 Meditation for June 28, 2020 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. [Matthew 5:9] Our service of Morning Prayer on Sunday will center on prayers for social justice, and our readers will be members of the Mission Committee. In recent weeks all of us have been reawakened to the many ways we have unintentionally, even unconsciously, been complicit in racial injustice. I have been haunted by the poem “Strange Fruit”, especially as it was sung by Billie Holliday. (A 1959 recording is available on YouTube). The poem was written by Abel Meerpool, a Jewish man who taught English at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and who wrote under the name Lewis Allen. In the early 1930s, he wrote this poem in horrified response to a photograph of a lynching; he put the words to music and performed it for a club owner he knew, who gave it to Billie Holliday, through whom it became widely known as this century’s central metaphor for lynching. Abel Meerpool wrote out of indignation and horror, little knowing how many millions of lives he would touch. We pray for the grace to trust that our own small acts from the heart, perhaps solitary and invisible, will also awaken others in ways we cannot imagine. Strange Fruit , by Lewis Allen. Sung by Billie Holiday Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh. Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop 9 AM SUNDAY - MORNING PRAYER via ZOOM Prayers for Social Justice Ministers of the Liturgy: The Rev. Judith Lee Members of the Mission Committee: Mary-Ellen Yaroshefski, Lucille Clinkman, Mary Torian, Ginny Starkis, Mary Johnson https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82256827302?pwd=Z0E3ZlpXY0hIRFdIZHN0ZnltdXNlZz09 Meeting ID: 822-5682-7302 Password: 546896 If you cannot access through your computer, you may participate by telephone. Telephone: 929-205-6099 For the Morning Prayer leaflet, click here.We will hold Morning Prayer via ZOOM at 9 am every Sunday in July and August Next Steps: Moving Forward God of the present moment, God who in Jesus stills the storm and soothes the frantic heart; bring us hope and courage as we wait in uncertainty. Bring hope that you will make us the equal of whatever lies ahead. Bring us courage to endure what cannot be avoided, for your will is health and wholeness; you are God, and we need you. - from A New Zealand Prayer Book On June 22nd, your Vestry met to consider plans for re-opening the church building and in-person worship for the months of July and August. Their two considerations were the well-being of the congregation and faithfulness to your Mission Statement: Sharing the Grace of God, the Light of Christ, and the Power of the Holy Spirit through worship, ministry, and fellowship.
Parish Zoom Events: We have a new Summer Schedule: ZOOM Bingo on Sundays at 3 pm & Game Night on Tuesdays @ 7 - We'll resume in September Zoom-Chats: Mondays @ 7am & Wednesdays @ 8 pm: Every Other Week: Mondays:June 29, July 13 & 27, August 10 Wednesdays: June 24, July 8 & 22, August 5 & 19 Wednesdays @ 10 am: Morning Prayer & Fellowship via ZOOM - We'll continue weekly https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88905158309?pwd=dVpmY1JhajN6RWpTZmEzQ3NnOERBdz09 Meeting ID: 889-0515-8309 Password: 365669 Telephone: 929-205-6099 Fridays @ Noon: Lunch & Bible Study: The Gospel of Matthew - We'll continue weekly through the month of July. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87474952317?pwd=UkdpQTNuNmtxVkhtYlZkVGVDVkZOQT09 Meeting ID: 874 7495 2317 Password: 097331 This Friday we will continue our discussion of the Gospel of Matthew through Chapter 12. For a copy of the Reading Schedule click here: https://mcusercontent.com/31f1ff6e86fdaf99cb3a10f4e/files/69c82ad4-fdda-47fa-958a-a17d936fab63/Bible_Study_Gospel_of_Matthew.June_July_2020.01.pdf Please note: Unscrupulous people have contacted parishioners claiming to be Mother Judith and asking for money. Mother Judith's only email addresses are jlee.trinitychurchmilford@gmail.com or lee.judith.mary@gmail.com and her phone number is (716) 949-8194 . She never asks for money! Please do not respond to any other email addresses or phone numbers. If you have a question about whether a request is REALLY from Mother Judith, please contact her first at these email addresses/phone number before sending any money. Thanks. For the weekly announcements, click here. New Rector Search: Next Steps An important part of the search for a new rector is identifying who we are and what we as a parish are called to be. Ordinarily, we would gather that information at a parish-wide meeting. Since that is not possible, we will be hosting a series of Zoom meetings where we can discuss and reflect on these topics. For those without access to Zoom, we will schedule two in-person meetings sometime in July after we have received permission from the diocese to reopen. Members of the Vestry and Chairs of the Search & Profile committees will facilitate these meetings. For a copy of the questions to respond to by mail or email click here. The Zoom meetings will be held on: Thursday, June 25 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM: Meeting ID: 857 8399 5482 Password: 753634 Telephone: 929-205-6099 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85783995482?pwd=dkE5SHNoUVJHTXdXdTE0VGc2a25qQT09 Sunday, June 28th from 4:00 to 6:00 PM: Meeting ID: 823 0182 9874 Password: 094136 Telephone: 929-205-6099 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82301829874?pwd=TG9oLzd3WituQnp0ajcybmpDL2lNUT09 Wednesday, July 1 from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM: Meeting ID: 889 0515 8309 Password: 365669 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88905158309?pwd=dVpmY1JhajN6RWpTZmEzQ3NnOERBdz09 The four areas we will cover are:
1. What ministries are most important to what Trinity is called to be? 2. What is one important change or new ministry you would like Trinity to initiate within the next 3 years in each area? 3. What do we need to do now to prepare for this change or new ministry in each area? If you are unable to participate in any of the meetings, please provide written answers and send them to vstarkis@verizon.net by July 15. Your input, whether in person or written, is necessary for the success of our search and I encourage you to participate in these discussions. Thank you! Ginny Starkis, Senior Warden Community Dinners
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 e-blast Meditation: Father's Day June 17, 2020 John O'Donohue's "Blessing for a New Father" captures, I think, the dreams and hopes, burdens and gifts. that all fathers experience in different ways as their children grow, and as they see their sons become fathers: As the shimmer of dawn transforms the night Into a blush of color future with delight, The eyes of your new child awaken in you A brightness that surprises your life. Since the first stir of its secret becoming, The echo of your child has lived inside you, Strengthening through all its night of forming Into a sure pulse of fostering music. How quietly and gently that embryo-echo Can womb in the bone of a man And foster across the distance to the mother A shadow-shelter around this fragile voyage. Now as your behold your infant, you know That this child has come from you and to you; You feel the full force of a father’s desire To protect and shelter. Perhaps for the first time, There awakens in you A sense of your own mortality. May your heart rest in the grace of the gift And you sense how you have been called Inside the dream of this new destiny. May you be gentle and loving, Clear and sure. May you trust in the unseen providence That has chosen you all to be a family. May you stand sure on your ground And know that every grace you need Will unfold before you Like all the mornings of your life.  Trinity Church in partnership with the United Parish of Upton and the Clergy of Milford & Hopedale will come together in a Service of Prayer and Song to celebrate JuneteenthFriday June 19, 2020 4 PM Live-streamed from United Parish of Upton Here is a link to the service: https://youtu.be/G6zw8mJAZds Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the end of legalized slavery in the United States. It recalls how the states of Louisiana and Texas heard the news that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Slavery continued in those two states for more than two years after the proclamation was signed because the word had yet to travel there. Texas and Louisiana finally got the good news on June 19, 1865 that legalized slavery in the United States of America had ended. We worship in thanksgiving for the enduring vision of those first Freedmen and the generations of African Americans whose affirmation of the dignity of every human being has itself been an act of resistance. We pray for forgiveness for our own complicity in social injustice, and we renew our commitment to the freedom that is possible only when justice and peace are joined through the grace of our compassionate and merciful God For a copy of the service leaflet click here. General Order No. 3 The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property, between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them, becomes that between employer and hired labor. The Freedmen are advised to remain at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere 9 AM SUNDAY - MORNING PRAYER via ZOOM A Celebration of our Fathers Ministers of the Liturgy: The Rev. Judith Lee Dave Clinkman, Dwight Kee, Kevin Kepler, Steve Ketcham, Wayne Stochaj https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82256827302?pwd=Z0E3ZlpXY0hIRFdIZHN0ZnltdXNlZz09 Meeting ID: 822-5682-7302 Password: 546896 If you cannot access through your computer, you may participate by telephone. Telephone: 929-205-6099 For the Morning Prayer leaflet, click here. We will hold Morning Prayer at 9 am every Sunday in June.. June 29th: Prayers for Social Justice Next Steps: Moving Forward God of the present moment, God who in Jesus stills the storm and soothes the frantic heart; bring us hope and courage as we wait in uncertainty. Bring hope that you will make us the equal of whatever lies ahead. Bring us courage to