News
Giver of Life,
Light from Light
Friday October 24, 2025
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
-The Nicene Creed, 1700 years and counting
Dear friends,
This weekend is a special service as this year marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. A place to find unity. A place to find shelter when life can be full of chaos and confusion. I hope you’ll be able to join us.
SEATING IN THE SANCTUARY
We’ve had a couple really good services in the space at Center Grace. Because it is a large space that seats nearly 2.5x the size of our Trinity parish, we kindly invite you and your families to join us in the center sections of the sanctuary so that we can all be together as a church family. Also, there is a room directly behind the sound board in that center section if you need to take your littles for some privacy, and sitting together in the center can help us logistically as well.
POTLUCK FOLLOWING SERVICE NOVEMBER 8!
In two weeks we will have a chance to sit together for a meal following service on November 8. The Creation Care team is leading the way on this event, stay tuned for details!
ACNA IN THE NEWS
Our province has been in the news this week, and not in a good light.
I will share more about this on Saturday during the service. I hope you can be there with us.
NURSERY HELP!
One of the things we talked about Saturday was our growing and growing nursery, and how wonderfully challenged we are there because of the great multitude of infants and littles that we have. We need more leaders and servers for nursery especially right now. I am delighted to be able to share that Shana has agreed to be a nursery leader! She is going to be great! So if you feel the heart-tug there, let us know!
TRINITY CHRISTMAS BOOK FOR THIS YEAR
To Marvel More, Holy Attention in the Incarnation Poems of Martha Marchina
Elspeth Currie
We are very excited for this year’s Christmas book! Here’s a little teaser bit, and one of my favorite poems from the book:
From the Introduction:
Martha Marchina (1600-1646) was a devout seventeenth-century Italian Catholic from an artisan class background. …her father made and sold scented soaps and brooms. After her mother’s early death, Marchina began overseeing the household and its domestic responsibilities. This included her brothers’ education. The boys began taking Latin lessons from a local religious community of Oratorians. Marchina would quiz them each day on what they learned and ended up learning the language herself and writing poetry, much to the surprise of her brothers’ teachers…
Here is an excerpt from one of my favorites:
In Praise of the Cave
Behold the house which once took part in that
great deed, how it contained the infant God.
It echoed with his tender wails and saw
our Lord’s young limbs grow stiff in winter’s chill…
Help us get the word out, all the info is on our Trinity Books Page!
I’m looking forward to worshiping together again this Saturday at Sunset.
Peace and blessings to you,
Tim+
TRANSITIONS - EXODUS, CARRIED AND CARED FOR
If you’ve missed some of the news on our transition, please take a moment to listen to our sermon from a couple of weeks ago.
For most of us, dealing with 1 major challenge in life can be difficult and we’ve recently had 3 challenges and a lot of transition all at once; I shared about journey this past Saturday evening, and about God’s faithful love for us and unchanging presence with us.
If you were not able to be with us last Saturday, may I ask that you give the message from that day, October 10, a listen?
You can find it here on our podcast channel, Exodus: Carried and Cared For.
My hope is that it helps to orient all of us at Trinity as a church community, as we pass through transitions.
TRINITY SERMONS AND PODCASTS CHANNEL
Michael shared with me that our podcasts have nearly reached 5,000 streams these past years since we first started, and it’s humbling to know that our sermons/podcasts are being heard around the world— We hardly ever mention this behind the scenes growth, but as you know, our church is full of families and folks whose lives and work impact many around our local cities, states, country and countries throughout the world.
I hope you’ll share our podcast channel with your friends!
SATURDAY SUNSET SERVICES
As many of you may be aware, since this past mid July we’ve been looking for a transition space to meet through the end of the year. We are very happy that Center Grace Church has graciously offered to share their space with us.
Starting Saturday, October 11, we will be at 4 pm at Center Grace Church in Beverly.
100 Cummings Center Ste 219Q
A few years ago some in our team and I had the opportunity to help Center Grace as they were in the middle of their own transition season moving from place to place as opportunity allowed. It’s been a great joy connecting with Pastor Derek and the team at Center Grace, as they’ve been very kind to us in these past weeks and we are very grateful to have a place to meet through the end of the year.
Where we are going brings a number of special opportunities for us.
- Location: We will be in the Cummings Center in central Beverly. Most of our parish live in Beverly, so we are grateful for the chance to worship together in a more central location.
- Tradition: Historically some traditional churches kept a Saturday sunset/evening service as it relates to the traditional Saturday Easter Vigils where they kept the traditions of anticipating and keeping watch for the coming of Jesus, as we do in Advent and Easter seasons.
- Functionality: Plenty of space for kids and littles in the sanctuary and in multiple classrooms. The set up for our weekly services should be easier than it’s ever been, and being in a space with proper HVAC will be a first for us!!!
- Fellowship and Connecting: this Sunset service gives us another great opportunity to gather together for dinner with family and friends on Saturday evenings following service in nearby downtown Beverly.
If you missed the online meeting a week ago and want to know more, chat with me.
Thank you for helping families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
We are so excited to announce the release of our latest title from Trinity Books!
To Marvel More: Holy Attention in the Incarnation Poems of Martha Marchina
*Translated with commentary by Elspeth Currie
Take a moment and help us by purchasing a copy this Fall season on Amazon and be sure to leave a kind review on Amazon. Perfect for adding to your next online order.
details on our Trinity Books Page
New Book!
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
Carried and Cared For
Friday October 17, 2025
The Lord your God, who goes before you, is the one who will fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your very eyes, and in the wilderness, where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as one carries a child, all the way that you travelled until you reached this place.
