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On Sunday, October 2nd, you might just see a modern version of Saint Francis of Assisi, who so loved all of God’s creatures, at Trinity Episcopal Church! We will undoubtedly see some interesting ‘critters.’
We invite you to bring your beloved pet/s or barnyard animals for a special Blessing of the Animals as we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. Bring your puppy, kitty, turtle, chicken, llama, hamster, etc. Anybody have a goat?? Come join us at the Gazebo/Labyrinth area behind Trinity Church – bring a lawn chair and hang around for conversation! We remind you that during the 9:30 AM worship service - earlier the same day - all children are invited to bring their favorite Stuffed Animal for a special blessing!
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Sunday, September 18th – 10:45 AM in the Library/Johnson Room
Dear Visitors or Newcomers to Trinity Church, It has been a blessing to have you praying with us at Trinity Church in Newtown. Spiritual community is such a gift, especially in these times. I have been a visitor and newcomer at plenty of churches - it can be strange to be new! I have always loved the opportunity to sit with other newcomers. I love doing it in my role as Priest! So, here is an invitation for you: Please stay after worship on Sunday, September 18th for conversation (and treats!) with other visitors or recent newcomers to Trinity. Perhaps a few ‘old-timers,’ too. Let's gather in the Library (just around the corner from the Sanctuary), and get to know each other a bit. If you have questions about ways to get connected, this is a perfect place to bring them. We can ask each other: How did the Spirit of God lead you here? You will be able to meet a few members of the Trinity parish family. RSVP or questions, please, to Rev. Andrea. May God's peace be with you in these early days of Autumn! Rev. Andrea Castner Wyatt Beloved Trinity Friends,
I give thanks, as always, for your faithfulness and for your compassion. I hope you have been able to enjoy holiday time this week … and we pray for those affected by shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. I look forward to being fully back among you, soon! We offer prayers of ongoing healing for the Rev. Diana Rogers, who is recovering well and resting comfortable at home. I am grateful for those who stepped in this past Sunday to help – especially our dedicated Wardens Bob Gardner and Sue Roman. We appreciate Rev. Diana’s time with us at Trinity this summer. This coming Sunday, we look forward to the presence of the Rev. Salin Low, familiar to Trinity Church as supply Priest in recent years. Rev. Salin’s Sundays were fully planned this summer … except for July 10th – miraculously! - and we are grateful to her for stepping in at short notice. We are indeed a village here in ECCT. After attending services with the Merrill family Thursday and Friday, I will travel to Boston this weekend, as planned, to visit with my daughter Emma, and with my new grand-puppy, a chocolate pug named ‘Beep’!! I look forward to re-connecting with a dear friend and her family. I plan also to worship on Sunday, July 10th at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul on Boston Common, with my sponsoring Priest – now Cathedral Dean, the Rt. Rev. Amy McCreath. If you’d like to check out their many and varied ministries, you can read about it here: https://www.stpaulboston.org/ I spent many years commuting to the Cathedral from the suburbs, and it will be good to visit. I look forward to being back in the office on Tuesday, July 12th, and to welcoming Frances Chamberlain who begins her ministry with us on Wednesday the 13th as Children’s Ministry Coordinator. Stop by to say hello if you are in town! If you are traveling, be safe and come back to us refreshed and renewed. Peace be with you, Rev. Andrea Castner Wyatt Beloved Families of Trinity Church .... we are so excited to announce that Frances Chamberlain will join us as Children's Ministry Coordinator this summer! Frances comes to us from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Wallingford, where she has served as Director of Christian Education and Formation since 2017.
Frances comes highly recommended by those who have served in Christian ministry with her. Frances has a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, and had a prior career in agriculture. Frances is warm and engaging with families, and exhibits creativity and innovation as Church life continues to evolve. In recent years, she has sought training about Christian formation, fostering inclusivity, children's ministry in a post-pandemic world, and talking about race with young people. Frances is excited to meet with Trinity families this summer, and is energized by the challenge of collaborating with us to build a new program at Trinity. Here is a 'Hello' from Frances! “Hello! My name is Frances Chamberlain and I am your new Children’s Ministry Coordinator. I am excited and proud to serve Trinity Episcopal Church in this role! My husband and I have two teenage kids and we live in Wallingford. I enjoy hiking, baking, listening to audiobooks, and being with our lovable dog. I look forward to getting to know you and learning how I can best serve you. If you have ideas about children’s ministry programming, please don’t hesitate to reach out or stop by my office to talk.” Beloved ones, let us walk – process – together into Lent this first Sunday of Lent with The Great Litany. The Episcopal Church tells us of the history of this ancient prayer. It is:
“an intercessory prayer including various petitions that are said or sung by the leader, with fixed responses by the congregation. It was used as early as the fifth century in Rome. The Litany was the first English language rite prepared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. It was first published in 1544. Cranmer modified an earlier litany form by consolidating certain groups of petitions into single prayers with response. The Litany’s use in church processions was ordered by Henry VIII when England was at war with Scotland and France.” https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/great-litany-the/ You will find the Litany on page 148 in your Book of Common Prayer. (If you don’t have one at home, I will give you one!) The Choir and Clergy will process around the Sanctuary while the Litany is chanted. We invite you, if you wish, to ‘fall in’ and process a turn around the Sanctuary with us, returning to your seat as the prayer concludes. (Directions will be given in the Welcome.) Beloved Ones,
Please pray with us on Sunday, February 27th as the season of Epiphany concludes with Christ’s Transfiguration on the mountaintop. As we follow with great concern the news from Ukraine, it is so important to be together, to pray in community. Let us raise our hearts and minds and souls together to God with prayers for peace. Transfiguration, a moment of glory, is also the prelude to the cross, as we look forward to Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. The Collect for Transfiguration Sunday prays: “O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” As COVID numbers continue to decline around us, we do invite you to return to the Sanctuary according to your own comfort. Also, join us on Wednesday, March 2nd at 6:30 PM for the Imposition of Ashes and Holy Eucharist - as our Choir also rejoins us following a time of hiatus. Again, the Collect of the day: “Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” We will invite those praying with us virtually to make their own sign of penitence, while those in the Sanctuary will receive ashes with these words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Remember also that God loves us, every step of the way on this journey from the mountaintop to Jerusalem, from glory to the cross. Faithfully, Rev. Andrea Exciting News! Trinity Church families gathered with Rev. Andrea on February 9th to approve a Job Description for a part-time Children’s Ministry Coordinator. We plan to publicly post that position soon and begin receiving applications.
