Stewardship 2021: Week 3

Dear Trinity Church and friends,

Stewardship Tuesday greetings once more!

 

All Saints Home Communion:

This Sunday, November 1, at 9:45 a.m.

Our cavalry of Paul and Pauline Reveres set off from Copley Square beginning last Monday, bearing a bit of Trinity for the wider world. By now, we hope that you have received your “Home For Faith Kit,” and we pray that this simple, tangible reminder – shared hand-to-hand and heart-to-heart – has already been an encouragement to you.

 

This Sunday, we will share a special service of Communion to mark the feast of All Saints.  In your Kit, you will find eucharistic elements already consecrated at Trinity. Binding the spirits of a home Communion with our more customary sharing of the sacrament together in church, our 9:45 a.m. worship this Sunday will take place live, via Zoom, from the Trinity altar. The Zoom link for worship will be provided in this Thursday’s “This Week at Trinity” eBlast.

 

Before worship begins, we invite everyone to set a Communion table wherever you are: a simple table covering (on the church altar, a “corporal”); a plain plate for the bread wafers (a “paten”); and a plain glass for the wine (a “chalice”). After praying an amended Eucharistic Prayer A from our Book of Common Prayer, we will announce the familiar Invitation: “The gifts of God, for the people of God.” We will then – from our many and varied “home chapels” and settings – consume the bread and wine, saying in turn, “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven;” and “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.”

 

Having received the gift of this Communion, we will then invite everyone to join the “great cloud of witnesses” we celebrate on All Saints and to make their 2021 pledge. While in this moment some may fill out their physical Pledge Card (also included in your Kit) and ready it for mailing on Monday morning, we will post a link to our secure pledging webpage in the Zoom chat. We encourage everyone who has not already, to make their pledge there and at this time, praying this shared commitment will join us as, in person, processing our pledges to the altar would.

 

Further notes about our All Saints service:

 

• Most importantly, we want to support anyone interested to share in this Communion.  If you have not received a Home For Faith Kit and would like one, please email lkoester@trinitychurchboston.org and we will coordinate delivery with you.
• If you are receiving Communion in the company of family or friends, you are welcome to administer the bread and wine to one another, using the customary words indicated above.  As when a Eucharistic Visitor or priest shares a home Communion in-person, the experience of offering the sacrament to a parent or partner, child or neighbor – or receiving from the same – can be moving.
• To dispose of any remaining bread or wine, we invite you to fill with water the wine bottle and the plastic cup that contained the bread, and then return those residuals “to the earth” – ideally, in an outdoor green space, though we trust God’s understanding for any whose mobility or location requires a potted plant, instead.
• Finally, we hope you will receive this Communion with peace and love, rather than anxiety or worry! Especially in these fraught times, we are praying for God to guard your joy, trusting that if you are receiving this Communion in sincerity and gratitude, you would rest assured that you are “doing it right.” Constrained as we are and have been, we trust God will joins us this Sunday with gladness, and not in judgement.

 

 

A Vigil of Prayer for Our National Life:

Sunday, November 1, at 7 p.m. – Thursday, November 5, at 11 a.m.

In this Sunday’s Forum at 7:00p, Morgan will lead, via Zoom, a presentation on “Faith in the Public Square.” Centering God’s call of the Church to inaugurate Beloved Community, he will distinguish the commission of the Body of Christ from other non-profit organizations and partisan projects. The Forum hour will conclude with a litany of prayers for the upcoming week.

 

At 8 p.m, we will then begin A Vigil of Prayer for Our National Life. As we pray on Sundays – “Lord, keep this nation under your care, and guide us in the way justice and peace” – we aim to covenant continuous prayer for the 89 hours surrounding and comprising Election Day. By registering here, we invite you to commit yourself to at least one, one-hour block (and to a maximum of three), scheduled between Sunday at 8 p.m. and Thursday, November 5, at 11 a.m. While prayer resources will be posted to our website and shared with you on the day of your committed hour, please trust the sufficiency of creating and holding a space of silence and Peace during your hour.

 

At noon on Thursday, November 5, we will return to Zoom for a Noonday Service for our National Life, shared live from the Trinity sanctuary. More details about this worship will be shared next week.

 

 

Last Sunday’s Sermon

For Week 2 of our Stewardship season, Morgan preached the second in a series of four consecutive sermons connecting our Gospel appointments to pop songs. Morgan related “The Book of Love” to Jesus’ centering all scripture and its teachings in Love – love of God and love of neighbor – inspiring us to see beyond the world as it is, and to inaugurate the world as it might be, beautiful and beloved.

 

Last Sunday’s Testimonial

We also welcomed to our worship Julianne and Henry Vidaver, who shared their Trinity homemaking – from “figuring out when to sit and stand,” to Henry’s nurture in the Choir, to the experience of making a difference through their family’s faithful Stewardship. Don’t miss the Vidavers’ inspiring reflection!

 

Share Your Spire!

As a sign that you have made your pledge, we invite you to assemble the paper spire included in your Home For Faith Kit and to share your creation – and your love – with your whole parish family. Responding to the simple prompt, “Trinity Church Is My Home For …” we hope you will decorate your spire with words, drawings, or collaged images expressing how Trinity Church is a home for you. As your spire signals your love and commitment, please take a photo or two and send them to our Communications team by clicking here. We will then share our parish spires via the website, by email, and on social media.

 

Prayer On The Square – Continuing This Sunday, November 1

This Sunday, November 1, we will host our second “Prayer on the Square” – a short, in-person service at 8:30 a.m. – from the West Porch of the church and facing Copley Square. As we pilot this city-facing liturgy for six Sundays, we will carefully de-densify to keep one another safe.  Therefore, each week from October 25 to November 29, we have invited a different subset of the parish (divided alphabetically by last name) to attend:

 

. October 25: A-D;

. November 1: E-J;

. November 8: K-O;

. November 15: P-S;

. November 22: T-Z;

. and November 29 will serve as a "make up day" for those who were unable to attend on their assigned week.

 

As we take this next step in the procession returning us to the altar, limiting the size of our gathering will ensure that we can keep each other safe, while also allowing us to welcome our neighbors on the Square.

 

 

Looking Ahead

For our All Souls worship in the morning of November 8, click here to share photos of those deceased family and personal friends you will be remembering on this special day. We invite you to share 3-5 photographs (one photo of each person). These images will be threaded into the visual presentation of our Choirs’ singing of Duruflé’s Requiem that day. Deadline for this submission is noon on Tuesday, November 3.

 

With thanks for sharing this Home For Faith with you,

Your 2021 Stewardship Team