 This Holy Lent we will learn about and raise money for the community in the Anglican Diocese of Toliara, Madagascar. During Formation Hour, the youth and children’s classes will be learning more about the country, culture, music, religions, economy, and health of southwest Madagascar. All families are encouraged to do some of the activities on the calendar at home too. The calendar can be downloaded below and is also available in print at church. Please take home a People Reaching People Lenten Offering Can for your children or household to enrich the learning and prayer activities with monetary giving. The money collected supports the missionaries of People Reaching People in the Anglican Diocese of Toliara, Madagascar (PRP) to help fight poverty in that region. Bishop Todd & Rev. Patsy McGregor are coming to speak at Trinity on May 21! After Lent, the children will bring the cans to the altar during the Presentation Hymn on April 23, 30, May 7, or 14. We reuse the cans each year so need them all returned. 
As the season of Lent begins, join us for First Friday on March 3rd at 6:00 pm in the Glover Community Room. The Rev. Salin Low will discuss the topic of "Holy Fasting." We'll chat (and probably laugh) about some of the "disciplines" we've observed in Lents past, and whether they strengthened our faith or not. Come share conversation, Eucharist, and the ultimate Lenten comfort food - mac and cheese. Please RSVP so we know you are coming and will set a place for you at the table. The evening concludes by 7:30pm. We hope you can join us!
Trinity launched a small group ministry last fall and the response has been great from parishioners enjoying this opportunity to meet regularly with a group of caring friends and be spiritually enriched and encouraged. You can still join a small group if you missed out on the initial sign up. If you are interested in participating in a small group, feel free to contact Sophfronia Gregory or Dan Bacon. Or signup on this website.   February 26, March 5, 12,19, 26, April 2 and 9, 10:45 am in the Johnson Room
The Christian Formation Commission invites you to this year’s Lenten series, “5 Marks of Love,” an offering designed by the brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE) and the Virginia Theological Seminar. This six-week series invites us to observe and reflect on the ways in which the Divine Life expresses itself in and through us; individually and in our faith communities, as well as in the world around us. Week by week we will explore each of the Anglican Communion’s five “Marks of Mission” (Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform, and Treasure) through videos, questions, and exercises designed to help us speak clearly and act truthfully, motivated always by hearts marked by God’s love. Refreshments will be provided.
Rectory Open House on Sunday, March 5th at 12:00 pm
Parishioners and professionals under the guidance of Larry Coleman have spent hundreds of hours sprucing up the Rectory at 64 Main Street for Rev. Jenny Montgomery and her husband Joe. Come admire the work before they move in. Informal Meet and Greet on Friday, March 17 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. Welcome Jenny Montgomery, our new Priest in Charge, to Trinity. Please help us make her feel welcome in Newtown before her first service! Worship on Sunday, March 18 at 9:30am. You are invited to worship with us as we welcome Rev. Jenny to Trinity! Bishop Ian Douglas will be on hand for this exciting Sunday. Join us after the service as we have a festive coffee hour and forum with them. On Wednesday, January 18th, my husband and I and our eight year old son attended the Peace and Unity Community Gathering at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Waterbury. This interfaith service to support our Muslim neighbors was sponsored by the Naugatuck Valley Project and the United Muslim Mosque Inc and led by religious leaders from Waterbury, New Haven and Newtown. These people of faith from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Baha’i traditions led us in this witness to solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters. In the sacred space where we all gathered, congregants, citizens, activists, city officials, religious and community leaders, we listened to Holy Scripture beautifully and prayerfully sung in Arabic and Hebrew. Their voices invited me to go within, to my sacred center where God dwells, and be fully present in this place. We listened to the personal reflections and experiences of our Muslim brothers and sisters of discrimination, violence and hate. My eyes were beginning to see with my heart the pain and suffering and fear. Some are discriminated against not just because of their Muslim religion but because of the color of their skin and their gender--Muslim women of color. “We don’t need you to speak for us,” she said. It is about understanding, standing with one another and caring for one another. We listened and listened some more. All our voices were heard as we stood together, shoulder to shoulder, young and old, children, women and men, all religions, no religion, all races, in that sanctuary and pledged:
We stand in solidarity with any neighbor who is singled out in hatred. We will act to support and love our neighbors. We pledge to speak out against any hatred or mistreatment that our sisters and brothers suffer. We ask our local elected and appointed officials to be vigilant and act immediately to oppose acts of hatred against any in our community. All our neighbors must be protected against acts of violence, regardless of their faith, age, gender, race, orientation and ethnicity. Let It Be! It was a very powerful and humbling experience that I took back home that night. It left me to reflect on what will I pledge in my own community of Newtown and what will we pledge, as a faith community, Trinity Episcopal Church. In light of the recent hate crime in our town we must pledge to stand with all our brothers and sisters and we must pledge love, for love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18. --Noelle D'Agostino |
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