Trinity Newsletter for October 14, 2020

October 14, 2020

The mission of Trinity Church is to share Christ's love and grace in a vibrant community whose joyful spirit empowers people to do God's work.

SENIOR WARDEN'S NOTES

Are we there yet?

How many times have you heard that question from restless kids in the back seat? Or felt it yourself on a long plane ride, or stuck in your car in a traffic jam?

As far as fleeing the pandemic, obviously we are not there yet.

At Trinity, we are unfortunately still not there yet to regather for worship in person. Our Regathering Committee is considering all the aspects of regathering such as setting up protocols for entering, leaving, and seating in the sanctuary; figuring out the necessary handouts while we cannot use of prayer books and hymnals; working through the mechanics of communion under new Diocesan guidelines; and devising a system of reservations to enable us to receive parishioners as the guidelines permit.

We are not there yet in calling a rector. Our Discernment Committee is working very hard and we are eagerly awaiting the results of their efforts. In the meantime, we are respecting the rules we knew in advance we had to follow to give them the privacy they need to lead us along this crucial path for the parish.

We are not there yet in using our building for large or small group meetings, or charitable functions such as Outreach or 12-step groups. We are being very cautious and trying our best to protect the health of parishioners and others who rely on our church.

In some ways we ARE there, though. We have high-quality virtual worship. Groups and task forces are meeting. Lots of us have acquired computer skills we never knew we needed. A whole lot of virtual social contact and care-giving are happening among Trinity members, such as the virtual coffee hour each Sunday morning. We welcome your ideas for new small-group gatherings of parishioners by Zoom and for other ideas you have for keeping us in touch with each other in this very difficult time.

We WILL get there one day, with God’s will.

Claire Curcio, Senior Warden

TRINITY NEWS

Trinity Discernment Prayer

O Everlasting, Omniscient, and Loving God

We confess that our daily worries and concerns often blind us to your voice and guidance in our lives. We thank You for this time of change, may it be an opportunity to grow together more closely as followers of your son Jesus Christ as we work to discern your path forward for our congregation. We pray that You will watch over the Bishop, diocesan transitional ministry team, the parish clergy, members of our vestry, and the other leaders of our church as they lead us on a new path for our parish. We pray for the members of the discernment committee as they endeavor to do Your holy work in calling a new rector for Trinity. We pray for all the members of our parish family during this time of transition that we come closer to You and feel your presence in our hearts. AMEN.

ALL SAINT’S DAY is Sunday, November 1st

We are all part of the communion of saints, the whole family of God, so let’s celebrate! Bambi Willis would like folks to post a picture of their baptismal certificates on Trinity’s Facebook page for All Saints’ Day. You can post your baptismal certificate as a response to the post for All Saints’ Day. If you would like, you may send a picture of your certificate to Sam Burton at sburton@trinity-fredericksburg.org and she will post it for you.

ALSO, it has been our tradition to pray for those who have died that are dear to us. Bambi will pray for those we remember by name during the November 1st All Saint’s Day online service. If you would like her to pray for someone dear to you, please email Denise or leave a message at the office by Wednesday, October 28th. Please speak clearly and spell those names that might possibly get misspelled. (540) 373-2996.

The Collect for All Saints’ Day

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.

Virtual Coffee Hour continues this Sunday, October 18th at 9:30 a.m.

Zoom meeting ID # 441 267 3172 and the password is 6YiW22. This will be a recurring Zoom meeting with the same ID and password each Sunday. We ask that everyone mute their microphones when we start the Zoom meeting to minimize background noise. You can unmute when and if you want to speak. We look forward to seeing you!

Families with children are invited to join us for Online Sunday School this Sunday at 10:30 a.m. for a 40 to 50-minute Sunday school lesson on Zoom. Our time together will include a few minutes of social (gathering) time, some songs we all know, some prayer time, a story, and an easy craft response to the story. This will be geared for children ages 5 through fifth grade, but older and younger people are welcome too. Each child/person will need a pencil, a few sheets of paper, and some crayons or colored pencils. I will email additional materials to everyone on Friday. If you have not received emails in the past with the information to join the class meeting and would like for your child to participate, please contact Sam Burton at sburton@trinity-fredericksburg.org.

