Pauli Murray

(November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985)

Pauli Murray is often remembered for “firsts” - for being the first Black woman ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church (1977); for being the first Black person to graduate with a Doctor of Juridical Science Degree from Yale Law School (1965). These milestones are significant, and yet even they do not convey the breadth and influence of Pauli Murray and Murray’s lifelong commitment to justice and faith. Murray dedicated years to a legal vocation, graduating first in class from Howard Law School in 1944 and going on to confront systems of sexism that denied Murray admission to Harvard Law School the following year. Murray’s legal writings became a key resource for the work of other legal justice advocates such as Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Gisberg. At a time when the relationship between women’s rights and civil rights was unclear and at times tenuous, Murray affirmed that justice for people of color and justice for women are deeply interconnected.

Also deeply connected to Murray’s legal career was Murray’s Christian faith, which ebbed and flowed throughout Murray’s life, reaching a point of clarity and fulfillment with Murray’s ordination to the priesthood in 1977. Pauli Murray stated, “I began to realize that universally, all of mankind is constantly falling down from these high ideals... that racism and sexism are actually sins, the sickness of sin; that human beings are not really in harmony in relationship to their creator. And since they are not, they are not able to be in harmony, in relationship, and to love-- to respect their neighbor.” Faith gave Murray a lens through which to imagine a better future. This faith in the future is particularly inspiring given all the ways that the world was not welcoming of Pauli Murray: as a woman, a Black person, and a gender non-conforming person who explored using different pronouns in public and private life. Murray’s faith in God and in the future is perhaps best expressed in Murray’s poetry:

Dark Testament Verse 8

By Pauli Murray

Hope is a crushed stalk

Between clenched fingers

Hope is a bird’s wing

Broken by a stone.

Hope is a word in a tuneless ditty —

A word whispered with the wind,

A dream of forty acres and a mule,

A cabin of one’s own and a moment to rest,

A name and place for one’s children

And children’s children at last . . .

Hope is a song in a weary throat.

Give me a song of hope

And a world where I can sing it.

Give me a song of faith

And a people to believe in it.

Give me a song of kindliness

And a country where I can live it.

Give me a song of hope and love

And a brown girl’s heart to hear it.

In 2017, Yale University named a new college after Pauli Murray, who among many accomplishments is an alum of Yale Law School. We also lift up the legacy of Pauli Murray as a faithful Christian, and leader in the Episcopal Church.

Sources:

“Fighting Jane Crow: The Multifaceted Life and Legacy of Pauli Murray,” BackStory, podcast (20 March 2020), https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/pauli-murray/, accessed 24 Feb. 2021.

Pauli Murray, Dark Testament and Other Poems (Silvermine, 1970).

Preparing Our Ministries to Resume

In March we are gathering with several of our committees to prepare our ministries to resume once possible. We certainly can't wait to return to church and restart our ministries. Our staff members have already been working on getting our ministries ready for action. We now want to connect with parish members through our ministry committee.

• Tuesday March 2, 5:30pm: Outreach Committee | Zoom Link

• Tuesday March 9, 5:30pm: Pastoral Care Committee | Zoom Link

• Tuesday March 16, 5:30pm: Liturgy Committee

• Tuesday March 23, 5:45pm: Music Committee

We will meet on Zoom and all committee members are called to join, as well as all who are interested to be part of the conversation.

Livestreamed Organ Recital

Walden will present a half-hour organ recital from the First Congregational Church in Madison on Friday, March 5, at 12:15 pm as a part of that church's Five Fridays Lenten Concerts. The recital, containing works of Fanny Mendelssohn, Florence Price, Louis Vierne, and Cesar Franck, will be livestreamed on First Church's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/fccmadison) or listeners may park outside the church on the Madison Green and listen from their cars via the sound being broadcast from speakers in the church steeple.

Allan Rohan Crite

(March 20, 1910 - Sept. 6, 2007)

Allan Rohan Crite, born in Plainfield New Jersey and an almost lifelong resident of the Boston area, was an artist whose life work demonstrates two things: first, a commitment to exploring and celebrating the lived experience of Black Americans; and second, his deep Christian faith as a lifelong Episcopalian. Crite’s early paintings depict lively, everyday scenes in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, a predominantly Black neighborhood. Describing these works, Crite writes: “My intention in the neighborhood paintings and some drawings was to show aspects of life in the city with special reference to the use of the terminology ‘black’ people and to present them in an ordinary light, persons enjoying the usual pleasures of life with its mixtures of both sorrow and joys… I was an artist-reporter, recording what I saw.”

