Summer Sermon Series

June 25, 2017 When challenges come our way and external resources are not readily available, people wonder about how to gain strength. With today’s cultural changes and prolonged delay of general economic growth, many people are at times puzzled about what next step to take. Examples of the past can bring inspiration. People like Moses… More

2017 Strategic Planning for Trinity’s Future

June 18, 2017 Sunday June 25, after the 10 a.m. morning Eucharist. In order to explore options for growth, it is very important that we hear the views and thoughts of everyone connected to our parish. As a first step, I propose that we meet for a parish-wide conversation about the future of our church…. More

Summer Planning Meetings

June 4, 2017 Trinity’s ministries are rich and thriving. We all are very grateful for so many blessings and service to share. To plan our upcoming year of ministry, all are invited to join the following planning meetings, especially if you are engaged in one of them particularly. The meetings will focus on the calendar… More

Trinity Welcomes a New Assistant Rector

April 15, 2017 THE REV. ELÍSE ASHLEY HANLEY In this season of Spring and new life we feel blessed to announce the arrival of our new Assistant Rector, The Rev. Elíse Ashley Hanley. Elíse is currently working in New York and was ordained to the priesthood last October, 2016. We are thrilled to welcome Elíse… More

Love Bade Me Welcome

March 12, 2017 Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin. But Quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning, If I lack’d anything. A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here: Love said, You shall be he. I the… More

Grace Awakening 2

February 26, 2017 Why Grace Awakening you may ask? At Trinity our community is acutely in tune with the needs of our time. And it’s been a tough period for many people, with many still facing distrust and lost faith in institutions. So maybe it’s time to listen to each other, listen to our inner… More

Grace Awakening 1

February 19, 2017 With or without God? The contemporary wrestling with the God factor could be a variation on U2’s song, With or Without You, that continues with the line:  I can’t live, with or without you? At some level contemporary culture is trying out life without God, but simultaneously there is a hunger to… More

Blessed Snow!

February 12, 2017 Blessed Snow! I realize the snow storm may have caused harm, may have thrown our schedules off, but there is also another side to the nor’easter. There is barely any other event that brings people into the streets these days, that binds people in our neighborhoods, or that even stimulates people to… More

Kidcity

February 3, 2017 What is one to do in this political season? Many of us are reaching a point of exhaustion regarding the high-level tension in the national political ‘conversation’. Many others are ready for action and are calling all leaders to join in. The main concern of churches should be pastoral and ethical. Pastoral… More

Inauguration Day

January 20, 2017 On this Inauguration Day we all are united in care and prayer for the future of our Union.  The exceptional societal challenges of our time have impacted the election of a new president that is unlike any previous one.  Watching the transition of power today, I was touched on how civil and… More

Water & Grace

January 14, 2017 In a recent interview the Surgeon General explained the new three-pillar health policy. Besides physical and nutritional wellness, Dr. Vivek Murthy is now also advocating consideration of emotional wellness. His statement is certainly not emotional. Science is telling us very regularly about the link between emotional well-being and health outcomes. The Surgeon… More

Grounding Gratitude Amid Turbulent Storms

November 20, 2016 Napflix is the latest calming channel now streaming relaxing shows such as 2015 Cricket Matches, Koala Slow Life, or the 2016 Bocci Ball Tournament. Its humorist touch is in itself already a way of calming your mind. Watching three hours of ocean waves crashing on a tropical beach helps to detox a… More

Prayers for Our President and Our Country: Healing Unity Conversation at this Week’s Sunday Forum

November 13, 2016 Emotions have dominated the presidential campaign. In months to come emotions will be a leading force in the way people express their political preferences. So often emotions have been framed as inferior. But research on emotional intelligence and emotional awareness is telling us emotions should be taken more seriously. This election campaign,… More

There Is More between Heaven and Earth than Politics

November 4, 2016 According to a recent poll, a majority of citizens have one strong wish: for the election season to be over. This upcoming Sunday, Trinity’s guest speaker at our forum will help us shift our minds. We will welcome Christine Popp at our 10AM Sunday Forum, member of Trinity and founding alumnae member… More