CLUB 45

Calling all 4th and 5th graders! Club 45 will have game time this Sunday, October 18th, by Zoom. We will meet from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. to catch up with each other and to play Skeleton Scattergories, Boo Bingo, and other games. Children may wear Halloween costumes if they like. Parents, I will send an email to you on Friday with the login information and some handouts for games. If you would like your child to participate, please send an email to Sam Burton at sburton@trinity-fredericksburg.org by Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

The next Youth Group meeting will be Sunday, October 25th.

TASK FORCE TO PLAN TO DISMANTLE RACISM

BOOK AND VIDEO REVIEWS

Reviews will appear in the newsletter on the second and fourth Wednesdays each month. A comprehensive list of books and videos can be found on the Trinity homepage under the “Let’s Dismantle Racism” website. This week’s reviews are as follows:

It’s the Little Things: Everyday interactions that Anger, Annoy, and Divide the Races, Lena Williams, 2000, nonfiction, 304 pp.

The book is a New York Times journalist’s view of racial interactions in schools, home, workplace, etc., mostly from her own and her friends’ experiences. It’s all the more compelling because it was written 20 years ago and is unfortunately even more applicable today.

America’s Original Sin, Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America, Jim Wallis, 2015, nonfiction, 272 pp.

The author offers a prophetic and deeply personal call to action in overcoming the racism so ingrained in American society. He speaks candidly to Christians – particularly white Christians – urging them to cross a new bridge toward racial justice and healing.

Jesus and the Disinherited, Howard Thurman, 1949, nonfiction, 112 pp.

The author interprets the teachings of Jesus through the experience of the oppressed and discusses nonviolent responses to oppression.

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race, Beverly Daniel Tatum, 1997 (updated 2017), nonfiction, 320 pp.

Dr. Tatum is President Emerita of Spellman College. This book has been well-updated and contains a very readable professor’s documentation and discussion of racism in America – very comprehensive and informative.

Under Our Skin an online video series produced by The Seattle Times can be found at https://projects.seattletimes.com/2016/under-our-skin/#

This series of brief videos grew out of conversations between the staff at The Seattle Times about how they cover race when national and local events such as police shootings, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, protests, and charged campaign rhetoric dominate the headlines, as they do today, and the desire to probe the issues more deeply. The people who participated in this project are of diverse races and backgrounds. They share personal reflections and stories about the meanings of terms associated with race and racism such as racist, institutional racism, ally, micro aggression, and all lives matter.

OTHER TRINITY NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

PRAYER PARTNERS - If you have not already contacted your Lenten Prayer Partner to reveal your identity, you may want to drop your partner a note so they'll know who you are. We were not able to have a reveal party as we did previously, but hopefully we'll do Prayer Partners again in the future and be able to celebrate together and thank each other at that time. For now, you might want to reveal your identity to your partner. Thanks to those who organized this and to all who participated.

DIOCESAN GIVING – Last week Trinity was invited to participate in a virtual meeting to discuss possible changes in the giving plan for the Diocese of Virginia. As one of the top 30 parishes in terms of giving, Trinity was in the first of a series of meeting. We are proud to support the Diocese. The Diocesan budget supports the ministries of the bishops and staff. In most years there are programs for stewardship, care of creation, race and reconciliation, campus ministries, summer camps, etc. The Diocese provides support for churches in transition seeking a new pastor and for those discerning a call to priesthood. There are usually programs for clergy and lay employees. The bishops and staff are available for questions. Most activities have been moved to a virtual format, including the upcoming annual convention November 14. Trinity is grateful for the significant support we receive for the campus and young adult ministries programs sponsored jointly with St. George’s Episcopal Church and Christ Lutheran Church.

Forward Movement and The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations are calling Episcopalians and all others to join in A SEASON OF PRAYER: FOR AN ELECTION. Join us starting October 27 and continuing the day after the election, we invite you to pray for the election of leaders in the United States. Materials are available below in English and Spanish for use at home or to share with your congregation. These prayers, drawn from The Book of Common Prayer, can be printed out and tucked in a Bible or prayer journal. Sign up for email updates at the bottom of the page found here.

