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36 Main Street, Newtown, CT | |
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Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper - March 4th
Beloved Ones, we will begin a season of sharing a mid-week meal together with our
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on Tuesday, March 4th . On this ‘Fat Tuesday,’
traditional Christian cooks would use up rich ingredients like butter and eggs before a
Lenten season of fasting and dietary moderation – celebrating with pancakes for
supper! Join us at 5:30pm in the Glover Community Room.
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Lenten Simple Suppers … with The Stations of the Cross
Ash Wednesday follows on Wednesday, March 5th with The Imposition of Ashes at
6:30 PM in the Sanctuary. See a description below!
After Ash Wednesday, we are then invited to gather on Lenten Wednesdays before
Holy Week - with the exception of Wednesday, March 19th when our Vestry meets – no
Supper that day.
Join us on these Wednesdays in Lent:
March 12th
March 26th
April 2nd
April 9th
5:45 PM – Come before Supper to Pray with the Stations of the Cross in the
Sanctuary
6:00 PM – Gather for Supper in the Glover Community Room
Please use this Sign-Up Genius link to RSVP your family’s planned attendance at
Supper. Please also use this link to volunteer to host, or to bring simple dishes to share – soup, salad, bread, or a casserole. Let’s share duties of set-up, clean-up, and cooking.
(This is a family event, and therefore childcare will not be provided.)
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Ash Wednesday Liturgy and Imposition of Ashes
Wednesday, March 5th @ 6:30 PM
Ash Wednesday is our threshold into the season of Lent. With Christians around the
world, we follow the ancient practice of wearing dust and ashes on our foreheads, a
sign of our mortality, of our human limitations and failings.
We will offer the liturgy for Ash Wednesday and the Imposition of Ashes in our historic
Sanctuary at 6:30 PM. There will be lovely music as well.
Our liturgy invites us: “Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great
devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of
the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. … I invite you,
therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-
examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and
meditating on God’s holy Word.”
Let us prayerfully enter this new season - together.
Peace be with you,
Rev. Andrea
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Lenten Devotional 2025: Coming Back to Life
"In spring, after a long winter’s nap, an amazing thing happens: the world comes back to life!
This devotional is full of ideas and activities that can help us wake up, too, preparing our hearts, minds, and communities for Easter’s great celebration. Each week, biblical texts and creation’s wonders inspire practices you can try yourself, with your family or friends, or with your congregation.
So grab your favorite Bible and some candles (tealights work nicely!), and over the next 40 days, week by week, we’ll look for treasures that can help bring us back to hope, back to love, back to life!"
Grab your copy and a package of candles outside the sanctuary starting this Sunday, 2/23, courtesy of Trinity. We hope the devotional will be a blessing to families of all shapes, ages, and sizes this Lenten season.
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Are you looking for a way to get involved at Trinity that fits into your busy life? Consider getting involved with the Trinity Parish Care Team!
What do we do? Trinity’s Parish Care team provides support to others in a variety of ways.
Providing meals: we will provide meals to parishioners in need (e.g., recovering from surgery or illness or after just having a baby or a life crisis).
Providing rides: we will provide rides for parishioners who need them to church, doctor’s appointments, etc.
Check-in calls: we will regularly check-in with parishioners to see if they are in need of any support from this team or directly from Rev. Andrea.
Pray: we have two prayer groups, one group which prays immediately when needed (known as the Emergency Prayer team) and the second group which prays regularly for those on Trinity’s prayer list (in the bulletin or as directed by the church office).
Training and support are provided for all of this! Anyone is welcome at any time to join. The time commitment is completely up to you. You can do a meal here or there, be part of the driving team and drive when you can. You can be part of either prayer team and pray only during an immediate need or on a regular basis. Caring for others always brings us closer to the great caregiver, Jesus.
We meet in person twice a year and otherwise communicate via email when needs arise. If you want to get involved, contact Cindy Anderau or Kim Merrill.
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Trinity's Nursery
We are looking for a few more people to join the ministry of "Nursery Assistant". This role consists of simply being an extra set of eyes and hands in the nursery during worship. If you are interested, please email Kim!
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Dorothy Day
Last Tuesday, in 14 degree weather, the Trinity Team served 194 hot meals to those in need at Dorothy Day. We also handed out 175 cold sandwich meals. Our team shops for and cooks all our meals each month. We planned for about 170, so we had to scramble to get the last 15 or so created from donated canned goods at Dorothy Day. We believe we are unique in our home made approach, having been trained by Jean Maurice (our former team leader) to serve cost effective and nutritious food.
