Trinity Announcements October 1, 2026

Trinity Weekly News

October 1, 2026 | Trinity Episcopal Church, Staunton, Virginia

First things first: Trinity Untapped is meeting today at the Junction, from 5 pm on. Come unwind with some friends from Trinity!

This weekend, we're celebrating St. Francis twice over, with the Celebration of the Animals on Saturday morning and Choral Evensong on Sunday evening (more on both below). And on Sunday morning, both adult formation tracks are coming together for Between the Collars, so bring your questions!

QUICK NOTES

FELLOWSHIP SUNDAY

Sunday, October 11, is Fellowship Sunday! There will be a family friendly service at 10:30 am with a children's sermon, and afterward, we'll all gather in McCracken Hall for a hot, catered Fellowship Brunch at 11:45 am. Come hungry!

LOST AND FOUND

Some items have been waiting in the lost and found—located in the copy room—for quite a while, and on Monday, October 19, we'll donate whatever's still there. If you think something might be yours, please check sooner rather than later.

JOHNSON STREET ROAD CLOSURE

Although a portion of Johnson Street is closed, our parking lot is still accessible, and the usual parking on Lewis and Church Streets is available too.

THIS WEEKEND • ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

Celebration of the Animals Fest

Saturday, October 3 • 10 am to 12 pm

Sunday, October 4, is the Feast of St. Francis, who saw God's goodness in every living thing and called all creatures his brothers and sisters. On the eve of his feast day, we'll honor him with an outdoor liturgy and a blessing of the animals. Bring your dog, guinea pig, horse, snake, fish, goat, or your best loved teddy bear.

Afterward, visit and learn more about some of the people in our community who take care of the animals who share our lives, including the ASPCA and Well Balanced Paw.There will be crafts for the kids and good resources for anyone who loves a critter. Animals enrich our life together. Come give thanks for them with us!

Choral Evensong for the Feast of St. Francis

Sunday, October 4 • 5 pm

Eight hundred years after the death of St. Francis, we'll celebrate his feast day the way he might have liked best: in song! Sung by Trinity's Senior Choristers, this contemplative service of Evening Prayer will include music by Jessica French, Herbert Sumsion, John Rutter, and Malcolm Archer. It will be a beautiful opportunity to pause, reflect, and worship through music.

No tulips, a few bicycles, many organs

In July, Gen spent a week in the Netherlands playing the centuries-old organs that inspired our own. From her reflection:

"Taylor & Boody Organbuilders construct their instruments using historic organ building practices from the North German Organ School. This is why the large instrument housed in the gallery has the appearance of an old organ, when it is actually a mere twenty-six years old. The design of the case, fully mechanical action with wooden trackers, disposition of stops, temperament, and even the names of the stops are those that could easily be found on a three hundred-year old organ in the countryside of the Netherlands."

Read Gen's full article on our blog.

NURSERY AND KIDS CLUB HELPERS NEEDED!

We have an immediate need for volunteers to cover Kids Club and the nursery on some dates when our staff are away, and it would be tremendously helpful if a few people could volunteer their time with our youngest parishioners. Here's where we need you most this month:

Tuesday, October 6 3:45 to 6 pm: 2 volunteers

Sunday, October 11 8:45 am to 12 pm: 2 volunteers

Tuesday, October 13 3:45 to 6 pm: 1 volunteer

We'll need help on a handful of Sundays and Tuesdays in November and December too. If you can spend a few hours with board books, blocks, and small people, please reach out to Ana by phone at 540-886-9132 or email admin1746@trinitystaunton.org. Thank you!

TUESDAYS AT TRINITY

Spaghetti Supper is back! This Tuesday, October 6, pull up a chair in McCracken Hall at 6 pm for a heaping plate and good company. Supper is by free-will donation (suggested $5), and it supports our Honduras Missions.

Speaking of Honduras Missions: THANK YOU! to everyone who helped make our Queen City Mischief and Magic events such a success! Look out for an update next week on the impact of all that important, hard, and (hopefully) fun work.

Come early and make an evening of it. Writing Our Faith is up and running at 4:30 pm in the Gooch Room, and there's always room for one more. At 5 pm in the Foster Room, the Rector's Book Group begins José Andrés's Change the Recipe, a book about feeding people. We’ll discuss the preface and part 1 leading up to dinner.