Wondering In Fall

October 28, 2016 How beautiful is the fall season in New England! New Englanders know so well how rich the color palette of the American deciduous trees can get in our neck of the woods. The splendor of the foliage colors in this part of the world is second to none. You could almost say… More

Giving Sunday: Honoring Your Pledge

October 21, 2016 This Sunday we will prayerfully honor every contribution to the ministry of Trinity. Giving Sunday is a time to express thanksgiving to God for the gifts we are able to share. It is also a time of discernment when we are still deciding on our contribution for our 2017 stewardship campaign. Your… More

Trinity in the Community: Environmental Spirituality

October 2, 2016 In this Sunday’s Gospel, plants are metaphors to express the growth potential of faith: “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (Luke 17) Of course the increase of faith is… More

Until We Meet Again

September 11, 2016 This Sunday will be my last Sunday at Trinity Church on the Green, even though I will be around to assist at Chapel on the Green two Sundays a month for the remainder of the year.  While I am excited about my new opportunity as Priest in Charge at Grace Episcopal Church,… More

Summer’s Horizon

August 28, 2016 As we near the end of the summer we are stunned about how much our kids have grown. Summer seems to have magic growth power. Some say it is because summer is a time with more relational living. More family time, more time with friends, more time together. It is certainly true… More

Sabbath

August 21, 2016 This Sunday the Gospel text challenges us as modern followers of Christ to step into the text and embody the leader of the synagogue who has rules and regulations to uphold.  It’s easy for us to see ourselves as members of the crowd, or the healed woman but what about the synagogue… More

Rowena Transitioning to New Ministry

August 14, 2016 Dear Trinity Family, Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us that “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Regretfully, I write to inform you that effective September 11th, 2016 I will conclude my tenure here at Trinity as your Assistant Rector.  This is a decision not made lightly… More

The Jungle and the Law

August 7, 2016 Since April Mowgli has swung back into theaters. The 2016 John Favreau version is a computer generated image adaption that softened Rudyard Kipling’s admiration for power into a focus on the role of law. Keeping the power of this orphan-saved-by-wolves story robust, this 2016 Jungle Book is suggesting that we can only… More

A New Turn

July 31, 2016 My family trip to Europe over the past weeks was certainly an overwhelming confrontation with the growing turbulence of terrorism. The destabilizing and war-like attacks have become so numerous that for some, Pokemon Go and its “augmented reality” has been a welcome relief. But signs of hope have also been popping up… More

Forgotten Insights from the Gospels; Summer Preaching Series 2016

June 26, 2016 What “evangelical” means has a clear definition in our American culture. But do these “evangelical” values actually match the values of the Gospels? For centuries the Gospels were practiced through a summary of “evangelical” living that was very different than the current popular view of what “evangelical” means. Each Gospel presents a… More

Giving Thanks for Dad

June 19, 2016 This Father’s Day weekend, let us celebrate and give thanks for our fathers, whether biological, adopted or step fathers.  Let us thank God for their love, support, guidance and even discipline.  Let us pray and ask God to change the hearts and minds of those who have been unable to fulfill their… More

Middle Time: A Prayer by Lona Fowler

June 12, 2016 Between the exhilaration of Beginning and the satisfaction of Concluding is the Middle Time of enduring, changing, trying, despairing, continuing, becoming. Jesus Christ was the man of God’s Middle Time between Creation and . . . Accomplishment. Through him God said of Creation, “Without mistake.” And of Accomplishment, “Without doubt.” And we,… More

Under Construction!

June 5, 2016 During the celebration of our church’s bicentennial presence on the New Haven Green we will all get some sense of how it felt two hundred years ago to have our church building be under construction. As in 1816, we also will be impatient to have the construction phase be over and done… More

Happy Memorial Day

May 29, 2016 Yard Sale Angel by Bonnie Thurston There she stood, golden among discarded detritus from someone’s basement or attic. She already had one strike against her, being clearly female when biblical angels are (naturally) male. And she had acquired a broken wing. You could still see the mended crack. Not long after she… More

Rotating Love of the Trinity

May 22, 2016 When our Table on the Green ministry first started, we launched this dinner service using the powerful Trinitarian term: “Perichoresis”. Reactions were potent: Peri-what? The title sounded to some like a pharmaceutical product that would appear in TV-ads with lengthy and ominous sounding disclaimers. The powerful meaning of the term that inspired… More

Un Ange Passe

May 15, 2016 In the past few months, I have sat with a number of parishioners near the end of their lives.  At the time, I was unaware of how imminent their earthly time was!  Yet, in those moments there have been periods where I had exhausted my collection of comforting words from Scripture or… More

Happy Mother’s Day

May 8, 2016 Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers! Right before this year’s Mother’s Day Weekend I was blessed to visit my own mother and grandmother, back in Brussels, Belgium. It all came together because my grandmother’s health is rapidly declining. She is 96 and I wanted to see her while she is still with… More

I Am Standing Upon the Seashore

April 29, 2016 For the past few weeks, I have been confronted by death: diligent parishioners sitting with me to document their funeral arrangements with the church, the death of beloved parishioners with whom I had formed relationships, grieving families who needed answers and comfort at the death of a loved one, and more personally,… More

The Power of Within

April 17, 2016 The Power of Within, by Richard Rohr Although Jesus’ message of “full and final participation” was periodically enjoyed and taught by many unknown saints and mystics, the vast majority of Christians made Christianity into a set of morals and rituals, instead of an all embracing mysticism of the present moment. Moralism (as… More

A Sonnet for St. Peter

April 10, 2016 This week’s Gospel text comes from John 21:1-19 where for the third time the Risen Savior appears to the disciples who have finally left the locked upper room.  They have joined Peter on the Sea of Tiberias for a day of fishing and they catch 153 fish! Wouldn’t we all be so… More

What Thomas Wants

April 3, 2016 (John 20: 19-31) What Thomas Wants Thomas knows all about crucifixion. Knows the nails driven into the victim really tear the flesh, damage the bones. And he knows that this is a crucifying world, with all its violence, greed and oppression still hammering nails into the hands of justice, still thrusting spears… More

Happy Easter! “Alleluia Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!”

March 27, 2016, Easter Sunday Easter 2016 message from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry & Easter 2016 message from Bishop Ian Douglas and Laura Ahrens   Presiding Bishop Michael Curry “This is not a fairy tale.” March 23, 2016 “This world does not need another fairy tale,” Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael Curry said… More

Bishops’ Word to the Church

March 20, 2016, Palm Sunday Our bishops, The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Bishop Diocesan, and The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens, Bishop Suffragan, have sent a special message to be read this Sunday to express their concern regarding the division, anger, and hostility engendered by the current political season in our country. As bishops… More

Lenten Reflection

March 6, 2016 The Soul’s Objective Union with God, by Richard Rohr. “Let us create humanity in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves” Genesis 1:26″ The Genesis story of the Judeo-Christian tradition is really quite extraordinary. It says that we were created in the very “image and likeness” of God, proceeding from free… More

Commemoration Celebration!

February 20, 2016 Our building is two hundred years old and we are celebrating this bicentennial tomorrow. Our church building is certainly a marvel of an edifice. Ithiel Town did a superb job. But our commemoration will celebrate even more the living stones of our community. While we rededicate our building, our altar, our pulpit,… More

Strategy

February 7, 2016 Very different strategies will be on TV this weekend, different from those last Sunday when all cameras were on Iowa. This Sunday, no Trump or caucus discussions, but muscular, visceral strategies of the Super Bowl game. Whether one is a star politician, a pro in football, a stay at home parent, or… More

We Are In This Together

January 31, 2016 A German forester’s book is one of the best selling books of 2015. The title itself is vivid: “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries From a Secret World.” For the author Peter Wohlleben, the trees are connected through a “Wood Wide Web.” While providing scientific… More

200 Years On the Green

Interfaith Prayer Service to Open Trinity’s Bicentennial Celebration Sunday, January 17, 5pm With Mayor Toni Harp, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Interfaith Leaders: Rev. Ian Oliver (Guest Speaker) (Senior Associate Chaplain for Protestant Life & Pastor, University Church in Yale) Imam Omer Bajwa (Coordinator of Muslim Life at Yale) Zen Abbot Paul Bloom (Senior Dharma Teacher… More

Who Is He?

