Becoming Known And Loved This Program Year

Dear Trinity Church and friends, 

Grace and Peace and new season greetings to you and yours!  With the Labor Day holiday now in our rearview mirror, Trinity Church’s Program Year will begin this Sunday, September 8. 

 

The Acts of the Apostles’ description of the early Christian community – “Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” – has nourished both my call to you and my hopes for our life together.  Emphasizing that vision of a beloved community, this Program Year’s theme of Known And Loved signals my continued homemaking with you, and yours with me, and I can hardly wait for our fall kickoff!  

 

Please see below an overview of our upcoming programs: 

 

WORSHIP 

September 8, 7:45 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m., & 6:00 p.m. – First Program Year Sunday  

This Sunday we return to our 9:00/11:15 mid-morning schedule, and we will debut our newly redesigned, service- and Sunday-specific worship booklets!  I am excited to preach at all four of our Sunday services a sermon entitled “The Negotiation,” which will include references to Star Wars toys, McIntosh stereos, Jean-Paul Sartre, and our daily work of minding that gap between the way things are, and the way of life to which God calls us. 

 

Sunday, September 8, 9:00 a.m. – Blessing of the Backpacks & Briefcases 

During our 9:00 a.m. service, we will have our Blessing of the Backpacks & Briefcases, during which we will invite all our students and teachers (and our Choristers with their music binders, too!) to come forward to the chancel for a prayer of celebration and commission.  I hope to see many happy kiddos with backpacks, totes, pencil boxes, Caboodles, and all the rest! 

 

Saturday, September 14, 5:30 p.m.– Celebration of Ministry & Installation of a Rector 

I am looking forward to celebrating with you the ministry of Trinity Church, and I am honored – thrilled! – that Bishop Gates will formally install me as your Rector.  The Very Rev. Dr. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge – Dean & President at Seminary of the Southwest, a former priest of this diocese, and my dear friend – will preach.  We don’t do these often, friends (and hopefully not for a long while to come!): please join us for this powerful liturgy and the high-spirited reception that will follow. 

 

SUNDAY FORMATION PROGRAMS

September 8, 10:15 a.m. – Formation Open House & Family Ministries Parents Meeting 

Between our mid-morning services, adults will gather in the Forum for a casual coffee (with breakfast treats!) and a short presentation on our fall theme and first formation series, while – upstairs and down – children, youth, and parents will explore their classrooms and meet their teachers and mentors.  About 10:40 A.M., parents will then convene in the Ferris Library for a fall overview and Q&A. 

 

September 15, 10:15 a.m. – Church School begins for Children & Youth! 

 

September 15, 10:15 a.m. – Throw It To The Dogs: Practicing Theological Imagination 

Dean Kittredge, having preached to us the night before, will lead our first adult formation program of the year, focused on engagement of scripture for our being, knowing, and doing, indeed for remaking and proclaiming it in our contemporary world. 

 

September 22-October 13, 10:15 a.m. – Who Do You Say That I Am? 

During our first Forum series of the 2019-2020 Program Year, I will facilitate reflection on who we are as Trinity Church.  Engaging Jesus’ inquiries of Luke 9 – “Who do the crowds say that I am? … [and] who do you say that I am?”  Together, we will explore models of “being Church;” identify Trinity’s gifts and opportunities; and discern how we might become a more beloved, Incarnational community. 

 

September 29, 7:15-9:00 p.m. – Who Do You Say That I Am? 

This evening I will consolidate the primary arc of our Sunday-morning program for the benefit of our 6:00 p.m. congregation and anyone who could not participate in the Forum hours. 

 

I view these “Who Do You Say That I Am?” sessions as critically important to developing the common vocabulary and foundation of ideas that will equip us to discuss enrichments of our life together and discern God’s hope for us.  I hope you will make every effort to participate. 

 

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS

Sunday, September 8, 4:00 p.m. – Family Picnic at Auburndale Cove in Newton 

Join us for our annual Back to School Picnic!  We will provide hamburgers and hot dogs, and we ask that you bring drinks or a delicious dish to share.  My family and I will be there, and I hope you and yours will be, too! 

 

Sunday, September 22, 5:00-7:00 p.m. – Middle School Episcopal Youth Church

 

Sunday, September 22, 5:00-7:00 p.m. – High School Episcopal Youth Church

Let us feed your hungry youth!  We invite Middle (Grades 6-8) and High School (Grades 9-12) youth to meet in the Undercroft where our new Minister for Youth & Young Adult Ministry, Sarah Neumann, will make and eat a delicious dinner with the crew, kicking off a new year in Youth Ministry.  Parents, consider simplifying your Sunday and attending the 6:00 p.m. Eucharist in the Church during the youth program! 

Thursday, September 19, 8:30-9:30 a.m. – Coffee with the Rector  CANCELLED 

Wednesday, September 25, 8:30-9:30 a.m. – Coffee with the Rector 

Thursday, September 26, 8:30-9:30 a.m. – Coffee with the Rector (NEW DATE!)

Wednesday, October 2, 4:30-5:30 p.m. – Coffee with the Rector 

Thursday, October 3, 8:00-9:00 a.m. – Coffee with the Rector 

I look forward to hearing your stories, learning what you love of Trinity Church, and sharing in your hopes of how we can grow. Along with fellow Vestry and staff, I will spend time with you in small groups of no more than a dozen.  Signups for these first four sessions will launch next week.

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As the apostles “spent much time together,” the Acts of the Apostles continues, “And, day by day, the Lord added to their number.”  I trust that – Known and Loved! – God will accomplish the same with us at Trinity Church.  Come and be part of this beloved community as our Program Year begins! 

 

See you Sunday, 

 

The Rev. Morgan S. Allen 

Rector