Trinity Newsletter for May 13, 2020

May 13, 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 .

TRINITY'S "MONK'S WINDOW"

If you have ever entered or exited Trinity’s nave by way of the door near the ambo (the pulpit) you have probably come face-to-face with the small stained glass window depicting a monk preparing a manuscript. Recently an article from an April 5, 1969 Free Lance – Star was uncovered and reveals the history of Trinity’s “Monk’s Door” as it has come to be known. A closer look shows the monk sitting at an ornate desk, working with a pair of dividers -- an instrument used to rule lines on pages so that a verse might be inscribed.

Helaine Patterson, author of the FLS article, writes that this stained glass window is the product of “picking up the pieces.” She shares further that this work of art dates back to 1288 when it is thought to have been first placed in the Amiens Cathedral in France. It’s believed that that bombs during World War I shattered the window, and the pieces were picked up by an Illinois architect, Elmo C. Lowe, who collected the pieces and brought them to the United States. In the 1940’s Lowe’s son, William C. Lowe, moved to the Fredericksburg area and began to attend Trinity’s first church at the corner of Hanover and Prince Edward Streets. Later Lowe became a member and loaned the glass panel to the church. At that time there was no way to display the window. At Lowe’s death in 1951 the glass mosaic became a permanent possession of our church.

In 1959 when the present structure was built a place was planned for the medieval window. The Rev.H. Shaw, Trinity’s rector during this period, hypothesized (according to Pattterson) that the monk is St. Jeromone, who was known as the great translator of the Bible. Patterson’s article concludes with these words: “After the stained glass window was installed in the door, glass for another window above the transom had to be obtained from England to match the dark, rich tones of the 13th century French glass.”

The colors of the glass scenes, especially when viewed as sunlight is streaming through the window, have a rich, jewel glow and the quality of precious gems. Make it a point to visit with “our” monk at your earliest opportunity.

Randall Clingenpeel, Vestry Member

TRINITY NEWS

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.

NEWS FROM THE DISCERNMENT COMMITTEE

In a called meeting on April 21, Trinity's vestry approved the discernment committee's responses for the Community Ministry Portfolio (CMP). Those responses then were submitted to the diocesan Office of Transition Ministry (OTM) for publication in the national database, where priests will access them to determine whether they are interested in being a candidate for Trinity's new rector. As displayed on the diocesan website, Trinity is now in the second phase of the discernment process, Receiving Names. This phase is strictly confidential in order to protect the priests and their current parishes. From hereon, the committee will not be able to share any information about the number of candidates, who they are, where they're from, etc. (Note that. while the purpose of the CMP responses is to inform prospective candidates about our parish - not for presentation or wider distribution - the committee will make available the narrative responses in hard copy in the church office, when it is deemed safe to access the building.) Meanwhile, please keep praying the Trinity Discernment Prayer.

Financial Update from the Treasurer of Trinity

As a frame of reference for understanding Trinity’s Budget, there are basically three main areas from which we derive income to meet our needs:

Pledges
Plate offerings from those who do not pledge but put a check in the Offering Plate when they attend a service.
Loose Cash – coins and cash donations placed in the Offering Plate.

To date, despite our inability to conduct our normal Sunday and Wednesday Services, our pledge income is on target. Where we are lacking is plate offerings and cash donations, since we have not been able to conduct services in our church building.

One of results from the Parish Profile was the desire for more financial information and updates.

Your continued financial support is greatly appreciated and, on behalf of the Vestry, I want to thank all of you.

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

A letter from the Bishops of the Dioceses of Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland regarding A Phased Regathering as Church can be found here.

"If we choose to embrace this moment and learn all that we can from it,

we will emerge as a stronger church, with greater capacity

for faithful and fruitful ministry when this season passes."

A Follow-up letter from Bishops of Virginia re: Planning for Regathering as Church can be found here. Trinity will soon offer guidance as to when it is safe to resume gatherings at the church. Until then, please stay home and be safe!

ONLINE SUNDAY SCHOOL!! Families with children are invited to join us at 10:30 am on Sunday mornings for a 30 – 40 minute Sunday school lesson on Zoom. Our time together will include a few minutes of social (gathering) time, a few songs we all know, some prayer time, a story, and an easy craft response to the story. This will be geared for children ages 5 through fifth grade, but older and younger people are welcome too. Each child/person will need a pencil, a few sheets of paper, and some crayons or colored pencils. I will email some additional materials to everyone on Fridays. If you did not receive an email last week with the information to join the class meeting and would like for your child to participate, please contact Sam Burton .

YOUTH GROUP MEETINGS VIA ZOOM!! Youth are invited to join us for a youth group meeting 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 play a game. This week we will be playing one of our favorite games, Imagine If! 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/ .

GRADUATING SENIORS - This year we would like to recognize Graduating Seniors in the newsletter since we will not be able to do so in person at our services. Parents, if you would like to have your senior’s name, picture, and post-graduation plans published in the newsletter, please send their name, picture (if desired), school from which they are graduating, awards or scholarships they received, church activities in which they are active, sports they play, clubs and community activities in which they participate, hobbies, and post-graduation plans (whether it’s college, the military, the workforce, or trade school) to Sam Burton by May 27th for inclusion in the June 3rd newsletter. Let’s show our graduating seniors some love!

VESTRY MEETING - The Vestry will meet for its regularly scheduled meeting on May 13, 2020, by Zoom. The link to the meeting is: https://zoom.us/ Click on Join a Meeting, Meeting ID is 624-162-8468

The meeting password is 419119.

FORWARD DAY BY DAY - With the church office being closed, access to the Forward Day by Day has been extremely limited. Copies of the booklet, Forward Day by Day, will now be left in a box to the left of the Ida Beck doors. You are free to pick up your copy. PLEASE make sure the cover is put back on tightly so the remaining copies don't get wet. Donations may be left in the church mailbox in your envelope marked, "Forward". There is an INCOMING slot in the mailbox. The mail is picked up a few times a week. The staff will try to make sure the box always has a few copies in it. PLEASE contact Denise i f the box is missing, if the copies are wet, or if there are no more copies in it.

TRINITY’S PRAYER LIST - LAST CHANCE! - It is once again time to purge Trinity’s prayer list. Please look over the list on the Good News Daily or on Trinity's website . If you know of anyone that should STAY on the list, be DELETED, or ADDED, please call the office and leave a message or email Denise .

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 newly formed YouTube channel.

BISHOP GOFF'S MEDITATION FOR THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER can be found here .