It's still summer in New Zealand and the lavender is lush and fragrant! It is clear to see how much Kelly is enjoying this luxurious experience. It looks like her photographer is having a good time, too. However, it is still winter here and both the Rectory and the church building have experienced power failures! We promise, the photo below is the last snow picture of the season! Check out our Instagram account to see more sabbatical summer pics from New Zealand. | |
Save the date and Spread the word | |
Appalachian Trail Magic 2023 | |
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Every summer for eight weeks, our Appalachian Trail Magic tent is open to greet and serve hikers. The tent is staffed by area volunteers and by visiting church groups from near and far. Many hikers begin at the beginning in late February or March, at Springer Mountain, Georgia with the ambition to hike the full 2,190 miles to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Along the way, they will pass through 14 states and wear out 4-5 pairs of shoes. On average the trip will take 165 days, roughly 5 ½ months.
Hikers start passing through Sheffield in June and we are ready for them! Our Appalachian Trail Magic tent serves up a warm welcome along with fresh grilled burgers, chips, cookies (often homemade), water, rides to town, phone charging services, and—a favorite of hikers—seats with a back. Last summer we greeted over 700 hikers.
There are many opportunities to volunteer at the site, but for now, as we plan ahead for supplies and equipment, we hope you will support this ‘corner of kindness’ by making a contribution.
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Women’s Bible Study will meet next on Friday March 17 at 1pm in the Parish hall. We will look at the story of The Prodigal Son, found in the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32. It is the fourth in the series of Multiple Meanings of Scripture: Learning from other interpretations by author Mark Allen Powell.
All are welcome to come, just let Imelda Muller or the church office know.
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illustration by Eric Schumann
The OWLES are hooting again this month!
(Older, Wiser Lutherans and Episcopalians). Because The Clark is free till the end of March, we are organizing a trip to Willliamstown on Wednesday, March 22. After touring the museum, we will choose a restaurant in the vicinity for lunch. We will meet at the Price Chopper lot north of Great Barrington at 9:30 AM and car pool from there. If you would like to join us, or you are willing to be a driver, please contact Nancy King or Liz Wells.
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If you would like to have a loved one remembered at our Easter service, please fill out the bright green information sheet found at church or send us an email with Easter Flowers in the subject line, then information regarding who the gift is given by and who it is in memory of.
You may write a check payable to Christ Trinity Church or pay online by clicking the button below. No gift is too small. The information sheets are due by March 29th.
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This week in EfM, we read an essay by the Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on his experiences in New York the day the planes attacked the world trade center. The essay, called, 'Last Words,' pondered the conundrum of the murderously spiritual acts of the terrorists as against the compassionately secular words of love sent by passengers to their family members on that horrific day. The essay focused on the 'breathing space' created in the moment of passengers sending messages a moment of presence and awareness of the other. In this, and in the silence of the streets of New York that day, the author was reminded of Robert Frost's poem: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening
Our discussion wove the two together and ended with the following collect:
COLLECT: Breathing Room; A sacred pause
Blessed are you O Lord God, the source of silence
For you grant us peace in the cacophony of life
And enable us to take a sacred pause
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
AMEN
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All are welcome during Holy Week | |
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Holy Week
We will join with Grace Episcopal and St. Paul’s Episcopal to share this single
service celebrated over three days.
Maundy Thursday Service, April 6th 7:00pm service with foot washing at St. Paul’s Church in Stockbridge.
Good Friday Liturgy, April 7th 7:00pm at Grace Church at 67 State Road, GB
The Great Easter Vigil, April 8th 7:00pm at Christ Trinity Church
Easter Sunday, April 9th All three of our churches have Easter Festival Services at 10:00am with music, spring flowers & Holy Communion.
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We learned last weekend about Restoration Laos and many folks have been asking how to get connected. Laos is the most heavily bombed country on earth. There are still 80 million live cluster bombs, as well as larger bombs, littering the country from U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War. Restoration Laos funds a team of brave Lao explosives clearance experts who are restoring land, safety, and peace of mind, one village at a time. These experts are pictured below.