We also hosted about 45 who came in to eat in the former shelter behind the Dorothy Day kitchen facilities. This is a new initiative by the Dorothy Day steering committee to provide a place for people to eat the hot meal on the premises.
If you are interested in being on a reserve list to help monitor the eating area, please contact Nancy Cole or Marcia DeBrock. This is about 1.5 hour once a month.
We find the need for food is increasing everywhere in the area and the Little Pantry has been well stocked each day with many using it. The January numbers show 711 items given from the pantry structure. This month, we were given a generous donation of 100 boxes of cereal from a school fundraiser which was much appreciated.
The items needed most continue to be pasta, sauce, canned fruit, cereal, and open and serve.
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The Little Pantry
We continue to get many shoppers at The Pantry. We are so grateful for all the donations that come in from our church family in order to fill our stock in the cupboard room inside the church.
We always have needs!
Peanut butter and jelly
Oatmeal / cold cereal
Canned Fruit
Rice a Roni/instant potatoes
Soups
Canned Stew or any Chef Boyardee
Pasta/Pasta sauce
Rice-regular or minute
Canned legumes (kidney, black beans ...)
Shampoo
Dog and Cat food
Grocery or Walmart gift cards
| As a follow-up to Trinity's screening of the documentary on the ordination of women in the Espicopal church, note that The Philadelphia Eleven premieres on public television around the country starting March 1, 2025. For broadcast dates and times, check the local listings for the PBS or public television station in your area. | |
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This Sunday, we celebrate the glorious Transfiguration of Jesus- the moment of radiance and glory before his ultimate journey to the cross. This special Sunday marks the transition from Epiphany to Lent, and this, of course, is also the final Sunday before Lent, thus our final opportunity to raise our voices in exuberant “Alleluias” before we set them aside for the season of reflection and spiritual journey.
Our music in Lent will take on a more contemplative tone, guiding us through a season of prayer, repentance, and renewal. The first chance to experience this will be on Ash Wednesday, for which I hope you will carve out the time next week. We will be joined once again by Organist Eric Knapp, and the choir will set the tone for the season with deeply moving music spanning centuries.
But first, I will see you on Sunday, and we will lift our voices together in one more song of praise to celebrate the light of Christ. Your voices are a vital part of worship, so let us raise our voices together before we step into the sacred season with open hearts.
See you Sunday!
Jennifer
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Join us for some comfort food and fun on Shrove Tuesday, March 4th! A delicious pancake supper will be served from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in the Glover Community Room. Pancake races are scheduled for 5:30 and 6:30 PM. All ages are welcome so bring your A-game!
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, 3/4, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and games
Wednesday, 3/5, Ash Wednesday, Lent begins
Sunday, 3/16, Love Our Pollinators: Make your own bug hotel!
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Today is the LAST CHANCE to order! | |
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Christian Yoga
Join Christian Yoga class on alternating Tuesdays at 7 pm for an hour of movement that beautifully intertwines prayer and scripture. This is a great way to connect to yourself, with others and with God. The next session will be held on 3/11 and 3/25. All are welcome!
Free will offering is completely voluntary.
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Weekly Happenings
Trinity's nursery is open every Sunday from 9:15 - 11:15, and is professionally staffed by Wee Care Nanny Agency. Click here to review the nursery guidelines.
Trinity's Grief Support Group runs every first and third Thursday of the month from 4-5:15pm, and is open to all.
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Should you wish to make a donation to LL, please mail a check to First Congregational Church of Ridgefield (FCC), 103 Main Street, Ridgefield, Ct 06877. The memo line should read LLGD or click here. | |
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New Process for Vouchers
Thank you to all of you who have seamlessly transitioned over to the new system - it is such a pleasure to be working with Lori Rohrbacher again!
Vouchers can now be submitted virtually. There is a new page on Trinity's website (Vouchers). Please use this online form as a way to submit vouchers. If you need help learning this new system, please contact Kim.
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Praise and Thanksgiving
For those requesting our prayers
Maureen, Janet, Rick, Marie, Jennifer, Joyce, Jacky, Gail, Alveta, Bode, Gracie, Martha, Daniel, Shirley, Dan, Barbara, Lucille, Caroline, Eric, Brent, Judy, Kathy, Joan, Peter, Sandy, Donna, Abhishek, Minakshi, Phil
For those celebrating a birthday this week
Cheryl Clark, Rich English
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