Constance Cahill, member of the Pastoral Care Committee, is coordinating a new GRANDPARENTS fellowship group at Trinity. The group will meet to talk about the joys and challenges of being a grandparent these days. The schedule, whether ad hoc or regular, will be set based on interest. If you are interested, please send Constance an email with your thoughts using the form below.
We are very pleased to announce the creation of a scholarship for young women of color bound for STEM fields. See the link below for application details and additional criteria. Applications are due July 1st.
The Justina O. Anako Memorial Scholarship is in honor of the matriarch of the Anako family, whose family have been long-time members of Trinity Church on the Green since they emigrated to New Haven, CT in 2000 from Lagos, Nigeria. Mrs. Anako lost her 3-year battle to colon cancer on April 8, 2016.
Born on November 17, 1952 and raised in Nigeria during the Biafra war, Justina, at the young age of 15, supported her family by walking for days to find food and water during the famine caused by the war. Her faith and courage in God are what guided her during those unprecedented times. In 1970, she had the opportunity to attend Pratt University in New York City and pursued a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics. It was during that time that she found her real passion in fashion design. Although she graduated with her bachelor’s in nutrition, she made a career as a businesswoman designing West African attire for merchants across the world.
As a Christian, part of Justina’s work involved giving back to the communities she served. She was a long-standing member of St. Savior’s church in Lagos, Nigeria and served on the Women Guild Association. Throughout her life, she was a dedicated daughter, wife and mother, who instilled the importance of hard work and education in her 5 daughters.
The Justina O. Anako Memorial Scholarship will help our country’s next generation of STEM students reach their goals.
Crafters rejoice! Trinity’s ministry of making, the Wednesday Club, will resume its weekly meetings in the Trinity Undercroft from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. starting Wednesday, June 9th. Sewers, knitters, and crafters of all stripes are always welcome!
Hosted by Young Adult Episcopalians (YAE) and the Episcopal Church at Yale (ECY)
From YAE: This summer we are hosting three House Churches for young adults (twenties & thirties) in the greater New Haven Area, sponsored by Young Adult Episcopalians (YAE) and the Episcopal Church at Yale (ECY). Each House Church starts at 5pm on a Sunday, beginning with Eucharist, and continuing with a meal. Eucharist + Dinner is on us. Bring your own beverages, and/or dessert to share!
RSVP, and we will send more details about a week prior to our gathering - including directions for ordering food (we've got you covered up to $20!) and the address for the upcoming House Church, since we'll be meeting in multiple backyards over the summer.
Link to RSVP >> tinyurl.com/nhvhousechurch
From Lilian Revel, Pastoral Care Associate:
"After five years of serving Trinity’s congregation in my capacity of Associate for Pastoral Care and Spirituality, I will be going on a sabbatical from Memorial Day (May 31) through Labor Day (September 8). I am looing forward to this break; this will be a time for renewal and self-care, a time to enjoy my family, nurture some friendships, commune with nature; a time to grow spiritually and pursue some long-harbored ideas and projects.
Most of the activities I have been facilitating will also take a break for the summer. I hope to be back in September, fully refreshed and with new energy and ideas.
During my absence I will continue to receive emails but will not reply to them immediately. If you require any assistance or need to speak to someone, please call the office (203 624 3101). I will keep you all close to my heart, in my thoughts and prayers.”
— Lilian Revel, Pastoral Care Associate
While we are looking forward to resuming in-person church in the very near future, some of us may not be ready for that but would still like to meet with a small group of Trinity folks. Last summer we formed several Backyard Church groups that met in backyards, patios, and even at the beach! This is a great way to meet new people, renew connections, and join in fellowship with others.
These will be groups of 8-10 people, invited to meet in outdoor spaces for fellowship several times throughout the spring and summer. We hope to arrange the groups before the end of May. The guidelines below are for group meetings with adults. Meetings with children and for children have different needs and standards, which we will explore later.