December 20, 2015 This week I share with you a poem to ponder as we make ready to celebrate God’s gift of love to us. WHO IS HE? It was a stone manger, That place where he lay; Not a fine oaken cradle, But a box filled with hay. His mother sang to him Suckling… More

Rejoice

December 13, 2015 (Christmas Pageant) Some days start with a stream of dread. Christmas presents for the family are late, the costumes for the school pageant are not ready. We missed the sale Target was having. The car needed to go the shop already a month ago. Apart from those simple things there are also… More

Wilderness

December 6, 2015 “A voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.” This traditional advent text resonates strongly with feelings today. We see a lot of wilderness today, hear a lot of crying, and feel the need for a way out. With mass shootings becoming daily routine – we pray very much… More

Thanksgiving

November 29, 2015 What a year 2015 has been so far, full or surprises and challenges on the international scene and some events on the national level. But through all that happened we have also witnessed some moving blessings in our Trinity community. The amazing spirit of the Holiday Bazaar, the Music for Music campaign… More

Responsibility

November 22, 2015 This past week the Western world has been processing the Paris events of last Friday November 13.  While France went on the hunt to capture the fugitive terrorists and bomb their ISIS base in Syria, the press has been reflecting the sentiments and thoughts of people in the streets of Europe. Many voiced… More

Stewardship Update

November 15, 2015 This Sunday’s Gospel message about the widow’s mite brings us back to the meaning of giving. The story shows the stark contrast between the scribes and the widow, but the message is clear: money is an expression of our spirit’s disposition. Attachment to prestige, status, or power can make people into money… More

The Kingdom Come!

November 13, 2015 The past few weeks have been troubling on many levels……a suspected terrorist attack on an airliner, a suicide bomber’s attack in a marketplace, strained economies and relations amidst an escalating refugee crisis in Europe, more school shootings here in the US, deadly road rage, student protests on university campuses nationwide, and more… More

Giving Sunday

October 25, 2015 Gracious and loving God, giver of all that is good and true and beautiful and life-giving. Our (pledge) cards represent our sweat, they represent our lives, they represent our dreams. More

Shooting Our Souls

October 11, 2015 Three campus shootings and a fatal gun incident because of an angry child who had access to his parent’s rifle, all four incidents in just over a week’s time. The trend and sequence doesn’t seem to stop. The pain in our souls is excruciating as well as numbing. The incidents are so… More

Feast of Francis of Assisi

October 4, 2015 This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Francis of Assisi with the Blessing of the Animals and Choral Evensong at 5pm on Sunday, October 4th, 2015.  Below is an excerpt from Holy Women, Holy Men that tells us some of Francis’ story.  Enjoy! “Francis, the son of a prosperous merchant of Assisi,… More

Follow Me

September 13, 2015 Follow me. If you didn’t know these were Jesus’ words you might have found them suspicious, as if a child kidnapper is talking here. Or you could find them conceited or preposterous, who can claim such request? Follow me. Uttering these words as a church these days makes them also come across… More

Back to School & Goodbye to Linda Sheehan

September 6, 2015 It is back to school time! The rush of the regular routine can easily make us ache for those beautiful relaxing summer days we enjoyed at some point this past summer, even if it was just some afternoon at the New Haven beach. But we all know that the importance of education… More

New Beginnings

August 30, 2015 Excerpt from New Beginnings by Gertrude B. McClain Although the cares of life are great And hands are bowed so low   The storms of life will leave behind   The wonder of a rainbow.   The years will never take away   Our chance to start anew   It’s only the… More

Practice Resurrection

August 16, 2015 In honor of my first trip to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a poem by Kentucky farmer and poet, Wendell Berry, that challenges all of us to live the counter-culture life we are called to as Christians.  What would it mean for each of us to partner with God and practice resurrection rather… More

