The  Holy Trinity Herald		                October/November 2007
                                                    P.O. Box 81 * Bonham, TX 75418		
                                                      www.holytrinitybonham.org

The Vicar’s Voice: Can you believe that this year is almost over? In just a few weeks a New Church Year will begin. This year,
December 2 is the First Sunday of Advent, a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ child at Christmastide. Once 
again we are called upon to resist the bombardment of the secular Christmas in favor of Christ’s Mass, a time when we realize
that people are more important than presents. Christmas time is family time. With the birth of Jesus, we welcome Him into our
family, the human family. Truly God became man. This wonderful gift sets in motion God’s plan for our redemption, the gift of
His only begotten Son to live and die for our sins. If we recognize the wonder of this gift, we will accept it with gratitude
and most importantly, we will share this precious gift with as many persons as we can. Fr. Bill+

Archbishop Rowan Williams     ECUSA Presiding Bishop Katherine Shori	The Right Rev. James Stanton				       	
Episcopal News Service http://www.episcopalchurch.org Presiding Bishop Schori comments; 
Dallas Diocese website http://www.episcopal-dallas.org Dallas Bishop Stanton comments; 
Church of England website: http://www.cofe.anglican.org  Archbishop Williams comments. 

Layreader, Lay Ministry classes start Wednesday, Nov. 14th following service. Anyone who wishes to be licensed by Bishop 
Stanton to serve as readers and lay ministers should let Fr. Dalton know and attend the first class. A lay person is licensed
by the bishop to lead public worship under the direction of the priest in charge and must be a confirmed adult in good 
standing; they may lead the Daily Offices, lead the liturgy for the Eucharist through the prayers of the people and the Lord’s
Prayer; may lead the Burial Office, the Ash Wednesday liturgy, the Palm liturgy and the Good Friday liturgy, all with 
certain modifications. Joining the class starting on Nov 14th are Tom Long and Carol Morris whose 3-year licenses are 
expiring and renewable, Pat Ward, Sharon Kincade and Kim Jenkins. Others are welcome to join. Classes will likely last for 3 
weeks on Wednesday evenings.   

The Vicar's Wife Got His Goat
By media release – submitted by Pat Ward
http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_41577.shtml
Nov 8, 2007

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When Father William Dalton, Vicar of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Bonham, said that his wife, Charlene, "got his goat", 
her response was, "And he got mine."  The Daltons, who will celebrate 40 years of marriage on November 23, bought each other 
a goat for their anniversary gifts.

Looking forward to retirement the latter part of 2008, the Daltons will have some leeway to pursue other hobbies and leisure 
activities, but raising goats is not one of them. The goats they purchased for $60 each through Heifer International, a 
charitable organization based in Arkansas, may be in one of a number of countries plagued by famine and starvation from the 
absence of employment, food, shelter and medical care.

The Dalton's goats will be presented to a needy family through Heifer's "Living Chain of Giving" program. The goats will 
provide fresh milk and, with instruction to the receiving family, the ability to harvest the goat's milk to make dairy 
products such as cheese and cosmetic products as sustainable income for the family. The stipulation of the Living Chain of 
Giving, is that the family is bound to breed the goats and to pass on its offspring to another needy family as a gift. As 
each family, in return, passes on their gift to another family, some entire villages can improve their living conditions. 
	Holy Trinity Episcopal Church is considering the purchase a water buffalo, $250, for a family in Indonesia. The 
family will not only have the advantage of harvesting life-saving milk for their own children, but will use the animal for 
plowing their own fruit and vegetable garden for their consumption as well as to sell at market, use its manure for 
fertilizer and fuel for fire, and to rent the animal to other farmers who do not own a water buffalo for plowing. The cost of
the water buffalo to be purchased and delivered in Indonesia is only $250.
 
Heifer also supports needy populations in the United States, as well, that are under-funded by other government programs. The
goal of the agricultural and enterprise initiatives is to provide nourishing food products for the receiving family and to 
provide that family with the knowledge and means to market their produce or animal for income.
 
