~ Deuteronomy 32:7

This Sunday is All Saints’ Sunday. It is the day in the life of the church when we remember the Saints who have gone before us. As part of the service, we will be reading the names of saints in our own congregation and family members who had died in the last year (since last All Saints’ Sunday). We will also begin a new sermon series called This I Know.. In a season where there is much we don't know, we will focus on the things we do know, the truths that ground us and give us the strength to keep going. It will be a beautiful service and we look forward to worshiping with you Sunday.

We will gather at 11 AM for online worship through Trinity’s Facebook Page and on our website. Don't forget to join us on ZOOM for a special time of fellowship. Click here to join!

Please register your attendance here! You can also list prayer requests as well. To be added to the Prayer Chain click here.

Click here for the Children’s Worship Bulletins.

Prelude: The King of Love My Shepherd Is - arr. John Ness Beck

Carol Bowers, soprano; Paul Taylor, baritone

Call to Worship:

Hymn: For All the Saints - Hymnal no. 711 vs. 1-4

Passing of the Peace: Elegie op. 150 no. 5 - Josef Gabriel Rheinberger

Regino Madrid, violin

We’d love to know you worshiped with us! Please register your attendance here. We also encourage you to comment during the service so we can be in community with you! Click here to sign up for all our eCommunications.

Children’s Time: Pastor Grace

We invite the children who are worshiping at home to pay extra special attention. Each week Hannah Day Donoghue will send out Worship Bulletins for the children to do at home during this time.

Duet: Grant Us Thy Peace - Felix Mendelssohn

Scripture Lesson:  Deuteronomy 6:1-9 - Joshua Hone

⁶ Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, ² so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶ Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷ Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, ⁹ and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God.

^*Gospel Lesson:  Matthew 11:25-30

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶ yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷ All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon: Knowing Our History

^*All Saints Prayer of Remembrance

This morning in worship, we remember those in our congregation and family members of those in our congregation who have died in the last year (since last All Saints’ Sunday). As we read each name, a bell will be tolled in their memory.

Paul Kinzy Griffith (Trinity UMC Member)

Janismarie Hassmer (Trinity UMC Member)

Edward Leslie (Trinity UMC Member)

Jane Baker Partlow (Trinity UMC Member)

Geraldine Strozier (Trinity UMC Member)

Dillon Campbell (Sharon Taylor’s Great-Nephew)

James Edwin Davis (Rev. Bill Davis’ Brother)

Dan Frederking (Margaret Barton’s Brother)

Joseph Donald Gragg (Jenessa Stokes’ Uncle)

James Nicolas Gillman (Mary Gillman’s Father-in-law)

Kathryn Nathan (Lisa Nathan’s Mother)

Thomas J. O’Reilly, Sr. (Tom O’Reilly’s Father)

Rachel Elizabeth Robinson (Jill Robinson’s Niece)

Mary Smith Ruckle (Rev. Phyllis Earley’s Mother)

Michael W. Ruckle (Rev. Phyllis Earley’s Brother)

Daniel Louis Snyder (Ruth Tapp’s Grandfather)

We invite you to consider giving on-line or giving by text! To give on-line, click here and click on the Giving tab. To give by text, text “GIVE” to 703-783-3034. Further instructions will follow. For further information about online giving, please see the Tithes & Offering announcement below.

Offertory:  Lament - Jason Krug

Trinity Ringers

     and from these riches we bring this offering.

     and for the benefit of those in need. Amen.

Hymn: Rejoice in God’s Saints - Hymnal no. 708

Words: ©1973 Hope Publishing Co. The United Methodist Hymnal ©1989 The United Methodist Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Benediction Response: In Remembrance from Requiem - Eleanor Daley

Carol Bowers, soprano

The King of Love is a paraphrase of Psalm 23 by Henry W. Baker, 1821-1877 The setting by John Ness Beck (1930-1987) is based on the hymntune St. Columba. It was dedicated to Roland Gamble, commemorating thirty years as Director of the Sanctuary Choir, First Congregational Church, Hudson, Ohio. © 1985 by Beckenhorst Press, Inc. all rights reserved. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-713613. All rights reserved.