Strawberry Grace

August 9, 2015 The strawberries at the strawberry farm near my home where I grew up gave me numerous times a simple yet magical experience. I would take my bike for a 20 minute ride through the forest and the fields surrounding the centuries old farm house. I knew that the wheat fields would ignite… More

Blogger Questions

August 2, 2015 As I have mentioned previously, every morning I read a number of blogs from colleagues and friends across the church.  Today I was struck by five questions posed by the blogger on the RevGal Blog. These questions, though simple, tugged at my inner core and challenged me to go just a little… More

Return to the Lord

July 26, 2015 Did you ever take a wrong turn? Either while driving or in life, the consequences can be pretty frustrating. Now some people dismiss that evil exists, or that there are wrong choices at all. Also, many wrongdoings may happen in secret – no one else feels the consequences. Plus, people’s consciences may… More

Happy Birthday America

July 5, 2015 This weekend we celebrate two hundred and thirty-nine years of independence from Great Britain and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. There will be parades, fireworks, barbecues, family gatherings and even worship services giving thanks to God to celebrate this day. This year we give thanks to God for the Supreme… More

A Colorful Victory

June 26, 2015 Same-sex marriage is a right, nationwide, after today’s historical Supreme Court ruling. A victory and celebration nation-wide! Remarkable in the ruling is not simply the recognition of equality and the extension of liberty under the constitution. The ruling explicitly reaches for a more fundamental stance when it expresses how same-gender couples justifiably… More

Giving Thanks for Dad

June 21, 2015 Did you know that the first celebration of Father’s Day was in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910?  It was not until 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.  Therefore, on this Father’s Day weekend, let us celebrate and give thanks… More

Trinity Young Adults Meeting

June 14, 2015 Young adulthood is a magical time in life, wading through a river of options and opportunities. That multitude of chances can make the 20’s and 30’s also into a challenging time in life. How do I pick the right choice for me, the path that fits my life, the partner who is… More

If You Lose Your Way in the Fog

June 6, 2015 On any given day I read numerous blogs and I thought I would share this one with you as we all go about our lives doing just one more thing in the fog of busyness.  Enjoy. Rowena+ If the worst happens, and the fog gets so thick that you really can’t move… More

130 Years of Trinity Choirs (1885-2015)

May 31, 2015 On Trinity Sunday at Trinity Church we give special thanks to God for all gifts we may celebrate in our lives and in our community. One of those shining gifts at Trinity is undoubtedly our excellent music program. This year we celebrate the 130th anniversary of the choir tradition at our parish…. More

Sunday School Recognition

May 17, 2015 Our beloved Sunday School Director, Linda Sheehan, is retiring, as announced last January. Together with the Sunday School Recognition (during our 9am service) we will honor Linda this Sunday, for her twenty years of service (1995-2015) to our children’s Sunday school. She has touched the life and faith of so many children… More

Blessed Mother’s Day

May 9, 2015 Mother’s Day is very special for me this year. With the arrival of our daughter Audrey I am a daily witness on how beautifully my wonderful spouse is growing as a mother. Tiffany used to be more monofocused. Now she is a multitasking hero. Singing on key was not her talent, she… More

The Next Presiding Bishop

May 5, 2015 A few days ago, I joined members of the Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church in Connecticut on retreat where we prayed and shared our vision for all that we can be as God’s people in mission in Connecticut.  In this Easter season of renewal and rebirth, it was an exciting… More

Canticle for Earth Day

April 24, 2015 This past Wednesday, April 22nd we celebrated the 45th anniversary of Earth Day, the anniversary of the modern environmental movement.  Many events were held and are being held this weekend around the world and in our own communities to remind us of our responsibility as stewards of Creation and to bring attention… More

Practical Dimensions of the Resurrection

April 17, 2015 Talk about Christ’s resurrection tends to focus on the afterlife dimension, the presence of the living Lord, or the peace that God seeks to insert in our days. But there are also very practical dimensions related to the resurrection. As a victim of religious violence Jesus did address for example the issue… More

Easter and the Spirit of Taizé

April 12, 2015 Gushing life forces make spring continually amazing. And the more we know about our universe the more amazing we realize life is. NASA recently stated that finding extraterrestrial life is part of their 20 year goal, that is in fact to identify traces of microbes on Mars. Meanwhile our blue planet, gorgeously… More

Happy Easter!