A similar program, if initiated in Fannin County, would be a worthwhile initiative to help some of the several hundred 
families who frequent the Fannin Ministerial Food Bank solely supported by only a handful of churches in the area.  Holy 
Trinity Episcopal Church, a congregation of only 25 families, is one of those churches.    
****************

(excerpt from an article sent to your Editor by our Senior Warden) 
Five Questions to Ask to Position your Church for Growth
by Canon Neal Michell
IS YOUR CHURCH POSITIONED FOR GROWTH?  HERE IS A SIMPLE FIVE-QUESTION REVIEW TO HELP YOU EVALUATE WHETHER YOU CAN 
REALISTICALLY EXPECT YOUR CHURCH TO GROW.  These are foundational.  Spend some time with your leaders and ask these 
soul-searching questions.

1. Does your church have ample parking?  Lack of parking is often a greater obstacle to growth than is lack of pew space.
2. Do your parishioners invite others to church?  When was the last time you invited someone to church?
   Studies show that the vast majority of newcomers visit a church because someone they knew invited them
3. How many vestry members and leaders were in Sunday School or in a church-related small group or Bible study during the 
   past three weeks? If your adult Sunday School is not as strong as you’d like it to be, look at the number of leaders in 
   the church (vestry members and influencers) that are in Sunday School.  If your leaders are not participating in the 
   disciple-forming offerings of your church, why should anyone else?
4. Do people ask for copies of your sermons? Not everyone is a good preacher.  Some have pastoral gifts that will compensate
   for their lack of preaching skills.  If that is you, it is important that you be honest about your preaching ability, that
   you work on your preaching skills, and that you limit the length of your sermons.
5. Do people actually sing during church?  St. Augustine said, “He who sings, prays twice.”  Liturgy is “the work of the 
   people,” not “the work of the performers.” In parish ministry I always had a rule that, at least the final hymn had to be 
   a “war horse,” that is, a hymn that everyone knew and could sing well.  You want people to leave church being able to hum 
   a hymn or a song that they sang in church.  Humming some of the worship music is a way that people bring worship home with
   them and into their daily lives.  Until next time, ………..Neal+

(Editorial) What is your vision of Holy Trinity Bonham of the future? 
  “Do what you can with what you have where you are.”….Theodore Roosevelt – President Of The United States. To maintain the 
  status quo, just as we are? Or to become a trend-setter among the other denominations in our community? To expand our youth
  program to assure the continuation of Holy Trinity? If money was no object, what would you like to see happen at Holy 
  Trinity Episcopal Church? Several new and exciting ideas are emerging among some of our communicants from members who are 
  willing to take the ball and run with it. Come to the Stewardship dinner at the Bickel’s to hear what they are.
 
  Holy Trinity history book addendum: Tom Scott wrote the early history of Holy Trinity in 1972. That was 35 years ago. Tom 
  says he’ll help. Would anyone else be interested in assisting your Editor with an  update to Tom’s book?
 
Parish Profile: Pamela Walker, Ph.D. (and Abby)
I was born in Houston, Texas, and later my family moved to Tyler when I was in the first grade. The “war” had started, and it
was hard for my family to find a place to live since there was a US Army camp, Camp Fannin, located in Tyler. My father had 
bought a Humble Oil filling station one block from the square, next door to a flower shop and the Sears Roebuck and Company. 
Because of the housing crunch, I shared my bedroom with the wife of one of the soldiers located at the camp. Wives of soldiers
were commonly referred to as “war brides”. My mother was a Registered Nurse. She was “encouraged” to work at the hospital, a 
defense related job, in order to avoid being drafted. You see, my father was too old for military service. The “war bride” 
kept my brother and me while my mother and father worked
                    
Tyler, during that time, had many grade schools, two junior high schools and one high school. Our classes were very large due
to the population increase. There were 45-50 students in my grade school classes. My high school graduating class had 800. 
Because our class size was so large, we did not know everyone at school. At least, I sure did not.  This past few years my 
graduating class has more frequent reunions, and because of the internet many of us have gotten o know each other better. 
A dialogue was started in reference to a certain teacher and her sister whose reputations were legendary as English teachers. 
The rest of this monologue is in response to a letter from classmate, as I reintroduce myself to him:

Dear Gerry: You would not remember me as I was one of the many in our large class that did not distinguish themselves in any 
way other than being a “wannabe”. Yes, I was in Mittie Marshe’s class at Hogg Jr High, and in Sarah’s class in High School. I 
wanted to be noticed by her because I admired her so much, but try as I may, as a mediocre student, I never achieved that 
distinction. I was proud of the “B” that I made in her class.

