In this edition: Children of Trinity Ask Big Questions on the Q & A Wall; 20s & 30s Volunteer Nights for Pine Street Inn Are Thriving; Youth Summer Service Camp Hosts Seven; and, the Manager of Archives Dissects an Old Pew Cushion
Signs & Wonders is a new feature telling stories about what’s been happening lately in Trinity’s Ministries. In a large, busy, and growing church like Trinity, there are always new-to-you corners of ministries and programs to explore — so catch up here and learn a bit about our recent work in the church and in the world beyond our walls.
Welcomes New Community Partner: Victory Programs’ Boston Living Center
Every Sunday, after being nourished by the holy food of the Eucharist, the people of Trinity Church are sent forth, in the words of the Postcommunion Prayer, “to do the work [God] has given us to do.”
For many Trinitarians, this work includes preparing and serving meals to our neighbors confronting food and housing insecurity in collaboration with our community partners. In a move to strengthen these partnerships and invite more Trinitarians into this vital work, the Outreach & Justice Cohort has launched Table to Table.
This new collaboration brings three established partnerships—with Pine Street Inn, Rosie’s Place, and Women’s Lunch Place—into one ministry collective while adding a new partner: Victory Programs’ Boston Living Center.
“The name ‘Table to Table’ reflects the deeply eucharistic shape and content of this ministry,” said the Rev. Brandon Ashcraft, Priest for Outreach. “We gather around God’s table to receive the Body of Christ and are sent into the world to be the Body of Christ—to serve at tables wherever our siblings are hungry.”
Trinity has decades-long partnerships with Pine Street Inn, the largest homeless-services provider in New England, and Rosie’s Place, the first shelter for women in the United States, both located in the South End. Back Bay neighbor Women’s Lunch Place, a day shelter for women and their families, was added last year, while Victory Programs’ Boston Living Center, also located in the Back Bay, becomes the newest partner. As with Pine Street Inn, Rosie’s Place, and Women’s Lunch Place, Trinity’s primary ministry at Boston Living Center will be preparing and serving a meal for members of the community.
“The launch of ‘Table to Table’ reflects the founding principles of the Ministry Council: collaboration over siloing and the flourishing of the whole congregation over isolated ministry lanes,” said David McFerrin, Co-Convenor of the Outreach & Justice Cohort.
“Because these four partnerships share similar volunteer structures and rhythms, we hope this closer coordination will support collaboration, help more parishioners put their faith into action, and, most importantly, enable us to have a greater impact in the community and with those we seek to serve,” added Sonja Komar-Lay, fellow O&J Co-Convenor.
Trinity parishioners can view all available opportunities and sign up to serve through Table to Table’s SignUpGenius page.
The following parishioners serve as ministry liaisons and members of the Outreach & Justice Cohort. Their role is to nurture Trinity’s ongoing relationships with these community partners and serve as resources for volunteers:
- Boston Living Center: Aaron Yohe
- Pine Street Inn: Adilene Lorenzo
- Rosie’s Place: Joan Horgan
- Women’s Lunch Place: Nancy Kelly
Explore Trinity’s Outreach & Justice Cohort at trinitychurchboston.org/outreach-justice
Collaborative and Interactive Learning Makes Topic Less Daunting
The Sunday before Indigenous People’s Day, a dozen Trinitarians spent the afternoon confronting global climate change. Harvard instructor Mauro Morabito guided our Creation Justice ministry in Climate Fresk: an interactive event, part puzzle, part conversation, part invitation to action. Developed ten years ago in France, this table-top “game” draws on the findings of the UN’s taskforce. Members of the ministry worked together to trace the causes and consequences of what our own Episcopal bishops have called “the greatest moral challenge of our time.”
Learning collaboratively, we sought to grasp a topic which overwhelms both experts and laity alike. Morabito was a gifted facilitator, empowering us toward fresh questions and insight with compassion and skill. Informed alike by deep learning and faith, his experience and boyish enthusiasm were infectious, bringing us along on a world-wide journey that led gradually both to understanding the science and also to reflecting together on “a bold and faith-based response” (the Bishops’ words) as individuals, a society, and a parish. At the end, we left the Ferris Library tired, the challenges ever-daunting, but with new hope and a prayer.
— John Lemly, Creation Justice member
Learn more about Trinity’s Creation Justice Ministry at trinitychurchboston.org/outreach-justice
“Many whose lives have been touched by Trinity Church — whether our art and architecture, fellowship, liturgy, music, outreach, or preaching — respond generously with a donation toward the work of the church. Pledging members of Trinity also often make special one-time gifts in addition to their pledges.”
Every year Trinity receives thousands of these one-time donations, large and small, from near and far. Often, donors include comments about what has moved them to make their gift. At a recent staff meeting, Trinity’s Stewardship Director, Lonsdale Koester, shared some highlights of meaningful comments made alongside donations over the last several months, a selection of which are copied below. As we are in the midst of our annual stewardship season, may these comments from generous friends and visitors encourage our own generosity.