The Tower Online

HomeFront Day in Sandy Hook a HUGE success!

It was awesome, we were very lucky to once again get a home in Newtown/Sandy Hook....this year's HomeFront team converged on the home of two wonderful people and started work, bright and shiny early, 7a.m.  There was landscaping work, painting, and a whole bunch of carpentry.  Everyone on our team was ready to go and SMILING.  We had adults and youth alike, we even had two youth from a parish in Monroe, and my husband, Todd arranged to have a local electrician with whom he often works, George Koloniaris come do some work.  It was fabulous!

The first saturday in May is traditionally HomeFront Day and while we had done these projects with HomeFront a number of years ago, we renewed the ministry through our Mission and Outreach commission for the second year in a row.  HomeFront for those who may not be aware, is a community-based, volunteer-driven home repair program that provides FREE repairs to low-income homeowners, thus enabling them to remain in their homes with an improved quality of life. Currently serving Fairfield, Hartford and New Haven Counties in Connecticut; and Westchester County, New York.  For more information on this wonderful charity, go to http://www.americareshomefront.org/  

Arlene, Martha, Rick, Paget, Cindy, Priscilla, Leslie, Jan, Jen P.,  Jen T., Donna, Jenna, and Mark, were cleaner uppers and landscapers extrodinaire!  The painting party consisted of Jen P., Paget, Emily, Diana, Kat, Greg, Margot, and Jeanne.  Jack and Brendan were put on gutter duty and did a GREAT job.  Mark, Larry, Dave, Rick, Todd, and James were the nail bangers for the day.  And Linda and Ruth were the lunch ladies extrordinaire.  What a terrific team!

Here are some pictures of our happy worker bees!  Just think, next year you can have this much fun! Almost 30 people this year gave some or all of their Saturday, and everyone gave of themselves.  

God Bless you all!

Team Trinity

 

Lunch ladies!

Hey look my cookie matches my outfit!

Many smiles!

The King of Drywall....Dave!

The Digging Crew (one of the crews anyway)

A well deserved break!

The counter top was the last thing to go in!  I think it was close to 6 p.m.  Just amazing.  

A JOB WELL DONE.

 

Youth Participate in New Haven's Chapel on the Green

by Sue Vogelman with Photos by Rick and Mary Chamiec-Case

On the cold January 2nd Sunday, members of our Rite 13 Class participated in Chapel on the Green which is a mission/outreach program that ministers to the homeless of New Haven, CT.

Chapel on the Green (from their website)

In the summer of 2008, Trinity on the Green partnered with community agencies and clergy from other churches to launch “Chapel on the Green.” It is based on the Common Cathedral in Boston.

Every Sunday at 2:00 pm people gather on the Upper Green (directly behind Trinity) for a brief (25-30 minute) service of Holy Eucharist is all sorts of weather.  We do not cancel services due to weather. 

ALL are welcome!

This service has attracted a wide variety of people across New Haven: those interested in social justice, the homeless or anyone that does not feel comfortable in a church building.  

Trinity youth helped pack up all the lunch supplies they had made, drove to New Haven with their chaperones, and set everything up when they arrived.  There is a drum circle before the service which starts at 1:30 pm.  Following the drum circle and worship service, our youth helped distribute bagged lunches to all those in need. 

To prepare for this ministry, some of our Trinity youth in 6th and 7th grade made over 150 sandwiches (half peanut butter and jelly and half lunch meat) baked tons of cookies and packaged snacks in bags. 

    

They met together at Trinity Newtown for a lesson led by Rick and Mary Chamiec-Case on what they might expect when they got to the green in New Haven and why they were going.  Then they had an orientation from Chris Evans (Coordinator) on the green when they arrived in New Haven.

      

One of the drummers in the drum circle every week is the grandson of Trinity Newtown parishioner, Jean Kreitzinger, who says, "He never misses a Chapel on the Green service.  He's there every week, rain or shine."

     

Here are some quotes from the Chapel on the Green blog about how our Trinity Youth did for their first time in this ministry:

Its been a pleasure working with Mary Chamiec-Case, the youth and parishioners from Trinity Episcopal Church, Newtown, CT these past weeks in preparation for today's service.

