Our virtual Advent Calendar provides a way for our community to connect with the four themes of Advent-- hope, peace, joy, and love--through weekly spoken and musical reflections.
The Church Cracked Open: St. Luke’s & Trinity Book Group
Part I: Saturday, February 7
1-3pm, Trinity Undercroft (lunch included)
Part II: Saturday, February 21
1-3pm, St. Luke’s Parish House (lunch included)
with author the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers
Get your copy of the book now! Contact Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org)
We invite everyone in our St. Luke’s & Trinity communities to read The Church Cracked Open, by the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers. Beginning with the image of the woman who breaks open a jar to anoint Jesus with oil (Mark 14:3), Spellers explores how the church itself has been broken open by current events, and can be remade anew. Our communities will come together to discuss this book in two sessions, one with the author as special guest. Copies of the book are free, with an optional donation of $15.
Event organized by the St. Luke’s & Trinity Reconciliation Project, with support from YDS’s Reimagining Church initiative.
Lunch & Movie Screening: Where Then Shall We Go?
Saturday, January 10 at Noon
Trinity on the Green – Undercroft
Lunch Provided
Talkback with Special Guests Luz and Mark Colville, of Amistad Catholic Worker & Rosette Village
Where Then Shall We Go? is a PBS-produced documentary following the local story of Amistad Catholic Worker in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven, and their efforts to build a village of tiny homes for those who are unhoused. There are currently 1,196 unhoused people living in Greater New Haven, a 100% increase from this time last year, and there are 346 people on a months-long waitlist for a shelter bed. Amistad House and their community, Rosette Village, are an important response to homelessness in our city. Everyday more people are faced with a lack of affordable housing and prohibitions to outdoor living, and together we have to ask the question, “Where then shall we go?”
Event is free, though donations to support Rosette Village are very welcome.
Sunday, December 21, 5pm in the Nave
Start your Christmas celebration: join all of the Trinity Choirs for a festive service of Nine Lessons and Carols which draw on the traditions of Kings' College Cambridge.
Saturday, December 20 in the Nave
Join us for this annual remembrance of people who have died in the past year and experienced homelessness during their lives. This service is supported by co-sponsors Cornell Scott Hill Health Center and New Reach.
Join us as the children and choir present the story of Jesus's birth. This is a Family Eucharist celebration featuring live animals and lots of angels! Also, we'll be collecting toys for the 'R Kids Family Center so bring your donations to be collected during the pageant.
The Greater New Haven Community Chorus presents its winter concert, "GLORY: Music of Justice, Equity and Splendor," on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Battell Chapel, 400 College St., New Haven. The concert features Vivaldi’s Gloria, RV 589, as well as selections from the African-American Spiritual tradition, John Legend’s “Glory” from the 2014 film "Selma," and more! Tickets at $20 and $10 are available at GNHCC.org. Candy and Ed Stannard are members of GNHCC.
Friday, December 12 at 7:30pm
Trinity on the Green's treasured annual concert full of festive favorites, Christmas classics, and modern masterpieces, this year honoring John Rutter's 80th birthday. Suggested donation at the door: $20.
We share these offerings on behalf of our neighbors at St. Paul & St. James' Episcopal Church in Wooster Square. There are many ways of celebrating Advent and Christmas together, as one community of Christians worshipping in the Episcopal Tradition in New Haven.
- This Monday, Dec. 8, 7pm: Wooster Square Jazz Christmas Concert
Flyer attached
Tickets $25, children 12 + under free, reception to follow
Sorry for the late notice, I hope it's not too late for your enews this week!
Details and description: https://givebutter.com/kzwpVg
- Thursday, Dec. 18, 7pm: Blue Christmas Service w/Jazz Communion
- Sunday, Dec. 21, 4pm: NeuroDivine Christmas Service
A low-stimulus, ecumenical worship experience for families with autistic and other neurodivergent children
Details and description: https://www.stpaulstjames.org/neurodivine.html
Drop off new or gently used clean sleeping bags in a marked bin in the Narthex. These items will go directly to our neighbors at Chapel on the Green, who are especially vulnerable this year due to federal budget cuts. Contact: llevy@trinitynewhaven.org.
