Trinity’s annual Veterans Pancake Breakfast was a great success. We were pleased to honor our veterans and fellowship together over breakfast.
We are thankful to Mike Cross, John Henderson, Don Floyd, Diane Moore, the Outreach Class, and the Trinity
staff for your work with the annual Veterans Pancake Breakfast. Additionally, we thank the guests and congregation who attended, our Veterans, and our speaker, Colonel Jon C. Hatfield.
Through a Trinity LEMO (Lenten Easter Mission Offering) grant, the Called Up program spent a week this summer doing Superstorm Sandy relief in Long Island, NY. Anne Marie Blackmon writes about that experience:
“What will you tell people about the mission trip?”
When asked this question one young lady replied, “a LOT!”
After wrestling with the question myself, I concluded a week on a mission trip is about as close to heaven on earth as one can get.
We rose before 7am, ate, did chores, packed lunches, loaded tools and water coolers, and drove to work sites. On site we worked and we worked hard. We used porta-potties, wore helmets and goggles and got filthy. We took short showers in a trailer and rarely had free time because the half-mile drive from the showers back to our living quarters took too long in NY traffic. We ate dinner, went to worship, visited with new friends and dropped off to sleep on air mattresses in a church basement each night at 11pm. Then we rose the next day and did it all over again. How can that be heaven on earth?
Because we were all there with one common purpose- to serve someone else. Our mission team became a little community where personal needs and personal space weren’t nearly as important as serving God and others. It was a community where friends got out of their air mattresses at 5am to pray for us as we headed back to Richmond. Selfishness was put aside for selflessness. It seems to me that’s what heaven is like.
Thank you Trinity United Methodist Church for grant funds to make the trip to NY. Thank you Mary Hetzel for introducing so many of us to the Micah initiative and each other. Thank you Bob Argabright for answering the call to read with second graders for an hour a week so many years ago and for your to tireless commitment to the Oak Grove community ever since. It is Bob who pulled together this special team of young women. Without the financial support and spiritual encouragement from the Trinity congregation, Mary and Bob this trip may not have happened. You are good and faithful disciples and we will honor you by trying to be the same.
On Friday, January 20, Trinity’s Bob Argabright was honored by House Joint Resolution No. 662 presented to the General Assembly.
The text of the resolution reads as follows:
WHEREAS, for more than a decade, Robert S. Argabright II has served as a trusted mentor to the students of Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School through his dedicated volunteer work with the Micah Initiative; and
WHEREAS, desirous to be of service to their fellow Richmond residents, Robert “Bob” S. Argabright II, a retired executive with the Chesapeake Corporation, and other members of Trinity United Methodist Church began volunteering through the Micah Initiative; and
WHEREAS, the Micah Initiative connects church congregations and public schools in Richmond, creating opportunities for members of the community to enrich the lives of students through tutoring, mentoring, or other volunteer work; and
WHEREAS, Bob Argabright began his work with the Micah Initiative by reading to elementary school students, and he now volunteers at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School for 30 to 40 hours each week; and
WHEREAS, Bob Argabright coordinates with the principal and faculty of Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School to ensure that the school’s needs are met, and he has inspired other members of the community to volunteer their time in similar ways; and
WHEREAS, in addition to organizing athletic events and field trips, Bob Argabright helped create and maintains a butterfly garden at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School, giving students a peaceful place to enjoy and appreciate nature; and
WHEREAS, Bob Argabright has also worked to ensure that students arrive at school safely each day, holding a bicycle drive that provided bicycles to 200 students and advocating for a safe corridor for children who walk to school; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, Bob Argabright supported the creation of the Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School Green Team; the team worked with Virginia Commonwealth University students and Groundwork RVA, a youth leadership organization, to learn multiple aspects of filmmaking and produce a short film on successful members of the community; and
WHEREAS, the Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School Green Team has also worked on board games addressing issues like food deserts, stereotyping, and the environment, and it plans to establish a recycling program and a community garden or urban farm to help make the community greener and cleaner; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Robert S. Argabright II for his dedicated service to the students of Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Robert S. Argabright II as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his devotion to supporting students in Richmond.
Bob has worked on behalf of Trinity’s “Trinity in Richmond” ministry, especially with his work with the community of Oak Grove – Bellemeade School, including the systems which that community involves. We congratulate Bob on this recognition for his self-less servant leadership on Trinity’s behalf.
Our Medical Mission Team to Honduras served God in many ways from January 21-28. While they were in Honduras, the fourteen team members saw the 100,000th medical clinic patient for Friends of Barnabas! The weekly totals of their ministry are:
Weekly Totals
General Clinic
1132
Vitamins
936
Deworming
696
Fluoride
144
Eye Clinic
287
Dental
193
Extractions
237
Referrals
96
E.C.P.
3
One of the daily journals mentioned that one woman had walked three hours to get to the clinic that day; and would have a three hour walk back home. As one of the participants commented, “This trip grounds you.” We thank God for these who serve!
This little cutie is 3 month old Perla Juliet with her 16 year old mother, Angie. Perla Juliet was our 100,000th patient seen in a Friends of Barnabas Medical Clinic!
On February 24, 2016 tornados caused extensive damage in several Virginia communities, including one in Appomattox County. Many homes were destroyed or damaged beyond repair, and some homeowners found they were underinsured for damage. On Monday, January 16, 2017, a team of eleven energetic volunteers from Trinity traveled to the area of Evergreen to help with the construction of a new home for a family whose home was destroyed. Projects included installing windows, wrapping the house with protective paper, and locating shingles to the roof in preparation for installation.
What began as a suggestion at a Town Hall meeting has become a significant ministry in the life of Trinity. The design team for Young at Heart, headed by Terri Royster and Nancy Kindervater, meets monthly to plan each month’s programs and events. One of the first goals of the Young at Heart Ministry was to offer events where people can get to know each other. That goal has been accomplished as we have traveled together, enjoyed meals together and have shared our personal interests and travels. Perhaps our most meaningful program was meeting with the youth of our church in October for a session on “Teen Taught Technology”. Our techno-savvy teens helped our seniors with their cell phone, iPad and computer questions. We enjoyed a pizza supper together afterwards.
We have also enjoyed a musical presentation by the Show Choir from Douglas Freeman High School, we have watched “War Room” and “Fireproof” on the big screen in Trinity Hall and we have traveled to Michie Tavern and to Tanglewood Ordinary (twice!).
Our events are open to everyone! Come join us – and bring a friend! Learn More
On Friday, January 20, Trinity’s Bob Argabright was honored by House Joint Resolution No. 662 presented to the General Assembly.
Weekly Totals