Little did I realize how much baggage each of us carried in those days. The high school years were so painful for some of us.
How wonderful for you to have music to free you and allow your spirit to soar. I kept thinking I had a talent somewhere, 
believing God gave everybody a talent. I never could find mine. Although I played tennis a lot in school, it was just a fun 
thing to do and it got me out of the house and away from my Mom. Not being a natural athlete, I never became tournament class.
 
I was active in Young Life also, and was probably known as being somewhat “religious” by some. My family attended Marvin 
Methodist Church which had an outstanding music program, but I was not choir material since I am deaf to certain tones. It is
a congenital condition that was discovered when I was graduating from TU-Austin and applying for a teaching certificate. That
is probably why I was never able to learn the words to the popular songs, because my deafness is in the lower range of human 
speech. 

After marriage and 3 children born in three calendar years, helping my husband, Gene, through Bachelors, Masters, and 
Doctorate degrees, I went back to school. As a volunteer I had discovered a love of counseling adolescents and an ability to 
“hear” them. By then Gene was teaching at the University of Oklahoma in the College of Engineering in Electrical Engineering.
That made it easy for me to go back to school and get my Master’s degree in Educational Psychology. Ten years later I went 
back to school again and received my PhD degree in Counseling Psychology. For ten more years, I had a private practice after 
working at a Child Guidance Clinic for fourteen years previously.

So I finally discovered my “talent”. I could listen, and even though I had no great words of wisdom to share, I knew when to 
stay out of the way of my clients and let them use me as they willed. It was more of a Rogerian approach, with self 
psychology emphasis. I suppose I have told you all of this because I so appreciate the way you bared your soul in your 
writing the “Thank You” monologue which you shared. I wanted to share some of myself with you.
  
My husband passed away 12 years ago, so I moved to Bonham, Texas, to be near family and where I live in a home on Lake Bonham,
I have retired from counseling as much as one can. I am no longer licensed but do a lot of “pro-bono”. I will end with a 
quote from Piet Hein from his book “Grooks”. Piet was a Dutchman who wrote poetry during the Nazi occupation of Holland. “I 
hope I know….what this whole show is all about…before it’s out”. It may simply be about “connections”.
                                     PAX …. Pamela Arnold Walker 
Carol Morris and Pam were two of the key members of Holy Trinity whose video interview was included in a presentation at 
convention by Bishop Stanton about the rural missions and parishes in the Dallas Diocese. It poignantly spotlighted the 
uniqueness of rural churches, and the filming by the videographer at Holy Trinity was prominently included in the DVD. Some of
the scenes of HT were of our service and our fellowship time following. When we receive our copy of the DVD, we will show it 
after services on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night. Bishop Stanton placed a great deal of emphasis on rural church 
ministry at convention.
The United States $1 Bill
  
Take out a one dollar bill, and look at it.  The one dollar bill you're looking at first came off the presses in 1957 in its 
present design. This so-called paper money is in fact a cotton and linen blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running 
through it.  It is actually material.  We've all washed it without it falling apart.  A special blend of ink is used, the 
contents we will never know.  It is overprinted with symbols and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed 
to give it that nice crisp look.

If you look on the front of the bill, you will see the United States Treasury Seal. On the top you will see the scales for a 
balanced budget. In the center you have a carpenter's square, a tool used for an even cut. Underneath is the Key to the 
United States Treasury. That's all pretty easy to figure out, but what is on the back of that dollar bill is something we 
should all know. If you turn the bill over, you will see two circles.  Both circles, together, comprise the Great Seal of the
United States. The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal.  It 
took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved.