Friday, December 5, 7:00pm
The Trinity Players (celebrating their 50 year anniversary!) present a staged reading of Dylan Thomas' nostalgic poem A Child's Christmas in Wales, complete with sweet treats. Suggested donation: $10.
Spiritual Formation: Stories of Migration
Sundays at 9:30am in Advent, in the Undercroft Library
With Special Guests from Havenly, Danbury Unites for Immigrants, and the CT Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI)
The Holy Family were migrants, journeying to Bethlehem and later to Egypt to escape persecution. Our advent formation series will focus on stories of migration, from the Bible to the lived experiences of immigrants and refugees in New Haven. Questions? Email Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org).
November 30 | Stories of Migration in the Bible with Clarke Mortensen, Seminarian
December 7 | Detention Stories, with Clemetina Lunar and the Rev. Sierra-Marie Gerfao (video presentation)
December 14 | Hope-Waiting, with Ashley Makar, Havenly
December 21 | Refugee Stories from Sudan, with Azhar Omer Ahmed, CT Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI)
his year’s Trinity Christmas Market was our most successful yet, and we owe that entirely to the remarkable group of volunteers who made it happen. From the first planning meetings to the final clean-up, the team brought real heart, care, and good humor to every part of the event.
Because of their effort, the funds raised will go a long way toward restoring the organ console at Trinity on the Green—a project that means a great deal to our whole community.
We’re deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring this year’s market to life, and especially to Leigh Cromey for her skillful leadership of the event. Thank you for your hard work, your creativity, and the joy you shared with all who came through our doors.
Christmas Market 2025 – a huge success!
The Christmas Market was a wonderful event again this year. The enthusiasm of our guests was contagious when they came in after waiting in line on a cold Friday. More than 30 people streamed down to the undercroft to see twinkle lights everywhere, an amazing array of handmade crafts, homemade cookies, and tables overflowing with well-priced tag sale items. The Boutique and jewelry areas were beautifully set up and the knitted items were cozy looking and ready to take home. In addition to cookies there was homemade butternut squash soup and turkey chili, mini loaves of tea breads, spiced nuts, jams, and overnight oatmeal to name just o few of the other items for sale.
The Trinity people who made all of this happen are an amazing group. From the Wednesday Club folks who meet 11 months of the year making things to sell to some new volunteers helping for a couple of hours during the event – THANK YOU!
And if all of that was not enough the preliminary count of money raised is over $30,000, all going toward the Organ Restoration Fund. Truly a team effort by everyone who participated, I am always impressed with the generosity of time and talent of our volunteers, hope you can join us next year.
Leigh Cromey
Community Dinner & Carol Sing – it’s a potluck!
Friday, December 19, 6-7:30pm
Trinity Undercroft
Please RSVP by Dec. 16, and share what you plan to bring for the potluck!
Link to RSVP: https://forms.gle/1eBDJwGSWkMAZjhM8
Join us for a cozy dinner and carol sing. We’ll start in the Undercroft with food and music, and conclude the night by singing a song or two on the front steps of the church. Suggested potluck contributions: Last Name A-M Dessert Item, N-Z Savory Item. Questions? Contact Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org).
Take home a piece of Trinity’s beautiful Grisaille window! Proceeds go to benefit the Organ Restoration Fund.
The very first stained glass installed in Trinity Church on the Green dates to 1871, when the Annual Parish Meeting of that year authorized the vestry to change all the windows to stained glass, at “a cost not to exceed $2,000.” These initial windows were a simple grisaille design, of which several examples remain in the church today.
This year we installed a new stained-glass window on the north side of the nave, through a generous donation by Wayne Otto Schwartz. The window is a tribute to music at Trinity, and elements of the original grisaille window are incorporated into the background of the design. The grisaille window formerly installed at that location was carefully dismantled, and significant portions of the window will be sold through a silent auction, concluding on the final day of the Christmas Market this year. All proceeds from these sales will go to benefit the Organ Restoration Fund, as we secure Trinity’s musical legacy for the future.