Grant us Thy Peace (Da Nobis Pacem): Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was given a copy of the Lutheran hymnal while he was in Vienna and was struck by the power and beauty of Luther’s own hymns. He conceived a project to compose a series of cantatas based on the hymns. Verleih uns Frieden (Grant us peace) was written in 1831, with Mendelssohn setting Luther’s paraphrase of the first verse of the famous Dona nobis pacem prayer to his own soaring melody. ©1945 Neil A. Kjos Music Co. Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-713613. All rights reserved.

Elegie by Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) is from Opus 150 Six Pieces for violin and organ. One critic comments: “The most beautiful movement of the set is the D minor Elegie, with its melodically inspired feelings of melancholy and longing.” Another observes: “His music is very finely crafted in a classical vein – “absolute” music that generally avoids overt extramusical programs or connotations. This, combined with his fine sense of melody and finely balanced harmonic development, is what sets him apart from many of his contemporaries.” This work is in the public domain.

Lament by Jason Krug (b. 1978) Jason’s handbell career began in 2001 when he began ringing with and arranging music for the Wagner Memorial Bell Choir at Irvington United Methodist Church, and in 2005, he took over as the choir’s director. Since his first publication in 2006, he’s had over 400 handbell compositions released, with more on the way. This original tune for twelve handbells between F5 and C7 is a sombre, mournful melody with complex and unexpected harmonies. With no bell changes, it is played by six players each holding two bells. In this era of COVID-19, it is our first opportunity at Trinity to bring a choir into the church. As you can see, all the safety protocols have been observed. ©2020 Jason W. Krug Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-713613. All rights reserved.

In Remembrance is the fourth movement of Requiem by Eleanor Daley (b. 1953) It speaks with the voice of one who has gone, but who is still present in all that we see, feel, and hear about us. Of interest is the history of the poem set by Daley, whose author was formerly unknown. The authorship of the poem was established by journalist Abigail Van Buren (Miss Abby) whose investigation determined that Mary Frye wrote the poem in 1932. As far as we know, Frye had never written any poetry before, but the plight of a young German Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with her and her husband at the time, inspired the poem. Margaret Schwarzkopf had been concerned about her mother, who was ill in Germany, but she had been warned not to return because of increasing anti-Semitic unrest that was erupting into what became known as the Holocaust. When her mother died, the heartbroken young woman told Frye that she never had the chance to “stand by my mother’s grave and shed a tear.” Frye found herself composing a piece of verse on a brown paper shopping bag. Later she said that the words “just came to her” and expressed what she felt about life and death. Mary Frye circulated the poem privately. Because she never published or copyrighted it, there is no definitive version. She wrote other poems, but this, her first, endured. The words sung today were published by The Times and The Sunday Times in her obituary in 2004— her now famous poem, which has been recited at funerals and on other appropriate occasions around the world for eighty years. ©1995 by Gordon V. Thompson Music, Toronto, Canada. A Division of Warner/Chappell Music Canada Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Sine Nomine Hymn no. 711 Originally, “For all thy saints” was written for All Saints’ Day and published in Horatio Nelson’s Hymns for Saints’ Days and Other Hymns (1864). The heading was “A Cloud of Witnesses,” a reference to Hebrews 12:1. Carlton Young notes that for many years this hymn was sung among Methodists only at memorial services during annual, jurisdictional, and general conferences. The tune that is now most common in the United States, SINE NOMINE, by the famous English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), was not always a favorite. ENGLEBURG by Charles Villiers Stanford (1952-1924) initially was used often, but Vaughan Williams’ stirring melody won the day after its publication in The English Hymnal (1906), for which the composer served as music editor. SINE NOMINE (literally “without a name” in Latin) appeared as one of four anonymous tunes in The English Hymnal. Carl Daw, Jr. notes that the Latin tune name was equivalent to the undesignated “anonymous” musical setting later attributed to Vaughan Williams. He further suggests that Vaughan Williams “may have wished to avoid overt competition with ENGLEBURG, the tune written for this text by his former teacher C. V. Stanford and published only two years earlier in the 1904 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern” (Daw, 2016, 330). Notes from Professor Michael Hawn 

The flowers on the altar are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of John D. Collins, Jr. and Jim Collins by Virginia and Susan Collins.

