Make someone else’s season a little bit brighter! There are several ways to give this year. Any donations to the following projects can be dropped off at Trinity any Wednesday or Thursday in December, between 11am and 1pm - see deadlines below. When you arrive, go to the south door on the side of the church (facing Chapel Street) and ring the bell. A sexton will assist you. Alternately, call the sexton’s office at (203) 624-3101 ext. 201.

CHILDREN’S TOY DRIVE

We accept donations of new, unwrapped toys of a non-military nature for children ages 3 months through 10 years. These donations are coordinated by Bob Windom (rwindommb@gmail.com) and distributed by the ‘r kids Family Center to vulnerable families in our community. Donate by Dec. 20.

THE GIVING TREE

Participate in our virtual “Giving Tree" to buy gifts for people in our community who could use some extra help and love this season. Donations can be dropped off at Trinity any Wednesday or Thursday in December, between 11am and 1pm, or by special arrangement with the sextons - donate by December 20!

How to Participate

1. Sign up for one (or several!) of the gifts below

2. Wrap that gift (if applicable - gift cards can stay as-is)

3. Put a post-it note or other easily removed label on the outside of that gift, saying what it is

4. Drop off at Trinity by December 20

5. Your gift will be anonymously delivered!

Questions? Email hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org

Sign Up Now >> tinyurl.com/trinitygivingtree

CHAPEL ON THE GREEN CHRISTMAS GIFT BAGS

Trinity is giving out Christmas Gift bags through Chapel on the Green at DESK on Sunday, Dec. 20. We are especially in need of $10 gift certificates to local food or coffee establishments. Due to proximity and financial accessibility, we recommend: Blue State, Willoughby’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Koffee. We also accept donations of: new socks, gloves, and hygiene products, though this year we will not accept pre-assembled gift bags. Contact cotg@trinitynewhaven.org with questions. Donate by Dec. 17.

GIVE THE GIFT OF TREES

Giving trees is a way of taking care of the Earth, and taking care of the people who live in it! While many of our winter outreach opportunities are locally focused, we invite you to donate towards reforesting the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. This opportunity to give is offered through Interfaith Power and Light, an organization that provides us much guidance in being more faithful stewards of this Earth that God has made. Donate today >>

Spirituality Corner

“If you can’t go outside,  
Go inside.” 

Current Events: 

As we grow into a new way of life, with masks and social distancing, we continue to be engaged with our community on a personal level or in small groups. We have moved from in-person meetings at the church to new platforms for social communication, i.e. mainly Zoom, e-mail, and old-fashioned telephone calls. Here is what is happening: 

ONGOING EVENTS: 

Light and Hope: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5pm  

A brief prayer moment following An Order of Prayer for the Evening. Via Zoom. 

Meditation Group – Wednesdays 

Wednesdays at 5pm - will meet on December 23 and 30, and on January 6 and 13. Starting January 21 the group will meet on Thursdays at 5:30pm.  Questions? Contact Lilian Revel at lrevel@trinitynewhaven.com or 203 858 1243. 

Men's Bible Study - via Zoom, every Friday at 7 a.m.  Will meet on Thursday 12/31 rather than Friday 01/01 in observance of the holiday.

Women’s Bible Study and Beyond – Every Thursday at 1:30pm on Zoom.  We are on a break until Thursday, January 21. Then we will regroup and start reading Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times by Matthew Fox. Some libraries have this book; Amazon and other booksellers have it. Paperback: around $17. Kindle around $10. Please read the introduction and the first chapter before our meeting on 1/21.  

Healing Prayer Service – Every Wednesday at 7pm on Zoom. Open to everyone. Come join us.  We will be on break until January 20. 

Food for the Soul – is a weekly spiritual newsletter that provides a Prayer, a Practice, a Poem, and a picture; these elements are usually connected through one central theme, designed to prayerfully comfort, accompany, stimulate, calm and relax the reader during these hard and demanding times. It is disseminated every Wednesday by Trinity Communications and can also be found on the Trinity Website. 

 Spiritual Direction: by appointment with Lilian Revel, 203 858 1243 or pastoralcare@trinitynewhaven.org. 

Stay healthy, safe, and centered, and may God’s blessings be always with you. 

