Advent Missisve 2013 - Trinity United Church

THE TRINITY
MISSIVE
The Newsletter of Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
360 Reid Street, Peterborough, ON, K9H 7G6 www.trinitypeterborough.com (705) 743-3301
CALENDAR
December 1 - Advent I
Communion Service
December 4 - Light in the Shadows 7 PM
In conjunction with Comstock Funeral
Home and Kaye Funeral Home
A time of fellowship will follow the service
December 8 - Advent II
White Gift Sunday
Mitten Tree
Christmas Brunch at the Peterborough
Golf and Country Club at noon
December 15 - Advent III
A celebration of traditional Christmas music
December 22 - Advent IV
Christmas Sunday
Congregational Luncheon - homemade soup,
bread and sweet trays
December 24 - Christmas Eve 7:30 PM
Family Communion Service
December 29 - Worship & Sacraments
Service of Lessons and Carols
January 5 - Epiphany Communion
February 3 - Annual General Meeting
March 2 - Transfiguration Communion Service
March 4 - Pancake Supper
April 13 - Palm Sunday Communion Service
- photo by Richard Boehme
The Nativity scene as portrayed in one of the McCausland stained
glass windows in the Trinity Sanctuary.
Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
FROM KEVIN’S STUDY
Luke 2:15 (NRSV) When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has taken place, which the Lord has
made known to us.”
The stores are full of shoppers and Christmas carols
are blasting through the speakers as the ruckus that
is “The Holiday Season” continues. It seems to start
earlier every year. Halloween was hardly over and
some decorations for Christmas were flying up.
Hopefully we will hear the call of the “angels”
through all the noise of the season.
We will celebrate Communion on Advent 1
(December 1); the quiet and reflective “Light in the
Shadows” service at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday,
December 4 in the Sanctuary; White Gift Sunday and
the annual Peterborough Golf and Country Club
Lunch on Advent 2 (December 8); our Christmas
Music Celebration on Advent 3 (December 15); and
our “Christmas Sunday” service with soup, bread
and goodies on Advent 4 (December 22). Please
make every effort to attend one or all of these
Advent services. Our Advent Season will be marked
by traditional symbols of four characters in the
nativity story and culminate on Christmas Eve with
contemporary representations of those same
characters.
December 24. Including music, communion, story,
meditation and prayer – this will be a great event for
family and friends alike as we welcome “The Gift”
into the world and celebrate the presence of the
Holy in all of us.
A thank you to all those who planned, attended and
helped with the Tex Sample/Anniversary weekend
events and with the Commitment Sunday events
and lunch (more to come later in The Missive).
As is always the case, The Missive is full of
information about upcoming events at Trinity
throughout the Advent and Christmas Seasons right
through to Palm Sunday (which is not until April
13!). We are, of course, a very active community of
faith!
I wish you all a safe and blessed holiday season.
Kevin
THE TRINITY PRAYER CHAIN
The Prayer Chain is a quiet committee! Members
work in our own homes, in our daily prayer time,
lifting up in prayer those people on our list, names
given to us by you. If you or a loved one are experiencing a difficult time and you would like prayer
support, please contact Kevin, Trinity Office or one
of our members. Your request is emailed or phoned
Just a quick note on our “Light in the Shadows”
through our two chains as quickly as possible so we
service on Wednesday, December 4 – we will have
may start the prayers coming for support. Once
an opportunity once again this year to take a few
every two or three months our committee members
moments out of the flurry of activity to pause and
meet to update our lists and to spend a little time
reflect. We will gather together in the sanctuary for together socializing. Several members are unable to
a quiet and reflective service designed specifically
make the meetings each time, but I type the up-tofor those who find the Advent and Christmas
date information and forward it to our members,
seasons difficult because of loss or loneliness.
by email or snail mail. Christmas can be a difficult
Working with the Worship and Sacraments Team
time for individuals. Please remember us if you
and the staff of Comstock Funeral Home and
would like extra support. Knowing that others care
Cremation Centre and Kaye Funeral Home, we will
and are praying for you, can give you a real sense of
take a few quiet moments to focus on the blessed
peace and strength.
presence of the Holy in this busy time of year. Once
the service is completed, we will retire to the Church Ann Siddell
Parlour for a time of fellowship and refreshment.