We are also excited to reach out to students from the Episcopal Church at Yale (ECY) and other young adults to see if those remaining in the area this summer would like to attend gatherings and get to know Trinity parishioners in a safe and convivial environment. You may check the box on the form linked to below if you would like to invite young adults to your gatherings.
If you are interested in being a part of a “Backyard Church,” please express your interest by filling out the following form https://forms.gle/9t51ZZzFiwwvqmoi8
Please also let us know if you are interested in hosting one of these gatherings in your outdoor space or coordinating when groups meet electronically. Consider your own vulnerability and risk level when deciding whether to join a Backyard Church Group. If you are not comfortable meeting in person at this time, we encourage you to get connected with one of the Zoom fellowship options that are already available, such as Bible Studies or the Thursday evening Prayer Service.
Backyard Church Format Suggestions
How “churchy” is backyard church? That depends on your group! We will provide a resource booklet suggesting different ways to bring faith into your group gathering – with options ranging from a simple prayer opening a time of fellowship, to a time of evening prayer or scripture reading."
The format of each group is up to the members of that group; we offer here some suggestions as a way to get started.
● Opening Prayer – We suggest the following text as a common prayer:
○ Loving God, we ask that you would be present with us today. Be present in our conversation, be present in our laughter, be present in our silence. Help us to remember that wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, you are in the midst of them. May this time be full of blessing, instilling deeper connection within ourselves, with one another, and with you. Amen.
● Fellowship through Conversation
○ This doesn’t have to be specifically “religious.” We recognize that God is present in our everyday lives and connections with others.
○ Conversation Starters – we’ll provide hosts with a list of fun, meaningful questions as an option to guide conversation.
● Closing Prayer
○ Ask if there are any specific prayer requests this evening.
○ Lift up those requests in whatever way feels best to the group. Someone can offer to pray, or this can be as simple as concluding with the words, “Thank you, God, for hearing the prayers of your people. Amen.”
Backyard Church Health and Safety
Trinity will continue to keep track of and follow CDC and State guidelines around vaccinations and mask wearing and we ask you to keep in mind the evolving state of public health as you organize or attend Backyard Church gatherings.
Preventing Gun Violence is increasingly a matter of urgency. This week The Right Reverend James E Curry, Bishop Suffragan (retired) of The Episcopal Church in Connecticut, who has been leading the Episcopal Swords to Plowshares initiative (www.episcopalct.org/news/swords-to-plowshares/) is sending us this call to action.
“Dear friends,
Too often I have stood with the families of victims of gun violence at the site of their loved ones’ death. Last Monday I stood and prayed with the mother and family of Randell Jones, Jr., a three year old who was shot and killed as he sat in the back seat of his mother’s car on the corner of Garden and Nelson Streets in Hartford on April 10. This shooting and our continued inability to stop gun violence is a heartbreaking tragedy and a national disgrace. 27 years ago, Marcelina Delgado, a seven year old sleeping in the back seat of her father’s car was shot and killed just outside her grandmother’s apartment in Hartford. 27 years ago, Marcelina’s death should have moved us to change our culture. It didn’t. We owe Marcelina and Randell a pledge to do everything we can to address the epidemic of gun violence. Enough is enough.
I need your help to get Connecticut to do more to address the crisis of urban gun violence, which disproportionately impacts communities of color. With gun homicides in Connecticut up 50% last year, there's an urgent need to put more resources into community-based violence prevention programs. These strategies have a proven record of reducing the gun violence that's taking so many young lives in Connecticut.
I just contacted Gov. Lamont and my state legislators asking them to launch the CT Initiative to Prevent Community Gun Violence. I'd be grateful if you could do the same.
The CT Initiative is a proposal by CT Against Gun Violence to establish a state-level grant-making authority tasked with funding and implementing evidence-based, community-centric, programs and strategies to reduce street-level gun violence in Connecticut’s larger urban centers. It's modeled after similar programs in other states.