Breaking the 12,000 mark of sandwich lunches distributed on the Green, the 20 plus men, women and teen volunteers [from Trinity Newtown] brought an uplifting spirit of companionship to our service.  Everyone was greeted with a smile, a program, a name tag and a "welcome." 

      

I've never seen so many teenagers (and adults) so confidently "radically" welcome all who attended.  No one was shy about playing drums or singing, reading the Collect of the Day, the Gospel. 

     

And the lunch...well!  A sumptuous buffet of a variety of sandwiches for all dietary tastes, healthy clementines, bananas and all the rest were warmly shared with all our visitors. 

Trinity parishioners really showed their heart through their hospitality and engagement with so many congregants.  Thank you for the gift of your presence!
 
Great job Trinity youth!!!

And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
- Matthew 25:40

Trinity Christmas Pageant

 The Trinity Christmas Pageant 2010

Trinity Church held its annual Christmas Pageant on Sunday, December 19 at 4 p.m.  Over 300 people attended this beautiful candlelit service of lessons and carols. The story of the Nativity was told in a tableau format with the 4^th and 5^th graders as the cast of angels, shepherds, King Herod, the 3 wise men and their pages.  Pastor Kathleen Adams-Shepherd was the narrator and the music was provided by the youth choirs: The Trinity Choristers and the Primary Choir with Fiona Smith Sutherland as the director. 

The gifts on the steps were brought in by the children who attended the pageant.  They are for the children at Amos House - a transitional homeless facility in Danbury, and were taken there in time for Christmas.

Sue Vogelman, Minister of Children and Youth Education directed the pageant. “This was my 10^th pageant as director and it was just beautiful. The kids did a great job as usual.”  The Symes family portrayed the Holy Family with Christopher as Joseph, Heather as Mary, and 3 month old Ryder as baby Jesus.  Mason Symes (2 years old) portrayed a little angel who flitted around the manger.  Christopher Symes was also in the pageant almost 20 years ago as a shepherd.  His parents (Curt and Connie Symes) were thrilled to see their own child and then their grandchild be in the Trinity pageant  a few decades later!

 

Trinity Youth Christmas Party

On December 12th, the Trinity Youth had a great time at their annual Christmas Party.  This year's event was organized and led by Anna Moses and many youth attended. 

Fun games were played including several "Minute-to-Win-It" events like this macaroni pick-up

 

cup stack, and m&m game.

 

KIVA - Sustainable Philanthropy December Update

Here is our monthly update from the Sustainable Philanthropy Committee, part of the Mission and Outreach Commission. We have received a portion of the Parish’s Mission and Outreach budget so that we can make kiva loans to the poor around the world in support of the Millennium Development Goals. We call ourselves “sustainable” because as borrowers repay their loans, we can help more people with the same money.

 We met in late June to establish our Mission and a loan process so that we can prayerfully be good stewards of the Parish’s assets. Since that time we have made:

• 88 loans in 31 countries of which 28 were funded by borrower repayments
• To date, our borrowers have a 0.7% delinquency (most delinquencies are cleared up within 60 days) and 0% default rate
• 2 loans were repaid in Nov and we expect 10 more loans will be fully repaid later this month

 

To see the loans that we have made, check out our lender page http://www.kiva.org/lender/trinitychurch9574

Did you know you can buy kiva gift certificates as Christmas presents @ kiva.org

Check this space next month for more updates! 

 

Bishop's Fund Cocoa Sale

Posted by Sue Vogelman

On Sunday, December 5, 2010, members of our Rite 13 Class (with their teachers and parents) braved the cold December weather to help raise money for the Bishop's Fund for Children.  They made hot cocoa and hot mulled cider to sell to the foot traffic up on Main Street.  Since it was the Holiday Festival in town, there were many people walking right by Trinity's front lawn that day.

 
The kids worked together to make the drinks, set up the table, and promote their wares to the passersby.  They ended up making nearly $100 for the Bishop's Fund which will go to support programs across Connecticut for at risk children.