Have you checked out www.amplifyfemalecomposers.org? It’s the important project undertaken by our Senior Organ Scholar Carolyn Craig (#31) and Organ Scholar Emerita Janet Yieh (#27), hosting a CHORAL ADVENT CALENDAR that features one work by a female composer every day of December until Christmas. From December 1 to December 25, you can listen to daily video broadcasts of Advent and Christmas choral music by female composers and arrangers, sung by participating parish, cathedral and university choirs from all over the US and UK, including the Trinity Men & Boys and Men & Girls! New videos will premiere at 12 noon EST each day. Our virtual recordings of Cecilia McDowall's Now May We Singen and Eleanor Daley’s Once As I Remember will be featured in the coming weeks—stay tuned!

INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING: PRAYER & ACTION - Trinity’s clergy are a part of the Greater New Haven Coalition, an informal gathering of clergy throughout the area that are committed to supporting our community & one another. There are several ways that the group has come together this season:

• Drafting an Interfaith Pastoral Letter, which you can read here: Embracing Mourning & Thanksgiving In Our Time of Fear and Anxiety

• Participating and organizing and interfaith coat drive. We are expecting to be able to distribute a total of over 200 coats, through Chapel on the Green at DESK! Thank you for your participation in this coat drive & sharing the warmth throughout our community

• Creating an Interfaith Prayer Resource, combining poems & reflections from our various faith communities. Our own Rev. Heidi is one of the faith leaders featured in the video, which you can view here:

  • VIDEO: An Interfaith Prayer Resource for Thanksgiving - https://nhvinterfaithcoalition.weebly.com/mourning--thanksgiving.html

To account for the challenges of this unusual year, we are offering a selection of holiday plants, homemade cookies, and Pat’s famous pickles online for pre-order. Shop and place your order using the button below.  

PLEASE NOTE:  We have extended the deadline for orders to November 29!   

Order pick-up will be at Trinity on Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 from 9:00-Noon. 

An Interfaith Litany of Embrace, Mourning and Thanksgiving:
In Our Time of Fear and Anxiety

(Free Coat Drive)

Friday November 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM on the New Haven Green
The Greater New Haven Interfaith Coalition

If all the lights in the world grew dim, it will not hurt you. For the light in your heart still shines bright

-Muslim Sufi poet, Rumi

Statement of Purpose:

Our faith traditions proclaim the unity of all life and our mutual interdependence. We are friends, neighbors, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and children who feel daily the stress imposed upon us all by the COVID-19 pandemic. We mourn the loss of loved ones, friends and neighbors and strangers alike due to this health crisis and we are coping with our fear of its continuing threat to life. This health crisis and the impact of racism and other forms of violence and social injustice has separated us from one another in many ways. Some of us feel that we are alone in meeting the challenges of living in our environment of anxiety and fear.

As members of faith communities in Greater New Haven, we, the Greater New Haven Interfaith Coalition are inviting you to join in forming a community of mutual care and compassion. This is a nonpartisan non-denominational event, and you need not identify with any religious or faith community to participate. All are welcome to gather and offer each other support, to remember those whom we have lost and to express gratitude, even amid our sorrows and concerns.

These are very anxious times. However, there is a unity amongst us that we must not forget even as we grieve the loss of loved ones, former ways of living and face the future. We affirm that there is more that unites us than divides us. We recognize that reaching out to and standing with one another is an important way of creating light at a time when many people are feeling that they are alone in the darkness of our time.

Please join us on Friday, November 27, 2020 at 1:00 PM on the New Haven Green. Public health safety protocols will be in place. You must wear a mask and maintain appropriate social distance. Although we will be physically separated, we can still experience and maintain our social connection as a human community and draw strength from being with one another.

Free coats will be available to those in need for the winter season. Bring a coat (or several) to leave at our coat table; take a coat if you need one. Coats should be clean and in gently used condition, and coats for children and youth are especially welcome!Coats can be dropped off in advance on Sunday, Nov. 22 at Trinity on the Green (230 Temple Street), between 1pm and 4pm. Questions about the coat drive? Contact Rev. Heidi Thorsen (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org). For non-coat drive questions/more information please contact Rabbi Herbert Brockman at: cmirabbi@cmihamden.org or Student Intern <Maria.Hackett@yale.edu>

**In-person event subject to change; coats will still be collected regardless