	If you look at the left-hand circle, you will see a Pyramid. Notice the face is lighted, and the western side is dark.
This country was just beginning.  We had not begun to explore the West or decided what we could do for Western Civilization. 
The Pyramid is uncapped, again signifying that we were not even close to being finished.  Inside the capstone you have the 
all-seeing eye, an ancient symbol for divinity.  It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of 
men, with the help of God, could do anything.

"IN GOD WE TRUST" is on this currency. The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, "God has favored our undertaking".
The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means, "a new order has begun."

At the base of the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776.  (MDCCLXXVI)  If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it 
carefully, you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States . It is also on the Parade of Flags 
Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida National Cemetery, and is the centerpiece of most hero's monuments. Slightly modified, it 
is the seal of the President of the United States and it is always visible whenever he speaks; yet very few people know what 
the symbols mean.

The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons: First, he is not afraid of a storm; he is strong, and 
he is smart enough to soar above it.  Secondly, he wears no material crown.  We had just broken from the King of England. 
Also, notice the shield is unsupported. This country can now stand on its own. At the top of that shield you have a white 
bar signifying congress, a unifying factor.  We were coming together as one nation. 

In the Eagle's beak you will read, " E PLURIBUS UNUM", meaning "one nation from many People". Above the Eagle, you have 
thirteen stars, representing the thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away.  Again, we were
coming together as one. Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons.  He holds an olive branch and arrows.  This country wants 
peace, but we will never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to face the olive branch, but in time 
of war, his gaze turns toward the arrows. 

They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number.  This is almost a worldwide belief. But think about this: 13 original 
colonies, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence , 13 stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the 
Latin above, 13 letters in " E Pluribus Unum", 13 stars above the Eagle, 13 bars on that shield, 13 leaves on the olive 
branch, 13 fruits, 13 arrows. And, for minorities: the 13th Amendment.

I always ask people, "Why don't you know this?"  Your children don't know this, and their history teachers don't know this. 
Too many veterans have given up too much to ever let the meaning fade. Many veterans remember coming home to an America that 
didn't care! Too many veterans never came home at all.

Share this page with everyone so they can learn what is printed on the back of the UNITED STATES ONE-DOLLAR BILL so that they
know what it means and what it stands for.
 
Fun Facts: Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. 90% of the world's ice covers 
Antarctica. This ice also represents 70% of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, Antarctica is 
essentially a desert. The average yearly precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4 percent of
it), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Wedding bells rang at Holy Trinity on Saturday, September 1st to celebrate the marriage of Pat Ward’s granddaughter, Lydia, 
to Chad Mercer of Ector. Thanks to those who joined family and friends to make this a joyful occasion. 

Stewardship Dinner at Louis and Huetta Bickel’s beautiful country home on Saturday, November 17th.  Directions will be posted
in the Parish House. Expect good food and stimulating conversation about the vision we have of Holy Trinity in the future.
  
Fannin Ministerial Food Bank is in need of volunteer workers. The Food Bank is now assisting some 800 needy families in 
Fannin County. Holy Trinity is one of only a handful of local churches supporting the food bank.
 
Vicar’s Wife Got His Goat was the headline on NTxe-news.com, a catchy title to an article about Fr. Dalton and Charlene 
giving each other a “gift goat” for their 40th wedding anniversary (Nov. 23) through the Episcopal Development and Relief 
Agency. (the article actually said Heifer International, editor’s error). If you didn’t see the article, look through the 
NTxe-news.com archives for Nov. 8th. 

Thanks to Fr. Gene Baker for filling in for Fr. Dalton during his two recent surgeries. We are always happy to see him and 
inspired by his sermons

Needed: photos of Fr. Kershaw and Peggy, and personal tributes to their service at Holy Trinity by those who knew them during
their time at Holy Trinity .

December Newsletter deadline: November 20, 2007 to HolyTrntyEditor@aol.com 
Vicar: Father Bill Dalton * FatherBill@Verizon.net * 903-583-8184