Trinity Episcopal Church

Pet Blessing!

635919595537890593-383233471_140720-inside-cat-dog-ftr Fall is here, and that means that it is time for Trinity’s Blessing of the Animals! This year it is on Sunday, October 2nd, at 12:30 PM. We’ll be right out in the front of the sanctuary if the weather is fair. If it starts raining cats and dogs, we’ll take the cats and dogs indoors!

All are welcome, and no experience with God is necessary. Bring your cats and dogs, your rats and ferrets, your snakes, spiders, chickens, and ponies! We’re also happy to bless stuffed animals, and your animals via a photograph.

All donations made will go towards Trinity’s Pet Food Pantry which serves Wyoming County on a first-come, first-served, no questions asked basis on the first Sunday of each month, from 2-3 PM. If you’d like to bring a donation of pet food, we particularly need cat food! If you need a donation of pet food, come back at 2pm and we’ll hook you up.

The Gospel of Luke

The Adult Bible Study group is now tackling the Gospel of Luke! All are welcome – we meet in the parish hall at 9AM on Sundays (except the 3rd Sunday of the month). No prior knowledge of the Bible is necessary, but if you have one, bring it along.

Wondering what goes on? We read short sections of the book in question, slowly and out loud. Then we talk about what we noticed – what jumped out at us, what confused us, what makes us happy or annoys us about the passage. The group leader shares some of the cultural background of the story, and what other theologians and biblical scholars have made of it – and then we decide how it speaks to us!

Wading through ancient spiritual texts isn’t always easy, but it’s usually always rewarding. Any and all are welcome to join us at any time.

Blessing of the Animals

Sometimes they're this happy together. Sometimes... — Sometimes they’re this happy together. Sometimes…

Trinity Church is having their First Annual Blessing of the Animals, on Sunday, October 4th at 1pm! Bring your animals, large or small, and we’ll bless them in a very short service. All animals are welcome, and if the weather is fine, we’ll be just outside the church on the lawn. In inclement weather, we’ll bring the service inside the sanctuary. If your animal doesn’t travel well, bring a picture of it!

Donations of pet food (and cash, of course!) are welcome, and will go toward Trinity’s Pet Food Pantry, which is open on the first Sunday of the month at 2pm, which includes October 4th, just one hour after the Blessing of the Animals.

Why do we bless animals?

We bless animals in honor of St. Francis of Assisi whose feast day is October 4th. St. Francis of Assisi lived in Italy in the 12th century. Having grown up in a wealthy family, he renounced his wealth and worldly possessions and lived very simply. He founded two monastic orders (the Franciscans and the Poor Clares), but he also had a special relationship with animals whom he talked with, and who seemed to listen when he told them ‘no’.

There is a story of a wolf living outside the town of Gubbio in Italy. The wolf came into the town each evening, eating some inhabitants and frightening everyone else. Francis went to speak to the animal, calling him Brother Wolf and discovered that the wolf was starving. Francis explained to Brother Wolf that his own hunger was not reason enough to eat the townspeople, their livestock, and their pets, and to terrorize them. The wolf became gentle, and Francis brokered an agreement with the town that they would feed the wolf and the wolf would be kind to them. The story tells that Brother Wolf became so gentle that he would allow the children of the town to ride on his back.

Francis did many other interesting things, and in his honor we gather today with our animals – our pets, our service animals, livestock, police dogs and horses, zoo animals and all God’s creatures and give thanks for what they do for us and for what they mean to us.

2015 Envisioned!

January is also the time when we look forward in hope to the new year. This year at Trinity we’ll be building on our successes and venturing even farther with boldness and grace, doing what we do best: being hospitable in the name of God.

Presence in The Community

In 2015, we’ll be continuing our monthly Community Coffee Hours. They’ll be held on the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30am in our Parish Hall, which can be reached by following the sidewalk on the left of the church (next to the pizza place), and entering through the black doors with the inset glass cross.

We’re also looking at two new outreach opportunities, in addition to our ongoing outreach ministries. We’re looking at joining/forming an ecumenical partnership with Warsaw area churches and Literacy West in order to tutor and mentor high school aged youth as well as adults. We’re also looking at the possibility of beginning a Pet Food Pantry, the first in our area, but not the first in our Diocese.

Worship for The Community

In 2015, we’ll be introducing three new services, particularly with our larger community in mind. Ashes to Go, in February, will be our drive-thru Ash Wednesday offering. The Backpack Blessing, in August, will be open and available for anyone getting in the back-to-school mindset. The Blessing of the Animals, in October, will be open and available to all the pets and working animals in our community (and their people). More information on these services will be posted on this site, as they become available.

Evangelism & Newcomer Integration Efforts

Evangelism as a word can misunderstood in our culture, but it really just means ‘sharing good news’ in Greek. And that’s what we do, wherever we go. God has made our lives bearable, breathable, and beautiful, and we want to share that beauty.

