Dr. Susan Alsamarai, Trinity parishioner and mom of two, will lead this free, 6-week discussion based on the book, "The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times." All are welcome to join us at the Woodbridge Library on Thursday evenings through June 23, 6:30-7:30 PM. Angela will be ordering your copy of the book so let her know by May 11 if you are interested in attending: family@trinitynewhaven.org.
Thank you to all who celebrated with Rev. Heidi and Will by donating diapers to them and the Diaper Bank -- over 3,000 (!) diapers and dozens of packages of wipes were collected! About 40 parishioners and friends attended the rainbow-themed Baby Shower on Saturday which featured a get-to-know you game, colorful cupcakes, parental advice giving, and homemade rainbow pizza. May God abundantly bless Rev. Heidi, Will and their little one.
Meet & Greet Events
Bishop Transition Committee Announces the Following Meet & Greet Events
The Bishop Transition Committee is pleased to announce the following Meet & Greet events. These gatherings (both in-person and livestreamed) are an excellent way to get to know the Bishop Diocesan Nominees.
Come to listen, learn, and be inspired by our Nominees. All are welcome to attend the session of their choice.
Your questions will help us shape the conversations. Questions must be submitted in advance. Click the button to submit your questions.
Monday, May 9 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | St. Mark’s, Mystic | 15 Pearl St, Mystic, CT 06355 | Southeast Region In-person Registration Watch on YouTube
Tuesday, May 10 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | St. Luke’s, Darien | 1864 Post Rd, Darien, CT 06820 | Southwest Region In-person Registration Join on LocalLive
Wednesday, May 11 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | St. Luke’s, New Haven | 111 Whalley Ave, New Haven, CT 06511 | South Central Region In-person Registration Livestream link coming soon
Thursday, May 12 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | Christ Church Cathedral | 45 Church St, Hartford, CT 06103 | North Central Region In-person Registration Watch on YouTube Watch on Facebook
Friday, May 13 | 6:30pm – 8:30pm | St. John’s, New Milford | 7 Whittlesey Ave, New Milford, CT 06776 | Northwest Region In-person Registration Watch on YouTube
Saturday, May 14 | 10:00am – 12:00pm | St. John’s, Vernon | 523 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT 06066 | Northeast Region In-person Registration Watch on Facebook
Palm Sunday and Easter were egg-specially fun this year for the children and families at Trinity. Although Donkey Xote had car trouble on Palm Sunday and couldn’t make it, Farmer Anne at Olympia Farm made sure we had our fill of farm animals! The sheep, goats, lambs and kids welcomed our kids into their pen. Rocks were painted for Chapel on the Green and sunflower seeds planted to remember those in Ukraine. As the bells rang on Easter Sunday, the children scrambled for colorful eggs which were graciously filled by The Wednesday Group. Thank you to all who made these two days eggs-tra special!
Trinity’s expansive musical program is only possible through the efforts of our amazing music staff. In addition to our Director of Music and Music Program manager, Trinity is blessed to host Organ Scholars, who, over a two year professional apprenticeship, contribute tremendously to our worship even as they grow as church musicians. Current Music Director Walden Moore and Music Program Manager Rachel Seggar are both former Trinity Organ Scholars themselves, and in recognition of the importance of the organ scholar program to Trinity on the Green, a plaque honoring “the Long Purple Line” will be dedicated and placed at the upcoming Festival Evensong on April 24th.
Saturday, April 23 from 3:30-5pm
Trinity on the Green, in the Undercroft
In lieu of gifts, Trinity parishioners are invited to bring diapers and diaper supplies (such as wipes). Some of these will be used by Heidi and Will for their baby, though the majority of them will be donated to the Connecticut Diaper Bank to make sure families throughout our community and the state have the supplies they need for their growing families. If you are unable to attend on Saturday, diapers can be dropped off at the church on Sunday, April 24.
Questions about how you can be involved in this event? Contact family@trinitynewhaven.org.
Friends of the Green New Haven has prepared packs of sunflower seeds for all to take and plant. We share these seed to show our support and to offer our prayers for Ukraine. The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, and as a pollinator gives us hope for a brighter future. Please look for the display in the narthex.
Donkeys and goats and sheep, oh my! It's an animal filled weekend with Children, Youth, and Family Ministry. First, Donkey Xote joins us live as children lead him into the church celebrating Jesus' triumphant arrival to Jerusalem. Children attending Sunday Spark classes at 9 AM will get a special "Meet & Greet" before the Service. Then, families are invited to join us at Olympia Farm, Guilford, to meet the farm animals anytime between 1:00-3:00 PM. Activities are planned and light snacks served. Contact Angela with questions, family@trinitynewhaven.org.
