My Favorite Things...

Other than the retirement THING...and the building a house THING... and the moving closer to family THING...one of the best THINGS about coming to Clanton, Alabama was becoming involved with the little church we had been told so much about. It is Trinity Episcopal Church.

Trinity Church in Clanton is the only Episcopal Church in Chilton County. The current property was purchased from the local Seventh Day Adventist and the property dates back to around 1913. It was an Episcopal mission church until the mid 1960’s when it was closed its doors but the property was retained by the Diocese of Alabama. In 1995 it was re-opened as an Episcopal mission church once again with the same name. Since that time to the present the church membership has gone up and down and almost closed its doors again due to decline in membership. In 2004 Trinity began renovation work on the church by remodeling the kitchen and adding additional spaces and its membership has continued to grow.  H and I were members 69 and 70.
In 2009, at the annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, Trinity Episcopal Church of Clanton, Alabama was named a permanent parish of the diocese. Thirty parishioners were there to rejoice! Our priest is Father Bill King and yes, I realized we have come from a Lord to a King.

Our first visit to the  church was the day of the Newcomers Welcome luncheon. This was when we learned about the history of the church, met the vestry members, enjoyed the fellowship of the parishioners and filled out the “sign-up” sheet! (We wanted to get involved but I’m not sure we would have moved this fast.) Both H and I checked several things we were interested in both together and separtately.   One ministry we both got involved with is the Beans and Rice ministry.

On the first Saturday of each month, this little church  bags and supplies beans and rice as well as a protien such as peanut butter or tuna fish,  a can of vegetables, a can of fruit, a box of mac and cheese to the hungry. This past month we gave food to 77 people of Chilton County. Trinity started this ministry but I understand other churches  in the area have started their own feeding programs since. Our little church has quickly become know as the Beans and Rice Church.

Another ministry, I became involve with, mainly because I have not gotten use to this retirement THING and I needed something to keep me busy, is the Prayer Shawl Ministry.This is something that interested me and after taking a knitting class last year,  I felt that I more than qualified to knit a basic  prayer shawl.WRONG!
 I talked to the woman in charge, read a book about how this ministry was started and how it works, got my instructions to knit a shawl and DROVE to Walmart to purchase my yarn!  After several times of starting over I finally got the hang of the pattern. But even though I can knit and purl, it does not necessarily mean I can see, or better yet, fix my mistakes! After a mistake was made, I would had to wait until I could find someone to help me with these mistakes....several times. I got to the point that I hoped the person to whom this shawl would be given wasn't in desperate need because this was not what I would call a very "prayerful" shawl. I finally took the entire thing apart and crocheted a beautiful shawl in two days! I hope to someday "knit" a shawl.....but not now. Along with making the shawl, I am now the one who makes the cards that goes with each shawl. Inside is the Prayer of Blessing by Fr. Bill and a couple more prayers of comfort for the one recieving the shawl. Now this was right up my alley!

NOTE: Thanks for the advice I recieved after my last blog. I was happy to hear from y'all and have put all the advice in the appropriate place in my files.