April 5, 2015 Happy Easter to all! What a blessing to celebrate Easter every year. While the repetition may risk to make the celebration feel monotonous, our daily context of changes and challenges, with all its ups and downs, messiness, faults, and failures, needs this annual memorial of radical hope that God’s love is seeking… More

Looking Toward the Empty Tomb

March 27, 2015 This Sunday we joyously begin our journey to Jerusalem, moving soberly to the cross and then expectantly to the empty tomb.  Over the next few days we will remember and celebrate God’s grace, God’s gift and God’s love for all of Creation especially humanity.  Yet, in the midst of all of this… More

Being Mortal

February 15, 2015 This past Tuesday night, Frontline’s program entitled Being Mortal was an interview with NY Times best-selling author and surgeon, Dr. Atul Gawande, on his book by the same name.  The program focused on patients in their final days with their families and physicians as they wrestled with the patients’ expectations and their… More

Eldering

February 1, 2015 A few months back, I began my day with an amazing meditation on Eldering from the Center for Action and Contemplation by Richard Rohr.1  He reminded me that we live in a society with elderly people but unfortunately very few elders.  He emphasized that “it’s not because they (the elderly) are bad… More

Come With Me

January 16, 2015 In Hasidic Tales, there is a story called Come with me, that tells the story of a successful Jewish entrepreneur who was well connected to the Polish authorities. He is asked by his rabbi to speak on behalf of the Jewish people to a cruel government minister in Warsaw about upcoming legislation… More

What a Week in Paris

January 9, 2015 What a week in Paris. The city became a battleground between free speech and religious fanaticism, modernity and jihadists. The Charlie Hebdo massacre, the Kosher supermarket hostages and shootings, and the deadly chases around the city illustrated once more the intensity of the clash between those two worlds. This January 7 irreversibly… More

Happy New Year

January 2, 2015 Many blessings for the New Year, for you and your family, good health in body and mind. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.   Last… More

Annual Christmas Concert – December 19

Tonight, Friday December 19, the Choir of Men and Boys will present their Annual Christmas Concert  at 7:30 p.m. here at Trinity. We are very grateful that our concert will have instrumental accompaniment made possible through the support of the Christa Soell Fund: Wendy Kerner, harp and Mark Rike, violin, and The Trinity Festival Brass…. More

Children’s Pageant, Baptism, Parish Meeting Speech

Our Christmas Pageant, with live animals, is coming up this Sunday [December 14]. Trinity’s Christmas Pageant is such a marvelous experience, truly a festival of Christmas spirit, children’s joy, and extremely charming pageantry. Even Christmas puritans are moved by its sincere cheer and delight. All children are welcome, of course, rehearsal starting tomorrow (Sat 12/13)… More

Church Renewal (2)

A colleague of mine shared this gripping testimony a couple of weeks ago on church renewal that I would like to share with you. He is a great Rector at St. Mark’s, New Canaan, an inspiring preacher and spiritual leader. On Canceling Your Life Agenda – by the Rev. Peter F. Walsh St. Mark’s, New Canaan A few weeks ago… More

Happy Thanksgiving

All the volunteers at our church are such a major gift to remember on Thanksgiving. It is truly amazing just how many people give every week and every month of their time, and in such meaningful ways. The Holiday Bazaar last week was such a great experience and one example of how dedicate Trinity’s volunteers… More

Trinity Renewal (1)

Over the next few weeks I am calling attention to renewal, renewal that is needed in our parish. Renewal will be a main focus for us over the next few years. Over the course of the next few weeks the Vestry and I will decide on the direction this renewal plan will take. And your… More

Welcome the Rev. Rowena J. Kemp

This Sunday [November 16] we will welcome the Rev. Rowena J. Kemp as our new Assistant Rector at our church. We are very excited that Rowena is joining our clergy team. During all services this Sunday we will take a moment of prayer to ask God’s blessing over Rowena’s ministry at Trinity. And Rowena will… More

Getting Ready for Christmas

Join us this Sunday [November 9] for a 15 min. Christmas prep meeting at 12:15pm. It is still a long way to Christmas, but Christmas is such an important time with lots of church services and events that require proper attention and preparation. Acolytes, ushers, parents, children, Christmas pageant volunteers, … come and join us. We… More

Let’s Vote!