After supper, stay for the first Taizé of the year at 7 pm in the church, a quiet, candlelit time of music and prayer to close out the evening.

THANK YOU to this years' house elves! & all who made the weekend a success!

DID YOU KNOW?

The slate of candidates for our vestry comes from you? It's true! The vestry is the group of lay leaders who work alongside our clergy to care for Trinity's budget, buildings, and big-picture decisions, and each year we elect four new members to serve three-year terms. Names are submitted by the people in the pews, and then they're gathered, sorted, and vetted. (Each person is also asked whether they'd be

willing to serve if elected!) Those names become the slate, and the parish votes on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29.

So keep an eye out for little slips of paper in the coming weeks, and start thinking about who you'd like to see serving as lay leaders at Trinity.

VOLUNTEERS FOR STAUNTON PRIDE

Trinity is tabling at Staunton Pride with our friends at Emmanuel on Saturday, October 17, from noon to 5 pm, and we'd love your company! Come chat with people, hand out some swag, and enjoy an afternoon at Gypsy Hill Park while sharing the good news of God's love for all people. We could especially use a few extra hands for setting up and taking down the booth.

Questions? Reach out to Rev. Cara or David at davidgreiner828@gmail.com.

SAVE THE DATE • MUSIC FOR GOOD

Saturday, October 10 • 5 pm

Music for Good was created with the intent of supporting our neighbors. All funds raised will go directly to the Familia Fund, a volunteer-led group of Stauntonians working to support community members who are facing detention, deportation, food and housing insecurity, and legal fees.

The concert is a collaboration between professional and student musicians. Strings, organ, clarinet and choir will appear in various configurations, performing a variety of music.

FALL STORIES AT THE LIBRARY

Saturday, October 10, 10:30 am • Staunton Public Library

Storyteller Liza Newell is sharing fall tales with children ages 4 to 10 and their families. It's free, and if it rains, the stories move inside to the library's second-floor meeting room.

[creating + connecting] Arts at Trinity

Beginning in November, Trinity will host a monthly gathering/reading/open space for artists in all disciplines, and for everyone who wants to experience what they make: poetry, prose, playwriting, two- and three-dimensional visual arts, dance, theater, songwriting, filmmaking. Each month's theme is drawn from Trinity's music program, and each gathering falls a week after that month's concert.

The Call

Create pieces to be performed, read or presented in five minutes or less, responding to monthly themes anchored in Trinity's 2026-2027 music program, and then share your work at [creating + connecting] events, which are free, open to the public and followed by refreshments in McCracken Hall.

Artists should submit a copy or description of their work to caram@trinitystaunton.org, along with a 3-5-sentence bio, by the Wednesday prior to a [creating + connecting] event.

November: Thin Spaces

At the end of October and the beginning of November fall three holy days: All Hallows' Eve or Halloween, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. On All Hallows, with roots in ancient Celtic traditions, the veil between this world and the next is thin. All Saints remembers the saints, living and gone, who have helped change the world in big and small ways. On All Souls, we celebrate the saints of our lives: our families and loved ones whom we miss and love and remember.

Sunday, November 1, 5 pm: All Saints Concert

Wednesday, November 4: Artists' deadline

Sunday, November 8, 5 pm: [creating + connecting] at Trinity

We ended the weekend with a prayer walk at beautiful McCormick Farm! Keep an eye out for info about October's prayer walk.

WESTWOOD HILLS BOOK DRIVE

Help Westwood Hills Elementary rebuild their library. We’re collecting donations of new or used fiction and non-fiction for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade in the green box in the back of the church. During the week you can bring your donations to the copy room.

MORNING PRAYER

Monday-Friday, 9-9:30 am

St. Columba Chapel

(On Facebook, Monday-Thursday)

This brief, spoken service provides an opportunity to begin your day connected to God through scripture, silence, and prayer. (Entry via Church Street side door)

MIDDAY EUCHARIST WITH HEALING PRAYERS

Wednesday, 12:15 pm

St. Columba Chapel

Give yourself quiet time with God, and join us for this weekly 30-minute service.