Prayer Chain Leader
Christmas Eve this year will have one service of
celebration and communion at 7:30 p.m. on
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
NEWS FROM WORSHIP AND SACRAMENTS
The Worship and Sacraments Team is pleased with
the successful celebration of Trinity’s Anniversary
and the warm welcome provided to our Guest
Lecturer and Preacher, Tex Sample. Tex gave three
lectures on the weekend, and on Sunday preached
to a combined congregation of St. James United and
Trinity, where the respective choirs sang together
and St. James’ minister, Rev. Julie Van Haaften,
participated in the service. There may be an
opportunity for future combined services with St.
James.
SOME GOOD NEWS AND SOME BAD NEWS
FOR THE 2013 OPERATING FUND
The Good News – Thanks to those members who
said that they would consider a special deficit
reduction gift and have already made that gift there
has been some recovery in our level of giving.
Additionally our expenses remain below budget,
reflecting reductions in telephone and advertising
costs.
The Bad News – The unavoidable cancellation of
our “Blowing in the Wind” event means that we
will miss our fund raising target by about $7,000.
Our Advent Bookmarks are back. They list all of the Thanks to those of you who donated your ticket
planned services and we hope you will give one to a refund back to the General Fund.
neighbour or friend who might like to join us to
experience Advent in a meaningful Trinity way.
The Bottom Line is that without a significant
increase in our December giving, we will end the
This year’s “Light in the Shadows” service will take year with a deficit well above our planned level of
place on Wednesday, December 4 at 7 p.m. in the
$56,000.
Sanctuary. We offer this as a quiet reflective time
for anyone who finds Christmas a difficult season,
perhaps for reasons of loss, either recent or long
2013 Operating Fund Deficit
$80,000
past. Comstock Funeral Home helps to sponsor this
$70,000
ministry and this year we will also be joined by Kaye
Actual
$60,000
Funeral Home.
$50,000
On Sunday, December 29 our service will be a
chance to think about the Christmas Story once
more through lessons and carols. Come and sing
the ones you missed!
$40,000
Budget
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$0
Kevin plans to lead another “End of Life” discussion,
1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep 1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec 1-Jan
this time probably in an evening session. He also
hopes to have a group study of Revelation during
Lent. What a good chance to find out what that’s all MISSION AND SERVICE COULD ALSO DO
about.
WITH A BOOST
Our team welcomes thoughts and ideas to consider, Thank you again to those Members who are
making a special gift to M&S. As of December 1
so don’t hesitate.
we are still $2,500 behind in our quest to meet
our 2013 target of $30,000.
Jane Darling
Chair, Worship and Sacraments
Geoff Brown,
Treasurer
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
RESULTS FROM THE COMMITMENT CAMPAIGN
While your minds turn to sharing this joyous time with your family, to welcoming friends into your home, or to
helping the less fortunate, we would like to share with you the results of our commitment campaign from last
month. You will recall that we presented a vision for our future and asked each of you to review your level of
giving and to consider active support for Trinity with your time, talent and treasure. Kevin provided thoughtful
and challenging views of our future – a future that will embrace a larger United Church existence in
Peterborough, and one where our strengths will allow us to play an important part in it.
The response that we had from you was encouraging! Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete the
surveys and submit their forms to us. Your input is invaluable as we look forward to setting our plans and budget
for 2014. The response to the survey was excellent with 78 members and member families indicating that they
plan to continue to financially support Trinity in 2014. To put this in perspective, in 2012 the bulk of giving was
donated by 93 members and member families. As well, we had several who indicated they would consider
special gifts: for audio-visual equipment, for building improvements and for support for a theological program
coordinator. Our budgeting for the next few years will be focused on making Trinity financially sustainable.
