Many thanks to all who assisted with this past Sunday's service, especially our celebrant the Rev. Marilyn Anderson. And congratulations to Daisy on her baptism!

Please join us this Sunday, January 11th at 9am for Mass with Holy Eucharist, celebrated by the Rev. Link Hullar.

JANUARY 1 KWANZAA CELEBRATION!

On January 1, we celebrated Kwanzaa with Our Culture Is Beautiful at Trinity Church. We celebrated the principle of IMANI (Faith) with song, dance, stories, and food! Many thanks to Newlin for the fine tech work, and to Ella and Vinny for the fabulous food from Love It Vegan!

It was a great way to start the New Year - celebrating and practicing faith at Trinity Church with friends.

MEN'S BREAKFAST

Men's Breakfast will be held on Saturday January 17 at 9am at Twin Colony Diner. Any man from Trinity is welcome to join us for prayer, breakfast, and conversation.

Contact Conrad if you have a question.

Our Culture is Beautiful Movie Discussion

Join us Saturday January 17 at 1pm here at Trinity Church for a viewing of a 2014 historical drama film about a towering leader in the civil rights movement, followed by a discussion led by members of Our Culture is Beautiful.

Light refreshments will be served. The event is free but donations are appreciated. All are welcome!

OUR PARISH PROFILE IS COMPLETE!

Click here to read the short version, and click here to read the full version.

Click here to read the newly combined Parish Profile, for Trinity Torrington and Trinity Lime Rock - two parishes looking for a single full-time pastor.

A TALE OF TWO TRINITIES!

Trinity Lime Rock is also in search of a half time priest in charge (PIC). In an effort to conserve resources and greatly expand our applicant pool, we are joining with Lime Rock to call a full time PIC to be shared between the two parishes.

What does this mean? This means that we will enter into a joint Letter of Agreement with a Priest in Charge who would work half time for Trinity Torrington and half time for Trinity Lime Rock.

Why Trinity Lime Rock? There are many similarities between our two parishes which make us

think that a partnership such as this might work. Please see Trinity Lime Rock’s Parish Profile by clicking here.

Are we merging Parishes? Will one parish take over? Will one close? The answer to all three of these questions is, “No.”

How will this work? The arrangement would be very similar to what we have experienced over the last six years. The PIC would work 20 hours per week for us and be present to celebrate two services of Holy Eucharist per month. Logistics such as holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc) and any fifth Sundays in a month would need to be negotiated and agreed upon

with the PIC and both parishes.

What’s next? Your Vestry and your Wardens continue to work on the information required by the Diocese. We are currently working on financial documents which are complicated and time- consuming. But we shall get the work done, likely by the end of December!

Questions? Ask! Ask your Vestry members and or your Wardens. We will be happy to answer!

Our Annual Meeting has been scheduled for Sunday, 25 January 2026 following the celebration of the Eucharist.

Candidates for 2025 At Large Vestry Positions:

(up to five may be elected – one for a two year

term fulfillment, one for a one year term fulfillment and three for three year terms)

Jill Morrison

Mary Smegielski

Roger Coutant

Claudia Buick

Connie Hall

Candidate for Treasurer:

Jessica Magda

Candidate for Jr. Warden:

Ella Frauenhofer

Candidate for Clerk:

Naomi Cardello

Delegates for Convention:

Dana Farr

Lydia Babbitt



Please submit nominations for At Large Vestry members or Officers to our Administrator at

admin@trinity-torrington.com. Nominations will also be accepted from the floor on the day of the Annual Meeting.

This is the faith formation schedule for the rest of the month - we are still reading Following the Call. Join us after Coffee Hour! 

January 11: Reading 37, Temptation

January 18: Reading 38, Deliver Us

January 25: Reading 39, Lasting Treasures

COFFEE HOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

We definitely need some people to step forward and host Coffee Hour. It's very easy and very appreciated! Just sign up for a date, then bring in some snacks (home-made or store-bought), set up the table, percolate percolate percolate, then clean up.

If you have any questions, please ask Ella, Tiffany or Richard. The sign-up is in the Upper Parish Hall.

Nursing Home Visits

Dear Heloise: Visiting a loved one in a nursing home who does not always remember you is painful for you both. I have a hint that may help: I walk in with a bright smile and say, “Rose, it’s your old buddy Laura from church. How are you doing today?” By introducing myself like this, Rose does not have to scramble to remember who I am or where she knows me from. And she will often reply with: “Laura, how nice to see you.”

There are so many people walking around in a nursing home, so a simple “introduction” can put a dementia patient at ease.

-- Laura Ishler, in Curwensville, Pennsylvania

Do you have a name badge? With different clergy and new people visiting Trinity, it is a great time to wear your Trinity name badge!

If you need a badge, please print your name clearly on the clipboard in the back of the church, and Mel will make one for you.

DID YOU KNOW??

The Community Kitchen of Torrington (on Maiden Lane) serves a hot breakfast on weekdays; hot lunch every day; and dinner on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Please support them as they feed our friends and neighbors!

And the overflow shelter has been providing seasonal shelter for 30+ people every night; the capacity is 40 (24 men in the UPH, ten women in the Lower Chapel, and six beds for a family or two in the rectory). Please keep the residents and staff in your prayers. They will be using our Upper Parish Hall into April. If you would like to support the shelter, gift cards to Walmart are always appreciated.

We recently installed an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) at Trinity, in the hallway that connects the Upper Parish Hall to the church. It is very simple to use and does not require any special training, as it is automated and delivers clear and simple instructions as soon as it is turned on.

You can familiarize yourself with the AED by watching this brief video.

Please see Dr. Jess if you have any questions about the AED.

Events at Camp Washington

An Evening of Community at Camp Washington - Saturday January 10, 2026

Join us at 5pm for a service of beautiful music, inspiring words, and Holy Communion in the language of the Celtic Christian tradition led by the Rev. Tuesday Rupp, and accompanied by Pete Miserendino on guitar - our friends from St Paul's, Woodbury.

Contemporary and contemplative, a beautiful offering to God.

Following worship, join us at 6:15pm for dinner - a time of community, conversation, and wonderful food!

Menu:

Beef Bourguignon

Mashed Potatoes

Butternut Squash and goat cheese gratin

Roasted Carrots

Spinach Salad

Assorted dinner rolls

Apple Caramel bread pudding with ice cream

Come for worship - stay for dinner or just come for dinner - your choice. All are welcome!

In lieu of a ticket price for dinner, we welcome your generous donation at the table. All proceeds will go to the CW Campership Fund, offering need-based financial assistance to our campers & retreatants.

Registration is required. Click here to register.



Gather your family, organize a parish carpool, or extend an invitation to a neighbor and make plans to join us at camp.

Conrad and Lydia have attended this in the past, and they made their reservations for this month - they highly recommend it!

Events in the Community

Dear Trinity Parish,

Now that we are officially a “Parish in Transition,” we want to be sure that everyone continues to have access to everything they need.

We have created a document similar to what we used for Mother Carrie’s parental leave in that it addresses who to contact in what circumstance, along with ways to contact those people.

It is not a perfect document but it is a good place to start! Please click here to read it.

Never hesitate to contact either me or Roger Coutant (as Wardens) or any of your Vestry members. We are all here to service God in the church – and that means one another.

Life is transition, after all. And we manage to get through that pretty well when we all work together!

~Lydia Babbitt

Senior Warden

If you have an announcement or event that you would like publicized, or if you are a parishioner involved in an event that you would like to share with the parish, please send it to The Portal at announcements@trinity-torrington.org, and we can then direct your announcement to the best method of communication.