We believe the Holy Spirit is active among us, and we hope and pray God will send us candidates soon. Depending on the timing of interviews, we hope to add this person to our team this spring. We remain in a time of experimentation, adaptation, and flexibility – and hope to offer something at our 9:30 service and also perhaps at our 11:15 Chapel in the Garden service … after the snow melts! Please pray for this time of discernment, and please contact Rev. Andrea if you would like to be part of our Children’s Ministry Team. awyatt@trinitynewtownct.org It is healing to enter a peaceful space to remember and reflect. As the anxiety and disruption of pandemic continue, we offer a time of quiet and beauty. Members of Trinity Church warmly invite you into our Sanctuary on Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Wander in, between 4:00 – 5:30 PM. We welcome you to an ‘open house’ in our lovely, historic house of prayer. This is not a formal service; just stop in. We invite you to these possibilities:
Contact Trinity Church (203-426-9070 or trinity@trinitynewtownct.org) with questions. All Saints Day
On Sunday, November 7th, 2021, we will celebrate All Saints Day. At Trinity Church, we will remember the Saints of Christian history – and of our own lives. We will acknowledge the witness, the presence of the communion of Saints. We will feel the love of a ‘Cloud of Witnesses’ who are always with us. We have 2 invitations for you!!
The Collect from the Book of Common Prayer for All Saints Day names the ‘mystical body’ of the Church, the body of Christ: “Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.” All Saints Day is a mystical day, when the veil between this life and the next is more transparent: we glimpse eternity. Help us make this a personal and beautiful celebration. The Great Pumpkin Challenge was founded by Mackenzie Page when she was in eighth grade at the Newtown Middle School in 2011; she was inspired to support her friend, Zoe McMorran, who was diagnosed with brain cancer. She challenged residents to carve a pumpkin and drop it off for display at her family’s Main Street home with a suggested $5 donation for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a summer camp serving children and families with cancer and other serious illnesses.
Hole in the Wall Gang Camp was founded in 1988 by Paul Newman, with one simple premise in mind, that every child no matter their illness could experience the transformational spirit and friendships that go hand in hand with camp. The camp provides “a different kind of healing” to more than 20,000 seriously ill children and family members annually – all completely free of charge. The camp is a community that celebrates fun, friendship and the spirit of childhood. In 2016, when Mackenzie was heading off to college, the youth of Trinity Church took on the role of hosting the annual fundraiser and pumpkin display on the church’s grounds at 36 Main Street. This will be the 5th year Trinity Church will be hosting the Great Pumpkin Challenge and they invite everyone to participate in this wonderful and inspiring Halloween tradition. Your jack-o-lantern can be goody, frightening, funny – anything goes. Carved pumpkins and donations will be collected in front of Trinity Church at 36 Main Street (the stone church by the flagpole) on Sunday october 24 from 10:30-12:30 pm and Saturday October 30 from 11-4pm and Sunday, October 31 from 10:30-12:30pm. You can also put your pumpkin on the scaffolding anytime on or after October 24 and mail your donation to Trinity church or donate via the link on the Trinity website: www.trinitynewtownct.org. 100% of the donations will go to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. Please join us in carving pumpkins on Sunday October 24 on front lawn of the church, following 9:30 am service. If you would like to volunteer to help staff the pumpkin donation, please contact Julie Dunn at jmcgdunn@charter.net |
The Rev. andrea castner wyattThe Rev. Andrea Castner Wyatt is honored to accept the call of Trinity Episcopal Church to serve and lead as Rector. She looks forward with joy to walking with the people of Trinity Church, and to discovering with you what Jesus is up to in Newtown, CT. Contact Rev. Andrea at awyatt@trinitynewtownct.org or by calling 203-426-9070. |