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:
 

• Light a candle for someone

 

• Add the name of a loved one who has died to our Memorial Book

 

• Sit peacefully in a beautiful space for reflection or meditation

 

• Receive a healing blessing from clergy

 

• Speak in confidence with a non-judgmental listener

 

• Add to our list of “I wish I could have …” Did you miss a graduation, or lose a job?  Let us name our pandemic losses, seek healing together.

 
Contact Trinity Church (203-426-9070 or trinity@trinitynewtownct.org) with questions. 

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

​Friends, let’s begin to gather again for our outdoor service, Chapel in the Garden!  With the promise of cooler weather ahead - and with increasing concern about the Delta variant - it feels important to resume our weekly practice of gathering near the Labyrinth and Gazebo at 11:15 AM for our simple, spoken Eucharist service. 
Bring a lawn chair, and participate according to your comfort and safety.  Trinity Church will continue to offer the 9:30 service in the Sanctuary. Newtown is seeing high levels of viral transmission, so masks are now mandatory, as well as spacing according to household.  The 9:30 service continues to be live-streamed for virtual worship. 
Chapel in the Garden is weather-dependent – if it promises heavy rain, we may need to cancel.  Also, we always need assistance carrying a few items from the lowest level of the Church to the Garden, and vice-versa! Email Rev. Andrea at awyatt@trinitynewtownct.org with questions!  You and your family are very much in our prayers for safety, especially with school starting.

​A long-awaited opportunity for Confirmation!
Surprising and joyful news! Beloved Ones, we have just learned that our Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas will join us at Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown on Sunday, September 19th for our 9:30 AM service.
 
Just as we are catching up with long-deferred services and celebrations here at Trinity, our Bishops are now scheduling events delayed by pandemic. Bishop Ian will confirm young people and adults who prepared with Rev. Matt and Rev. Jenny in a class that feels like a long time ago now! 
 
Please contact Rev. Andrea (awyatt@trinitynewtownct.org or 475-323-7767) to indicate that you will be available for a Service of Confirmation on September 19th. Also, she would be delighted to speak with adults who were not part of this class but would be interested in Reception or Confirmation in the Episcopal Church.
 
Our first Breakfast Sunday of the season will also be offered on Sunday, September 19th! This day will be a beautiful way to welcome our families back to Trinity and kick off the program year!!

​Masks Encouraged at Indoor Worship Beginning Sunday, August 1st @ Trinity Episcopal Church

Beloved Ones, I look forward to reconnecting with you after my vacation - I have missed you!!  I give thanks to the Rev. Jim Speer and to the Rev. Salin Low for their presence in my absence.

As I unpack my suitcase, we are all absorbing very new guidance and data from the CDC about the Delta variant of the COVID virus.  New questions are raised about the possibility of vaccinated folks transmitting the virus, and we are also seeing 'breakthrough' illness among the vaccinated.  Cases are rising in Connecticut, and so we must step up our efforts to prevent transmission.

Please wear a mask to indoor worship beginning this Sunday.  We will continue to offer Communion in one form, and invite you to receive a blessing if you do not wish to partake of the bread.  Your Wardens and I thank you for your continuing flexibility and good humor as we navigate together the twists and turns of this public health challenge.  

Summer Blessings!  

Rev. Andrea Castner Wyatt