…Surely the Lord your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.’
-excerpts from Deuteronomy 1 and 2, as Moses asked the people to reflect on God’s care for them as they journeyed on exodus…
Hello friends,
I am really looking forward to two littles being baptized Saturday at sunset, and two Trinitarians being confirmed + received as well. I hope you will be with us to celebrate this special service and occasion!
TRANSITIONS - EXODUS, CARRIED AND CARED FOR
We had a really good first time in the space at Center Grace.
For most of us, dealing with 1 major challenge in life can be difficult and we’ve recently had 3 challenges and a lot of transition all at once; I shared about journey this past Saturday evening, and about God’s faithful love for us and unchanging presence with us.
If you were not able to be with us last Saturday, may I ask that you give the message from that day, October 10, a listen?
You can find it here on our podcast channel, Exodus: Carried and Cared For.
My hope is that it helps to orient all of us at Trinity as a church community, as we pass through transitions.
TRINITY SERMONS AND PODCASTS CHANNEL
Michael shared with me that our podcasts have nearly reached 5,000 streams these past years since we first started, and it’s humbling to know that our sermons/podcasts are being heard around the world— We hardly ever mention this behind the scenes growth, but as you know, our church is full of families and folks whose lives and work impact many around our local cities, states, country and countries throughout the world.
I hope you’ll share our podcast channel with your friends!
NURSERY HELP!
One of the things we talked about Saturday was our growing and growing nursery, and how wonderfully challenged we are there because of the great multitude of infants and littles that we have. We need more leaders and servers for nursery especially right now. I am delighted to be able to share that Shana has agreed to be a nursery leader! She is going to be great! So if you feel the heart-tug there, let us know!
TRINITY CHRISTMAS BOOK FOR THIS YEAR
To Marvel More, Holy Attention in the Incarnation Poems of Martha Marchina
Elspeth Currie
We are very excited for this year’s Christmas book! Here’s a little teaser bit, and one of my favorite poems from the book:
From the Introduction:
Martha Marchina (1600-1646) was a devout seventeenth-century Italian Catholic from an artisan class background. …her father made and sold scented soaps and brooms. After her mother’s early death, Marchina began overseeing the household and its domestic responsibilities. This included her brothers’ education. The boys began taking Latin lessons from a local religious community of Oratorians. Marchina would quiz them each day on what they learned and ended up learning the language herself and writing poetry, much to the surprise of her brothers’ teachers…
Here is an excerpt from one of my favorites:
In Praise of the Cave
Behold the house which once took part in that
great deed, how it contained the infant God.
It echoed with his tender wails and saw
our Lord’s young limbs grow stiff in winter’s chill…
Help us get the word out, all the info is on our Trinity Books Page!
I’m looking forward to worshiping together again this Saturday at Sunset.
Peace and blessings to you,
Tim+
UPCOMING SERVICES SATURDAY SUNSET VIGIL
As many of you may be aware, since this past mid July we’ve been looking for a transition space to meet through the end of the year. We are very happy that Center Grace Church has graciously offered to share their space with us.
Starting Saturday, October 11, we will be at 4 pm at Center Grace Church in Beverly.
100 Cummings Center Ste 219Q
A few years ago some in our team and I had the opportunity to help Center Grace as they were in the middle of their own transition season moving from place to place as opportunity allowed. It’s been a great joy connecting with Pastor Derek and the team at Center Grace, as they’ve been very kind to us in these past weeks and we are very grateful to have a place to meet through the end of the year.
Where we are going brings a number of special opportunities for us.
- Location: We will be in the Cummings Center in central Beverly. Most of our parish live in Beverly, so we are grateful for the chance to worship together in a more central location.
- Tradition: Historically some traditional churches kept a Saturday sunset/evening service as it relates to the traditional Saturday Easter Vigils where they kept the traditions of anticipating and keeping watch for the coming of Jesus, as we do in Advent and Easter seasons.
- Functionality: Plenty of space for kids and littles in the sanctuary and in multiple classrooms. The set up for our weekly services should be easier than it’s ever been, and being in a space with proper HVAC will be a first for us!!!
- Fellowship and Connecting: this Sunset service gives us another great opportunity to gather together for dinner with family and friends on Saturday evenings following service in nearby downtown Beverly.
If you missed the online meeting a week ago and want to know more, chat with me.
Thank you for helping the Currie, Clayton-Gross, and Skillen-Kedl families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
We are so excited to announce the release of our latest title from Trinity Books!
To Marvel More: Holy Attention in the Incarnation Poems of Martha Marchina
*Translated with commentary by Elspeth Currie
Take a moment and help us by purchasing a copy this Fall season on Amazon and be sure to leave a kind review on Amazon. Perfect for adding to your next online order.
details on our Trinity Books Page
New Book!
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
O Gracious Light, Shine on Me
Friday October 10, 2025
O Gracious Light
Brightness of the Eternal Father
O Jesus Christ
Holy and Blessed One
Now as we come
To the setting of the sun
And our eyes behold the vesper light
We bring you praise
Father Son and Holy Spirit
For you are worthy to be praised
You are worthy to be praised
O Son of God
O Giver of Life
Be Glorified through all the worlds
-O Gracious Light, Phos Hilaron - anonymous prayer dating back to the 3rd century.
Dear friends,
Thank you all for joining us for the Blessing of the Animals at Dane Street. It might’ve been one of the most beautiful services we’ve had celebrating Saint Francis. It was a joy to see so many of our families and friends (and furry friends) there by the sea.