Please click this link to send Gov. Lamont and your two state legislators an email asking them to make the CT Initiative a reality: http://cagv.salsalabs.org/create_community_gv_commission/index.html?sl_tc=at
Thanks for using your voice to help save lives!
Peace, Jim
The Right Reverend James E Curry
Bishop Suffragan (retired)
The Episcopal Church in Connecticut”
All of us are deeply saddened and feeling powerless that gun violence and police shooting of African-Americans has been increasing. Let us pray for all victims and for a profound change of heart in America regarding the impact of gun violence.
O God who Remembers, we hold before you all who have died from the plague of gun violence in our land. We remember those who have taken their lives with a gun, those who have died in school shootings and mass shootings, those who have died by a gun in the course of an argument or from abuse or by accident or during the commission of a crime. We lift our voices in sorrow and frustration knowing that every life is infinitely valuable to you. Receive all who have died into the arms of your mercy, bless those who mourn with the hope of eternal life, and strengthen our hearts and our arms to bring an end to this scourge. This we pray in the name of the one who overcame the power of death, your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
This rise of gun violence is also a call for action. Here are some places that help us get involved.
Bishop Ian's Douglas leadership in Bishops Against Gun Violence: https://bishopsagainstgunviolence.org
Episcopal Swords to Plowshares by bishop Jim Curry: https://www.episcopalct.org/news/swords-to-plowshares/
The Sandy Hook movement against Gun Violence: https://www.sandyhookpromise.org
Edited
Home | Bishops United Against Gun Violence
bishopsagainstgunviolence.org
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought overwhelming grief to many families. FEMA is ready to help people before, during and after disasters. We are dedicated to helping ease some of the financial stress and burden caused by thevirus. FEMA is providing financial assistance for COVID-19-related funeral expenses incurred after January 20, 2020
https://episcopalrelief.app.box.com/s/047a7xjiuoscmnr7i9hnqyehcc2tm7u4 https://episcopalrelief.app.box.com/s/weh8b08xd4d8g41toalz818lljxif20a https://www.fema.gov/disasters/coronavirus/economic/funeral-assistance
From our colleagues at St. Luke’s Whalley Avenue:
”We are hosting our third 'pop-up' vaccination clinic at St. Luke's on April 22, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
We need your help to reach out to people outside our community with word of this free event. Please share the word of this pop-up clinic widely.
People can register at:
https://forms.gle/KGSKjxkLHeXVVHai6
This free vaccination clinic is open to anyone who meets current requirements for receiving the vaccine.
We don't know which vaccine will be offered - currently, the Johnson & Johnson vaccination is not available.
Please note we are not well equipped to handle changes of time or cancelations. Everything past the initial sign-up form is done by hand. Once someone has registered, we will - within 24 hours - send a confirmation email that includes your appointment time. Please do not register more than once.
We are continuing to work with the Hill Health Center and the City of New Haven Public Health Department.
This is a free vaccination. Registration closes at noon on Monday, April 19.”
Gather with members from Trinity and St. Luke’s every evening this coming week at 6:30pm, Monday through Friday, for a brief prayer service of compline and an opportunity to share and process recent events, including the trial of the police officer who is charged in the killing of George Floyd. Together, we pray for justice and healing.
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87009730432?pwd=Sk84TUtEVGx2alMyQ2MzZnQ0T1pLQT09
Meeting ID: 870 0973 0432
Passcode: healing_21
The week following Easter, our Choirs began regular rehearsals outdoors, weather permitting. Thus far, only a few have been rained out, and we look forward to not only rehearsing the full Choir of Men and Boys/Men and Girls on their normal rehearsal days for the first time since March of 2020. The full Parish Choir did meet outdoors/in-person last Fall, but only the Boys and Girls sections of their respective Choirs met outdoors/in-person in the Fall. In the coming weeks, from time to time you will see and hear music leadership content recorded at these outdoor sessions, and our Choir Recognition Sundays (May 16th for Parish Choir and June 6th for Men and Girls/Men and Boys) will include content normally associated with those days of thanksgiving that has been recorded outdoors. Here are a few samples of items recorded thus far - Men & Boys (https://youtu.be/OM6ljNWtIt4) and Men & Girls (https://youtu.be/JDPufqujIwQ). The Parish Choir was rained out of its first outdoor rehearsal on the 11th, but more to come. It has been a wonderful experience to be singing in one place again while still taking all due precautions.