Worship Online this Sunday: While we aren’t meeting in person, we will be worshiping online via livestream on Trinity’s Facebook page and through our website. Each Saturday evening, we will send out an email with links to the worship sites and the bulletin for worship that Sunday. This Sunday, we will invite you to be intentional about finding a space in your home to worship and to be truly present in a time of worship. For additional questions about how to worship online, please contact the Church Office. 

Children & Youth Worship Box: Any children or youth who did not receive a worship box and would like one to aid their worship at home, please reach out to Program Director, Hannah Day Donoghue to schedule a time to come pick one up.

Fellowship Time via ZOOM on Sunday after Church: After worship this morning, we invite you to a time of fellowship via Zoom led by our Program Director Hannah Day Donoghue! This will be a time for us to connect after worship, check-in, and to have a time of conversation about worship. Click here to join. For questions, contact our Program Director, Hannah Day Donoghue.

Youth Group - Join us in person from 5:30-7:30PM for Youth Group. See you there!  For more information contact Hannah Day Donoghue.

This I Know... Sermon Series: There is much we don’t know these days. In fact, it feels like our lives are filled with unknowns, uncertainties, and insecurities. We don’t know when a vaccine will be available, we don’t know when it will be widely distributed, we don’t know what 2021 will look like, and many of us are overwhelmed with this unknowing. And yet, as people of God, in the midst of uncertainty, there are also certainties we know to be true. We know God created us in God’s image, we know God called us into covenant, and we know that God never forgets or forsakes us. Through this sermon series, we will look at what we do know. We will remember the commitments that follow this knowledge. This 4 week sermon series will be focused on putting our knowledge into action and will end with Commitment Sunday on Sunday, November 22^nd.

Make your 2021 Annual Giving Commitment Today! During this Stewardship season, we ask you to prayerfully consider making a financial commitment to supporting the ministries at Trinity Church in 2021. Your generosity makes possible the ministry of changing lives, transforming communities, and renewing the church and we thank you for the ways you are giving. This year, we encourage you to make your commitment online! For additional questions or concerns, please contact the Church Office.

This I Know… Trinity Cemetery Tour - November 7^th, 10 AM: As a companion to the Stewardship Sermon Series, take a physically distanced walking tour of the Trinity Cemetery. As people of God, in the midst of uncertainty, there are also certainties we know to be true, including our history. Visit with those that forged the Trinity path before us - those that built our church(es), taught our children, fought in battle, advocated for social justice, and made our community what it is today. Through stories, art, and sculpture, know and learn of our Trinity family. Weather permitting! Click here to sign up. For additional questions or concerns contact Liz Williams.

Your Stewardship Co-Chairs are seeking your help!! Your Stewardship Co-Chairs are seeking your help!! We would like to ask you to send us a recent photo of you (or your entire family) that we plan to use in an upcoming stewardship moment. It will not be used for any publication other than church use. Should we decide to do anything else with it, we would require your consent.  In addition to photos, as we look forward to Trinity’s 250^th Anniversary we would love it if you would send us “stories of Trinity.” This may be your own story (or perhaps a parent that left it for you to retell). Perhaps this will be part of “A Watermelon for God - the Sequel!”  Please send your photo (and story if you care to do so), to the Stewardship Team. Thank you in advance for your assistance and cooperation! We really appreciate it. Blessings and peace, Jill and Liz, Co-Chairs, Stewardship.