We are very much looking forward to this next step in our transition and we hope you will continue to walk and pray together with us through this season.
UPCOMING SERVICES SATURDAY SUNSET VIGIL
As many of you may be aware, since this past mid July we’ve been looking for a transition space to meet through the end of the year. We are very happy that Center Grace Church has graciously offered to share their space with us.
Starting Saturday, October 11, we will be at 4 pm at Center Grace Church in Beverly.
100 Cummings Center Ste 219Q
A few years ago some in our team and I had the opportunity to help Center Grace as they were in the middle of their own transition season moving from place to place as opportunity allowed. It’s been a great joy connecting with Pastor Derek and the team at Center Grace, as they’ve been very kind to us in these past weeks and we are very grateful to have a place to meet through the end of the year.
Where we are going brings a number of special opportunities for us.
- Location: We will be in the Cummings Center in central Beverly. Most of our parish live in Beverly, so we are grateful for the chance to worship together in a more central location.
- Tradition: Historically some traditional churches kept a Saturday sunset/evening service as it relates to the traditional Saturday Easter Vigils where they kept the traditions of anticipating and keeping watch for the coming of Jesus, as we do in Advent and Easter seasons.
- Functionality: Plenty of space for kids and littles in the sanctuary and in multiple classrooms. The set up for our weekly services should be easier than it’s ever been, and being in a space with proper HVAC will be a first for us!!!
- Fellowship and Connecting: this Sunset service gives us another great opportunity to gather together for dinner with family and friends on Saturday evenings following service in nearby downtown Beverly.
If you missed the online meeting a week ago and want to know more, chat with me.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, Clayton-Gross, and Skillen-Kedl families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
New Baby!
Astrid Eleanor Skillen-Kedl was born to Justin and Isabelle on Friday, October 10.
Mom and baby are well.
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
Embrace With Your Tenderness All that Exists
Saturday October 4, 2025
A PRAYER FOR OUR EARTH
Pope Francis
All powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
so that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with your peace,
so that may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue
the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
so that we may protect the world
and not prey on it,
so that we may sow beauty,
not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those
who look only for gain at the expense
of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover
the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognized that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey toward your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love, and peace. Amen.
- from Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home (2015)
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS!
Blessing of the Animals
This Sunday October 5
10 am
Lyon’s Park at Dane Street Beach in Beverly, MA
to the right of the parking lot as you’re facing the sea!
Directions here
Dear friends,
Tomorrow we will be at Lyons Park, which is the grassy area at Dane St Beach in Beverly (to the right of the parking area), at 10 a.m. for a simple and lovely service for St Francis Day.
Bring a blanket and/or a chair and your beloved animals for a blessing!
Coffee following service down the street at 3 James Street in the backyard. It’s a small yard so please use your discretion if you would like to bring your animal(s) with you, or keep them safely in the car with the windows slightly open for air!
UPCOMING SERVICES SATURDAY SUNSET VIGIL
As many of you may be aware, since this past mid July we’ve been looking for a transition space to meet through the end of the year. We are very happy that Center Grace Church has graciously offered to share their space with us.
Starting Saturday, October 11, we will be at 4 pm at Center Grace Church in Beverly.
100 Cummings Center Ste 219Q
A few years ago some in our team and I had the opportunity to help Center Grace as they were in the middle of their own transition season moving from place to place as opportunity allowed. It’s been a great joy connecting with Pastor Derek and the team at Center Grace, as they’ve been very kind to us in these past weeks and we are very grateful to have a place to meet through the end of the year.
Where we are going brings a number of special opportunities for us.
- Location: We will be in the Cummings Center in central Beverly. Most of our parish live in Beverly, so we are grateful for the chance to worship together in a more central location.
- Tradition: Historically some traditional churches kept a Saturday sunset/evening service as it relates to the traditional Saturday Easter Vigils where they kept the traditions of anticipating and keeping watch for the coming of Jesus, as we do in Advent and Easter seasons.
- Functionality: Plenty of space for kids and littles in the sanctuary and in multiple classrooms. The set up for our weekly services should be easier than it’s ever been, and being in a space with proper HVAC will be a first for us!!!
- Fellowship and Connecting: this Sunset service gives us another great opportunity to gather together for dinner with family and friends on Saturday evenings following service in nearby downtown Beverly.
If you missed the online meeting Wednesday evening and want to know more, chat with me.
Peace,
Tim+
CONFIRMATION CLASS
Continuing after service Sunday, talking about our Anglican tradition. We’ll be talking about it not in terms of its history or formality or whatever, but as a living spirituality. We’ll be talking about a few things that make it unique, and why they matter.
Class welcome to everyone, whether being confirmed in October or not.
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
Confirmation Class dates:
September 14, 21, 28, and October 5 following Sunday morning service.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, and Clayton families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Connecting Groups
Trinity has a variety of ongoing groups at the church that help us foster community, practice hospitality, and encourage us to grow in Christ together. We have Bible study groups, creative activity groups, home groups, mentorship groups, and topically focused groups.. Details here
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
Who is Like God?
Saturday September 27, 2025
Who is Like God?
-the name of Michael
The name comes from the Hebrew mîḵāʼēl, which breaks down to "who?" (mî), "like" (kî), and "God" ('ēl)
The name is a rhetorical question, not a statement that an angel could be compared to God. It humbly emphasizes that no one is like God, echoing the sentiment of the Psalmist who asked,
"For who is God, but You, O Lord?" (Psalm 18:31).
Angels, Archangels, Thrones and Dominations, Principalities and Powers, Virtues of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, bless the Lord forever.
All ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Sing a hymn and exalt Him above all forever.
O GOD, Who in a wonderful manner does distribute the ministries of angels and men, mercifully grant that as Your holy angels ever wait upon You and do You service in heaven, so our lives may be defended by them upon earth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
-Catholic Prayer Book
Dear friends,
This Sunday we celebrate Holy Michael and All Angels, and we are very much looking forward to celebrating together!
Thanks for joining us at our Community Conversation this past Wednesday. It was a delightful and fascinating discussion.
ANNUAL MEETING THIS SUNDAY
We are looking forward to our Annual Meeting, this Sunday, September 28 immediately following service at 1030. We invite you to take a short time with us for this year’s meeting. Bring a blanket or a chair to sit on as we will be outside, weather permitting!
IMPORTANT MEETING ONLINE THIS WEDNESDAY
Please join us online this Wednesday evening at 7pm as we discuss our place going forward through the end of the year. We are deeply grateful to have an option. The link to join will be on our Events Page on Wednesday!
Caring for Creation: A Timely Invitation
A note from Mthr Jen about this week’s message and an opportunity that came up at the same time:
This Sunday, we’ll continue exploring how the gospel restores not only human lives but the whole of Creation—and how Scripture invites us to see the living world around us as participants in God’s story. In connection with this theme, we’re delighted to share that Dr. Doug Tallamy, author of The Nature of Oaks and a leading voice for native gardening, will be speaking in our area Sunday, September 28 in Gloucester. His work highlights how something as simple as planting native species can heal ecosystems and sustain life. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more and be inspired.
This event is free but registration is required — register here or learn more about 400 Trees here
CONFIRMATION CLASS
Will Pause this Sunday for Annual Meeting.
Continuing after service next Sunday, talking about our Anglican tradition. We’ll be talking about it not in terms of its history or formality or whatever, but as a living spirituality. We’ll be talking about a few things that make it unique, and why they matter.
Class welcome to everyone, whether being confirmed in October or not.
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
Confirmation Class dates:
September 14, 21, 28, and October 5 following Sunday morning service in the Parish Hall.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, and Clayton families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Connecting Groups
Trinity has a variety of ongoing groups at the church that help us foster community, practice hospitality, and encourage us to grow in Christ together. We have Bible study groups, creative activity groups, home groups, mentorship groups, and topically focused groups.. Details here
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
The Beauty of Creation
Saturday September 20, 2025
God's pleasure--the beauty creation possesses in his regard--underlies the distinct being of creation, and so beauty is the first and truest word concerning all that appears within being; beauty is the showing of what is; God looked upon what he had wrought and saw that it was good.”
David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth
Dear friends,
Thank you for your great feedback and excellent questions during this Creationtide. I’m glad for that! And I am looking forward to our Community Conversation on Wednesday, next week. That’s September 24, 7-8.30 pm. The place is the Beverly Public Library, in a room downstairs: the Barnet Gallery. This will be hybrid, in-person and online. Bring your questions, your reflections, thoughts about how our topics of creationtide reach into your life.
More info on our Events Page!
ANNUAL MEETING
We are looking forward to our Annual Meeting, Sunday, September 28 immediately following service. We invite you to take a short time with us for this year’s meeting.
Caring for Creation: A Timely Invitation
A note from Mthr Jen about this week’s message and an opportunity that came up at the same time:
This Sunday, we’ll continue exploring how the gospel restores not only human lives but the whole of Creation—and how Scripture invites us to see the living world around us as participants in God’s story. In connection with this theme, we’re delighted to share that Dr. Doug Tallamy, author of The Nature of Oaks and a leading voice for native gardening, will be speaking in our area Sunday, September 28 in Gloucester. His work highlights how something as simple as planting native species can heal ecosystems and sustain life. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more and be inspired.
This event is free but registration is required — register here or learn more about 400 Trees here
CONFIRMATION CLASS
Continues this Sunday.
Continuing after service this Sunday, talking about our Anglican tradition. We’ll be talking about it not in terms of its history or formality or whatever, but as a living spirituality. We’ll be talking about a few things that make it unique, and why they matter.
Class welcome to everyone, whether being confirmed in October or not.
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
Confirmation Class dates:
September 14, 21, 28, and October 5 following Sunday morning service in the Parish Hall.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Join us Wednesday September 24 from
7-830 at the Downtown Beverly Library
details on our Events Page
Community Conversation
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, and Clayton families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Connecting Groups
Trinity has a variety of ongoing groups at the church that help us foster community, practice hospitality, and encourage us to grow in Christ together. We have Bible study groups, creative activity groups, home groups, mentorship groups, and topically focused groups.. Details here
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
The Whole Human Family is Made in God’s Image
Saturday September 13, 2025
O God, you made us in your own image, and you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Collect for the Human Family
Dear friends,
Our Book of Common Prayer has a fantastic section of prayers towards the back, called “Occasional Prayers” which in Anglican speak does not so much mean “pray one every once in a while” as, “pray when the situation (occasion) needs this” (which would, we hope, be less than every once in a while). This one is #42. Alas, we need this one, as we are in a cycle of escalating violence in our society.
Two of the things I like most about this one are:
-It leads off with a reminder that we are created in God’s image: human dignity is not earned, but gifted, and it is defined in relation to God, not our opinions or etc.
-Shortly after it reminds us that the “whole human family” shares this and therefore is a family, under God.
One other thing: Community Conversation coming up on Wednesday, September 24, at a NEW time: 7-8.30 pm. This will be hybrid, in-person and online. Bring your questions, your reflections, thoughts about how our topics of creationtide reach into your living… We’ll be in Beverly, in the Barnet Gallery of the Public Library, so feel free to bring friends.
