Starting this week until September, there will be no Morning Meditation at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The Trinity Sages group, which meets on the second Tuesday of each month, will also go on hiatus during July and August. Happy Summer!
Fellow Trinity Parishioners,
Regretfully I feel that I must step down as your Junior Warden for none other than personal reasons.
It has been my honor to serve and I have treasured the experience. Please know that I have full faith in the leadership and clergy of Trinity on the Green and have nothing but praise and loving things to say about them all. I am particularly grateful to David Soper, who has unselfishly agreed to step in and serve as an interim until a replacement can be found. He will continue to serve as treasurer and he will certainly bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role.
In closing, I would only ask that you keep me in your prayers as I will certainly keep all of you in mine.
Bob Scott
The Role of a Church Warden and Selection Process
This transition has caused several people to ask about the role of wardens in the church and about Trinity’s warden (s)election process.
The canons of the Episcopal Church provide only a minimal description of the wardens’ responsibilities, listing only one specify duty, namely to notify the bishop “when the parish is without a Rector.” In general, wardens are an example of Christian leadership and life, who provide guidance and support to clergy, the Vestry, and the congregation.
There are different traditions in the Episcopal Church when it comes to (s)electing a new Warden. Some parishes elect wardens, others have the Vestry identify them, or in some cases the Rector appoints a “Rector’s Warden” while the Vestry selects a “People’s Warden”.
Over the past decades our parish has developed a process of warden (s)election that includes three steps:
Wardens and clergy choose a slate of candidates
Trinity’s group of former wardens convene, discuss the slate, and make a recommendation to the Rector
The Rector calls the selected candidate
At Trinity, wardens serve a term of four years. They must have been a Vestry member prior to becoming a warden, and one new warden takes office every two years. This is provided that the new warden the chance to shadow an existing one before becoming the “senior” warden.
...will be the destination of the music staff and the treble choristers this weekend as they travel to a weekend in Boston. They’ll be staying near the Common and will be able to take in some of the history of the city while preparing to sing the Sunday morning service at Trinity Church, Copley Square, where former Organ Scholar Jerrick Cavagnaro is now Associate Director of Music. Our prayers and good wishes go with the travelers on their adventure.
...will be Dr. Mark Brombaugh who will be playing while Walden and Sarah are with the treble choristers at Trinity Church in Boston this weekend. Mark, and his wife, Dr. Kathryn Nichols (also an organist and ordained Presbyterian minister) are longtime friends of Trinity. They have retired to the New Haven area and are substituting at various churches in the area. Welcome, Mark!
Community member at Chapel on the Green—a mom with two young children—just moved into a new apartment and is in need of two dressers and a sofa. Can you help? Contact Lisa Levy, our Outreach Minister! cotg@trinitynewhaven.org
Dear All,
With sadness I am sharing with you the news of Polly Fiddler's departure. In the presence of Andy, her husband and our Trinity Rector Emeritus, she peacefully passing away shortly after noon on Tuesday, June 11.
While Polly's decline hasn't gone unnoticed recently, a fall during a morning walk two weeks ago broke some of her vertebrae, and she has been hospitalized ever since.
Polly has been at the heart of our Trinity parish and the New Haven community for decades. We will remember her with so much love and friendship, that she shared so generously with all of us.
Andy is planning a memorial service for late summer, early fall.
Let us join Polly and Andy in prayer, for the rest of Polly's soul and for consolation and comfort for Andy in this time of grief.
-Luk
Into thy hands, O merciful Savior, we commend thy servant Polly. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech thee, a sheep of thine own fold, a lamb of thine own flock, a sinner of thine own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.
On Sunday, June 16, after the 10:30 service in the undercroft, our Senior Warden Marsha Ackerman and Rector Luk De Volder will present an update on the search process for our new Director of Music. They will provide background information and details of the upcoming interview process. It will be an opportunity to address questions and a chance to share our strategy to bolster our Trinity choirs and music program.
This past year's interview process (2023-24) has been most instructive thanks to the hard work of our search committee. Much gratitude goes out to each of them, especially the co-chairs Paul Berry and Marsha Ackerman. With the security of an interim Director of Music, Simon Lee, coming this fall, and with a sense of increased expertise, we are now ready to resume the search process.
Our Children, Youth, and Family Ministry is celebrating the dads in our community with prayer and fellowship. Children’s Chapel features a gift-making session, too. Join us!
Young Adult Episcopalian (YAE) events are for young adults ages 21-39(ish). If you attend an Episcopal church, another mainline church, or are generally seeking community and a place of faithful belonging, you are welcome to join us. Feel free to bring a friend!
Questions or want to rsvp? Email yaeforjesus@gmail.com or Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org). RSVP is strongly encouraged for all events.
Event Schedule
Trivia at The Trinity Bar (not the church...) | Tuesday, June 18 at 5 p.m.
Join our trivia team at The Trinity Bar (157 Orange Street). YAE covers food (not drinks). Parking is available on the Trinity apron if you need a place to park for free. Plan to arrive between 7 and 7:30 p.m.; trivia starts promptly at 7:30.
June House Church | Sunday, June 30 at 5 p.m.
Gather at Corsair Apartments (1050 State Street) for a casual Community Eucharist followed by food and fellowship. Wear a swimsuit if you’re interested in swimming in the pool!
Blueberry Picking & Cobbler Baking for COTG | Two-part event!
Saturday, July 27 at 10 a.m. – Pick your own blueberries at Bishop’s Orchard (480 New England Road, Guilford) … both for yourself and for our baking project (see below).
Sunday, July 27 from 12:30-3 p.m. – Meet in the Trinity undercroft and help bake some blueberry cobbler to serve at Chapel on the Green, a weekly meal service that serves folks who are housing or food insecure on the New Haven Green.
