PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

June 22, 2022

CHARITY, CULTURE AND EDUCATION

In each of the places I was appointed during my forty years of ministry, there was a Lion’s Club close at hand.  I served as president of the Westville club and belonged to one in Rensselaer.  From my experience, if a community had just one service club, it was most likely to be a Lion’s Club.

Another organization that seemed to be in every community I have lived was Tri Kappa.  I would read about the organization’s work in the local newspapers and learn from their members who belonged to the church I was serving what they were doing.  While Tri Kappa is categorized as a sorority, much of what they do would put it into the category of a service organization.  The primary goals of Tri Kappa are to promote charity, culture, and education.

Tri Kappa began when a group of ladies attending the Girl’s Classical School in Indianapolis, Indiana, decided to form a “secret” organization, to have a few social times together and to have officers, dues, a password, and a few rules.  The next year only one of the original members, Beryl Showers, returned to school she, her best friend, her roommates and four other friends met in Beryl’s room February 22, 1901, to organize what would become Tri Kappa.  When the ladies returned to their homes they were encouraged to start a chapter of Tri Kappa.  What makes Tri Kappa somewhat unique is that chapters are only found in Indiana.

The Plymouth, Indiana, chapter of Tri Kappa was organized January 2, 1915.  The chapter is known for its Easter Eggs and Ladies Night Out.  All the monies the chapter raises are donated back to the community.  They support the Neighborhood Center, the Historical Society, school nurses and clubs, as well as six $1,000 scholarships given to Plymouth High School graduates.  In the spring of the year the chapter sponsors a Student Art Show for children and youth from kindergarten to the twelfth grade.  All of the entries are displayed at Plymouth High School.

In 2015 Lind Starr, Tri Kappa’s historian, wrote: “We are sisters, we are family.  Sometimes we agree to disagree for the good of the order.  But we laugh together and cry together and support each other in good times and in the bad.  We continually look for new ways of doing things, of seeing and responding to the changing needs in our community.  We use the talents and abilities we have to give back and to perhaps leave things a little better than when we got here.”

Jesus called His disciples to a life of service.  In Matthew He tells them “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mat. 20:25b-27)

Tri Kappa chapters throughout the state of Indiana are being faithful to Jesus’ charge to be of service to others as they carry out their goals of charity, culture and education.  I know that there are many other organizations that are doing the same thing.  If you are a part of such an organization, I would be glad to hear about it and what it is doing.  You can contact me at davidh15503@embarqmail.com.