Special thanks to Adrian Bonenberger for his excellent Coffee Hour talk last Sunday on the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
Support for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters may be made, per Adrian's suggestion, via https://razomforukraine.org/. We also encourage interested parties to contact Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services for ways to help locally (https://irisct.org/).
This June, The Witness Stones Project, in conjunction with Trinity on the Green and the Foote School, will be placing a memorial to Lucy & Lois Tritton on the Trinity apron. The Trittons were enslaved people purchased at public auction on the New Haven Green on March 8, 1825, by abolitionist Anthony P. Sanford, who freed them immediately. While this was the last such auction to take place in New Haven, the legacy of slavery of and racism in Connecticut is profound and continuing, and we hope that the memorial to Lucy and Lois Tritton will help future generations to understand the deeply human impact of those forces right here in downtown New Haven. [1]
On May 1, May 15th, and May 22nd at 11:30 am, scholars from the Witness Stones Project will be joining Trinity parishioners for 90-minute, open lectures introducing a history of slavery in Connecticut, details of enslavement through the Five Themes of Slavery, and finally the lives of Lucy & Lois Tritton, their enslavement, sale, and freedom.
We plan to provide an open lecture format, but if the group is small, we can adjust the format to allow for the community to engage and analyze the documents directly. I think we will know after the first session the size and can determine the follow-up sessions accordingly.
What is the Witness Stones Project?
”The Witness Stones Project™ is a K-12 educational initiative whose mission is to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities. Inspired by the Stolpersteine memorial project, and with its blessing, the Project began in Guilford, Connecticut, in 2017, and became an independent 501(c)(3) in August 2019.
The Project provides archival research, professional teacher development, a classroom curriculum, and public programming to help students discover and chronicle the local history of slavery. The final component of the work in each community is the placement of Witness Stone Memorials™: permanent landscape markers that honor enslaved individuals where they lived, worked, or worshiped.
In five years, the Project has partnered with 70 schools and community institutions and has reached more than 7,500 middle and high school students in 42 communities across 4 states.
The students explore the lives of enslaved individuals through primary source documents and then create biographical sketches of the forgotten enslaved men, women, and children and share those stories through essays, art, poetry, and films.
The students then bring their communities together to place the Witness Stones. At public installation ceremonies, students, faculty, administrators, historians, public officials, clergy, and the larger community remember and honor the forgotten through music, poetry, oration, and reflection.
Our hope is that the students’ work and the public memorials inspire communities to learn their true history, dismantle current inequities, and build a just future.”
[https://witnessstonesproject.org/what-is-the-witness-stones-project/]
Dear Faithful People of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut,
The Bishop Transition Committee joyously announces, after prayerful discernment, the Committee Nominees for the XVI Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut:
The Rev. Glenna Huber, Rector, Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC
The Rev. Jeffrey Mello, Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brookline, MA
The Very Rev. Kate Moorehead, Dean, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Jacksonville, FL
The Rev. Canon Tanya Wallace, Rector, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, South Hadley, MA
Information about each nominee, including a brief professional biography, photos, introductory video, curriculum vitae, essay answers and sermon links, is available at https://ctbishopsearch.org/nominees.
The canonical, ten-day period for Petition Candidates to submit petitions from clergy and lay delegates to Convention to the Secretary of the Diocese will begin today, April 4, 2022, and will run until April 14, 2022, at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Information on the petition requirements and process may be found at https://ctbishopsearch.org/petition.
In anticipation of the ECCT Election Convention on May 21, there will be Meet and Greet Gatherings May 9 through May 14. During that week, the Committee Nominees and Petition Nominees, if applicable, will visit and meet members across ECCT at various locations around the state. Please stay tuned for opportunities to meet them.
Although we recognize this is a joyful time for the Nominees, it may also bring stress and anxiety. It is a custom for Nominees not to engage in lobbying or campaigning at the individual, parish, or convention level and the Nominees have agreed not to do so. There should therefore be no special forums, events, or parties for any individual Nominee. The appropriate way to learn more about the Nominees is through the Meet and Greet sessions in May.
Please keep our Nominees, the BTC, and all of ECCT in your prayers during this time of discernment. Our prayers for the Bishop Search and Transition may be found at https://ctbishopsearch.org/.