POTLUCKING!
We had a great time together this past Wednesday! It was the biggest yet, all tables full and people in good conversations from both churches. And a lot of great food!
Welcome Another New Baby!
Congratulations to Sophie and Toby Clayton-Gross! Ladies and gentlemen, Mila Anne Clayton-Gross!
Toby reports:
Mila (MEE-luh) Anne Clayton-Gross was born on September 9th at 2:58am, weighing 6lbs 13oz and at 20 inches long.
Her name Mila, has slavic roots meaning “mercy”, “gracious”, and “dear one”. We first encountered the name while we were in Romania.
Mom and baby are both healthy and well. You can help out with the Take them a Meal below. 🌠
BAPTISMS
Baptisms coming up — let me know if you or yours would like to be baptized!
September 21 and October 19
ANNUAL MEETING
We are looking forward to our Annual Meeting, Sunday, September 28 immediately following service. We invite you to take a short time with us for this year’s meeting.
TRINITY KIDS AND LITTLES!
Children’s Ministry is continuing after the summer hiatus. The Littles (aged 1.5 through 4 years old) and the Olders (aged 5 through 11 years old) will meet every Sunday from the sermon through the Peace, roughly a half hour. In age appropriate ways, both groups will learn about and engage with the God the Creator and Father, Jesus the Son and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit fount of wisdom and comfort through the Old and New Testament stories.
Questions? Contact Mtr Wendy at wendy@trinitynorthshore.org
THIS AUTUMN at TRINITY
Community Conversation (returns in a new form)
September 24, Community Conversation, 7-830 pm at the Beverly Downtown Library.
Details on our Events Page!
CONFIRMATION CLASS
Begins this Sunday.
Begins after service this Sunday, talking about our Anglican tradition. We’ll be talking about it not in terms of its history or formality or whatever, but as a living spirituality. We’ll be talking about a few things that make it unique, and why they matter.
Class welcome to everyone, whether being confirmed in October or not.
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
Confirmation Class dates:
September 14, 21, 28, and October 5 following Sunday morning service in the Parish Hall.
CREATIONTIDE CONTINUES
and Possible Big News coming soon re: the North Shore Pollinator Corridor
I am always excited about Creationtide, which will surprise no one, but this year Mother Jen and I are particularly looking forward to it. Over its six Sundays we will be working to help connect some of the dots we have heard you asking about, or expressed that others you know are trying to connect.
For example: Creation was deemed good by God in Genesis 1-2.3, but did that goodness survive Genesis 3 and the Fall, especially given “cursed be the earth because of you (human)”? Here’s a clue: read that again and ask two questions: a. Who is at fault? b. Is that over?
THE NORTH SHORE POLLINATOR CORRIDOR
Two big things here:
We have applied for grant money to help us go forward with this project. The foundation is interested. We do not have a yes yet, but we also have not been told no. They want to talk to us again as we make progress going into this coming year.
You can find the content (adapted) we sent to them in our proposal here. Much credit to Mother Jen, who took my intuitive framing of this, synthesized, added her insights and wrote beautifully. I believe this is a good starter place for us to talk about our mission on the North Shore. What should a church’s disposition be in a place such as where we live? Why? How do we see this as both valid loving and serving God and our neighbor in and of itself, and as effective mission for Trinity? We’ll be discussing these things in Community Conversation, and you can start digesting the raw material, if you will, on our Creation Care page here.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, and Clayton families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Connecting Groups
Trinity has a variety of ongoing groups at the church that help us foster community, practice hospitality, and encourage us to grow in Christ together. We have Bible study groups, creative activity groups, home groups, mentorship groups, and topically focused groups.. Details here
Community Conversation
Join us Wednesday September 24 from
7-830 at the Downtown Beverly Library
details on our Events Page
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
As the Rains Come Down from Heaven
Saturday September 6, 2025
Listen! Everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
…For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
-excerpts from Isaiah 55
Hello friends,
Lots going on this autumn: as ever, skim the HEADERS below and catch the pieces you need… Especially this week I’m thinking about our Potluck coming up on Wednesday evening, 6-8 pm, at Magnolia.
And our upcoming Community Conversation, September 24, 6-7.30 pm, and hybrid (in-person and online).
Keep praying regarding our next season and where we will be gathering. We will hold an update soon, maybe online one evening during the week.
New Baby!
Nathan and Elspeth Currie are pleased to announce the birth of Elinor Blaise Currie!
Mom and baby are doing great! You can help out with the Take them a Meal below. 🌠
TRINITY KIDS AND LITTLES RETURNS THIS SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7!
Children’s Ministry is resuming after the summer hiatus this Sunday, Sept 7. The Littles (aged 1.5 through 4 years old) and the Olders (aged 5 through 11 years old) will meet every Sunday from the sermon through the Peace, roughly a half hour. In age appropriate ways, both groups will learn about and engage with the God the Creator and Father, Jesus the Son and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit fount of wisdom and comfort through the Old and New Testament stories.
Questions? Contact Mtr Wendy at wendy@trinitynorthshore.org
CREATIONTIDE CONTINUES
and Possible Big News coming soon re: the North Shore Pollinator Corridor
I am always excited about Creationtide, which will surprise no one, but this year Mother Jen and I are particularly looking forward to it. Over its six Sundays we will be working to help connect some of the dots we have heard you asking about, or expressed that others you know are trying to connect.
