the grain of popular opinion.

Dr. Harr asked his listeners to picture a prophet going to the local shopping mall. Outside the mall, the prophet starts yelling at the people going in! "You fat cows! How dare you spend money on mere "wants" and "extras" when people are literally starving, going without medicine, or without any education in our world?"

We would immediately call the police on such a person, outside our local shopping mall.

However, this is the kind of thing biblical prophets did. It's the kind of thing modern prophets do. Dr. Harr points out that Jesus, along with being the unique Son of God, was also a prophet. That's what got Jesus killed on the cross. He spoke the truth in the face of powers and people who did not want to hear the truth. If you want a recipe' for a personal "cross", there it is.

Dr. Harr made one observation about this, which I shall not forget. He said that prophets basically are doing what the Bible and faith have been doing all along, i.e: calling us to change.

God calls us to change. If you had to summarize the Christian Faith in one word, that word would be "change".
"Do you want change?", I asked my friend. "Only when I'm paying the bill at a restaurant.", she replied. How true that is. Most of us resist change at every turn. And yet, picture the world without it!

In order for us to truly be what we were yesterday, requires change. For example: I am a father to my son, Robert. However, to be Robert's father, today, requires that I have changed from the father I was when Robert was 10 years old. Robert is now in his mid twenties, and the kinds of "fathering" he needs from me is quite different from the fathering I gave him when he was 10. Changes in "environment" and in personal dynamics require changes in all parties to experience and life. Another example is rendering a translation of the Bible. Someone said of translation work: "To say the same thing is not to say the same thing." In other words language and peoples' capacity to understand language constantly evolves. If you want to be understood by your family today, you cannot express yourself in the language of William Shakespeare. "To say the same thing is not to say the same thing." To be what I was yesterday, requires that I change what I am today.

No wonder we need prophets! No wonder prophets are never popular.

As leaders and congregations call for changes which are not immediately "lovable", keep that in mind. Change is necessary but change is seldom welcome. To be what we were yesterday, requires transformation of what we are today.

Jesus says, in the book of Revelation: "Behold I make all things new!" He wasn't kidding. He really does that.

In the troubling peace of Christ,

Pastor Larry Isbell
Holy Trinity's Transformation Coach

• Pastor:Daniel Defassio
• Church Secretary:Norma Varsafsky
• Council: Jim McCullough (Pres), Rich Seybold (VPres), Karen Davis(Sec), Debbie Defibaugh, Jenny German, Malcolm Shuster
  
• Treasurer: Terri Ketter
  
• Transformation: Ken Busato, Pastor Defassio, Debbie Defibaugh, Anita Durst, Penny Myers, Wayne Rogan, Joyce Wertz
• Aaron's Ministries:Debbie Defibaugh, Annette French