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Many thanks to Lydia Babbitt for leading Morning Prayer this past Sunday, and also to Ella Frauenhofer for preaching. And BIG THANKS to Zachary Barth, who played the piano beautifully! We look forward to him returning very soon.

Next Sunday August 9 at 9am, the Rev. Nils Chittenden will celebrate Mass with us.

Last Sunday, Ella preached on the loaves and fishes. Her sermon was so powerful that those in the church could smell the fish!

Any idea where these pretty fish can be found inside our church? The answer is towards the bottom of this newsletter...

Thank you, Joyce!

After years of dedicated service on the Altar Guild, Joyce Gustavson is stepping away to concentrate more on welcoming newcomers to Trinity. On Sunday, we gave Joyce a special blessing as she changes gears and revs up her ministry of welcoming the stranger.

[Editor's Note: our friends at Trinity Lime Rock will surely appreciate those metaphors!]

Important Search Update

Your Wardens and the Wardens from Lime Rock met with Canon Olds last week to discuss next steps in our search.

Our position is once again open for applications on the nationwide search website, and we are receiving vetted applications on a rolling basis.

Preliminary interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis as well. Recommendations as to how to proceed will be sent to the Vestry as a whole following each interview.

These preliminary interviews will be conducted by your Executive Committee (Jr and Sr Wardens, Building Warden, Clerk and Treasurer) along with our four parishioner volunteers (Gloria Olson, Ed Wilmot, Tiffany Santiago and Newlin Keen).

We are all weary, I know. But I am forever grateful to all of you for your willingness to keep at the tasks at hand. Whether it is welcoming one another in His name, serving one another refreshments following Sunday services, continuing to keep our sacred space ready and pristine, reading, preaching, leading or any of the thousands of other unseen tasks that happen every day, it is your work, done with love, that keeps us all going.

So take heart and keep not only those of us actively working on this search in your prayers but also those out there who are searching. For we know that our next clergy person is out there – we just need to find them and they us!  

Peace,

Lydia D. Babbitt 

Senior Warden 

Adult Formation

Adult Formation has started a new book, Makoto Fujimura's Art and Faith: a theology of making.

Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura’s broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of “making.” What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise.

Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, Mark Rothko, and Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how, unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God’s being and God’s grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman’s words, an “accidental theologian,” one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.

We have some copies available for purchase (see Bobby Naeher) or you can contact their local bookstore."

If you have any questions, please email Bobby Naeher at robertnaeher@gmail.com.

All are welcome, and completing the reading ahead of time, while helpful, is not a requirement. We all benefit when multiple voices are heard!

Attention all book lovers, C.S. Lewis lovers, fellowship and discussion lovers:

We have begun, in partnership with Trinity Lime Rock, a monthly discussion group to read and explore C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. Lewis, famed Oxford professor, scholar, and Anglican writer gave a series of radio addresses making a case for the essentials of the Christian faith, and later put these into book form. Speaking during WWII, he was clearly addressing the relevance of Christian faith in a time of violence, tribalism, and existential conflict between democracy, fascism, and terror. Given our world today, his thoughts continue to have resonance.

Please consider joining us! Our reading and discussion schedule is below. Even though we've started, each session can stand on its own and feel free to jump in at any point. We meet from 7-8 PM in the Upper Parish Hall and online. See Bobby Naeher or Ella Frauenhofer for more details. All readings are from Mere Christianity. 

• Aug 24 - Book 3: 1-6
• Sept 20 - Book 3: 7-12
• Oct 18 -  Book 4: 1-6
• Nov. 15- Book 4: 7-11

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.

MEN'S BREAKFAST

August 15 at 9am at Twin Colony Diner.

A short prayer and a long conversation over breakfast.

Contact Conrad with any questions.

Sisters of Ruth will be gathering on August 23 at 6 pm.

Potluck dinner followed by fellowship is a

great way for the women of Trinity to begin the week.

Join us and if you have any questions, reach out to Naomi.

Happenings Around Town and Beyond...

Community Walking Tour!

Join Our Culture Is Beautiful on a healthy educational walking tour in Torrington August 5th and August 12th. We begin at 1pm Jiggs Donahue Park on East Pearl Street. At 1:30pm the walking tour will stop at Torrington Historical Society to hear the history and stories of several buildings on Main Street.

If it rains on August 5th, please meet us at Torrington Library at 1:30pm.

Questions? Please call Our Culture is Beautiful at (860) 491-0387 

How is YOUR Summer Going?

This past weekend at Mystic Seaport, your newsletter editor and his daughter participated in the Moby Dick Marathon Reading at Mystic Seaport! It started at noon on Friday, aboard the Charles Morgan, the last wooden whale ship still afloat. Participants signed up to read chapters aloud. The event concluded the following afternoon - just over 24 hours! (Conrad and Caroline confess to catching a few winks right before sunrise.)

How is YOUR summer going? Please consider sending me a picture and a few sentences about what you are doing. Send it to conradsank@gmail.com.

Trips? Events? Visits? New discoveries? We want to know!

These fish can be found at the bottom of the stained glass window of St. Christopher, on the back wall of our church, to the far left of the baptismal font. This window memorializes the parishioners who gave their lives during World War II.

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.