In 2015, we’ll be advertising and telling people about our new and continuing community work, and our new community worship opportunities. There will be flyers, postcards and personal invitations. And when people walk in the door, we’re going to do our best to make them feel welcome, help them get to know one another, and make Trinity a safe and welcoming place for individuals and families looking for a spiritual home.

Year in Review

The end of January means that it’s time to look back on the year that has just ended. We celebrate our successes, take heart in the midst of our failures, welcome new families, welcome home old friends and say goodbye to those we’ve loved for years.

Reaching Out in Our Community

In 2014, we reached out into the community in new ways. We began a community coffee hour which gathers together in the Parish Hall on the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30am and offers free coffee, munchies and conversation to our larger community. We set ourselves measures of success at the beginning of the venture, and lo! We’ve met them all! So we’ll continue on with our community coffee hour into the new year and build on that success.

We also continued our ecumenical ministry, the Snack Pak program, providing needy families with school aged children food over the weekend, taken home from school each Friday in backpacks. We’re a collaborative partner with Angel Action for this ministry, and it has been a wonderfully successful year so far. (The Snack Pak program follows the school year.)

We collected hundreds of shoes for charity this summer – over 250 pairs – to be donated to an artisan in the developing world who deconstructs the shoes and remakes them new again, supporting her family and adding to the productivity of her village.

We participated in the Warsaw Village Summer Days and gave out gallons of water. We had a great time at our booth, talking with passersby and soaking up the lovely weather.

Changes on Sunday

In 2014, we called our friend and steady supply priest, the Rev. Sare Anuszkiewicz, to be our Priest-in-Charge. After much discernment and conversation, we are excited to embrace Mother Sare’s boundless enthusiasm and steady supply of new ideas and different perspectives.

We developed a year-round Sunday School! We have several teachers who share the responsibility of leading our one-room school house and we’re excited to provide our youngest members with an opportunity to interact with Biblical stories and come to understand and experience that our loving God is theirs, too.

We’ve begun a regular Adult Study at 9am on Sundays, before our 10:30am worship. We have decided to alternate between studying books of the Bible and studying books on spirituality, theology, church history, or anything else that helps us put our connection with God in perspective. We’ll probably be taking a week or two off between books, but anyone is welcome to join us at any time – check the latest news if you have questions about which book we’re studying, or you can always email Mother Sare at revsarey@gmail.com.

We’ve said hello to new faces, welcomed home loved ones who had been away, and said goodbye. This year we remember Jean Davis, Alberta Caldwell and Joan MacCallum, may they rest in the peace of the God who loves them. We also celebrate the Confirmation and Reception of Ted Wilkinson, Joanne Caldwell, Bruce Caldwell, and Janis Chalmers.

Working with the Diocese

Early in 2014 we had our official visit from the Bishop – but when we had more people to confirm and receive later in the year, Bishop Franklin was more than happy to squeeze in another visit to us!

We also had a wonderful experience with our Diocesan Transitions Officer in 2014 as Canon Price joined us in kicking off our discernment process, mentoring our lay leaders and providing all the support we could have hoped for in our process which eventually culminated in calling Mother Sare to be with us as Priest-in-Charge.

Our friend and neighbor, Susan Firestine, who has been discerning a call to ordained ministry became a Postulant for Holy Orders this year! After returning to us from her parish internship at the Episcopal churches in Stafford and LeRoy, Susan still has much to do, and is currently working on a Diaconal Ministry Project., in addition to preaching regularly and expanding her liturgical experience.

The Physical Plant

In 2014, we worked with community volunteers (prisoners, to be exact) to repaint the exterior of our building. We also remodeled a portion of our kitchen, thanks to the wonderful donation of a new sink and counter top.

Gospel of Thomas & City of God

Our Adult Study has selected the next book we’ll be reading! Our next book to study will be a quick one – The Gospel of Thomas. We’ll begin on Sunday, January 25th at 9AM in the Parish Hall. We’ll be studying the Gospel of Thomas for four weeks. Printed copies will be available on the day. Anyone interested in a free pdf version, click here. We’ll have a week off while Mother Sare is on vacation before our next book.

For Lent we’ll be reading along with the Bishop and the whole Diocese in the One Diocese, One Season, One Book selection for this year – Sara Miles’ City of God. We begin studying on Sunday, March 1st. Copies have already been ordered for any interested parties and will be available shortly for only $10 each. Talk to Mother Sare if you’re interested in reading along at home, or with the Adult Study group and would like a discounted book.

The author, Sara Miles, is coming to our Diocese to speak with us all on March 5th at 7pm at the Diocesan Ministry Center.

Special Visit from the Bishop!

The gang's all here! — The gang’s all here!

We asked our Bishop Bill to come out and pay us a special visit recently in order to receive our new members, Joanne and Bruce Caldwell! It was a great celebration, and while we were at it, we confirmed our long-time member, Ted Wilkinson.

It was great to have Bishop Bill with us, and we look forward to his regularly-scheduled visit on November 23, 2014.

If you’d like more information about adult or teen confirmation, or being received into the Episcopal Church, please send an inquiry to us at TrinityWarsaw@gmail.com, or ask Mother Sare on Sunday morning.