All of our Church School classes are collecting money during Advent for the Bishop's Fund for Children using their mite boxes and activity calendars.  Please see the Trinity Times Church School Newsletter for more information on our Advent Mite Box Outreach Project or see the Bishop's Fund website for more information.  We are very proud of our Trinity youth for taking the initiative on this outreach project.

St. Nicholas Day

posted by Sue Vogelman

On Saturday, December 4, 2010, over 30 children and their families celebrated St. Nicholas Day at Trinity.  Starting in the side hallway to line up their shoes, the children left hay and carrots in them as treats for St. Nicholas' horse. 

 

Then we journeyed back into time through our Magical Dutch Village and when we arrived, we found St. Nicholas himself fast asleep. 

The children awakened him and St. Nicholas told us a wonderful story about how he gave away his inherited wealth to help the less fortunate. 

 
Then St. Nicholas gave each child a few gold covered chocolate coins before going on his way. 

 

Everyone joined in at various centers to make ornaments, a jingle-bell necklace, a decorated bag and cookies, too! 

 
 
There were games like Pin the Miter on the Bishop, Toss the Gold Through the Window, and Sneak, Sneak, Give. 

  

A wonderful time was had by all - but especially by the children who when they went to retrieve their shoes, found them filled with small treats and toys from St. Nicholas!

 

 

Rite 13 Ceremony

Posted by Sue Vogelman

On November 21, 2010 Trinity welcomed four youth into their Journey to Adulthood through the Rite 13 Ceremony. 

  
       The Rite-13 curriculum assists young people as they take the first steps of passage away from their families and into their own lives.  It begins with a liturgical celebration of the gift of womanhood and manhood that each child celebrates around their 13th birthday.  During the next two years, the community acknowledges the gift of gender, celebrates the amazing creative power and potential of these young people, and creates a safe haven to explore new ideas, new interests and new abilities. 

“Nothing Goes Without Saying”

        How often do we think things like, “She knows I love her – it goes without saying” or “He knows how much I appreciate all his hard work – it goes without saying”? 

        Words can be a powerful affirmation, and the absence of the right words can leave a void that really hurts.  The truth is, very little goes without saying, and the important things should NEVER go without saying.  There are things we know, but sometimes we still need to hear them loud and clear.

        We have a chance to say some important things to some of our 6^th and 7^th Graders as they arrive at the milestone of their thirteenth birthday.  A few times a year, we celebrate an important rite of passage called “Rite-13” or “The Celebration of Manhood and Womanhood” with our teenagers.

        This ceremony gives us a way of saying to our young people things we have meant to convey all along – things like:  “We stand with you as you make your way on the journey; we’re here if you need us; we think you are terrific; we love you.”  We often assume that our teens feel appreciated and accepted as a vital part of our parish, but adolescence can be such a time of uncertainty, and some things just can’t be said often enough.

        Please keep these teens and their families in your prayers as they participate in this significant event in their lives.             

The Saints Came Marching In

Members of our Church School Classes volunteered to dress up as historical saints for our All Saints Sunday procession into the 8:45 and 11:15 worship services on November 7, 2010.  They are carrying banners made in 2001 by our Church School Classes.

8:45 Service Saints holding saints' banners

 

 11:15 Service Saints

 

 
Then the saints marched into Children's Liturgy to tell their story to our youngest parishioners.

 
 

 

Greetings Trinity Parishioners and friends!

Here is our monthly update from the Sustainable Philanthropy Committee, part of the Mission and Outreach Commission. We have received a portion of the Parish’s Mission and Outreach budget so that we can make kiva loans to the poor around the world in support of the Millennium Development Goals. We call ourselves “sustainable” because as borrowers repay their loans, we can help more people with the same money.

We met in late June to establish our Mission and a loan process so that we can prayerfully be good stewards of the Parish’s assets. Since that time we have made:

• 69 loans in 29 countries of which 15 were funded by borrower repayments
• To date, our borrowers have a 2.0% delinquency (most delinquencies are cleared up within 60 days) and 0% default rate
• 9 loans were repaid and we expect 10 more loans will be fully repaid later this month

To see the loans that we have made, check out our lender page http://www.kiva.org/lender/trinitychurch9574

Did you know you can buy kiva gift certificates as Christmas presents @ kiva.org

Check this space next month for more updates!