VESTRY MEETING HIGHLIGHTS – The September Vestry meeting included the following items: In the August Treasurer’s report, Val Folden noted that total collections were at 62% of the annual budget, partly because several Trinitarians had prepaid their 2020 giving. Non-pledge giving was below budget, as expected since we are not holding worship services at Trinity. Expenses were only about 52% of budget mainly because we are not paying a full-time rector. (Eight months of the year would be 67%.) Jim Carlock made a presentation about the Dismantling Racism Task Force’s activities and planning process. The Vestry appointed a committee to look at the new guidelines from the Diocese to consider outdoor worship and to look at considerations for regathering for in-person worship. The Technology Committee recommended purchasing audio-video equipment in preparation for live-streaming worship services when we regather and the Vestry approved the purchase. Harry presented preliminary sketches from Bushman Dreyfus Architects for possible location of an elevator, moving the stairs to create more space in the narthex, and the resulting movement of offices. Structural engineering information is needed before the architects proceed. The Daughters of the King will set up a labyrinth in the parking lot on September 26. (Rain date in October.)

PRAYER FOR OUR PEOPLE - Responding to a request from Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson, Trinity is delighted to announce the establishment of a prototype prayer initiative for the Fredericksburg Region named PRAYERS FOR OUR PEOPLE. Using a web-based form found on this link (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqIiIbyf-Jr-FBlsWdgCpGXKhcvXl8bJLCJQUnvX6MRCgRcA/viewform), individuals can request prayers for their needs or the needs of others. The initial phase of the pilot will be staffed by members of Trinity and Bishop Brooke-Davidson has extended an invitation to participate to the other churches in the region via the Fredericksburg Region leadership.

CAMPUS MINISTRY has its regular semester meetings online on Tuesdays from 5pm – 7pm! We would like to invite all college students (no matter which college!) to gather with us by Zoom. A Zoom link may be found on our church website, www.trinity-fredericksburg.org, or find the event on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/trinityfredericksburg/ .

During this time when we cannot be together physically, let’s keep in touch virtually. Please check out the TRINITY FACEBOOK PAGE for information, inspiration, and some things to make you smile. Messages from Bishop Curry and from our Bishop Susan Goff are posted as they are received. Don't forget our follow Instagram page and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA

"PINECONES AND MUSHROOMS", a Meditation for the 19th Week after Pentecost, by Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson, can be found here.

JOIN US FOR TWO DIOCESAN-WIDE SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES -

November 15 | The Annual Convention Worship Service (Rebroadcast from the previous day’s Convention)
December 27 | The Sunday following Christmas

We are 179 churches worshipping together in one faith community. Join us for these two special diocesan online gatherings. Both services will premiere on Facebook and YouTube. More information will be distributed as the service dates approach.

NEWS FROM THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

General Convention Task Force invites Episcopalians to participate in survey “SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH: A CALL FOR STORIES” Responses requested by: November 5, 2020. In the work of contemplating the theology of social justice advocacy in The Episcopal Church, the Task Force recognizes that different people have vastly different perspectives and experiences. For some, social justice advocacy may seem somewhat peripheral to their spiritual lives in the church; for others, social justice may have become an important focal point of their theology over time; for still others, the struggle for social justice is fundamental to and inseparable from their experience of what it is to be a Christian. The members of the Task Force would like to gather stories and deeper perspectives to support their work on behalf of the Church and invite Episcopalians to consider sharing their experience by completing the survey, “Social Justice and the Episcopal Church: A Call for Stories”. The survey can be found online here. This is a nationally-sponsored endeavor, not directly related to the work of the Trinity Dismantling Racism Task Force.

WAY OF LOVE -- The Episcopal Church continues to offer new resources for congregations interested in following the Way of Love as a way of life by starting small group ministries. New resources include the Building an Intentional Small Group Ministry information packet, an infographic, video compilations, and social media graphics. These resources are available in English here, Spanish here and French here. For more information and resources visit iam.ec/smallgroups or email wayoflove@episcopalchurch.org.