For example: Creation was deemed good by God in Genesis 1-2.3, but did that goodness survive Genesis 3 and the Fall, especially given “cursed be the earth because of you (human)”? Here’s a clue: read that again and ask two questions: a. Who is at fault? b. Is that over?
THE NORTH SHORE POLLINATOR CORRIDOR
Two big things here:
We have applied for grant money to help us go forward with this project. The foundation is interested. We do not have a yes yet, but we also have not been told no. They want to talk to us again as we make progress going into this coming year.
You can find the content (adapted) we sent to them in our proposal here. Much credit to Mother Jen, who took my intuitive framing of this, synthesized, added her insights and wrote beautifully. I believe this is a good starter place for us to talk about our mission on the North Shore. What should a church’s disposition be in a place such as where we live? Why? How do we see this as both valid loving and serving God and our neighbor in and of itself, and as effective mission for Trinity? We’ll be discussing these things in Community Conversation, and you can start digesting the raw material, if you will, on our Creation Care page here.
THIS AUTUMN at TRINITY
Potlucks and Community Conversation (returns in a new form)
September 10, Pot Luck, 6-8 pm at Magnolia
September 24, Community Conversation, 6-7.30 pm at Magnolia
We’ll get the news out as each of these approaches, but you can go ahead and mark these dates down now.
CONFIRMATION CLASS
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
Confirmation Class dates:
September 14, 21, 28, and October 5 following Sunday morning service in the Parish Hall.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, and Clayton families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Connecting Groups
Trinity has a variety of ongoing groups at the church that help us foster community, practice hospitality, and encourage us to grow in Christ together. We have Bible study groups, creative activity groups, home groups, mentorship groups, and topically focused groups.. Details here
Autumn Potluck!
Join us Wednesday September 10 from 6-8 in Magnolia!
Be sure to sign up, details on our Events Page
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
Creationtide
Saturday August 30, 2025
As a boy, I lived for some time in the country and I clearly remember an experience from those days: I used to walk to school in a nearby village along a cart track through the fields and, on the way, see on the horizon a huge smokestack of some hurriedly built factory, in all likelihood in the service of war. It spewed dense brown smoke and scattered it across the sky. Each time I saw it, I had an intense sense of something profoundly wrong, of humans soiling the heavens.
I have no idea whether there was something like a science of ecology in those days; if there was, I certainly knew nothing of it. Still that “soiling of the heavens” offended me spontaneously. It seemed to me that, in it, humans are guilty of something, that they destroy something important, arbitrarily disrupting the natural order of things, and that such things cannot go unpunished.
To be sure, my revulsion was largely aesthetic; I knew nothing then of the noxious emissions which would one day devastate our forests, exterminate game, and endanger the health of people.
If a medieval man were to see something like that suddenly on the horizon — say, while out hunting — he would probably think it the work of the Devil and would fall on his knees and pray that he and his kin be saved.
What is it, actually, that the world of the medieval peasant and that of a small boy have in common? Something substantive, I think. Both the boy and the peasant are far more intensely rooted in what some philosophers call “the natural world, or Lebenswelt, than most modern adults.
They have not yet grown alienated from the world of their actual personal experience, the world which has its morning and its evening, its down (the earth) and its up (the heavens), where the sun rises daily in the east, traverses the sky and sets in the west, and where concepts like “at home” and “in foreign parts,” good and evil, beauty and ugliness, near and far, duty and rights, still mean something living and definite. They are still rooted in a world which knows the dividing line between all that is intimately familiar and appropriately a subject of our concern, and that which lies beyond its horizon, that before which we should bow down humbly because of the mystery about it.
-the beginning of a speech written by Vaclav Havel, Politics and Conscience. He wrote it to give at the University of Toulouse on the occasion of their bestowing on him an honorary doctorate, but he was forbidden to travel by his government, who disapproved of his ideas. In spite of its being written forty years ago it is still germane, possibly more germane than at that time.
Hello friends,
New Baby!
Nathan and Elspeth Currie are pleased to announce the birth of Elinor Blaise Currie!
Mom and baby are doing great! You can help out with the Take them a Meal below. 🌠
Thank you all for a good chat together last Sunday at Elevenses, regarding our next season and where we will worship. Keep praying! I cannot promise anything at this point except what we know to be certain and true: God is with us; God’s Spirit leads us; Jesus loves us and calls us his own. I’m looking forward to seeing how this next step for us sorts out.
In the meantime, this Sunday is a particularly significant one for us at Trinity; we will begin celebrating Creationtide, which begins on September 1. It started among the world Orthodox Christian community in 1989 with the leadership of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is affectionately known as “the Green Patriarch.” September 1, is the beginning of the Orthodox liturgical year, and the Patriarch wanted the church to begin each year by remembering the beginning of all things. In an ecumenical gesture of global significance, Pope Francis announced in August, 2015 that the Roman Catholic Church will also recognize September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and would keep a liturgical season related to creation from September 1 until October 4, the Feast of St Francis.
Also, a note about Potlucks and Community Conversations: we are looking forward to these! We are planning a rhythm of a monthly of each. We have heard some of you when you have shared that the time for the Potlucks is too early to be realistic for you and yours. We’ve moved the starting time of those to 6-8 pm, and may have another option for some of them as well. Some of this will also depend on where our next space lands, so we are holding the scheduling flexibly and glad to hear from you about what works for you.
CREATIONTIDE, BEGINNING AUGUST 31
and Possible Big News coming soon re: the North Shore Pollinator Corridor
I am always excited about Creationtide, which will surprise no one, but this year Mother Jen and I are particularly looking forward to it. Over its six Sundays we will be working to help connect some of the dots we have heard you asking about, or expressed that others you know are trying to connect.