Thank you very much. Also, many of you completed the survey of talents and we now have a list of individuals
from which to draw on to carry out our work - thank you again.
While our community of faith has a long history of support and help for each other, several of you recognized
that as we get older we might not be able to contribute as much as we would like, but you offered to do
whatever you could. In general most of you were supportive of our direction, of the future of a church of
Peterborough that works together in worship, on outreach and in enriching our faith. Another commented that
the recent experience with St. James was a very positive one - wasn’t it nice to experience a fuller church and
hear the strong voices of a larger choir! We also had individuals who volunteered to help us collaborate with
other Peterborough churches.
Some comments that we received identified the importance of attracting new members, especially new families.
Another view recognized that Trinity may only acquire a ‘critical mass’ required for a strong future through
amalgamation, and would like to see efforts undertaken to initiate discussions with other local churches. “These
are great plans but we fail to see how this is going to increase our income and we cannot continue to operate in a
deficit” - these comments recognize that, like many other churches in our current secular world, our current way
of doing things cannot be supported in the long term. We agree. The good news is that we see a future by
building on our strengths and working with other United Churches in Peterborough. We plan to develop an
action plan that will get us started in this direction.
There were a few respondents who identified that they value congregational support for Outreach, considering
the large issues warranting help, both in Peterborough and in the world. We agree. In this edition of The
Missive, you will find a revised vision, which is called a “Statement of Being - Trinity United Church” which we
think better reflects our values and intentions to the world at large. This has been prepared by Church Council
this fall and we are inviting comments from all of you.
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
SUMMARY OF THE 2013 FINANCIAL SURVEY
General Operating Fund
• 40 respondents indicated that they would increase the level of their regular giving in 2014 and
17 respondents indicated that they would consider making a special gift to offset the 2013 deficit.
Outreach
• 6 respondents indicated that they would increase the level of their regular giving in 2014 and
3 respondents indicated that they would consider making a special gift for Outreach.
Mission & Service
• 6 respondents indicated that they would increase the level of their regular giving in 2014 and
3 respondents indicated that they would consider making a special gift for Mission & Service.
Special Gifts
• 4 respondents indicated that they would consider making a special gift for audio-visual
equipment, 2 respondents indicated that they would consider making a special gift for a
Theological Program Coordinator and 2 respondents indicated that they would consider making a
special gift for building improvements.
Members on PAR
• Of our members who are using PAR to make their donations, 60% indicated that they had
reviewed their level of giving. While PAR is an excellent way to maintain a consistent level of
giving, it is all too easy to forget to regularly review this level and to make an adjustment if
appropriate.
Thank you again for taking the time to complete and return your copy of the survey.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Ted Harvey, Chair of Council
Geoff Brown, Treasurer
STATEMENT OF BEING – TRINITY UNITED CHURCH
Over the last several months, Dave Freeman has created a document that describes in detail who we are
as a congregation. The statement covers our credo, vision and mission. Church Council has approved this
document and it will come before the congregation for approval at the AGM in February. If you have any
questions or comments, please contact the Council through Ted Harvey.
Who we are (Identification)
Trinity United Church is an integral part of the community of Peterborough, Ontario. At Trinity we
espouse some common beliefs and approaches to living that have provided, and continue to provide, a
foundation for binding us together and continuing to develop our “faith-based” community. We are
called to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and to love our neighbour as
ourselves. [Matt. 22:37-39] Within Peterborough, we provide a sanctuary where members and visitors
alike can experience an open, caring environment and continue to explore what it means to live faithfully.
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
What we believe (Credo)
We believe that God is the empowering presence or Common Spirit in each of us and all people of our
world and that we are all, both inside and outside the church, linked to one-another by this Common
Spirit.
VISION
With the help of the empowering presence of The Common Spirit, we:
Promote the continuance of the rich heritage of worship through word and music by:
a) growing into an ever deepening faith-based community,
b) striving to achieve a balance between:
· an inwardly focused love of ourselves and each other, and
· an outwardly focused love, care and support of our immediate community and the
world at large.
Within the Peterborough broader church community, we:
1. Offer our support to other United Church faith communities in Peterborough who are focusing on
adult/youth programming and education or community outreach, endeavouring thereby to turn
our faith into action.
2. Create, promote and support opportunities for the United Church communities in the city and
Shining Waters Presbytery to come together and experience the Holy; moving toward centres of
worship, education, outreach and child/youth programs.
MISSION
Our mission is to organize in order to develop:
1. A continued strong pastoral care and visitation program for our aging congregation.
2. A balanced and relevant worship experience that inspires us to live out our lives faithfully.
3. A reputation in the community for challenging and enquiring theological thinking together with an
exceptional and varied worship experience that strengthens our faith through music and word.
And to develop:
4. Our leadership role in the United Church community in Peterborough by providing opportunities
for education through speakers, workshops, discussion groups etc.
5. Our facilities for multi-faith use, in an effort to share faith experience through theological
dialogue and shared music experiences.
We will do this by:
1. Sustaining ourselves financially and spiritually.
2. Encouraging strong active support from the congregation/members.
3. Providing the resources needed (audio, video etc.) to support our planned growth in adult
education, such as faith exploration workshops and related musical programs.
4. Welcoming representatives of other faith communities to assist in the development of adult
education and worship experiences.
5 Enhancing our building to support our education, music programs and needs of other faith
communities.
6. Welcoming partnerships with congregations from other faith communities to use our facilities for
separate or joint worship and study.
7. Continued exploration of opportunities for expanding our outreach programs.
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
A RENTAL OPPORTUNITY TO CONSIDER
TAKE-A-BREAK REUNION
One of Council’s stated objectives for the last few
years has been to increase the rental occupancy of
under-utilized areas of the church building. This
would generate income to offset our operating
budget deficit which is expected to exceed $60,000 in
2014.
We are attempting to organize a Spring 2014 Reunion
of the former “Take A Break” group. If you were one
of these special people, please contact one of the
committee members below and leave us your name
and contact information. We would also
appreciate the names of others whom you may
We have just received a request from Discovery Child remember from our meetings and for whom you
Care of Peterborough, a private organization, for us to might have contact info. Your assistance is greatly
appreciated.
lease to them a significant area of our building on a
long-term basis.
Norma Wills: 705-292-9449, [email protected]
An initial evaluation has shown that there is only one Janet Duke: [email protected]
area of the building that is suitable and would meet
the stringent Ontario government requirements
TRINITY FLOWER GUILD
placed on Child Care centres. This area is on the fifth
floor and comprises the two classrooms, the Parlour
The Trinity Flower Guild is currently composed of
and the Parlour kitchen, the washroom and the
fifteen members. One or two members are assigned
student’s office (currently the archive room). It would
a month between September and June in which they
not include the Library or the Music Director’s office.
arrange for flowers or decorations in the Sanctuary
In addition, an outside fenced play area would be
for Sunday services. The flowers are distributed
required and would be located on the area of lawn on
following each service to members of our
the Simcoe Street side of the church.
congregation who may be hospitalized or shut-in, who
The Child Care Centre would operate weekdays all
may have suffered a recent loss or illness or who may
year around and this area would be unavailable for
be celebrating a milestone birthday or anniversary.
Trinity activities. This might be the incentive for us to
Each Advent season, members of the Guild deliver
improve other areas of the building such as the
Christmas plants to our shut-in population. This year
Friendship Room – we have been talking about such a
thirty plants will be delivered.
project for some time.
Support for this program comes in two forms. During
Trinity Council has given its approval for the
the year, members of the congregation may wish to
Administration Team to further investigate the
put memorial flowers into the Sanctuary in honour of
feasibility of a long-term lease agreement with
loved ones. The main fundraiser each year is from
Discovery Child Care of Peterborough. There are many
donations made in memory of family and friends and
questions to be answered before such an agreement
published in a special insert in the Easter bulletin.
can be reached, not the least being how would Trinity
Distribution of the flowers from the Easter
benefit from this arrangement.
service recognizes the contribution of members of
If you have questions about this opportunity, or if you the congregation who have volunteered their time
have experience in developing such agreements and and talent over the year.
are able to help in this investigation, please contact
If anyone is interested in joining the Flower Guild,
either Jean Sanders (705-742-2290) or Geoff Brown
please contact the church office.
(705-874-5446).
Lee Ross
Jackie
Powell
Geoff Brown
Co-Chairs, Flower Guild
Treasurer, Church Council
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
TRINITY’S INAUGURAL LECTURE SERIES
The weekend of October 25 to the 27 saw Trinity
hopping with activity as we welcomed Dr. Tex
Sample. Tex provided three lectures over two
days and preached at our anniversary service on
October 27. We were joined at that service by St.
James United Church and an inspiring time of
reflection and celebration was had by all.
The weekend was a great success. Thanks to a
donation covering Tex’s fee, we raised nearly
$2400.00 which will be placed in the Ministry
Fulfilment Fund to seed another event next year.
We learned from experience some things we
would do differently to enhance the experience
for everyone.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in the
planning and implementation of the event and to
all those who attended. Planning for the 2014
event will begin in the New Year. If you are
interested in helping please contact Council or the
office.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Derry
Martha Muskett
Co-chairs of the Tex Sample planning team
- Photo by Pat Marett
The Lecture Series on Friday
evening and Saturday filled
the Sanctuary with an
attentive audience from as
far away as Parry Sound
and Kingston.
- photo by Sherry Oldham
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY 2013
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
universe. Jainism teaches to look upon them as
upon one’s own self. Inflicting injury upon another
THE COMPASSION OF OUTREACH
is inflicting injury to oneself. Ahimsa is also an
Compassion is defined as a deep awareness of the ancient principle of Hinduism. The Hindu notion of
non-violence extends far beyond avoiding causing
suffering of another coupled with the desire to
physical harm; it also includes avoiding causing
alleviate the suffering. It is much more than just
the feeling of empathy for others. The etymology harm through speech and thought. Ahimsa is
of “compassion” is Latin, meaning “co-suffering.”
More involved than simple empathy, compassion non-injury in mind, speech, and action towards all
commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate living beings:
in mind—not to think maliciously of others;
another’s suffering. The concept of compassion is
considered in almost all the major religious
in speech—not to use foul language, swear,
traditions as one of the greatest virtues. It can be
or argue;
found in Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism,
in action—to avoid injury to any person or
Jainism and Judaism, to name a few.
creature.
In Judaism, the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy
(compassion) are found in the book of Exodus.
They characterize the way in which God governs
the world, and are often recited as a part of
congregational prayer:
And the Lord passed by before him, and
proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin. . . (Exodus 34:6–7a)
Compassion abounds in Jainism and Hinduism.
Ahimsa, or non-violence, is the most basic virtue.
Ahimsa in Jainism is not mere human sympathy
but the urge to identify completely with other
people, other living beings and the whole
In Buddhism, the word karuna (usually translated
as compassion) is understood to mean active
sympathy or a willingness to bear the pain of
others. The goal of Buddhist practice is to selflessly
act to alleviate suffering wherever it appears. In
the Essence of the Heart Sutra, His Holiness the
Dalai Lama wrote;
According to Buddhism, compassion is an
aspiration, a state of mind, wanting others
to be free from suffering. It’s not passive—
it’s not empathy alone—but rather an
empathetic altruism that actively strives to
free others from suffering. Genuine
compassion must have both wisdom and
loving-kindness. That is to say, one must
understand the nature of the suffering from
which we wish to free others (this is
wisdom), and one must experience deep
intimacy and empathy with other sentient
beings (this is loving - kindness).
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
provided two, stating not only what we are to do,
but also how to do it. To love our neighbor as
ourselves is the natural result of our loving
devotion toward God.
First John 3:17 asks, “If anyone has material
possessions and sees his brother in need, but has
no pity on him, how can the love of God be in
him?” Originally made in His image, man is to
Compassion is the most frequently occurring word exemplify God’s traits, including compassion. The
in the Qur’an. At the heart of Muslim belief is the Bible is clear that compassion is an attribute of
principal of tawhid, or oneness. This oneness, or God and of God’s people as well. (Adapted from S.
unity, has been described as that which dominates M. Houdmann).
the mind in Islam, while the heart is linked to the
concept of compassion. Islam sees the sentiments The history of Outreach at Trinity is long and
of love and compassion as expressions of the
bountiful with donations of money, time, energy,
interconnected oneness of all human beings,
clothing, and food being happily given and many
reflecting the oneness and unity of God.
people showing up to help their neighbour in
“Whoever saves the life of one human being, it
anyway they can. Our various programs near and
shall be as if he had saved the whole of
afar—including but not limited to St. Paul Suppers,
humankind” (5:32)
School for Young Moms, Milk Bag Mats, Kawartha
Food Share, the Honduras Build and the Honduran
The Hebrew and Greek words translated as
children—are all examples of Trinity’s generous
compassion in the Bible mean to have mercy, to
congregation standing up, showing compassion
feel sympathy and to have pity. In the Bible, God is and helping where it is needed. For these acts of
“a compassionate and gracious God, slow to
compassion the Outreach Team would like to say
anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm thank you.
86:15). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, exemplified
all of the Father’s attributes, including His
We at Trinity are engaged in a conversation about
compassion.
the direction we want our church to take in the
future, and looking for new ways to recommit to
When Jesus saw His friends weeping at the grave that vision of who we want to be. With the recent
of Lazarus, He felt compassion for them and wept stewardship survey, many of you made clear that
alongside them (John 11:33-35). Moved with
you see our outreach programs as a defining part
compassion for the suffering of others, Jesus
of our congregation. As we approach the annual
healed the large crowds who came to Him
general meeting in February, the Outreach Team
(Matthew 14:14), as well as individuals who
is looking for new members who are willing to
sought His healing (Mark 1:40-41).
take on leadership roles. If you or someone you
know would be interested in joining the Outreach
When asked what was the greatest
Team for the 2014 year please feel welcome to
commandment, Jesus responded that it is to love contact Miranda or Chris Forstall at (705) 295God with all our heart, mind and strength. But He 0646 or by email at [email protected].
added that the second commandment “is like it:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:34- Miranda Forstall
Co-chair, Outreach Team
40). The Pharisee had asked Him which single
command of God is the greatest, but Jesus
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Trinity United Church
Advent 2013
ADVENT CROSSWORD
ACROSS
2. Counts down the days (6,8)
4. Third candle lighted
5. Third candle symbolizes
8. Tree decorated with symbols representing
the stories of people in Jesus’ family tree
9. The primary colour of Advent
10. Colour of candle lighted Christmas Eve or
day
DOWN
1. What Advent means
2. Symbol of Advent (6,6)
3. First candle symbolizes
6. Each candle represents this (3,4)
7. The number of outer candles on
Advent wreath
The Trinity Missive is published four times a year.
Comments and suggestions are always
welcome. Please contact the editor at:
[email protected].
For weekly updates check the website:
www.trinitypeterborough.com
Pat Marett, Editor
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Down
1. Coming
2. Advent wreath
3. Hope
6. One week
7. Four
ANSWERS
Across
2. Advent Calendar
4. Pink
5. Joy
8. Jesse Tree
9. Purple
10. White