Trinity Newsletter for July 22, 2020

July 22, 2020

The mission of Trinity Church is to share Christ's love and grace in a vibrant community whose joyful spirit empowers people to do God's work.

SENIOR WARDEN'S NOTES

Have you heard the phrase “going to hell in a handbasket”?

With the hot weather this week, do you feel like we might all be going at least to purgatory in a face mask? With the Covid-19 goading us from behind, I picture the devil or one of his lesser helpers being sure we are properly frightened along the way.

Any way you look at it, July this year is surely different from July last year. Much of life right now is not what we want or are used to, including and especially our physical absence from each other at Trinity.

We had a minor crisis in our household last week when one of us lost his Georgia Bulldog mask. I have a couple of Virginia Tech face masks squirreled away as, would you believe, birthday presents for some family Hokies. One day when Bambi called and asked if she was interrupting, I said no, just ironing my face mask – words I never dreamed I’d utter. A dear friend made us face masks early on, and several thoughtful parishioners delivered homemade masks to Trinitarians who needed one. Our ever-efficient Barry has laid out disposable masks for us to wear when we feed the school kids in the mobile lunch program. One day recently good friends Gene and Joan Cunningham and we had trouble recognizing each other at CVS because we were all masked! Masks have become a part of living a responsible life these days.

We may be unhappy to wear them, but face masks may be our life-saving grace right now. Our Commonwealth is one of the few states that is at least pretty close to holding its own in virus numbers. My son who lives in FL on the Panhandle Coast tells me maybe only 1 in 20 persons wears a mask. Even food handlers often do not. My son in TX tells me about states’ rights and everyone’s responsibility to make their own decision, and you’ve seen the spread in that state recently. My friend who lives in KS emailed me that he admires Virginians who seem to be following guidelines when people in his state are not, with increasingly disastrous results.

To continue the metaphor – we don’t want to put all our eggs in one (hand)basket, but we do need to continue to act sensibly. So let’s wear our masks, stay distant, check on each other, and stay cool these days, mentally and physically.

Claire Curcio, Senior Warden

TRINITY NEWS

Dismantling Racism

The Vestry wishes to appoint a task force to plan Trinity’s role in dismantling racism and bigotry in any fashion. You may have seen our new banner hanging by the Trinity sign on the corner of our property, “Let’s Dismantle Racism”. The banner is a small first step. Now we need to plan our response to our slogan. Initial suggestions have included holding group conversations on a particular topic; reading a book and then discussing it; watching a movie and talking about its message and implications; and beginning a study group based on offerings from the Diocese or Church Next.

We want participation with as much diversity and representation by race, age, gender and other demographics as possible. If you would be willing to be a participant on this planning task force, please notify Claire Curcio, Senior Warden( [email protected] , 540-4796988) or Barry Holliday, Junior Warden ( [email protected] , 540-786-0552) as soon as possible. We’d like to get this task force organized and working right away – by Zoom, of course!

Trinity Discernment Prayer

O Everlasting, Omniscient, and Loving God

We confess that our daily worries and concerns often blind us to your voice and guidance in our lives. We thank You for this time of change, may it be an opportunity to grow together more closely as followers of your son Jesus Christ as we work to discern your path forward for our congregation. We pray that You will watch over the Bishop, diocesan transitional ministry team, the parish clergy, members of our vestry, and the other leaders of our church as they lead us on a new path for our parish. We pray for the members of the discernment committee as they endeavor to do Your holy work in calling a new rector for Trinity. We pray for all the members of our parish family during this time of transition that we come closer to You and feel your presence in our hearts. AMEN.

Compassion Camp

In Compassion Camp, our online VBS, this week talked about how being compassionate to our neighbor may require us to be brave. We made Hugs in a Card to send to folks who may need a hug and did sidewalk chalk drawings to encourage those in our neighborhoods. We are learning about compassion and how we can show compassion to others and having fun. Come join us! Compassion Camp will be five weeks long instead of five consecutive days. It will meet at the normal Zoom Sunday school time of Sundays at 10:30 a.m. beginning July 12th. There will also be a 30-minute check-in session on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Please email Sam Burton at [email protected] to let her know if you are interested in Compassion Camp so that materials can be mailed to you.

“Be Loved, Be Kind, Be You!”

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Micah Ministries is sponsoring a high school PLANNING GROUP FOR JUSTICE to be organized by Ritta Amstead (Shiloh Baptist Church - Old Site). The purpose will be to bring young people together to discuss questions such as the role of the church, of the community, of elected officials. The group will provide a safe space for discussion of such issues. Micah is requesting two high school students from each of the nine Micah churches to participate in the discussion and perhaps plan for a larger group discussion at a later time. For now, the meetings will be on Zoom. Please contact Claire Curcio or Sam Burton if you would be willing to be a high school representative from Trinity to participate in this important discussion.

FORWARD DAY BY DAY FOR AUGUST THROUGH OCTOBER have been put in the wooden box outside the Ida Beck doors.

ANNUAL MEETING - Yes, we will have an Annual Meeting. No, we don't know when it will be. We have discussed holding a Zoom meeting but do not believe we can guarantee that everyone will be able to participate on this platform, a requirement of the Diocese to hold a virtual meeting. We are very certain that we want to be sure every parishioner has an equal opportunity to participate. For now, the officers and Vestry members already elected are extending their terms. When we can meet, we will elect 4 new members and new officers who will comprise the Executive Committee. Until then, we assure you both the Executive Committee and the Vestry continue to meet and make decisions for Trinity.

YOUTH GROUP MEETINGS VIA ZOOM!! Youth are invited to join us for youth group meetings via Zoom on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. We will catch up with each other, do a brief Bible study, and this week we will have a scavenger hunt! If you did not receive an email last week with the information to join the youth group meeting and would like for your youth to participate, please contact Sam Burton.

CAMPUS MINISTRY will continue to meet through the summer on Wednesdays from 5pm – 7pm! We would like to invite all college students (no matter which college!) to gather with us by Zoom. A Zoom link may be found on our church website, www.trinity-fredericksburg.org, or find the event on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/trinityfredericksburg/ .

During this time when we cannot be together physically, let’s keep in touch virtually. Please check out the TRINITY FACEBOOK PAGE for information, inspiration, and some things to make you smile. Messages from Bishop Curry and from our Bishop Susan Goff are posted as they are received. Don't forget our follow Instagram page and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA

Welcome BISHOP PORTER TAYLOR to the Diocese of Virginia. Bishop Taylor joins us as the Assisting Bishop. Find out more about Bishop Taylor here.

NEWS FROM THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

HABITS OF GRACE - An invitation for you from Bishop Michael Curry. Please read more here.

The Episcopal Church encourages support of the DREAM ACT . The Episcopal Church has long advocated for legislation that protects Dreamers and offers a pathway to citizenship. Through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that allows those brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the country without fear of deportation, nearly 800,000 Dreamers have come forward, passed background checks , and been granted permission to live and work legally in the U.S. Ending DACA in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic would be detrimental to the health and safety of families and communities around the country. For more information, click here .