For example: Creation was deemed good by God in Genesis 1-2.3, but did that goodness survive Genesis 3 and the Fall, especially given “cursed be the earth because of you (human)”? Here’s a clue: read that again and ask two questions: a. Who is at fault? b. Is that over?
THE NORTH SHORE POLLINATOR CORRIDOR
Two big things here:
We have applied for grant money to help us go forward with this project. The foundation is interested. We do not have a yes yet, but we also have not been told no. They want to talk to us again as we make progress going into this coming year.
You can find the content (adapted) we sent to them in our proposal here. Much credit to Mother Jen, who took my intuitive framing of this, synthesized, added her insights and wrote beautifully. I believe this is a good starter place for us to talk about our mission on the North Shore. What should a church’s disposition be in a place such as where we live? Why? How do we see this as both valid loving and serving God and our neighbor in and of itself, and as effective mission for Trinity? We’ll be discussing these things in Community Conversation, and you can start digesting the raw material, if you will, on our Creation Care page here.
THIS AUTUMN at TRINITY
Potlucks and Community Conversation (returns in a new form)
September 10, Pot Luck, 6-8 pm
September 24, Community Conversation, 6-7.30 pm
We’ll get the news out as each of these approaches, but you can go ahead and mark these dates down now.
CONFIRMATION CLASS
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
Confirmation Class dates:
September 14, 21, 28, and October 5 following Sunday morning service in the Parish Hall.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Currie, Ferrell, and White families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Connecting Groups
Trinity has a variety of ongoing groups at the church that help us foster community, practice hospitality, and encourage us to grow in Christ together. We have Bible study groups, creative activity groups, home groups, mentorship groups, and topically focused groups.. Details here
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
Invitation to Pray Together
“Attention”
The Rarest and Purist Form of Generosity
Saturday August 23, 2025
The 20th-century French philosopher Simone Weil whose profound writings would influence the likes of T. S. Eliot, Albert Camus, Pope Paul VI, Flannery O’Connor, Iris Murdoch, and more,
(During World War II) Weil refused special treatment for her malady, or even adequate food or water, because she wished to live in solidarity with the residents of German (Nazi)-occupied France who, she reasoned, were free to eat far less… Weil desired not only to understand the sufferings of the dispossessed with her majestic intellect, or to fight for them through her social and political activism. She wished to suffer alongside them, quite literally.
…Attention — the “rarest and purest form of generosity” — is at her program’s very center, as it accords other human beings the kind of respect, even reverence, each is due. It is not to cast another as an equal to oneself, but to “make a place for others by placing one’s own self in a subordinate position,” Zaretsky explains. For Weil, to pay attention was not to use one’s effort to understand the other with more intensity but rather to lose oneself so that one might receive with docility the good of the other that was already there.
“Complete attention is like unconsciousness,” she declared, a falling away from concern with the self as the center of one’s universe. As with people, so with insights.
Zaretsky summarizes: “To attend means not to seek, but to wait; not to concentrate, but instead to dilate our minds.” The goal was to see the world not as I would like it to be (with myself and my desires at the center), but to see the world as it really is.
excerpts from a review of The Subversive Simone Weil: A Life in Five Ideas, a 2023 biography by Robert Zaretsky. Review by Erika Bachiochi
Simone Weil believed prayer is giving attention to God, which then gives us the true ability to give attention to others… her writings on “the afflicted” (the poor, suffering, oppressed) and on “attention” are easily among the best I have read.
Fr Tim
Hello friends,
Lots of good stuff happening as we head into the coming autumn
CHATTING ABOUT OUR MEETING PLACE FOR THE NEXT SEASON
This Sunday, August 24, join us at Elevenses to talk together about our the coming months and our place. Keep praying! And know I am looking forward to chatting together tomorrow.
CREATIONTIDE, BEGINNING AUGUST 31
and Possible Big News re: the North Shore Pollinator Corridor
I am always excited about creationtide, which will surprise no one, but this year Mthr Jen and I are particularly looking forward to it. Over its six Sundays we will be working to help connect some of the dots we have heard you asking about, or expressed that others you know are trying to connect.
For example: Creation was deemed good by God in Genesis 1-2.3, but did that goodness survive Genesis 3 and the Fall, especially given “cursed be the earth because of you (human)”? Here’s a clue: read that again and ask two questions: a. Who is at fault? b. Is that over?
THE NORTH SHORE POLLINATOR CORRIDOR
Two big things here:
We have applied for grant money to help us go forward with this project. The foundation is interested. We do not have a yes yet, but we also have not been told no. They want to talk to us again as we make progress going into this coming year.
You can find the content (adapted) we sent to them in our proposal here. Much credit to Mother Jen, who took my intuitive framing of this, synthesized, added her insights and wrote beautifully. I believe this is a good starter place for us to talk about our mission on the North Shore. What should a church’s disposition be in a place such as where we live? Why? How do we see this as both valid loving and serving God and our neighbor in and of itself, and as effective mission for Trinity? We’ll be discussing these things in Community Conversation, and you can start digesting the raw material, if you will, on our Creation Care page here.
THIS AUTUMN at TRINITY
Potlucks and Community Conversation (returns in a new form)
September 10, Pot Luck, 5-7 pm
September 24, Community Conversation, 6-7.30 pm
We’ll get the news out as each of these approaches, but you can go ahead and mark these dates down now.
CONFIRMATION CLASS
It is More Fun Than You Think
We are scheduled to have Bp Trevor Walters with us on Sunday, October 19.