How to Bid:
All bids must be placed online at givebutter.com/c/yoWerq/auction. Bidders can track ongoing bids via the same link. Contact Trinity staff for assistance, if you are unable to use the online bidding software.
Bids will close on Sunday, November 23 at 1pm, and each item will go to the highest bidder. Arrangements must be made to pick up the window within two weeks’ time, and purchasers must sign a form acknowledging that some amount of lead may be present due to historical stained-glass craftsmanship. Questions? Contact kpicha@trinitynewhaven.org
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” – Psalm 118:24
These are the words we sing to open our Chapel on the Green service at 2pm on Sundays, for the worship service that is a prelude to serving as many as 150 lunches to people in need. It is amazing that this community so often leads with joy, in spite of the many challenges our Chapel on the Green parishioners face: housing and food insecurity, addiction, mental health struggles, isolation, and more. There is a core group of about 50 people who come to COTG’s worship service every week. Chapel on the Green is not simply an outreach program—these are Trinity parishioners. They are as much a part of our community as the people who sit in pews inside or pray with us from the livestream at home, and some of them have been a part of our community for over 17 years.
As we celebrate the 17th anniversary of Chapel on the Green, we also lament that members of this community are more vulnerable than ever due to federal decisions that have withheld, depleted, and seriously delayed money for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). At least 30,000 people in New Haven alone rely on SNAP to survive, including families with infants up to high school age. You likely know somebody who relies on SNAP, even if you don’t realize it. Our Chapel on the Green community is a visible representation of this population.
On November 1, approximately 25% of our Trinity parishioners did not receive the food stamps they rely on to feed themselves and their families. While courts have ordered the federal government to respond to this public health emergency by refunding the program, it remains unclear if, when, and to what extent these benefits will be restored. Local feeding programs such as the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, and even Chapel on the Green are scaling up to respond to this need—but these programs were always meant to fill a gap, not to be the sole source of food for people who experience poverty and structural inequality. At Chapel on the Green, the number of people we feed always goes up towards the end of the month as people run out of food stamps. At the moment, every Sunday is a "last Sunday of the month" scenario, and the need is growing every day.
People at Chapel on the Green will continue to sing their joy. May we each find a way to do the same, connecting with our gratitude for the life that God has given us, and using that gratitude as inspiration to help others. Join us at Chapel on the Green on any Sunday, at 2pm, especially this Sunday as we mark the 17th Anniversary of Chapel on the Green. Explore other ways of responding to the current SNAP crisis, as suggested below. And finally, join us this coming Sunday, November 9 at 10:30am for a special version of our Community Eucharist, which will bring elements from Chapel on the Green into the heart of our morning community worship. May we love our neighbors with the same kind of love that God has for us, a love that inspires joy and action.
In Hope,
The Rev. Luk De Volder, Rector
The Rev. Heidi Thorsen, Associate Rector
Lisa Levy, Community Care Minister
How to Help with the Current Food Crisis
Give Food – each week, Trinity takes a collection of non-perishable food items at the door, as a literal and symbolic reminder of our commitment to feeding those who are hungry. An even more helpful way of feeding others is by donating to a feeding ministry of your choice. Soup kitchens and food pantries are able to purchase subsidized food at bulk pricing, which helps every dollar and cent go further. Give to our partner organizations, including:
Spread the Word – share your concern with friends and family, and consider sending a letter to your local legislators to let them know that the work of churches and food pantries is not enough to cover the need that we see on a daily basis. The Coordinated Food Access Network (CFAN) has created a helpful script with guidance about how to contact Governor Lamont today >>
Support other Basic Needs – while soup kitchens and food pantries are especially designed for wide-scale food assistance, Chapel on the Green has a unique role to play by providing spiritual support and companionship. We can also fill in the gaps for basic needs that are not provided by food pantries. Consider contributing to one of the following:
Laundry Love - Trinity’s Laundry Love program provides vouchers for people to do a free load of laundry (one wash and one dry, and the laundromat provides the detergent) at a local laundromat. A load of laundry costs Trinity approximately $8.50, and we are only able to keep this program going because of the generous donations of individuals, volunteer groups, and grants. Give to Laundry Love >>
Sleeping Bag Drive - There are currently 1,196 unhoused people living in Greater New Haven. With 346 people on a months-long waitlist for a shelter bed, and budget cuts impacting the number of warming centers this winter, many of our COTG parishioners will have no option but to live outside. Give the gift of warmth this Christmas by dropping off new or gently used water-resistant, rated-for-winter sleeping bags in a marked bin in the Narthex, Nov. 30 through Dec. 21. All online donations to COTG during Advent will go towards a bulk purchase of additional sleeping bags.
