Tuesday 5:30pm: Intercessory Prayer Group

Wednesday 11am: Bible Study

Wednesday 7pm: Bible Study

Thursday 5:30pm: Contemplative Prayer Group   

For those who have a tough time reading the bulletins and Tidings, we’re making large print copies available on the table in the narthex (and Tidings in the Parish Hall on the table across from the kitchen). We’ll only be making about ten copies, based on how many people have used the large print lessons in the past; however, if we run out of copies by the time you get to church, let us know and we’ll start making more. 

Today is the final day of our Vacation Bible School! Many thanks to everyone who volunteered to help with VBS; a high five to Karen, our new Director of Children’s Ministries, for jumping right in; and two gigantic thumbs up to Father Charlie for planning and preparing all the lessons and activities for the week. We had a larger group than in the past, 25 kids, and they had a great time – check out the great pictures from VBS on our Facebook page!

The Twin Lakes Food Bank annual Back to School supplies drive has started and we are collecting donations of backpacks, supplies, gift cards, and money until Sunday, July 22 ^nd. Backpacks for middle and high schoolers aren’t as fun to buy (no superheroes and not as many fun colors!) but are very much needed; notebooks, pocket folders, safety scissors, and other small items have also been requested. You can see the full list here.

Bring your donations to the Parish Hall on Sunday and put them in the big box labeled Back to School, or to the church office during the week. If you would rather not go shopping, you can make a donation by writing “Back to School” on the memo line of the check, or with cash by putting it into one of the envelopes in the pews and writing your name and “Back to School” on the front of the envelope. 

Most of our kids participating in summer church camps went to Camp Galilee this year, but parishioner Emma Harvey attended a new diocesan program, the Pathways Pilgrimage. Parishioner Anna Wiley, a student at Vassar College interning this summer in the Office of the Bishop, wrote an article about the Pathways Pilgrimage. Read it here.

Trinity Folsom has a small but dedicated group of adults who teach Sunday School for children, and we are always looking for more adults to volunteer to teach, or to be a teacher’s helper in the classrooms on Sunday. We need to have two adults in all four classrooms every Sunday from 10:30am-11:10am, and if you can’t commit to being there every Sunday, we would love to have you assist occasionally. The High School class, which is closely linked to youth group activities and will be taught by Father Charlie this fall, could really use more adults who are interested in ministry with older youth. The Godly Play class for children in kindergarten through second grade is especially in need of teachers’ aides. Godly Play calls the head teacher “the storyteller” and has another teaching role called “the doorperson” who helps facilitate the class by welcoming children to the room and keeping things in order. We are blessed to have Marilyn Meyer Jahr as our storyteller and Jennifer Eilbacher serving as one of our doorpersons, but we would love to train more storytellers and doorpersons so that we have more flexibility in scheduling. If missing the Sunday School for Adults class is an obstacle to assisting occasionally in the children’s Sunday School, Father Todd records the class and makes it available to Sunday School teachers and choir members who can’t attend. If you are interested in teaching or assisting with Sunday School for children, e-mail or talk to Fr. Todd, Fr. Charlie, or Karen.

In our June vestry meeting, we were able to reflect a bit as the program year comes to a close. These last few months have been a frenzy of activity! Just since Easter, we've done so much, including:

-Over 60 of your smiling faces joined together on a Friday night to pack meals for those in need;

-You built a mountain around the altar of over 14,000 diapers, baby wipes, and feminine hygiene products on Mother's Day, helping women in need;

-You gathered on a Saturday afternoon for tea and fellowship, and together watched the royal wedding;

-Our youth group had their end-of-the-school-year lock-in, staying up all night, playing games, eating more junk food than you and I could imagine, and perhaps most importantly, bonded together;

-You braved the 100+ degree weather at Trinity's Parish Picnic, another great success;

-And finally, during all this time, you helped Trinity manage multiple staff transitions, amid teary thank-yous and goodbyes to our beloved Gerry, Walter, and Jorim, and warm welcomes to Barbara, Karen, and Brett.

You've shown that church isn't just for Sundays, and thanks to your involvement and support, so much of the action can be found outside the pews. ~ Tovi Abello, Senior Warden

On Thursday, July 19 ^th from 6-8pm, Trinitarian Emma Harvey and several Folsom youth are putting on a fundraiser in the Parish Hall to raise money for their upcoming service project in Spokane. You are invited to join them for live jazz and classical music, dinner, and a raffle/silent auction. Food and entertainment will be provided by Emma and her friends Erin, Joel, and Dayne. Tickets are $15 at the door, but can also be purchased from Eventbrite for $12

Parishioner Alana Chin (whose husband Steve and three young children were baptized at the 11:15am service this spring) was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, and despite surgery and treatment, her diagnosis was recently changed to Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Alana has been selected as July’s honoree for Folsom’s Helping One Woman group. There will be a fundraising dinner at Mexquite on Tuesday, July 31, at 6pm, and several of the women in our young women’s group are planning on attending. Proceeds will help Alana and her family pay for treatment and other needs in the coming months. For more information on the dinner and to RSVP, how to help, and the Helping One Woman group, check out the Facebook page for the event here.

Sunday School is on summer break, but the Children’s Chapel (at 9am and 11:15am) and the Nursery are open all summer long. Though some churches call their Sunday School program “Children’s Chapel,” our Children’s Chapel is different; our Children’s Chapel is worship (prayers, stories, and songs) suited to children ages 3-8, and then they join the rest of us for Communion. 

Summer is a great time to mix up your schedule a little; one Sunday, go to a service you don’t normally attend! The 7:30am is intimate and a little shorter than our other services. The 9am is very full and energetic. The 11:15 is a bit more traditional and chanted, but not stuffy, and we’ve recently extended our Children’s Chapel and Nursery to be open during this service, and more families with children are beginning to attend it; if the 9am is beginning to feel a little full for you, you might sleep in a little on Sundays and give the 11:15am a try. The hymns and sermon at all three morning services are usually the same. And if you are busy on Sunday mornings, the 7pm service, with one simple hymn, and silent meditation in place of a sermon, is a reflective and restorative way to end your weekend and prepare for the week to come.    

Each Sunday, the flowers behind the altar are given to the glory of God, and in memory of the dead, or in thanksgiving for living loved ones, for answered prayers, or for life events like births, graduations, weddings, and anniversaries. The suggested donation is $50. If you’re wondering what happens to the flowers, they don’t go to waste! After the Sunday evening service, they are divided into smaller bouquets and taken to parishioners, and to non-parishioners in local nursing homes. You can donate altar flowers on the website.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Folsom

801 Figueroa Street

Folsom, CA 95630

(916) 985-2495 ~ www.trinityfolsom.org