Young and old, all have gifts from God to share!

Ingathering Sunday

November 6, 2026

Dear Trinity Family,

I hope you had as much fun as I did at our Halloween Hullabaloo last Saturday! It was an absolute graveyard SMASH! Thank you to all our dedicated volunteers who decorated doors, brought food, and passed out candy. This event is always so much fun every year and I am so grateful that we were able to continue the tradition this year.

Last Sunday was also a deeply special time for our church as we celebrated the feast of All Saints with Acadia and Avila Conarroe being baptized and a reading of the Necrology. I really hope you can make it this coming Sunday as we have another special day for our church community! We have one combined 9:30am service with a brunch to follow! This is in celebration of Ingathering, which is the day that we gather in all of the pledge cards for the budget for the coming year. It is a celebration of generosity, abundance, and the rich life of our church, and it is one of my favorite services of the year! This year I have the privilege of being the preacher for Ingathering too, which feels extra special! Don't forget to bring your pledge card and/or Halloween Candy to the service!

CGS and Nursery Care will begin at 9am as per usual, even though the main service begins at 9:30. We will rejoin the service in time to drop our pledge cards and candy in the baskets up near the altar with the rest of the church community and then celebrate Eucharist and brunch together after!

Ingathering Sunday is the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost in Ordinary Time. As the traditional season of the harvest, the season of fall is often a time of abundant food and merriment. It is also a time of planning for the future, reserving supplies and hunkering down before the winter. In our modern Santa Barbara world, we are blessed to be much less acquainted with harsh cold or the need for careful reserves of food, but the symbolism of the season remains: how can we plan to be good stewards of all that God has given us? How might we offer the "first fruits" of our harvest in gratitude for all that we have been given?

As I offered in my letter to our Children and Youth, I invite you to take some time to sit with these questions before Sunday if you have not already. Listen for the still small voice of God, and discern how your time, talent, or treasure might be used for the glory of the One who has given us everything.

Looking forward to a celebratory Sunday,

-Theo

YG Border Trip 2027: Save the Date

The Youth will return to Mexicali/Calexico this upcoming January on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, leaving on the afternoon of Friday Jan 15th and returning on Sunday evening Jan 17th. More details to come as we get closer, but if your youth would like to join, please hold the weekend on your calendar now!

Who was Sofia Cavalletti?

"If we can enjoy the presence of God in our life, then our faith is established on the only sure foundation" - Sofia Cavalletti (1917-2011)

Sofia was one of the two great founding mothers of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Along with Gianna Gobbi, she spent years with children, developing the atrium space, simplifying great depths of wisdom into their most essential so that the child can be taught by God through wonder as they are guided to different works. A Roman Catholic from Italy, Sofia was also an immensely educated Hebrew Bible scholar who stumbled upon her work with children as if by a divine gift. While her background with the Hebrew Scriptures led her to a rabbinical co-learner approach to education, her partnership with Gianna Gobbi led to a fusion of this model with the Montessori method of education. The first spiritual, hands-on, prepared environment for children began in 1954 with a tiny model of an altar in a tiny room in Sofia's house in Rome: the first atrium. In the following decades, Sofia and Gianna refined "the experiment" as it was known then by testing new materials and new stories with children as young as age 3 and up to age 12. Sofia always remained convinced that the child had an innate relationship with God and longed to draw closer by themselves, with the Catechist only present as a matchmaker between the child and the Good Shepherd. Sofia passed away in 2011 after seeing the gift of CGS multiply to over 50 countries and blossom outward for children in the Anglican and Orthodox traditions.

Sample prompts to engage with a child:

Level I Child (3.5-6) "(Child's name), when you are in the atrium, did you know that everything has a special place? Each thing that you find in the atrium can help you love Jesus more!" The Level I child flourishes in the prepared environment of the atrium and is especially attuned to the placement of each material.

Level II Child (6-9) "(Child's name), did you know that the first atrium started over 70 years ago with two special women named Sofia and Gianna? They worked very hard to help create this special space. How is the atrium special to you?" Giving a child a seed of wonder and awe can help them reflect on how unique the atrium is and maybe even inspire them to gratitude in God's timing.



Level III Child (9-12) "(Child's name), this week I learned more about the history of CGS and the atrium. It was started in the 1950s by two wise and persistent women named Sofia and Gianna. The program has lasted until today because many people helped them share and carry on this special work. Is there anything that you learned in the atrium that you want to keep carrying on with you through life?" Connecting the program's history to the personal life of the Level III child builds continuity and helps them contextualize themselves in a long line of people who carry God's gifts from the atrium forward and into the world!

Want to learn more? You can find past Catechesis Corner Reflections HERE!

Children & Youth at Trinity

Nursery & Toddler Atrium

Sun 9:00-11:30am

Our nursery is a safe, play-based environment for infant parishioners ages 0 - 3½. Children may be dropped off upstairs in the Parish Hall as early as 9:00am, where they will be cared for by dedicated volunteers until you return.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Sun 9:00am-11:30am

CGS is a Montessori-based religious formation program for child parishioners ages 3½-12. Children may arrive as early as 9am in the Children and Youth building behind the sanctuary. Children will rejoin families in time for Eucharist in the Sanctuary.

Youth Group

Tues 7:00pm-8:30pm

Youth Group is a time of connection and community for teen parishioners, ages 13-18. Last week, our Story Circle prompt recounted a story of an encounter with Death, and this coming week our final prompt will be focused on Embodiment.

Community Atrium

Weds & Fri

Community Atrium is a supplemental CGS offering for children ages 3½ - 9. Trinity children are invited to participate in prayer and ecumenical work in the atrium with kids from various faith communities in Santa Barbara. Space is limited; inquire with Theo.

Trinity is an LGBTQ+ welcoming and affirming congregation on Chumash Land --- Church Directory on Realm

If you or a loved one are seeking support with an LGBTQ+ child or young person, please check out PFLAG Santa Barbara.