Let’s Vote! Election Day is coming up, but the current political climate may not directly generate a “O, when the saints go marching in” pull to the voting booths. Frustration over institutional inefficiency and of a representation vacuum keeps growing. One political science authority who recently joined the concerns on the functioning of our democracy… More

Giving Hope – Trinity Stewardship 2014

Pledge, donate, or plan giving to Trinity today. Through your contribution we build our church and your financial support helps us to give hope in our New Haven community. Your pledge can start already at $1. Donations to our programs and ministries really make a difference. Or you may prefer a contribution directly to our… More

Money is spiritual

Contrary to popular opinion, money is actually very spiritual. The biblical view on money categorizes it indeed as opposite to God (One can not serve both God and money – Matthew 6:24), but this doesn’t mean that money isn’t spiritual. Money easily has an influence on our spirits. It all depends on how we allow… More

The Spirit of Giving

Giving money is seldom easy. And giving to church doesn’t necessarily feel different. With the money we contribute to church, however, we donate on another level.  We help to strengthen trust, love and service, those intangibles that God instills in us through our service to each other. Given money to such an adventure of faith… More

2014 Stewardship Campaign: Giving Hope

Your $1 Pledge! For this year’s stewardship campaign we would like all of us to pledge. Please consider contributing $1 to our vibrant church ministries and programs. Because every dollar counts. The truth is that we all comfortably spend small dollar amounts in many areas of our lives: Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, occasional gifts, iPod songs,… More

Clergy Search Process

During the summer months I have started an interview process for a new Assistant Rector. To help me in interviewing applicants I have set up an interview team, including the wardens, Jack Tebes and Lisa Omark, the president of the Home Board, Carol Davidson, and the two most recent former wardens, Warner Marshall and Barbara… More

Climatocalypse

Climatocalypse: The end is near? Or at least the world as we know it? Whatever doom scenario is being reported these days, what leaves no doubt at this moment, is that we face numerous challenges of sustainability. Our prospects regarding basic pillars of our survival are not positive: our resources (Club of Rome Report), our… More

Volunteers Needed

September 5, 2014 We are in need of new volunteers. As church community we are a volunteer organization and without the help of your generosity in time and talent, we could never accomplish all we do today. Your volunteering makes all the difference, every day of the week. Every year we also need new volunteers. Our… More

Peace Intervention

August 23, 2014 Launching a peace intervention sounds so utopian. Yet the events of last week made me dream of organizing a pool of a champaign-vodka-mint leave cocktail to calm the hardheads of the IS-jihadists. Or a marijuana smoke-filled chamber to appease the Russian warmongers. Or maybe a monastery retreat for the Ferguson, Mo officials,… More

Superman Firefighters

August 15, 2014 Some days it feels like the world needs supermen fire fighters to address the issues we face. Internationally the conflict levels (Middle-East, Africa, Eastern Europe) have been high this summer. In our country tensions flared in Ferguson MO after Michael Brown was shot this week. Meanwhile climate change keeps turning our weather upside… More

Participate in Properties

August 8, 2013 Trinity Church is an architectural marvel and a historical landmark. Given its beauty and history numerous people visit our church all year long and especially during the summer months. The recent art exhibits of Susan Clinard and Mackenzie Pikaart brought even more people to our building and also helped them notice the… More

The Guns of August

August 1, 2014. I am so grateful for these beautiful and calm summer days this year, with low humidity and soothing temperatures. I pray we all have time to enjoy them. Especially after the winter we had I am soaking up every bit of this summer heaven. Hundred years ago, my great-grandfather in Brussels had… More