Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
Christmas Message 2020

Joy to the world! The Lord is come: let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing.

Perhaps like me, you’ve sung this hymn for years – in church, at home with your family, gathered with friends and neighbors. Perhaps you’ve sung it to yourself – in your car, on a walk, or quietly in the dark of night.

Joy to the world!

While we may not feel joyful this year – as the pandemic of disease continues to bring sickness and death, when fear and mistrust – a darkness – threatens to overcome the light – we, as followers of Jesus Christ must bear joy to this aching world. We must shine light into the darkness. Joy to the world!

Like much in our lives, proclaiming joy is difficult work – also good and essential work – especially now. Though we mourn that which is lost in our lives, our families, and our communities – Joy to the world!

While we strive to pull up the twisted and thorny vines of hatred and bigotry and anger – Joy to the world!

Through streaming tears and gritted teeth – Joy to the world! – because God is breaking into our lives and into this world anew.

While this is a strange year, the ministry He gives us remains the same. We will prepare him room in our hearts by taking on the ministry Jesus demands of us: feed those who are hungry; welcome the stranger; clothe those who are naked; heal those who are sick; visit the prisoner. Love God. Love your neighbor. Sing joy into this old world. Prepare him room.

St. Luke writes of the first Christmas, “[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” There, in the simplest bed, in the cool of the night, in a trough, in bands of cloth, lies the One for whom noroom was made. And yet strangely, there lies the One whom not even the universe can contain.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come. In your hearts, in your homes, in your lives, prepare him room.

God love you; God bless you; and may God hold us all in those almighty hands of love.

Update 12/18: Please note that this announcement has since been countermanded. See Update: Staff Health and Upcoming Services

CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICE

Christmas is a day that unites us and that gives us a sense of community, with a meaning and importance that goes beyond what we at times can express. But when we face the notion that celebrating Christmas might not be happening, we keenly feel the void and sense the sadness of missing this day when heaven tends to touch our homes and our hearts.

For those who would like to have some prayer time at the church on Christmas day, Friday December 25, at 11 a.m, we will open the church for a brief and simple Christmas service. This service will be limited to a maximum of 30 people for safety reasons (which is about the maximum number of people that have attended in-person meetings). Individuals or families intending to come must reserve seating in advance.

To secure a spot, please sign up here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/christmas-day-in-person-morning-prayer-service-tickets-132175001989

If more than 30 sign up, please register your interest via the waitlist located at the same link. If more people express interest than we can accommodate at a single service, we will plan for a second Christmas service and communicate details to those signed up through the waitlist. This way, access to our building will be possible to all who need it this Christmas.

Please note that all present at in-person services at Trinity are asked to remain masked and physically distanced in the sanctuary.

Merry Christmas and Joy to the world and our hearts during this challenging time.

Regards,

The Rev. Luk De Volder

Regular SUNDAY SERVICES & IN-PERSON PRAYER

With local COVID-19 numbers continuing to rise and current models predicting local infections to peak around the Christmas holiday, we have made the difficult decision to limit the in-person services. Trinity’s clergy, musicians, staff, and lay volunteers are working very hard to ensure that this Advent and Christmas season, while difficult, will continue to honor our longstanding tradition of pulling out all the stops for the holiday season.

For the foreseeable future, we will continue to observe our primary Sunday service at 10 a.m. via Zoom with supplementary broadcast to YouTube. We will also be able to open the church at 8 a.m. for a brief morning service on Sunday, December 13 and Sunday, December 20. Everyone attending must observe COVID-19 safety measures.

For the foreseeable future, we will continue to observe our primary Sunday service at 10 a.m. via Zoom with supplementary broadcast to YouTube. While we acknowledge that technology allows us safer alternatives to in person worship, we also recognize the comfort and affirmation that being physically present in the church uniquely provides to many. The church will be open at 8 a.m. for a brief morning service on Sunday, December 13 and Sunday, December 20. Everyone attending must strictly observe COVID-19 safety measures.

In addition to these 8 a.m. services, Trinity will be open for personal prayer and reflection three days a week, effect Sunday, December 6th. The church will be open:

Sundays 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Tuesdays 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Thursdays 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

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Upcoming Service Schedule

Sunday December 13

8 a.m. In-person Morning Prayer, Rite I
10 a.m. Zoom Meditation & Morning Prayer

Sunday December 20

8 a.m. In-person Morning Prayer, Rite I
10 a.m. Zoom Meditation & Morning Prayer

Christmas Eve

8 a.m. Zoom Christmas Eve Service

Christmas Day

11 a.m. In-person Simple Service (SIGN-UP REQUIRED)

4th annual remembrance of people experienced homelessness in their lives, and died in the past year.

2020 will be our fourth year of honoring the lives of those people in our community who died this past year, and experienced homelessness during their lives. This Homeless Memorial is a collaboration with Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, and would typically include an indoor worship service with lighting of candles and a display of shoes – each pair representing a person who has died. This year, we are continuing our commemoration in modified form, by constructing a small memorial on the front gate of Trinity Church. This memorial will allow people to pass by in their own time and pay their respects.