Restoration Laos was started in 2022 by Michael and Darreby Ambler. The Amblers first visited Laos as tourists a dozen years ago. Since then, they have deepened their understanding and appreciation for the country, and learned of the daily danger posed by U.S. weapons still contaminating the land 50 years after the Vietnam War. Michael is a Canon to the Ordinary in the Episcopal Church and Christ Trinity's retreat leader on March 4 and 5. We learned a little more about this critical effort to save lives and Christ Trinity was able to make a $750 donation to Restoration Laos.
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The Pride Celebration on June 9th takes shape | |
Free food. A variety show. Face painting. A raffle. Dancing in the street. Puppets. Photo booth. Farmers Market. We need more help. Please let us know if you would like to get involved. | |
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Alcoholics Anonymous weekly meetings are now being held at Christ Trinity Church on Wednesday evenings.
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On March 18th at 6:00, The Beekeepers: “What I Know Now” a play in development, at Dewey Hall, read by the author Julia Motyka.
“What I Know Now,” is about the things we inherit from our parents, both emotional and genealogical. As she awaits an answer to one of life’s big questions a woman explores the nature of faith and her own complicated family history. How do we contain our fear of the unknown? Does the answer lie in faith and prayer; probabilities and numbers; or is it something else entirely?
This work in development will be read by the author and will be followed by a Beekeepers social gathering with music and community. Tickets will be available at the door for $15; wine and beer (and Beekeepers merchandise) will be available for purchase. We are proud to support the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Card to Culture program offering free admission to all WIC EBT and ConnectCare cardholders. All Beekeepers presentations have captions streamed live to audience members’ personal devices courtesy of Globetitles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julia Motyka (she/her)- Is thrilled to be a part of the Beekeepers inaugural season! Over her twenty year varied career Julia has become an internationally recognized writer, performer, producer, and teacher. As a writer, she has a recent piece in DPA and one forthcoming in The Manifest Station and was one of the winner's of the Fish Anthology Prize for Short Memoir 2020. As an actress, she’s performed Off-Broadway and all over the US in some of the nation’s top theatres —winning awards in Denver, San Francisco, and LA for her work — and has voiced scores of audiobooks. What I Know Now received its first workshops this winter with NCTC and will be part of Bay Street Theater's Title Wave for new works in May of 2023. When she’s not in the theatre you can find her teaching yoga around town. Whether on the page, the stage, or in the studio, she is always seeking and telling stories of transformation that guide us home to ourselves.
Tickets for “What I Know Now”, a play in development read by the author Julia Motyka, can be booked here: https://allevents.in/sheffield/what-i-know-now-a-play-in-development-read-by-the-author-julia-motyka/80003560740406
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Meditation begins here March 24 | |
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Friday Meditation Group
Insight Meditation Practice & Course in Miracles Study
Will be held at Christ Trinity Church March 24-May 5.
Fridays 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Free of Charge * All Are Welcome * No Experience Needed
* Mask Optional* Fragrance-Free *
Facilitation: Margo Davis, MSW, LICSW
For more information: margobradleydavis@gmail.com or PH: 413-446-1777
Both disciplines support well-being through the awareness to discern love from fear within our thoughts and beliefs.
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Berkshire South's Swim-A-Thon 2023 will raise money for adaptive swim programs. Our own Eric Schumann is one of the Ambassadors. Included below is a WSBS radio interview with the 3 ambassadors and the dynamic director of Berkshire South: | |
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Christ Trinity Church 413-229-8811
180 Main Street
PO Box 127
Sheffield, MA 01257
In-person & Livestreamed services at 10:00 Sundays:
Facebook and our YouTube channel
Questions you may have about us will probably be answered at:
ChristTrinityChurch.org
The best way to get a message to the office is via email: christtrinitychurch@gmail.com
If you have a loved one who you would like us to remember in our Sunday prayers, please email us Monday morning before 10:00.
Seeds editor: Jean Chapin
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