During the 1930s Crite shifted to more religious subject matter. He created profound ink drawings and lithographs depicting stories from the Bible, particularly the life of Jesus Christ, in contemporary settings. In one image, Mary cradles an infant Jesus next to a trash can in a poor urban neighborhood. In another, a dark-skinned Jesus hangs on the cross facing oblivious light-skinned pedestrians with the caption: “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?” Crite’s images are heartfelt, faithful meditations on how the incarnation of Jesus is present in our lives today, and how we as Christians are called to see Jesus in the face of those who are marginalized and oppressed; those whose very lives are at stake in a country still plagued by racism. In his autobiography, Crite stated, “For a long time, I felt as far as the Church was concerned, that there was too much the impression of a mostly European institution, practically to the exclusion of anything else.” Crite offers a different impression - an impression of a church that is diverse and courageous in facing the social realities of our present time.

While Crite does not have a direct personal connection to the City of New Haven or to Trinity, we are grateful to have come to know Crite’s work better through Trinity parishioner Bill Kellett, whose father the Rev. William Kellett was a pastor to Crite while serving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Boston.

Sources:

“Allan Rohan Crite,” The Smithsonian Institution, website, accessed 17 Feb 2021, https://americanart.si.edu/artist/allan-rohan-crite-1047.

“The Art of Faith: Allan Rohan Crite at St. John St. James Parish, Roxbury,” Historic Boston Incorporated, blog (28 Feb 2019), accessed 17 Feb 2021, https://historicboston.org/the-art-of-faith-allan-rohan-crite-at-st-john-st-james-parish-roxbury/.

The Way of Love

Coffee Hour Topics during Lent 2021

During the Season of Lent, our Coffee Hour will begin with 5-7 minute breakout groups in which we are invited to explore a theme of the week, based on the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry’s roadmap of Christian faith, The Way of Love. The Way of Love is not a program or a curriculum, but rather a description of a core set of practices that have long guided Christian life:

• Turn - Feb. 21

• Learn - Feb. 28

• Pray - March 7

• Worship - March 14

• Bless - March 21

• Go - March 28

• Rest - April 4

Join us for these breakout conversations, or feel free to stay in the main “Zoom room” if you simply need a breather after our service. Grab a cup of tea or coffee - and our regular, unstructured Zoom Coffee Hour will begin shortly.

Plan Ahead! Coffee Hour Topics are based on this introduction to The Way of Love: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/way_of_love_introduction.pdf

Stations of the Cross with St. Luke’s

Our neighbors at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Whalley Avenue have invited us to tune in to their weekly observance of the Stations of the Cross, on Fridays at 7:30pm on Facebook. Join us (you do not need a Facebook profile to access the following link) >> https://www.facebook.com/WhalleyAve/

Praying with St. Luke’s is one way of walking together with this parish, which is linked to our own through Trinity’s historic failure to allow Black members of our congregation to sit in the main pews, a sad manifestation of racism that led to the subsequent departure of Black parishioners to found their own congregation, St. Luke’s, in 1844.

St. Luke’s has invited members of Trinity to participate directly in Stations of the Cross on Friday, March 26, by reading the scripture texts that accompany different stations. Email Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) if you are interested, and we will get you connected!

Alexander Crummell (1819-Sept. 12, 1898)

Alexander Crummell was an African American priest, missionary, and educator whose life exhibits both the amazing contributions of Black Episcopalians to the church, and the failure of the church to make space for the ministries of Black Americans. Throughout his life, Crummell struggled to find a place in the church in which to exercise his vocation. Having been born and raised in New York City, Crummell was denied admission to New York’s General Theological Seminary. He studied independently for ministry instead, during which time he lived briefly in New Haven, CT. Crummell was at one time in conversation to become the first rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which had recently formed after members of Trinity on the Green refused to allow Black people to sit in pews designated for the general congregation. Ultimately Crummell moved on instead to Providence, Rhode Island, where he began parish ministry. Crummell was ordained a deacon in 1842, and a priest in 1844.

Crummell’s next call was to a church in Philadelphia, though he resigned in protest for being excluded from diocesan convention, due to his race. Crummell moved to England, where he could finally pursue a formal theological education while serving as a curate. While in England, Crummell discovered a passion for missionary work. He moved from England to Liberia, where he served as a missionary from 1853 to 1873. Despite his passion for the work, Crummell struggled to find his place there as well, at times caught between his white Episcopal colleagues and the ruling elite class of mulatto Americo-Liberians. Crummell returned to the United States in 1873, where he founded and served as rector of St. Luke’s Church, Washington D.C. He also organized the Conference of Church Workers Among Colored People, a forerunner of what is today the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE).

W.E.B Dubois, whose grandfather was one of the founding members of St. Luke’s New Haven, was profoundly moved by Crummell’s story and wrote about it in his book The Souls of Black Folk:

“He did his work, --he did it nobly and well; and yet I sorrow that here he worked alone, with so little human sympathy. His name to-day, in this broad land, means little, and comes to fifty million ears laden with no incense of memory or emulation. And herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, --all me know something of poverty; not that men are wicked, --who is good? Not that men are ignorant, --what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.”

Sources:

Randall K. Burkett, “The Reverend Harry Croswell and Black Episcopalians in New Haven, 1820-1860” in The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History (Fall 2003: Vol. 7, No. 1).

The Episcopal Church, “Crummell, Alexander” in An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/crummell-alexander/.

W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, originally published 1903 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009).

Harold T. Lewis, Yet with a Steady Beat: the African American Struggle for Recognition in the Episcopal Church (Trinity Press international, 1996).

Words in the Wilderness

Walk through the season of Lent with Trinity, one word at a time. Every day (except on Sundays) we will post a photo and a brief refection on Facebook and on our website from a Trinity parishioner responding to a Lenten "word of the day." These words are chosen from the weekly lectionary texts, and are chosen to help us embrace Lent as a season of repentance and restoration.

We want you to contribute!

Email Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) if you are interested and might like to contribute a photo and reflection, or if you have any questions. Alternately, you can see the full list of words and sign up here. We want you to sign up!

This Week’s Lenten Reflections

Reflections this coming week will be provided by: Barb Hedberg, Paige Nelson, Joe Dzeda, Will Oxford

On Facebook >> https://www.facebook.com/trinitynewhaven

On our Website >> trinitynewhaven.org/words-in-the-wilderness

Do you need help registering for the COVID-19 Vaccine? Let us know!

The State of Connecticut is beginning to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to essential workers and people who are 75 years or older. We know that there are some members of our parish who have received the vaccine already – and this gives us hope! We give thanks for the doctors, researchers, and government officials who have brought us to this moment. If you are 75 years or older and need help registering for the vaccine, let us know! Please also see the following resources:

CT COVID Vaccine Appointment Assistance Line: Call 877-918-2224 Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

State of CT Online Vaccine Enrollment >> https://dphsubmissions.ct.gov/OnlineVaccine

State of CT Vaccine Information >> https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/covid-19%20vaccinations

City of New Haven Vaccine Information >> https://covid19.newhavenct.gov/pages/covid-19-vaccination

Throughout 2019 and the beginning of 2020 a group of seniors met on a monthly basis in the undercroft to connect with each other, and to discuss issues of mutual interest, both spiritual and practical. We called ourselves The Trinity Sages (the Wise People). Then came Covid-19 and disrupted our gatherings. We now wish to reinstate these meetings on Zoom. They will take place on the second Tuesday of every month at 11am. Everybody is welcome. No need to register, just join us. The first meeting will be on Tuesday. February 9, at 11am. Contact Lilian Revel to express interest and request a link to the Zoom meeting.

Exploring Black History at Trinity

As a way of honoring Black History Month at Trinity, we will be providing a weekly biographical feature on a Black Episcopalian who has strengthened us collectively, as the Body of Christ. We have specifically chosen to explore the stories of people who have some connection to New Haven or to Trinity on the Green specifically - and we hope that these biographical features will be a starting point for deeper exploration in confronting racism and anti-Black bias in the Church.

Jacob Oson (?-1828)

While biographical information about Jacob Oson prior to 1821 is scarce, we know that Oson was living in the city of New Haven by the year 1805, most likely having moved there from the West Indies. Much of what we know about Jacob Oson today, we know through the diaries of the Rev. Harry Croswell, the rector of Trinity Church on the Green from 1815-1858. Croswell first met Oson in his pastoral care rounds attending to people in the Black community of New Haven. Croswell was soon impressed by Oson’s public speaking and his faith, recommending him for holy orders. In a letter to Bishop White in 1821, Croswell wrote: “I do not hesitate to express my opinion that Jacob Oson, a man of colour, ‘possesses extraordinary strength of natural understanding, a peculiar aptitude to teach, and a large share of prudence’... [having] had frequent opportunities to witness his manner of reading the prayers of the Church, and of instructing youth, both as a school-master, and as a Sunday-school teacher.” 

Oson encountered administrative roadblocks to his ordination, despite Croswell’s support and the eagerness of a Black parish in Philadelphia, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, to have Oson serve as rector. These setbacks were undoubtedly a manifestation of structural racism in the church. Oson persevered in his sense of calling, and gradually felt drawn to a different kind of ministry - aspiring to serve as a missionary in Africa. Oson’s call was finally affirmed, and he was ordained a deacon at Christ Church, Hartford on February 16, 1928. Oson was ordained a priest the very next day - the first person ordained for the African mission field, and the fifth African American ordained in the Episcopal Church. Oson never made it to Africa, that place where he felt so drawn to personally and in his ministry. He became sick later that year, and died on September 8, 1928. Croswell’s son wrote this poetic tribute to Oson in the Episcopal Watchman, a few weeks after his death: “the work for which thy bosom yearned / Shall never rest, though sin and death detail / Messiah from his many-peopled reign, / Till all thy captive brethren have returned.”

Source: Randall K. Burkett, “The Reverend Harry Croswell and Black Episcopalians in New Haven, 1820-1860” in The North Star: A Journal of African American Religious History (Fall 2003: Vol. 7, No. 1).

Walk through the season of Lent with Trinity, one word at a time. Every day (except on Sundays) we will post a photo and a brief refection on Facebook from a Trinity parishioner responding to a Lenten "word of the day." These words are chosen from the weekly lectionary texts, and are chosen to help us embrace Lent as a season of repentance and restoration.

Participate! Here's how:

(1) Sign Up - Email Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) if you are interested in doing a Lenten word reflection; if you'd like you can sign up for a specific word / day on the list here.

(2) Prepare your Reflection - your reflection consists of two parts, a photo and some text to accompany it. The photo is a photo you've taken, either in the past or for the sake of this exercise. It can be a view from your window, a photo from a family album, a photo of an art work - anything that reminds you of the word you are reflecting on. The text is a short reflection (around 150 words) on the word of the day. You can tell a story related to the word, reflect on the word, or share a favorite Bible text or piece of writing that relates to the word of the day.

(3) Send your Reflection - All reflections are due the Sunday before the day you sign up for. Email your photo and the text to Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) and we will share it on Facebook, with attribution!

Date Word

February 17, 2021 dust
February 18, 2021 return
February 19, 2021 offering
February 20, 2021 hungry
February 21, 2021 SUNDAY
February 22, 2021 remember
February 23, 2021 truth
February 24, 2021 humble
February 25, 2021 wait
February 26, 2021 wilderness
February 27, 2021 repent
February 28, 2021 SUNDAY
March 1, 2021 mercy
March 2, 2021 hold
March 3, 2021 name
March 4, 2021 inherit
March 5, 2021 consider
March 6, 2021 reckon
March 7, 2021 SUNDAY
March 8, 2021 power
March 9, 2021 outward
March 10, 2021 inward
March 11, 2021 witness
March 12, 2021 judgment
March 13, 2021 human
March 14, 2021 SUNDAY
March 15, 2021 pray
March 16, 2021 heal
March 17, 2021 sacrifice
March 18, 2021 trespass
March 19, 2021 grace
March 20, 2021 lift
March 21, 2021 SUNDAY
March 22, 2021 change
March 23, 2021 loving-kindness
March 24, 2021 broken
March 25, 2021 clean
March 26, 2021 serve
March 27, 2021 commandments
March 28, 2021 SUNDAY
March 29, 2021 approach
March 30, 2021 branch
March 31, 2021 release
April 1, 2021 weary
April 2, 2021 anoint
April 3, 2021 tomb
April 4, 2021 EASTER

A Trinity staff person tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and has forced us to re-evaluate our previously announced intentions to open the church for small, distanced gatherings on Sundays and Christmas Day.

From Rev. Luk’s email on the subject, sent yesterday evening:

“Conversations with medical staff to discuss test results have been instructive: they are reporting that the spread of the virus is increasingly affecting people who are observing all possible safety measures. Because the virus is so ubiquitous at this point, regular safety precautions, such as masks, use of hand sanitizer, safe distancing or limiting exposure as much as possible, are no longer sufficient to avoid contamination.

Our Trinity church services will, therefore, continue online only. In-person services, however desired they are by many of our parishioners, will need to be put on hold until further notice. The plan for an in-person Christmas service, on Friday, December 25, at 11 a.m., was ambitious and is unfortunately no longer feasible. In-person weekday prayer times are discontinued for the time being as well.

As we make our way through this challenging season, with or without COVID-19 in our system, I pray that we all can cling to the hope that next year we will able to put this coronavirus chapter behind us and resume our in-person church services. And I pray that the spiritual nourishment and faith community that we are missing now gives us a deepened appreciation and renewed desire to value the beauty and strength of what we mean to each other and of what a shared prayer experience means for our connection with God.

Thank you for your prayers! Let us enjoy our unity in Christ. Together, we will get through this.

Luk+”

Please note therefore that until further notice:

1. All regularly scheduled Sunday 8 a.m. services are cancelled.

2. All previously announced meetings or use of the Trinity space, including committee meetings and the open door hours for prayer, are to be cancelled, rescheduled, or moved online.

3. The Christmas Day 11 a.m. service originally schedule in the sanctuary will now move to an online, Zoom-enabled format.

As is traditional at Trinity, we are collecting names of loved ones to be remembered in our Christmas memorials. Please fill out the form below to submit your names. Entries must be made by no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 17th to be included in the Christmas Eve bulletins.

To honor your memorial with a donation, please click the button below or contact Linda Becconsall via email or call to 203-264-3101, ext 101.

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.

---

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.