Representatives from Cornell Scott Hill and Chapel on the Green will gather briefly at 11am on Monday, Dec. 21, the day of the winter solstice, to read the names of those we remember and offer prayers. We will determine guidelines around this service closer to the date, based on public health advice – though it will most certainly be outdoors, very brief, & socially distanced. We plan to livestream this event to Facebook to share it more widely, for those who are not able to participate in person.

• How you can help:

  • We are currently collecting the names of those people in the homeless community who have died. If there is someone you would like us to remember, send names to Jessica Arroyo – jarroyo@cornellscott.org

  • Donate shoes – as usual, we are collecting shoes as part of our Memorial. We may use these shoes symbolically during our prayer service, although we certainly will distribute them to people in need shortly after the small gathering, as is our custom. Do you have lightly used shoes that you can donate to people in need? Contact Jane Esmonde at cotg@trinitynewhaven.org

Pray with the Greater New Haven Interfaith Coalition! This 16-minute video prayer resource, compiled for Thanksgiving & the winter holiday season, features prayers, reflections, and music that speaks to our shared grief, gratitude, and hope for better days in the future across multiple faith traditions. Featuring Rev. Heidi, in collaboration with many others. - https://youtu.be/m1aoZNAxNNM

Make someone else’s season a little bit brighter! There are several ways to give this year. Any donations to the following projects can be dropped off at Trinity any Wednesday or Thursday in December, between 11am and 1pm - see deadlines below. When you arrive, go to the south door on the side of the church (facing Chapel Street) and ring the bell. A sexton will assist you. Alternately, call the sexton’s office at (203) 624-3101 ext. 201.

CHILDREN’S TOY DRIVE

We accept donations of new, unwrapped toys of a non-military nature for children ages 3 months through 10 years. These donations are coordinated by Bob Windom (rwindommb@gmail.com) and distributed by the ‘r kids Family Center to vulnerable families in our community. Donate by Dec. 20.

THE GIVING TREE

Participate in our virtual “Giving Tree" to buy gifts for people in our community who could use some extra help and love this season. Donations can be dropped off at Trinity any Wednesday or Thursday in December, between 11am and 1pm, or by special arrangement with the sextons - donate by December 20!

How to Participate

1. Sign up for one (or several!) of the gifts below

2. Wrap that gift (if applicable - gift cards can stay as-is)

3. Put a post-it note or other easily removed label on the outside of that gift, saying what it is

4. Drop off at Trinity by December 20

5. Your gift will be anonymously delivered!

Questions? Email hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org

Sign Up Now >> tinyurl.com/trinitygivingtree

CHAPEL ON THE GREEN CHRISTMAS GIFT BAGS

Trinity is giving out Christmas Gift bags through Chapel on the Green at DESK on Sunday, Dec. 20. We are especially in need of $10 gift certificates to local food or coffee establishments. Due to proximity and financial accessibility, we recommend: Blue State, Willoughby’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Koffee. We also accept donations of: new socks, gloves, and hygiene products, though this year we will not accept pre-assembled gift bags. Contact cotg@trinitynewhaven.org with questions. Donate by Dec. 17.

GIVE THE GIFT OF TREES

Giving trees is a way of taking care of the Earth, and taking care of the people who live in it! While many of our winter outreach opportunities are locally focused, we invite you to donate towards reforesting the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. This opportunity to give is offered through Interfaith Power and Light, an organization that provides us much guidance in being more faithful stewards of this Earth that God has made. Donate today >>

Spirituality Corner

“If you can’t go outside,  
Go inside.” 

Current Events: 

As we grow into a new way of life, with masks and social distancing, we continue to be engaged with our community on a personal level or in small groups. We have moved from in-person meetings at the church to new platforms for social communication, i.e. mainly Zoom, e-mail, and old-fashioned telephone calls. Here is what is happening: 

ONGOING EVENTS: 

Light and Hope: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5pm  

A brief prayer moment following An Order of Prayer for the Evening. Via Zoom. 

Meditation Group – Wednesdays 

Wednesdays at 5pm - will meet on December 23 and 30, and on January 6 and 13. Starting January 21 the group will meet on Thursdays at 5:30pm.  Questions? Contact Lilian Revel at lrevel@trinitynewhaven.com or 203 858 1243. 

Men's Bible Study - via Zoom, every Friday at 7 a.m.  Will meet on Thursday 12/31 rather than Friday 01/01 in observance of the holiday.

Women’s Bible Study and Beyond – Every Thursday at 1:30pm on Zoom.  We are on a break until Thursday, January 21. Then we will regroup and start reading Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times by Matthew Fox. Some libraries have this book; Amazon and other booksellers have it. Paperback: around $17. Kindle around $10. Please read the introduction and the first chapter before our meeting on 1/21.  

Healing Prayer Service – Every Wednesday at 7pm on Zoom. Open to everyone. Come join us.  We will be on break until January 20. 

Food for the Soul – is a weekly spiritual newsletter that provides a Prayer, a Practice, a Poem, and a picture; these elements are usually connected through one central theme, designed to prayerfully comfort, accompany, stimulate, calm and relax the reader during these hard and demanding times. It is disseminated every Wednesday by Trinity Communications and can also be found on the Trinity Website. 

 Spiritual Direction: by appointment with Lilian Revel, 203 858 1243 or pastoralcare@trinitynewhaven.org. 

Stay healthy, safe, and centered, and may God’s blessings be always with you. 

Have you checked out www.amplifyfemalecomposers.org? It’s the important project undertaken by our Senior Organ Scholar Carolyn Craig (#31) and Organ Scholar Emerita Janet Yieh (#27), hosting a CHORAL ADVENT CALENDAR that features one work by a female composer every day of December until Christmas. From December 1 to December 25, you can listen to daily video broadcasts of Advent and Christmas choral music by female composers and arrangers, sung by participating parish, cathedral and university choirs from all over the US and UK, including the Trinity Men & Boys and Men & Girls! New videos will premiere at 12 noon EST each day. Our virtual recordings of Cecilia McDowall's Now May We Singen and Eleanor Daley’s Once As I Remember will be featured in the coming weeks—stay tuned!

INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING: PRAYER & ACTION - Trinity’s clergy are a part of the Greater New Haven Coalition, an informal gathering of clergy throughout the area that are committed to supporting our community & one another. There are several ways that the group has come together this season:

• Drafting an Interfaith Pastoral Letter, which you can read here: Embracing Mourning & Thanksgiving In Our Time of Fear and Anxiety

• Participating and organizing and interfaith coat drive. We are expecting to be able to distribute a total of over 200 coats, through Chapel on the Green at DESK! Thank you for your participation in this coat drive & sharing the warmth throughout our community

• Creating an Interfaith Prayer Resource, combining poems & reflections from our various faith communities. Our own Rev. Heidi is one of the faith leaders featured in the video, which you can view here:

  • VIDEO: An Interfaith Prayer Resource for Thanksgiving - https://nhvinterfaithcoalition.weebly.com/mourning--thanksgiving.html

To account for the challenges of this unusual year, we are offering a selection of holiday plants, homemade cookies, and Pat’s famous pickles online for pre-order. Shop and place your order using the button below.  

PLEASE NOTE:  We have extended the deadline for orders to November 29!   

Order pick-up will be at Trinity on Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 from 9:00-Noon. 

An Interfaith Litany of Embrace, Mourning and Thanksgiving:
In Our Time of Fear and Anxiety

(Free Coat Drive)

Friday November 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM on the New Haven Green
The Greater New Haven Interfaith Coalition

If all the lights in the world grew dim, it will not hurt you. For the light in your heart still shines bright

-Muslim Sufi poet, Rumi

Statement of Purpose:

Our faith traditions proclaim the unity of all life and our mutual interdependence. We are friends, neighbors, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and children who feel daily the stress imposed upon us all by the COVID-19 pandemic. We mourn the loss of loved ones, friends and neighbors and strangers alike due to this health crisis and we are coping with our fear of its continuing threat to life. This health crisis and the impact of racism and other forms of violence and social injustice has separated us from one another in many ways. Some of us feel that we are alone in meeting the challenges of living in our environment of anxiety and fear.

As members of faith communities in Greater New Haven, we, the Greater New Haven Interfaith Coalition are inviting you to join in forming a community of mutual care and compassion. This is a nonpartisan non-denominational event, and you need not identify with any religious or faith community to participate. All are welcome to gather and offer each other support, to remember those whom we have lost and to express gratitude, even amid our sorrows and concerns.

These are very anxious times. However, there is a unity amongst us that we must not forget even as we grieve the loss of loved ones, former ways of living and face the future. We affirm that there is more that unites us than divides us. We recognize that reaching out to and standing with one another is an important way of creating light at a time when many people are feeling that they are alone in the darkness of our time.

Please join us on Friday, November 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM on the New Haven Green. Public health safety protocols will be in place. You must wear a mask and maintain appropriate social distance. Although we will be physically separated, we can still experience and maintain our social connection as a human community and draw strength from being with one another.

Free coats will be available to those in need for the winter season. Bring a coat (or several) to leave at our coat table; take a coat if you need one. Coats should be clean and in gently used condition, and coats for children and youth are especially welcome!Coats can be dropped off in advance on Sunday, Nov. 22 at Trinity on the Green (230 Temple Street), between 1pm and 4pm. Questions about the coat drive? Contact Rev. Heidi Thorsen (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org). For non-coat drive questions/more information please contact Rabbi Herbert Brockman at: cmirabbi@cmihamden.org or Student Intern <Maria.Hackett@yale.edu>

**In-person event subject to change; coats will still be collected regardless