Possibilities...

Dear Trinity Saints,

How are we feeling in this Easter season about the possibility of gathering as the body of Christ? I am grateful for your many responses to a survey about this question. A summary of this data is published in this ENews – read on!

First, our Vestry affirms a desire among you for a simple, spoken ‘Chapel in the Garden’ as we wait for risk levels around us to change. In our outdoor Easter experiment, we saw newcomers and visitors, children playing, friends greeting each other after many months, and communion distributed more safely than is possible inside.

We will now offer two ongoing Sunday services: 9:30 AM live-streaming from the Sanctuary, and 11:15 AM in the Garden. In inclement weather, we will cancel the outdoor service prior to 9:30 AM Sunday morning using Facebook/website.

Second, our Vestry affirms – given the increasing presence of vaccination in our midst – that when Newtown departs from the highest level (red) of viral risk, we will begin a gradual process of inviting worshipers in to our 9:30 AM service in the Sanctuary.

Currently, Newtown’s numbers represent very high risk. There is a battle between vaccines and ‘variants,’ or mutations; and we want to help vaccines win! Follow the data yourself here: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Data-Tracker

As we have said all year, Trinity will not gather inside the Sanctuary while Newtown is in the highest (red) level of risk. Your Rector and your Vestry continue to abide by the Godly counsel of our Bishops. I welcome conversation about my ordination vows to “respect and be guided by the pastoral direction and leadership of my Bishop.”

Please read our Bishops’ most recent communication here:
https://www.episcopalct.org/Customer-Content/www/CMS/files/MARCH_2021_ECCT_PLANNING_GUIDELINES_FINAL.pdf

Friends, we are not of one mind, and this is fine. Our goal remains that of prioritizing the needs of our wider community - and of the most vulnerable among us - over individual preference. The body of Christ is a communal body; and, we live and move and have our being in an episcopal polity.

Peace be with you,
Rev. Andrea