Confirmations with Bishop Stokes this Sunday!

REMEMBER

The Right Reverend William H. Stokes will preside over the Order for Confirmation at Trinity Church this Sunday, April 23 at 2pm. Reception to follow in Pierce-Bishop Hall.

“In the course of their Christian development, those baptized at an early age are expected, when they are ready and have been duly prepared, to make a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism and to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop. Those baptized as adults, unless baptized with laying on of hands by a bishop, are also expected to make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism in the presence of a bishop and to receive the laying on of hands.” — The Book of Common Prayer, p. 412

Mind the Gap

Parish Meeting on Sunday, April 23 at 9:30am in Pierce-Bishop Hall

A Note to the Parish

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

On May 11, we will celebrate the 190th anniversary of Trinity Church! So, in ten short years, we will be 200 years old as a Parish — hard to believe!

As we look toward our future, we want to be confident that we have a plan to ensure that Trinity will continue to be a vibrant, loving, and caring community for generations to come. People just like us have called Trinity their church home for 190 years.

They, prayerfully and faithfully, did what they needed to do to ensure that Trinity would be here for us, and now it is our turn and our responsibility to do the same for those who will come after us.

This means looking at all aspects of our life together: worship, learning, serving, and finances. Our financial reality is a topic that cannot be avoided and must be discussed openly and honestly. The pandemic has had a negative on the overall level of support for the church, and this is not unique to Trinity. In addition, we have lost members over the course of the past three years due to death and moving from New Jersey.

Those two factors alone account for nearly $200,000 of lost annual support. While we remain very strong financially, we have to consider different ways to support the church and our level of commitment to Trinity.

As you know, we have been seeking your thoughts and insights to cast a vision for the future of Trinity, along with the formation of a strategy and the specific steps we need to take to make our vision a reality.

To that end, Fr. Paul and I would like to invite the entire Parish to a meeting on Sunday, April 23 at 9:30am in the Pierce-Bishop Hall. I am asking for your full participation in this process as, together, we find our way forward that will ensure a strong and healthy future for Trinity Church.

David Schneider

Senior Warden

Agape Meal after Easter Vigil

Holy Saturday, April 6, 2023
after the 7pm Easter Vigil
in Pierce-Bishop

Trinity will be holding an agape meal, a time of fellowship and celebration, in Pierce-Bishop Hall following the 7pm Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, April 6.

The agape meal is a tradition that dates back to the early church. Our feast will be a time to break bread in community, to reflect on the joy of Easter, the sacrificial and triumphal love of Jesus, and to strengthen the bonds among us, especially after the darkness of the preceding days.

Volunteers are needed!

We will need some volunteers to help set up and clean up, before and after the event. Please email Carol Thomas at carolbrooksthomas@gmail.com for more information and to sign up to help.

VCNJ presents ‘Fields of Gold’ on May 13

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 4pm
at Trinity Church

Under the direction of Dr. David A. McConnell, our upcoming concert features songs of love, romance, and the promise of spring from a range of modern composers including Sting, Dolly Parton, and Carly Simon. In this concert, VCNJ also concludes their rendition of Folk Songs of the Four Seasons by Ralph Vaughn Williams with the spring and summer sections of the work. 

The texts speak of sky, fields, stars, meadows, birds, rivers, light, merriment, spring, and love.

Rob Long, a singer with the chorale, finds the music in the concert to be

“[B]oth uplifting and sometimes unexpected. Like when a friend gives you a great hug that you didn’t know you needed.”

Adult: $20
Child/Student: $10

For additional information, questions, or concerns please email this event’s coordinator Linda Silber at lindafsilber@gmail.com.

Did You Know?

Did you know that your contributions to Trinity Church may be eligible to be matched through your employer's charitable giving program? Many employers now rely on technology platforms to support their charitable giving efforts. One of these providers, Benevity, includes Trinity Church in its catalog of eligible charitable groups. Hundreds of employers use the Benevity platform, including Billtrust, which is headquartered in Lawrenceville. Last December, Tom Scott used the Benevity platform while employed at Billtrust to match a contribution to Trinity Church. Benevity then sent the matching gift in early February and it was processed by Lily Leonard, our Finance Officer. It helps if you alert Lily by email (leonardl@trinityprinceton.org) after you initiate any matching gift so that she can watch for the payment. If you have any questions about matching gifts or if your employer's platform does not yet include us as an eligible organization, please contact Tom Scott, Vestry member, at tomascott@comcast.net.  We'd like to ensure that the major charitable giving platforms permit matching gifts to Trinity Church. 

Come and See, Go and Tell

Dear Beloved of Trinity Church,

On Palm Sunday, we journey with our Lord Jesus Christ as he enters Jerusalem. We are invited to raise our palms and join the chorus, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" We gather in the upper room for the Last Supper and partake of the bread and wine. We feel the hands of our Lord as he washes our feet. We go with him to the garden with intentions of faithfulness and alertness, but our weary bodies succumb to sleep. Noise and chaos awaken us. Our Lord is being arrested. Dazed, frightened, and confused, we join the crowd as Jesus stands before Pilate. Our hearts pounding and minds racing, the mob shouts, "Crucify him, crucify him!"

And…we … we say nothing, do nothing. We stand frozen in fear and disbelief.

With a crown of thorns and the weight of the cross, Jesus makes his way along the crowded streets with jeers and insults beating upon him. We follow at a distance. He passes by. We look up for just a moment. The Lord looks directly into our eyes. We turn away. Guilt and shame envelops us. Our hearts sink. We weep. Lord, have mercy on me! Too much to bear, we cannot look as he is nailed to the cross, but we hear. We hear the hammer crashing against the nails. We hear the shouts of the crowds and the cries of those crucified. For the Lord was not the only one.

He is lifted high up on the cross with a man to his left and another to his right. They hang there. Beaten and suffering unspeakable pain, they hang.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.

It is finished.

It is almost impossible for us to envision such a scene. Impossible for us to see ourselves as participants in such a scene. Yet, this Sunday, Palm Sunday, we are invited to live, breathe, hear, and feel it. We are invited to experience the reality of our Lord's betrayal and passion.

I urge you to join us for worship and to open your eyes and ears, your mind and body, your heart and soul to experience the fullness of the chaos and pain of our world as manifest in an angry mob, but also to experience the expansive healing love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amidthe worst the world has to offer, Christ embodies unquestionable, unconquerable, undeniable love. The profound truth of John 1:5 is realized, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

Come, come and see, come and hear, come and experience the Good of New of Jesus, and then, dear ones, go and tell. Go and tell the world the glorious life-giving message of Holy Week; the darkness did not, cannot, and will not ever overcome the light of love made known to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Peace to all,

The Rev. Paul Jeanes III, Rector

Last Saturday’s Stations of Reparations

Dear Friends,

This past Saturday the Stations of Reparations Liturgy was held at St Peter's Chruch in Freehold. Working with my colleagues of the History sub-committee of the Reparations Commission to create and present this service is among the most rewarding experiences of my justice amd anti-racism ministry undertakings.   Stories from five parishes in our Diocese were featured in this liturgy. There are many more stories of parish history with enslavement and racism to tell, and I believe this was an important (if small) step in our Reparations work.

Please take a moment to look at the video below — the prayers are moving, the music is beautiful, the stories are compelling, and this history needs to be known. 

The Rev. Joanne Epply-Schmidt, Associate Rector