With gratitude and blessings,
The Bishop Transition Committee
Marsha Adell, Lay Co-Chair
Dr. Suzy Burke
Scott Colvin
The Rev. Harlon Dalton, Esq.
Laura Daly
The Rev. Dr. Luk de Volder
Kevin Fenner
Bob Giolitto
The Rev. Jack Gilpin
The Rev. Jane Hale
Karen Hatcher-Sneed
Zachary Kohl, Esq.
The Rev. Helena Martin
The Rev. Deacon Bonnie Matthews
The Rev. Marissa Rohrbach
Dr. Harold Schmitz
The Rev. Linda Spiers, Clergy Co-Chair
Sarah Woodford
PALM SUNDAY - April 10
8:00am | Holy Eucharist, Rite I
10:00 am | Holy Eucharist, Rite II | We celebrate Palm Sunday with a plainsong setting of the Passion of Christ as told in the Gospel of John. A special guest, Donkey Xote, visits and the sanctuary is filled with lavender to celebrate the joy of Jesus arrival in Jerusalem.
1:00pm | Children, Youth, and Family Ministry visit to Olympia Farms
2:00pm | Chapel on the Green
WEDNESDAY - April 13
12:10pm | Mid-Week Eucharist
MAUNDY THURSDAY - April 14
1-3:30pm | Outdoor Maundy Thursday Service, with Community Foot Washing - Alongside our Chapel on the Green program, we commemorate the day Jesus washed his disciples’ feet by washing the feet of the most vulnerable people in our community: those who struggle with hunger, homelessness, and isolation. Our event starts in the afternoon with an outdoor worship service, and continues with a foot clinic & health fair organized with Cornell Scott Hill Health Center. There are many ways to help, including volunteering to wash other’s feet (we provide guidance and supplies). Join us! Contact cotg@trinitynewhaven.org for more information.
7:30pm | Maundy Thursday Service
GOOD FRIDAY - April 15
2:30pm | The Seven Last Words - Seven different preachers offer reflections on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. We will progress through the Seven Last Words with pre-recorded reflections that will premiere at 2:30pm on YouTube on Good Friday. Then, at 3pm, we will toll the bells at Trinity, both live and virtually, as we reflect together on the hour that Jesus breathed his last.
7:30pm | Solemn Commemoration of the Passion of Jesus Christ
EASTER VIGIL - April 16
7:30pm | Easter Vigil
EASTER DAY - April 17
8:00am | Holy Eucharist, Rite I - A quieter service
10:00am | Holy Eucharist, Rite II - A full choral Eucharist, with Trinity's traditional congregational singing of the Hallelujah Chorus by G.F. Handel.
11:00am | Easter Egg Hunt
2:00pm | Chapel on the Green
HEALING PRAYER MINISTRY
As we arrive at a post-pandemic new normal, we wish to bring back the Healing Prayer Ministry to our Sunday services, possibly starting May 1.
We would like to reclaim the central place healing had in the ministry of Jesus and of the early church. In our modern days, healing ministry still involves praying over another person, laying on of hands, and sometimes anointing with blessed oil. Healing is part of the landscape of prayer. Practicing healing prayer plunges us into a relationship with God.
Should you feel called to this ministry, please let us know of your interest by emailing Lilian Revel (pastoralcare@trinitynewhaven.org) and mark your calendar for a training session on Sunday April 24, at 11:30am following the 10am service.
Trinity’s service schedule has traditionally shifted during the summer months to accommodate parishioner travel, staff leave, the end of the school year for choristers, and (not least!) sweltering New Haven heat.
This year, we will be trying a new service schedule in May as well. As we return to more normal conditions for worship, we’ve been exploring the shape that worship will take and listening to one another via after-church discussions. Accordingly, we will be experimenting with our service offerings to see what best fits our community’s worship preferences.
Starting May 1st, Trinity’s Sunday services will be as follows:
7:45 a.m. Quiet Holy Eucharist, Rite I
9:00 a.m. Morning Prayer, Rite I
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II
We encourage feedback during this month of experimentation! If this service schedule is well-received, it may be extended, though to reiterate, we are committing only to a trial period of one month at this time.
As the CDC has updated its guidance and many have lifted the mask mandate, it seems appropriate to make mask wearing optional at church. Starting this upcoming Sunday, March 27, 2022, masks will no longer be required in order to attend our church services. Mask wearing will remain an option for anyone who chooses, and we recommend them strongly to anyone who has symptoms of a cold. In general, to everyone who feels sick, we recommend staying home and staying advantage of online access to our services as a practice of self-care and protection to others.
While we remain hopeful that our days of obligate masking are behind us, it is important to acknowledge that COVID-19 is still with us. We must remain mindful of possible surges resulting from variants or sub-variants and recognize that we may need to return to mandated mask wearing at some point in the future. For now, we will move forward into this mask-optional period as we have from the beginning, caring for one another as a community and holding sure hope in the knowledge that our community will be measured equal to the challenges presented.
Rev. Luk De Volder
As we move closer to the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we remember our loved ones who have been called back to the Lord by printing memorials of the departed and by making donations to support the continued works of the church.
Altar Guild Work Days – Join us!
The mission of the altar guild is to prepare our church space for worship – through the care of linens and candles, seasonal arrangements of greens, flowers, and palms, and more. Anyone can contribute to this important work – and we especially invite your participation (including newcomers to this ministry!) on the following workdays:
Saturday, April 9 from 10am – noon in the church
Saturday, April 16 from 10am – noon in the church
On April 9 we will focus on preparations for Palm Sunday, and on April 16 we will focus on preparations for Easter. Both workdays will conclude with refreshments in the undercroft. RSVP encouraged, but not necessary – email Patricia Thurston if you are interested in joining! (patriciathurston@sbcglobal.net)
Jesus' Earthly father was a carpenter and we honored St. Joseph on his special day, March 19. Several Trinity families came together to build birdhouses and learn more about the man who taught Jesus how connect pieces of wood to create something useful. The parent/child and grandparent/child teams did a terrific job!
How can people of faith walk the line between embracing diversity in our music, without appropriating other cultures and identities?
As Christians, it is part of our baptismal covenant to “persevere in resisting evil,” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” In our current context, this includes acknowledging the sin of racism, and working to overcome it in all that we do – in our actions and service, and in our prayer and music. This panel conversation is particularly inspired by our efforts to be thoughtful about how we honor music from racial and ethnic backgrounds that extend beyond the Anglican origins of the Episcopal Church. Our hope in hosting this conversation is to be more intentional about what we sing, and how we sing it. Even as we recognize that there are no universal answers to questions about diversity and appropriation in music, we hope to listen and gain more perspective so that we can continue to sing and make music in ways that are life-giving and liberating.
Moderator:
The Rev. Canon Ranjit Mathews | Canon for Mission Advocacy, Racial Justice, & Reconciliation, the Episcopal Church in CT
Panelists:
Nathaniel Gumbs | Director of Chapel Music, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT
Dr. Sandra T. Montes | Dean of Chapel, Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY
Walden Moore | Director of Music, Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven, CT
Janet Yieh | Director of Music, Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York, NY
Chat Resources
Thanks so much to the dozens who participated in Intentional Diversity in Church and Choral Music: A Panel Conversation! It was really wonderful to feel your interest and enthusiasm for this good and necessary work. The energy in this discussion was infectious, and the Zoom chat quickly filled with recommendations and resources, which are compiled below for those interested in doing some homework.
HYMNALS
Mark A. Trautman (he/him/his) mentioned Glory to God a Presbyterian hymnal, and One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism a new, inclusive African American hymnal by GIA Publications, Inc.
Ed Stannard pointed to the Episcopalian hymnal Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing as an example of an existing and perhaps underutilized source of inclusive liturgical music.
Katie Burk suggested the 1619 Project, a series of articles and podcasts, that "aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative."
COMPOSERS & CHORAL REPERTOIRE
Janet Yieh recommended the spreadsheet Beyond Elijah Rock: The Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers as “a working list of the non-idiomatic choral music of black composers.”
Florence Price (1887-1953) was brought up at a number of points, exemplifying a composer of color whose public profile has increased dramatically in the past few years.
Jane Meditz brought up Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) Canadian-American Black composer, organist, pianist, choral director, and music professor, whose works may be of interest to participants.
CONSIDERING DIALECT
On the specific topic of the use of dialect, participant Mark A. Trautman recommended A New Perspective for the Use of Dialect in African American Spirituals: History, Context, and Linguistics by Felicia Raphael Marie Barber, Foreward by Andre Thomas link, while panelist A. Nathaniel Gumbs suggested Way Over in Beulah Lan': Understanding and Performing the Negro Spiritual link.