On April 1st (Maundy Thursday), we worked in tandem with the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center to hold vaccine and foot care clinics. If you were hanging around DESK the last few Sundays, you would've seen Jane going around with a clipboard and signing people up to get the vaccine. Thanks to our efforts, Cornell Scott Hill was able to vaccinate more than 70 people, including Assistant Rector The Rev. Heidi Thorsen.
While we did not do our traditional Maundy Thursday footwashing, Cornell Scott Hill also set up a foot clinic on the church apron, which allowed people on the green to receive foot care from a nurse.
Our Chapel on the Green partner the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen has just opened a drop-in center on State Street. We are looking for volunteers who would be interested in making a regular commitment to the drop-in center, which is open from 1 pm to 5 pm Sunday through Friday
The Right Reverend Ian T. Douglas announced his retirement plans as Bishop Diocesan in his letter to The Episcopal Church in Connecticut on April 7, 2021, and described the transition process for selecting a new Bishop Diocesan. He wrote:
"Over the next month the Standing Committee, Mission Council, and leadership of our Regions will work together to establish a Bishop Transition Committee as called for in Canon XVI of the canons of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. The Bishop Transition Committee will be responsible for overseeing the transition process, including discerning nominees for the election of the next Bishop Diocesan."
The South Central Region will have one Lay and one Clergy member on the Bishop Transition Committee, selected by the South Central Region Leadership Team.
Candidates should:
For Lay candidates, be an adult voting member1 of a parish of the Southeast Region. Clergy candidates should live or serve in the SE Region.
Engage in a ministry within one’s parish.
Have experience in collaborating with other churches, ministry networks, or church councils beyond one’s parish.
Have a working internet connection and email account.
Be able and willing to serve 18 months and attend frequent meetings and be ready to work on subcommittees of the main committee to gather data, checks references, etc.. We anticipate that this will be a significant commitment of time and energy.
1.A voting member in a parish as defined by ECCT canon 1 section 5: “Members of the Parish entitled to vote at any Parish meeting are those adult communicants who, for at least six months prior to that meeting have been faithful attendants at the services of the Church in the Parish, unless for good cause prevented, faithful contributors to its support, and faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God”
Bishop Ian closed his letter with these words from the letter to the Ephesians:
“Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 3:20,21
Trusting in that greater-than-imagined power, we ask you to join us in prayer as together we discern whom God is calling to serve on the Bishop Transition Committee.
South Central Region Leadership Team:
Ms. Diane Kyle, Convener, Christ Church, Guilford
Murray Harrison, Trinity, New Haven
The Rev. Matt Lindeman, St. Peter's, Milford
David Rivera, St. Paul & St. James, New Haven
Nancy Staniewicz, Church of the Holy Spirit, West Haven
The Rev. Heidi Thorsen, Trinity, New Haven
Lisa Yarbor, St. Luke's, New Haven
Whitey Batson, Grace & St. Peter's, Hamden
The Rev. Canon Timothy Hodapp
The Rev. Rachel Thomas, SE Region Missionary
Here's How to apply!
Please submit your application in a Word or PDF document by email to Diane Kyle, kyledance53@gmail.com, no later than 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 16, 2021. Please include the following:
Name:
Parish:
Email:
Phone:
Mailing Address:
Please limit your response to each question to 150 words or less.
1. Share a story that describes how you participate in ministry through your parish.
2. Describe a time that you have been involved in collaboration in the common life of our region and diocese beyond your own parish.
3. What priorities do you see for us as The Episcopal Church in Connecticut, and therefore what qualities are you looking for in our next Bishop?
4. At our 2020 Annual Convention, we passed Resolution 7, a wide-ranging initiative that addresses issues around Racial Healing, Justice, and Reconciliation. Where do you see yourself fitting into that work?
Apply by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 16
We will be returning to public worship and offering a socially-distanced healing service on the Green this coming Sunday, April 11th at 2 pm. This has been in the works for a while -- we have been have been thinking about what a return to worship on the Green would look like ever since we left for DESK a year ago. While we are returning to worship, things won’t look exactly like before. Our prayer service will be a bit shorter than usual, with some of the familiar elements: the opening sentences and Serenity Prayer, Gospel reading and reflection, prayers of the people, and the blessing and dismissal. There will be bucket drums! Though we are asking people to refrain from singing, to wear masks, and to keep 6 ft. social distance at this time, due to the increased risks related to Covid-19.
This return to worship doesn't mean that we're abandoning DESK. We have made the decision to continue the pause on distributing food after our 2pm service, instead directing people to DESK's 5pm evening meal, at which we will continue to hand out supplies. In this way, we're returning to our roots as a healing ministry and delegating the feeding aspect of our ministry to those better equipped to handle it, at least for the present moment.
We are looking to share the beauty of the flowers that decorate our altar on Easter Sunday! Email Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) if you would like a potted Easter flower for your home!
In your email let us know if you have a preference for what type of flower you would like, and we will do our best to meet your request. Options are:
Medium Lily
African Violet (small, various colors)
Large Lily
Blue Hydrangea
Secondly, let us know if you are able to pick up your flower, or would like it dropped off at your door! We also welcome volunteers to help with delivering flowers to those who cannot pick them up. Flower Pickup times:
Sunday, April 11 from 12:30-1:30pm
Sunday, April 11 from 3-4pm
Meditation Groups with Lilian: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 8:30am and Thursdays at 8:00pm via zoom – starting Monday, April 12, at 8:30am.
Meditation is essentially a discipline. The purpose of this discipline is to develop a silent mind, open and receptive to the Divine Mystery. This inner attitude is essential for putting on the mind of Christ. Many people practice meditation on a daily basis (or even twice a day) by themselves or together with others. Lilian will be offering group meditation on three mornings and one evening. Please join her for one or for all sessions, which will last no longer than 30 minutes. The zoom link will be the same for all sessions. Please let Lilian know if you are interested so that she may be able to share the zoom link with you. It will also be posted in the weekly E-News.
Click here to join the Zoom call
or Call +1 (877) 853-5257 | Meeting ID: 863 5978 6006 | Passcode: 557358
Following in the steps of the course on the Universal Christ, we are now offering a course on the Beatitudes. All the great wisdom traditions have a teaching about True Happiness which takes us both to the particular heart of each religion as well as to the essential unity of vision they share. The Christian idea of happiness is epitomized in the Beatitudes found in Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount. We will be guided by the book Happiness Here and Now by Elizabeth West. The author looks at the Beatitudes from a Christian perspective but includes at the same time the way a Buddhist, whose perspective she has a deep empathy with, can look at the Beatitudes. Learning to see the familiar with freshness and new wonder is to expand our minds and enrich our hearts. We will provide the reading materials, as the book is out of print and not available anywhere (except maybe a library). Please let Lilian know if you are interested in joining this course. lrevel@trinitynewhaven.org or pastoralcare@trinitynewhaven.org
Chapel on the Green is partnering up with Cornell Scott Hill Health Center on Maundy Thursday to provide medical and spiritual outreach to people on the New Haven Green. Cornell Scott Hill will provide foot care, while Chapel on the Green will distribute socks and be present for prayer and spiritual support. While much smaller than previous years, this event is one of many ways we continue to be present for people in our Chapel on the Green community.
We are also partnering with Cornell Scott Hill to help get the vaccination to people in our community, especially those who are unsheltered and unhoused. If you know of someone who meets these criteria and would like to be vaccinated, contact Rev. Heidi (860-850-0323) no later than Sunday, March 28. Advance sign up is required.