(Bp Trevor is assisting our diocese. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with him and a small number of others on a retreat several years ago; I enjoyed his presence.)
Confirmation is the sacrament that gets too little credit — to many it feels sort of like maintenance, or checking a box, but in reality it is vibrant and quite exciting… It is about owning the faith and your place in one of the great sacramental traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), which itself means a tradition whose spirituality recognizes God present and working in creation, in the everyday aspects of life, present to us all the time. Confirmation also involves the bishop anointing you for a fresh start, and for living into your own calling at a new level.
If you are interested in Confirmation, please join me for a Confirmation Class coming this autumn (mid-September, starting soon!). Feel free to chat with me, ask your questions, etc.
The class last year involved some great questions, discussion, and just a good feeling. We talked about:
The Anglican Way: A Living Spirituality
Scripture: Ancient, Different, Ironic, Practical, Promising, Filling, even Humorous, and More…
Creeds: The Greatest Story, in Concentrate
The Sacraments: What, Why, Why These, How They Heal Us and the World
(Class open to anyone, interested in Confirmation or not.)
CONNECT GROUPS
Thank you all for your input on the Connect Groups survey. More news coming soon!
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Ferrell and White families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Invitation to Pray Together
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
The Image Remains
Saturday August 16, 2025
This week (August 14) was the commemoration of Fr Maximillian Kolbe. His story is dramatic: he was a Polish Catholic priest, imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau during WWII. There was an escape and the guards made all the prisoners line up, announcing they would choose ten men to be hanged in revenge. As one man was chosen he uttered, “my wife, my children!” and Fr Kolbe, in line nearby, stepped forward spontaneously, offering himself in this man’s place.
A few cells from Fr Kolbe’s was Stephan Jasienski’s, 2nd Lt. of the Polish Armed Forces. He carved the Sacred Heart of Jesus — a kind of an icon of Christ’s love — into the wall of his cell with his fingernails. The image remains.
Hello friends,
What a beautiful and joyous time last week with our baptisms! It’s an honor to be part of such a wonderful community.
I hope things are going well as the functional new year approaches and everyone is getting ready for school and regular rhythms and all that.
Sunday, August 24, join us at Elevenses to talk together about our the coming months and our place. Keep praying! And know I am looking forward to chatting together soon.
One more simple thing this week: I’m looking forward to August 31st, when Creationtide begins. More soon, but this year we will be trying to connect some dots and respond to some of the questions we sometimes hear about God, creation, resurrection, new creation, and so on.
In the meantime, join us on Wednesdays, 12-1, either online together or just praying where you are (joining in spirit), as we pray for the world. So many children and innocents in severe difficulties, and the earth and her creatures suffering as well.
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+
Thank you for helping the Ferrell and White families with meals at this time. They are so grateful to have this community support. details here:
Take them a Meal
Invitation to Pray Together
Your Parish Council would like to invite us all into a regular pattern of prayer - together! This is a way for us to pause, midweek, whatever we are doing in our lives to join our hearts together in prayer. All the details here!
A Walk With Stones, Puddles, and Unexpected Hugs
Saturday August 9, 2025
" Brothers, sisters…
I speak to you, especially to those who no longer believe, no longer hope, no longer pray, because they think God has left.
To those who are fed up with scandals, with misused power, with the silence of a Church that sometimes seems more like a palace than a home.
I, too, was angry with God.
I, too, saw good people die, children suffer, grandparents cry without medicine.
And yes… there were days when I prayed and only felt an echo.
But then I discovered something:
God doesn't shout. God whispers.
And sometimes He whispers from the mud, from pain, from a grandmother who feeds you without having anything.
I don't come to offer you perfect faith.
I come to tell you that faith is a walk with stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.
I'm not asking you to believe in everything.
I'm asking you not to close the door. Give a chance to the God who waits for you without judgment.
I'm just a priest who saw God in the smile of a woman who lost her son... and yet she cooked for others.
That changed me.
So if you're broken, if you don't believe, if you're tired of the lies...
come anyway. With your anger, your doubt, your dirty backpack.
No one here will ask you for a VIP card.
Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary.
God doesn't need soldiers.
He needs brothers and sisters.
And you, yes, you...
are one of them."
Robert Prevost (Leo XIV)
Dear friends,
Thank you all for turning out for last week's potluck. It's always a joy to gather together with one another and our friends at Magnolia.
We are very much looking forward to this Sunday morning as we have 2 baptisms! It’s an honor to walk together with you along this path of stones, puddles, and unexpected hugs.
We want to kindly ask that you continue to pray, I will be teaching during their service this week, and look forward to being with them..
An Ask For Prayer
A quick update regarding our space to gather and worship after this lovely Summer by the Sea:
We are continuing to look for a space, and welcome any ideas you have or news about places you may see, or hear about, etc…please forward them to me or anyone on our staff!
And, we have asked Magnolia Congregational if we might continue to be blessed by their generous hospitality, through the winter. They, being congregational, will meet again this Sunday to talk about this and probably to vote on it. I will be teaching during their service this week, and look forward to being with them.
So, join me in prayer for them and for us, regarding this and just overall. We have had some good meetings between some of our leadership and some of theirs.
Just an humble reminder: My core prayer for Trinity and our space is always that Jesus would lead us and put us where we will best be able to live into our calling.
Also, join us on Wednesdays, 12-1, either online together or just praying where you are (joining in spirit), as we pray for the world. So many children and innocents in severe difficulties, and the earth and her creatures suffering as well.
And don’t forget the opportunity to help our Take Them a Meal families!
Blessings and peace to you all,
Tim+