August House Church | Sunday, August 11 at 7 p.m.
Join us around the campfire for dinner and Compline (a brief and beautiful service of night prayers). We’ll end the night with s’mores. Address will be provided when you RSVP.
YAE Planning Meeting | Sunday, September 15 at 12:30 p.m.
We’ll end the summer with a lunch at Nica’s (603 Orange Street), covered by YAE. We will make plans for how we will gather in the fall and early winter.
This year's summer sermon series begins on July 14 and ends on August 18. Six preachers will reflect on the relationship between food and faith through the lens of personal storytelling and scripture. This sermon series will tie in with a number of other activities around Trinity this summer, including the compilation of a new Trinity cookbook!
All preachers will submit a recipe alongside their sermon, which ties in with the themes of the sermon in some way.
July 14 – William Margraf, Seminarian
July 21 – Rev. Heidi Thorsen
July 28 – Lisa Levy, Outreach Coordinator
August 4 – Rev. Luk De Volder
August 11 – TBA
August 18 – Rev. Peter Sipple
This Sunday at our 10:30 a.m. service we honor the dedication, talent, and musicianship of our Choir of Adults & Girls and Choir of Men & Boys. The service includes the investiture of new choristers, the awarding of prizes and certificates to graduating members, and recognition of our singers and music staff. Tributes will also be given to outgoing Director of Music Walden Moore. After the service, all are welcome to a festive coffee hour in the undercroft!
Join the Trinity Yarn Works group in the undercroft this Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to discuss items to make for this year's Christmas Market. We have lots of patterns and and yarn to share and are looking for new ideas to create! A light lunch will be provided.
This Sunday, Trinity choir members and others join Rev. Peter Sipple to present a concert titled "The Promise of Love." The concert will be held at 4 p.m. at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church (830 Whitney Avenue).
The program features repertoire related to the theme of love from the Renaissance to the present day, including works by Gesualdo, Brahms, Debussy, Vaughan Williams, Tim Lind, and others. Admission is free but donations are gladly accepted to support the music ministry at St. Thomas's.
To the clergy, staff, and people of the Trinity community,
I am so very grateful for the many expressions of love and gratitude that I have received in my recent retirement celebrations, each of which has been a joy. Same as the joy it has been to be a part of this wonderful parish and of so many lives. And the story isn’t over for any of us. While we look back with fondness, gratitude and nostalgia, we look forward to a life and world that needs us to keep focused on serving others where we can. The written word set to music is a powerful means of reaching the heart and can give us a glimpse of the better part of ourselves, that part which loves and gives in equal measure. To our wonderful clergy, staff, choirs, and community—thank you for being an important part of forty years of the joy of making music in a world that will always need it. May we each move from strength to strength. You will have a central place in my heart for the remainder of my days, and my memories of you and of Trinity will sustain me always.
Walden
Dear Trinity Church on the Green Family and Friends,
You are cordially invited to celebrate St. Luke’s 180th anniversary with us. June 7 is our anniversary date and as such we will be having an Evening Prayer Service at 6:00 p.m. I realize it is late notice, but we would be delighted if some of you are able to join us. We will have events throughout the year, so please don’t fret if you are not able to join us tomorrow, hopefully there will be another opportunity for you to be with us at some other point.
On Sunday, June 9, we will have a Caribbean Mass complete with Caribbean steel pan service music. The Service will be followed by coffee hour during which members of our congregation will be sharing their favorite Caribbean dish!
Hope to see you this weekend!
Peace and blessings,
Valarie Stanley
Senior Warden
On Saturday, May 18, five candidates received the sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Jeff Mello. Congratulations to Michelle, Paul, Diana, Luke, and Anna! May the Holy Spirit continue to guide you through your lives in Christ. Click HERE to view photos of the liturgy.
This Sunday, June 2, we honor and bid farewell to our Director of Music Walden Moore with a special service of Choral Evensong. All choir alumni are invited to join a special alumni choir. The service will be livestreamed and will feature a newly-composed piece by Jessica French (organ scholar from 2007-08) based on the text of the Chorister's Prayer. Following Evensong, join us for a community dinner at Center Church Parish House, featuring a detailed menu of some of Walden’s favorite foods.
This music at this Sunday's 10:30 a.m. service will be led by Girls Choir alums Maria Cusick, Emma MartinMooney, and Emma Reed. For the psalm setting they'll sing an arrangement composed by Maria especially for this service. For the offertory anthem, they'll sing Felix Mendelssohn's beloved "Lift Thine Eyes" from his oratorio, Elijah, a longtime favorite of the Girls Choir and of many. Welcome back, Maria, Emma, and Emma!
Fellow Trinity members will be singing in the 60th anniversary concert of the Greater New Haven Symphony Chorus on Saturday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Battell Chapel (400 College Street). Members include Barbara Jarry, Candy Carl-Stannard, and Helena Estes. The chorus is led by Aly Kegel. It promises to be a great program!
On Sunday, June 16, after the 10:30 service in the undercroft, our Senior Warden Marsha Ackerman and Rector Luk De Volder will present an update on the search process for our new Director of Music. They will provide background information and details of the upcoming interview process. It will be an opportunity to address questions and a chance to share our strategy to bolster our Trinity choirs and music program.
This past year's interview process (2023-24) has been most instructive thanks to the hard work of our search committee. Much gratitude goes out to each of them, especially the co-chairs Paul Berry and Marsha Ackerman. With the security of an interim Director of Music, Simon Lee, coming this fall, and with a sense of increased expertise, we are now ready to resume the search process.