Pray for Us, Pray with Us – we believe it makes a difference whenever we open our hearts to God. Keep our Chapel on the Green community in your daily prayers, and pray with us any Sunday at 2pm, behind the church (or inside the narthex, in case of extreme weather).
There’s Always DRAMA at TRINITY!
DINNER THEATER on Oct. 18
The Trinity Players will offer a special theater event, raising funds for Trinity, this time for the Organ Restoration Fund. Food and Theater will be served in the Undercroft beginning @ 6PM.
"Nicene Noir," An Allegory on the Creed will be directed by the Rev. Robert Sandine. "Nicene Noir" is the playwright Neil Olsen's popular noir-inspired story of Private Eye John Venture, a man searching for a lost soul in the mean streets of the city. He comes face-to-face with a colorful cast of characters in his quest to find redemption. The play provides a riff on contemporary morality as one man looks to find his way in a world turned upside down.
Cast and Crew: Jeff Klaus, Lisa Sandine, Donna Violante, Karen Isaacs, Allan Atherton, Pat Clendenen, Ellen Freiler, Simon Lee, Doris Manseau, Jeanne Kerr, Neil Olsen, and Robert Sandine.
Food: Appetizers, dinner, and dessert provided by Gloria Hoda and her team of volunteers.
Cost: Ticketed reservations are $30 per person, or $100 if you would like to be a sponsor (includes admission for two) or donate more if you can! There's limited seating available, so get your tickets soon.
Sundays at 9:30am in the Undercroft Library
September 21 through October 26
Please join us for a six-week study of the book of Galatians, starting Sunday, September 21st at 9:30 A.M. Galatians is a prime example of how ancient texts from the Bible can still be relevant today, as Paul was writing to a deeply divided church that was still negotiating over basic beliefs and practices, as well as discerning the church's relationship to Judaism. Even if you're not able to come for all six weeks, please join when you can! This Bible study will be led by the Rev. Heidi Thorsen, Lisa Levy, and Clarke Mortensen.
Photo credit: Richard Falco/Easton Courier
Trinity has been blessed by a number of non-stipendiary clergy who regularly serve at our parish, including the Rev. Deacon Kyle Pedersen and the Rev. Peter Sipple. This fall, we welcome a new priest associate, the Rev. Ally Brudige. Ally will serve at Sunday services approximately every other month, and occasionally at Chapel on the Green. We are grateful for her presence at Trinity, and in the wider New Haven Community. Rev. Ally’s first services with us will be on Sunday, October 12.
The Rev. Ally Brundige has lived primarily in New Haven since the 1990's and served in various roles including nonprofit youth development, organizing, chaplaincy, counseling, priest-in-charge, and education. She currently works as Director of Wellness and Justice at Highville Charter School, a PreK-12 public charter school on Winchester Ave. In that capacity, she teaches, leads programs, and coaches soccer. She looks forward to her affiliation with Trinity, where she has worshipped gladly throughout the years and seasons, and will serve as a welcome home, even as she continues to spend many of her Sundays supply preaching in the local area. For fun, she loves music, birding, hiking, and soccer.