Wednesday 11am: Bible Study

Wednesday 4:30pm: Children’s Choir Rehearsal

Wednesday 7pm: Bible Study 

Wednesday 7pm: 11:15am Choir Rehearsal

Thursday 5:30pm: Contemplative Prayer Group

Thursday 7:30pm: 9am Choir Rehearsal 

The Episcopal Church world is full of words you might not have heard before, or whose meanings are slightly different than the way they are used by other churches or in the secular world. Each week, we’ll include a link to a word (or two) in the glossary on The Episcopal Church website, and if it deserves an additional comment, we’ll include it, too. Our first word is sanctuary In our church, the sanctuary is the area around the altar behind the altar rail; the area with pews where you sit is not the sanctuary, but the nave.

We’re hosting another night of Bunco on Friday, September 14th, at 6pm in the Parish Hall, and our friends over at Powerhouse Ministries Transformation Center will be joining us again (so if you volunteer at the dinners there, you’ll see plenty of familiar faces!). Tickets are $20, and will be on sale during coffee hour this Sunday and next; you can also e-mail Janice Freeberg to reserve a ticket. This is a FUNraiser, not a fundraiser – ticket sales will pay for free snacks and drinks during play, and cash prizes for winners. If you’ve never played Bunco before, it’s super easy to learn, and super fun to play – you’ll get a chance to play with every person in the room, too, so it’s a great way to meet folks in the parish. We hope you’ll join the parish staff for a fun evening!

We’ll observe the Feast of the Holy Cross on Friday, September 14th, with a Eucharist in the church at noon. The Feast of the Holy Cross marks the day in 335 when the “True Cross” on which Jesus was crucified, having been “discovered” in 326 by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, was displayed for veneration outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Feast of the Holy Cross also marks one of the four weeks of Ember Days in the Church calendar – seminarians have to write letters home to their bishops at the Ember Days, and so we remember them by this mnemonic: “crux and lux, Lent and Pent” – Holy Cross (crux in Latin), St. Lucy’s Day (associated with light, lux in Latin), Ash Wednesday (Lent), and Pentecost. 

Summer is typically a slow time around here, but at our August meeting, we found the opposite to be the case! Average Sunday attendance (ASA) continued to rise through the summer months, and signs are pointing to future growth as the program year begins! I thank you for your warm welcomes and conversations with first-timers and long-timers alike, and for always finding a way to squeeze one more into the pew. You may have noticed we're constantly adjusting to "be bigger" through keeping the choir loft prepared for seating, adding chairs to the center aisle and narthex, and reserving the closest parking spaces for those who need them most. At this vestry meeting, we approved the purchase of a hearing assist system and the replacement and movement of speakers so that we can effectively use a microphone at the lectern.

Financially, Trinity continues to live within our means; our revenues are slightly outpacing our expenses for 2018, which is exactly where we want to be. Our commitment to our community and neighbors in need has been strong, and we followed through on our plans to regularly partner with local outreach groups as well as engage with spur-of-the-moment help, as we have with California fire relief, with guidance from Fr. Charlie and the Outreach Committee. 

 

We're starting this program year at full speed, with a slew of social events, service events, fundraisers, choir kick-offs, backpack blessings, baptisms, confirmations/receptions, and a visit from the bishop. Thank you to all who work behind the scenes to make these milestones are reality; your involvement, energy, and love for others is an inspiration to us all.

This Labor Day weekend Kelley and I hosted the Sunday School families at our home for a poolside picnic; we were blessed to welcome about 60 Trinitarians, and we enjoyed the fellowship late into the evening, with yummy food and drinks, swimming, and laughing as kids (and Fr Charlie) tried to cannonball Fr. Todd. Thanks to those who came and helped make it a wonderful event, and if you weren't able to join us, we hope you'll help us make it 80 next year! ~Tovi Abello, Sr. Warden

Did you know that 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and 66% would struggle to pay for a $1000 emergency? Financial Peace University helps participants take control of their finances, get out of debt, and achieve financial stability: 89% graduate with that $1000 emergency fund, while paying off debt and learning to better budget their income and expenses. Our group, facilitated by parishioners Judy and Scott Pinney, will meet on Mondays at 7pm from October 1st to November 26th. Eight folks have already signed up, but we have room for a few more – and if you would like to come to a class before signing up, we can make that happen! The cost for course materials is $99, and scholarships are available for those who need them – talk to Father Todd.  

We do not have enough hymnals for every seat in the church, and since every seat in the church is filled many Sundays, we were preparing to order more. Then we discovered that our neighbors at Faith Church in Cameron Park had some extras they weren’t using, and they very generously offered them to us. Father Todd sent a thank you note, but if you have friends who attend Faith, be sure to thank them for their kindness in loving their neighbor as themselves!

The parish prayer list is joining the 21 ^st century and becoming a digital ministry. If you have a request to add to the parish prayer list, e-mail prayers@trinityfolsom.org. The new intercessory prayer group (we’re working on a new monthly meeting time) is taking on, as part of its ministry of intercessory prayer, praying for those on the parish prayer list; your prayer request will be kept confidential within the intercessory prayer group. If you’re interested in attending this prayer group, or possibly praying for the names on the parish prayer list even though you can’t attend, e-mail Fr. Charlie. The parish prayer list isn’t read aloud during Sunday services, but if you have a prayer request you would like read during the Prayers of the People, go up to the lectern before the service, flip to the prayers for that service in the white notebook on the lectern, and use one of the pencils on the lectern to write in the name on the blank lines at the end of the prayers.

The burial office for Elizabeth Crane, longtime parishioner at the 7:30am service, will be held in the church on Saturday, September 8th, at 3pm.

“Father of all, we pray to you for Elizabeth, and for all those whom we love but see no longer. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.” ~ from the burial office in the Book of Common Prayer, page 498.  

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

 801 Figueroa Street

Folsom, CA 95630

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