Prayer and Fasting for the Healing of the Nation: From October 31-November 2, Bishop Sharma Lewis is calling on the VA conference to participate in a time of prayer and fasting for our nation. Through this time, we are called to be more aware of Christ's presence in our personal lives, the Commonwealth, and the nation. We pray for two pandemics--COVID-19 and systemic racism, we pray for the upcoming election, and we pray for God’s wisdom and discernment in our nation. For additional information, read Bishop Lewis’ letter here.

Join the Trinity Prayer Chain: During times of trial and uncertainty, we pray to grow in our faith and encourage one another. To respond to our growing prayer needs, we will be starting an email prayer chain to share our prayer concerns with one another. We will share joys as well as concerns and needs. If you are interested in being part of this prayer chain or have a prayer request, please email us here.

Centering Prayer meets weekly on Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, via Zoom. Centering Prayer is a 20 minute practice to sit in quiet prayer to make ourselves open to God. A reading is shared by the leader with a short discussion prior to the prayer time. Click here to connect. For more information contact, Alva Smircina.

Sign Up For Trinity's Semi-Annual Community Blood Drive.  Trinity’s Semi-Annual Blood Drive will be held Saturday, November 14, 2020, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM. The blood drive will be held again in Inova’s bloodmobile and Inova Blood Donor Services continues to have an immediate need for most blood types. Inova is taking special precautions associated with COVID-19, which you can read about here.  Additionally:

Further eligibility information is available here. It must be at least 56 days (8 weeks) since you last donated, so you can’t have donated since September 19, 2020. The donation process takes about 1 hour and plenty of slots are available. The number of donations during each time slot has been reduced to minimize the number of people inside the Bloodmobile at one time. Click here to make an appointment, click Locate a Blood Drive and use sponsor code 3515 under Search by Sponsor or contact Carol Bowers or 703-861-4935.  Volunteers are needed for signing up donors by phone, reminder calls, and registration the day of the drive. To volunteer please click here.

The Lazarus Food Pantry is looking for delivery volunteers. In partnership with Trinity, Fairlington UMC, and ALIVE! the Christ Church Lazarus Ministry has been delivering groceries, Monday through Saturday to Alexandria families in need. Volunteers pick up pre-packed bags of groceries at Trinity and then deliver to around 3 families each time. The date and time of deliveries is flexible. Clients are asked to meet the volunteer outside for a contact-free hand off. For more information, contact Liz Denson.

This week, if you have an email address on file with the Church Office, you will receive an email from the church inviting you to create a member account through our church management system Breeze. Once set up, you will be able to review the information the church has on file about you. You can view and change your phone, address, email and even add a picture! Plus, you will be able to check on your giving status for the year. 

You will receive an email from this address: office@trinityalexandria.org. And the email will look like this:

Trinity United Methodist Church has invited you to create your own member account. You may click the button below to create your username and password to log into the system.  

As you know, we have switched financial management systems for Trinity. If you still give through VANCO, you can access your Legacy VANCO account here. We encourage you to consider switching to Breeze, our new online management system. If you do switch, 

Thank you for however you give, it is all very much appreciated! For additional questions or concerns, contact the Church Office.

Tithes and offerings may be sent to Trinity via normal mail (checks only) or via the online donation portal here. You may make online donations directly from your checking account with no check required to be mailed. This will help us immensely as our office will have limited hours to receive and process the checks. However, you may still give by mailing a check - whatever donation you want to provide will be very welcome.

We also have the capability to give by text. Just send a text that says “Give”  to:  703-783-3034.

Have you wanted to set up electronic giving for Trinity? Great! Here are the simple steps for you to follow:

Step 1. Click here.

If all else fails - please contact Rich McKinney. Thank you again for your giving - no matter how you give!

Sunday, November 1^st: All Saints Sunday

Wednesday, November 4^th

Thursday, November 5^th

Saturday, November 7^th

      10:00 AM               Rising Hope Drive Through Food Drive - Parking Lot

Sunday, November 8^th: Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost