Clean out your jewelry box and bring your donations to Trinity.
Put it in the pink box in the Sexton’s Office.
Help us get a jump start on the Christmas Market (always the weekend before Thanksgiving, November 18 & 19, 2022)
Trinity’s pre-pandemic practice of 5 pm music and prayer services resumes this Sunday with Taize sung by the Choir of Men & Boys. Services will alternate each Sunday with Evensong up next!
2022 Trinity Lenten Devotionals
Sign up now to contribute!
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. These devotionals will also be shared via Lilian’s Food for the Soul email, which will be sent weekly in the season of Lent.
How to participate:
(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 below. You can also click here to view the list and add your name, as another way to sign up.
(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 - any thing that reminds you of the word you are reflecting on. The text is a short reflection (around 250 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 Add your Name below to sign up:
March 2, 2022 reward
March 3, 2022 bless
March 4, 2022 secret
March 5, 2022 treasures
March 6, 2022 SUNDAY Lent 1
March 7, 2022 stone
March 8, 2022 bread
March 9, 2022 worship
March 10, 2022 serve
March 11, 2022 shadow
March 12, 2022 refuge
March 13, 2022 SUNDAY Lent 2
March 14, 2022 listen
March 15, 2022 today
March 16, 2022 tomorrow
March 17, 2022 gather
March 18, 2022 shield
March 19, 2022 descendants
March 20, 2022 SUNDAY Lent 3
March 21, 2022 holy
March 22, 2022 ground
March 23, 2022 fruit
March 24, 2022 soil
March 25, 2022 soul
March 26, 2022 seek
March 27, 2022 SUNDAY Lent 4
March 28, 2022 overflow
March 29, 2022 deliverance
March 30, 2022 guide
March 31, 2022 reconciliation
April 1, 2022 lost
April 2, 2022 found
April 3, 2022 SUNDAY Lent 5
April 4, 2022 new
April 5, 2022 laughter
April 6, 2022 joy
April 7, 2022 fragrance
April 8, 2022 always
April 9, 2022 beloved
April 10, 2022 SUNDAY Lent 6
April 11, 2022 glory
April 12, 2022 deserve
April 13, 2022 weep
April 14, 2022 wash
April 15, 2022 paradise
April 16, 2022 dawn
April 17, 2022 EASTER
Would you like to support one of our longstanding groups here at Trinity? Make sandwiches for the Spiritual Fellowship! We are looking for volunteers to provide around 25 sandwiches on one Tuesday a month, dropping the sandwiches off at the church at noon. For this month, we need someone to make sandwiches for either Tuesday, February 15th, or Tuesday, February 22nd. James Thomas’ group has contributed so much to the life of our community–let’s show how much we value them in our community! Please reach out to cotg@trinitynewhaven.org with any questions. If you can’t volunteer this month but would like to provide sandwiches for them next month, please let us know!
For the next three weeks, we need your help to serve food at Chapel on the Green! Trinity will be sponsoring the food at Chapel on the Green from January 30th through February 13th, since food sponsors are hesitant to sign up due to the COVID numbers in New Haven. If you are interested in volunteering to distribute food at Chapel on the Green for the next three weeks, please contact cotg@trinitynewhaven.org. Thank you!
It is with regret that I announce that a 2022 African American Read-In will not be scheduled. This would have been Trinity’s twentieth year for this celebration of African American history and culture, part of a national observance established 32 years ago by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English, of which I am a member. There is a history to this event. In 1926, one week in February, the month of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, was designated Negro History Week, by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Harvard Ph.D. graduate, born the son of a slave. Negro History Week began as an observation in Negro schools. National change came about 50 years later. In 1976, the commemoration was lengthened to the entire month of February and was designated Negro History Month, now referred to as Black History Month.
Thanks to Walden Moore, one tradition will continue this year at Trinity. We will sing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” the Negro National Anthem, at the close of the services. In keeping with our tradition, will each of you consider selecting one or more texts by an African American writer for your personal reading during the month of February. Of course, as with the Read-In, consider poetry, drama, or fiction or non-fiction in their various forms, from slavery to the present day.
Hoping we will get to share at another time. Many thanks—
Eleanor Q. Tignor,
Coordinator
At our Annual General Meeting this coming Sunday, we will will welcome Marsha Ackerman as new Warden, but we will need to say goodbye to Leigh as our Senior Warden who had been at the helm for only two months, when COVID-19 broke out in the USA. In the face of such challenges we are blessed that Leigh has been our Senior Warden because time and again she responded with with remarkable steadiness and graceful creativity to create connection and strengthen our community at a time that gathering in God's name has been very hard. It is hard to say goodbye and to express proper gratitude for the efforts Leigh has given to the well-being our Trinity parish. Thank you Leigh!
Our incoming warden, Marsha Ackerman has sent along the following as an introduction:
”My name is Marsha Ackerman and I have been attending Trinity Church on the Green for approximately 5 years along with my husband, Adam, and our sons, Jackson & Mason. I retired from professional opera singing a few years ago in order to spend more time with my family. Since then, I have returned to school myself to study Landscape Design and opened my own business in Woodbridge, where we live. Years ago, Adam joined the Air force scholarship program in order to fund medical school and during that time we traveled around the country from duty station to duty station. In this way, we have had the privilege of seeing both the strengths and weaknesses of many Episcopal communities. I am very passionate about ministering to children and have been the vestry member for this area for the past three years. I am also very passionate about outreach and the belief that through our acts for others in our community, we embody Christ on earth. It is our great hope that Trinity on the Green will continue to help us strengthen our spiritual foundation as well as that of our sons while we continue to offer our families gifts to the growth and strength of the Trinity missions. I am exceedingly honored to be elected warden and welcome the opportunity to serve.”
When: Roughly Every other week from 7pm-9pm on Zoom
Dates: 1/27; 2/10; 2/24; 3/10; 3/24; 3/31; 4/21; 5/12; 5/26; 6/2
RSVP to the Rev. Rachel Thomas, Region Missionary (rthomas@episcopalct.org)
Members of our clergy are joining other people from the South Central Region in Connecticut to participate in Sacred Ground, a film- and readings-based dialogue series on race, grounded in faith. Small groups are invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity.
The 10-part series offered by The Episcopal Church is built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories. Sacred Ground is part of Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. This series is open to all, and especially designed to help white people talk with other white people. Participants are invited to peel away the layers that have contributed to the challenges and divides of the present day – all while grounded in our call to faith, hope and love.
Questions? You are welcome to contact the Rev. Rachel Thomas (rthomas@episcopalct.org) or Rev. Heidi Thorsen (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) if you are interested in participating, but would like to talk it through more.
Every year, Faith Kasor travels to Liberia in December to give back to underprivileged girls and women, leading workshops that promote healthy lifestyles, education, build self-esteem, enhance family relationships, explore talents, and raise awareness of abuse and conflicts. She will be leaving on December 31st and hopes to collect supplies and funds for her trip before then. Support her by donating school supplies and women’s hygiene products or by making a financial contribution by December 25th. Reach out to Faith at palavahut452@gmail.com with any questions or to learn more about how you can support her on this trip.
We are collecting donations of new and lightly used shoes for our homeless memorial on December 20th! Winter shoes would be ideal, since the shoes will be distributed to community members after the event. Please bring donations by Monday, December 13th. Reach out to cotg@trinitynewhaven.org with any questions. Thank you!
Give back to the Chapel on the Green community! This year, Trinity is giving out Christmas Gift bags at Chapel on the Green on Sunday, Dec. 19. We will not accept pre-assembled gift bags, but rather contributions to the bags such as: new socks, gloves, word searches, and hygiene products. We are aiming for a total of 80 bags. Donate by Dec. 12. Contact cotg@trinitynewhaven.org with questions. Thank you!
A Retreat Day at Mercy-by-the-Sea, in Madison, CT, on Saturday, January 15, 2022, 9:30am – 2:30pm. Cost is $36 per person (lunch included) or what you can pay.
To register e-mail Lilian Revel by January 3, 2022 (lrevel@trinitynewhaven.org). Please pay by check (mail to Linda Becconsall, Trinity on the Green, 950 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510, indicate in the memo line: Retreat) or pay online at https://onrealm.org/TrinityOnGreen/-/form/give/newbeginningsretreat.
After the busy weeks of Advent and Christmas, it is time to pause, to rest from our travails, to go inward, and to enjoy deepening our relationships with God and community. We will celebrate new beginnings, leave the old behind, become aware of God’s presence always. Our time together will include prayer, large and small group discussions, fellowship, periods of silence, spiritual practices, time to enjoy the beauty around us, and of course lunch. We hope you will return to your life refreshed, renewed, reborn, recharged to go out into the world with new intentions to make it a better place.
Deadline for registration is January 3, 2022.
Once we have a list of attendees we will work on carpooling.
COVID-19 protocol: Masks are mandatory at MbtS.
Please consider supporting the Trinity chorister program with an advertisement or tax-deductible gift for the 2021-2022 choir season! All purchases and contributions directly benefit the Choir Activity Fund, which ensures that any musically qualified boy or girl, regardless of family income, can participate in choir camp and travel, after-school snacks and meals, sessions with guest clinicians, and other essentials of Trinity's holistic approach to chorister training which are not funded by the general operating budget. Ads and contributor lists will appear in the program books of the 2021 Christmas Concert and the 2022 Spring Concert, and electronic copies will also be widely distributed. Make your purchase or contribution here: 2021 Ad Book Campaign — Trinity on the Green (trinitynewhaven.org). Thank you for your generosity!
This Sunday, October 24, is Giving Sunday. If you haven't already done so, please fill out and mail your pledge form, place it in the offering plate, or follow the link below to enter your pledge online! Pledge packets were mailed on October 5. Please contact Georgia Cosgrove at advancement@trinitynewhaven.org or (203) 624-3101 x104 if you don’t receive yours. Let’s join together and exceed last year’s amazing results of over $510,000 in pledge commitments!
You may notice a few changes to our liturgy this coming Sunday. These changes are slight – you may not even notice them! But they are also a long time in coming, and reflect the Church’s commitment to inclusive language – using spoken and written words that acknowledge the diversity of humanity (not simply “mankind”), and an expansive view of God.
These changes are supported by a resolution passed at the Episcopal Church General Convention in 2018 (Resolution 2018-A068), and reflects a wider movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church to use liturgies that reflect our experience of God in the present. Some of the changes, like saying “God’s kingdom” rather than “his kingdom” in the words of the Opening Acclamation, may be familiar to you already.
We invite you to pray with us on Sunday with your whole heart, as always. And if you have any questions about changes you notice in the liturgy, feel free to contact one of the clergy to talk more.
Faithfully,
The Rev. Luk De Volder
The Rev. Heidi Thorsen
Children's Chapel returns this Sunday and will be offered, as usual, during the service, indoors in the Undercroft. (Protocols of mask-wearing and social distancing are in place and each child will have their own materials.) If you are uncomfortable attending in-person with your child, please contact Angela Arpino, our Children, Youth and Family Minister, and she will send along the activity for your use at home. Send a message to family@trinitynewhaven.org.
Spiritual Formation: Reading "The Cross & The Lynching Tree" This Fall
What is the relationship between the cross that Jesus died on, and the untimely deaths of Black people in the United States? How can reflections on our own context deepen our faith in Jesus Christ – whether you are white, Black, or another racial identity?
Join us for a Fall reading series on Zoom, as we read through The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone. Each week we will pray together & discuss a chapter from the book.
Meetings: Wednesdays, 7-8pm on Zoom
October 6 – Introduction & Chapter 1
October 13 – Chapter 2
October 20 – Chapter 3
October 27 – Chapter 4
November 3 – Chapter 5
November 10 – Conclusion & Compline
RSVP: Email Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org) if you plan on joining. It’s okay if you can’t make every date – we hope you will join when you can.
Trinity will provide a copy of the book! We have purchased 20 copies of the book from People Get Ready Book Store, a local, Black-owned business in New Haven. Pick up a copy from Trinity on a Sunday morning, or let us know if you would like free delivery to your door. We are glad to offer this!
The cost of the book is on a sliding scale: pay nothing, or contribute up to $22 to support the purchase of this book & the participation of others in this book study.
or Call-in: +1 (877) 853-5257
Meeting ID: 834 1423 5080
Bishop Laura Visitation this coming Sunday – Join us at Chapel on the Green at 2pm!
This coming Sunday, Bishop Laura will be with at Trinity as part of a three-year cycle of Episcopal visitations. Bishop Visitations are modified this year, due to Covid-19 policies of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut – for example, the bishops are only attending outdoor services in regions where Covid-19 is spreading above a rate of 15 or more cases per 100,000 people. In light of these precautions, Bishop Laura will be joining us for our weekly outdoor service – at 2pm at Chapel on the Green!
While our Sunday morning services continue as usual, we especially encourage parishioners to join us again at Chapel on the Green this Sunday, as we are blessed by Bishop Laura’s presence and celebrate Holy Eucharist again at Chapel on the Green, for the first time in almost a year and a half! Please bring your own chairs for additional seating, if you are able.
We invite you to make the most of Bishop Laura’s visitation in the following ways:
View this week’s eNews video message (above), an address from Bishop Laura to our Trinity community
Greet Bishop Laura around 11:30am on Sunday at our outdoor coffee hour
Join us for Chapel on the Green this coming Sunday at 2pm, as Bishop Laura presides and preaches at our weekly outdoor service
Lastly, Bishop Laura will be meeting with the Vestry to discuss Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. While this is not an open conversation, we invite everyone in our parish to read and reflect on this text in solidarity & prayer. This is part of our commitment to live into Resolution 7, a resolution passed by the Episcopal Church in CT at Convention last year, which underscores how pursuing racial justice and our calling to be faithful Christians are integrally connected.
MORNING MEDITATION (CENTERING PRAYER)
Centering Prayer has resumed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 8:30am via zoom. We sit in silence for about 20 minutes and consent to God’s presence and action within. It is the perfect way to start the day in the presence of the Divine within us. Anybody is welcome. Bring your friends.
Here is the zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86359786006?pwd=Z3hJWitYK3YyWS9JRTcweDVHdG9vdz09
Meeting ID: 863 5978 6006| Passcode: 557358