endure what cannot be avoided, for your will is health and wholeness; you are God, and we need you. - from A New Zealand Prayer Book The diocese has developed a set of checklists for preparing to re-open our buildings. The Vestry will develop a strategy based upon these checklists for worship, the office, small groups, and community groups, including disinfecting the sanctuary and church building. When we have protocols for meetings, gatherings, and office operations, we will submit our plan to the Dean for review. When the Dean has approved the plan, it will be sent to the Bishop for review. With the Bishop's approval, we will implement our plan. Until then, we will continue with online Sunday Morning Prayer. The service will include music and we will explore safe ways to gather outside. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. of your views about what is necessary before we return to worship. Your Vestry has reviewed your responses and they have been very helpful in developing a strategy for going forward. The Bishops of the Dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts issued a joint Letter with guidelines for our churches. Click here to read the guidelines. Parish Zoom Events: We have a new Summer Schedule: ZOOM Bingo on Sundays at 3 pm & Game Night on Tuesdays @ 7 - We'll resume in September Zoom-Chats: Mondays @ 7am & Wednesdays @ 8 pm: Every Other Week: Mondays:June 29, July 13 & 27, August 10 Wednesdays: June 24, July 8 & 22, August 5 & 19 Wednesdays @ 10 am: Morning Prayer & Fellowship via ZOOM - We'll continue weekly https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88905158309?pwd=dVpmY1JhajN6RWpTZmEzQ3NnOERBdz09 Meeting ID: 889-0515-8309 Password: 365669 Telephone: 929-205-6099 Fridays @ Noon: Lunch & Bible Study: The Gospel of Matthew - We'll continue weekly https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87474952317?pwd=UkdpQTNuNmtxVkhtYlZkVGVDVkZOQT09 Meeting ID: 874 7495 2317 Password: 097331 This Friday we will continue our discussion of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapters 6 through 9 For a copy of the Reading Schedule click here: https://mcusercontent.com/31f1ff6e86fdaf99cb3a10f4e/files/69c82ad4-fdda-47fa-958a-a17d936fab63/Bible_Study_Gospel_of_Matthew.June_July_2020.01.pdf Until further notice, Magee will be in the office on Monday and Thursday to do essential work. Mother Judith is working remotely and is available by email and by phone, and she is checking phone messages regularly. Beginning this week, she will be taking Tuesdays off. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Trinity Parade for Graduates last Sunday. We did not put out a general call for participation because we wanted to surprise our graduates and their families. So the parade included only Vestry members and some teachers who had worked with the graduates from the time they were very young Thank you to Ann Marie Lockwood for orchestrating the parade, and to Wayne Stochaj for arranging the photos and designing the banner, along with Lisa Ruggiero. It looks like this may be a new Trinity tradition, so watch for the invitation next year! See the photos on our Facebook page and our website under Events/Celebrating our Graduates Please note: Unscrupulous people have contacted parishioners claiming to be Mother Judith and asking for money. Mother Judith's only email addresses are jlee.trinitychurchmilford@gmail.com or lee.judith.mary@gmail.com and her phone number is (716) 949-8194 . She never asks for money! Please do not respond to any other email addresses or phone numbers. If you have a question about whether a request is REALLY from Mother Judith, please contact her first at these email addresses/phone number before sending any money. Thanks. For the weekly announcements, click here. New Rector Search: Next Steps An important part of the search for a new rector is identifying who we are and what we as a parish are called to be. Ordinarily, we would gather that information at a parish-wide meeting. Since that is not possible, we will be hosting a series of Zoom meetings where we can discuss and reflect on these topics. For those without access to Zoom, we will schedule two in-person meetings sometime in July after we have received permission from the diocese to reopen. Members of the Vestry and Search/Profile committees will facilitate these meetings. The Zoom meetings will be held on: Thursday, June 25 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM: Meeting ID: 857 8399 5482 Password: 753634 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85783995482?pwd=dkE5SHNoUVJHTXdXdTE0VGc2a25qQT09 Sunday, June 28th from 4:00 to 6:00 PM: Meeting ID: 823 0182 9874 Password: 094136 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82301829874?pwd=TG9oLzd3WituQnp0ajcybmpDL2lNUT09 Wednesday, July 1 from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM: Meeting ID: 889 0515 8309 Password: 365669 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88905158309?pwd=dVpmY1JhajN6RWpTZmEzQ3NnOERBdz09 The four areas we will cover are:
1. What ministries are most important to what Trinity is called to be? 2. What is one important change or new ministry you would like Trinity to initiate within the next 3 years in each area? 3. What do we need to do now to prepare for this change or new ministry in each area? If you are unable to participate in any of the meetings, please provide written answers and send them to vstarkis@verizon.net by July 15. Your input, whether in person or written, is extremely important to the success of our search and I encourage you to participate in these discussions. Thank you! Ginny Starkis, Senior Warden Community Dinners Thursday June 25th Grab n Go Meals 4:30- 6 pm
We distributed 40 meals on May 28th, and donated 10 meals to the Food Pantry. We will distribute meals prepared by Oliva's from the parking lot at Trinity on the last Thursday of the month throughout the summer: June 25th, July 30th, and August 27th. If you can volunteer to help with setting up and taking down the tables, distributing meals, and bring leftover meals to the Food Pantry, in June, July, or August, please contact Glen Peterson. We will certify Community Service credit. We plan to continue arranging for meals to be delivered to our frontline workers once a month, and to distribute meals from Trinity monthly. Our purpose is to support our local small restaurants and frontline workers as well as to provide for our neighbors. We continue our strong partnership with the Food Pantry and with other local churches and community organizations. Please contact Glen Peterson if you are able to help in any way. To contribute to this project, please send your check payable to Trinity Church with Community Dinners on the memo line or donate directly to Hopedale Unitarian Parish, who is managing the funds for this project, by going to https://hopedaleunitarian.org and pressing the Donate button. Please let Mother Judith know if you would like to participate in distributing meals. Prayer List Please send Magee the names of people you would like to be on the Prayer List. Our policy has been to remove names after 4 weeks, but we want to be sure we follow the wishes of families and friends. Our prayer list is included in the weekly announcements . Pledges Thank you to all of you who have been sending in your pledges. Our deposits are being made on a different schedule these days, so there may be a delay in seeing the record of your payment. Some of you are facing financial stress: if so, please give what you can; if not, please give a bit extra to support those who cannot. How to keep up with Trinity news: All notices, videos, and links can be found at www.trinitychurchmilford.org Our diocesan website offers links to online worship in our diocese. https://www.diocesewma.org/ Worship from the National Cathedral is available online every Sunday at 11:15 am. https://cathedral.org/ Third season of The Way of Love with Bishop Michael Curry podcast began on May 5th. Click here. Habits of Grace: An invitation for you, from Presiding Bishop Curry A new video meditation will be posted on Mondays through May. Click here to view the latest. Mission Matters: News from the Episcopal Diocese of Western MA latest issue can be found here.  Meditation for June 11, 2020The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. [Matthew 9:37] This year, we are perhaps more ready than in prior years to hear Jesus’ call to go out. Summer weather and blooming gardens show the renewal of life all around us. We celebrate our young people graduating from one phase of life to another. We are going further from home and visiting with more people. We are growing weary of virtual visits and we have no more closets to clean. Thousands of people of all ages, races, and ethnicities are walking together, some in silence and some in song, calling for a new way of living. We are having heart-opening conversations with people we have known for a long time, without knowing the truths of their lives. This year, we are perhaps more ready to see the hunger all around us: physical hunger caused by famine and economic collapse, spiritual and emotional hunger caused by neglect. In the light of our faith, we see more darkness and we see more hope. Our faith gives us a fearless compassion and an unshakeable resolve to use the gifts that God has given us to go out and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, free the captives, heal the broken-hearted. We are sending our young people out to a world that is perhaps different from the world we had hoped for them, but it is a world full of life and hope, a world with so many paths to explore, so many mysteries to discern, so much beauty to see with joy and wonder, so much that is unfinished. Let us heed Jesus’ call: The kingdom of heaven has come near. [Matthew 10:7] God asks, “Who will go for me? Who will extend my reach? And who, when few will listen Will prophesy and preach? And who, when few bid welcome, Will offer all they know? And who, when few dare follow, Will walk the road I show?” John L. Bell and Graham Maule, The Wild Goose of Iona Quoted in Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 487 9 AM SUNDAY - MORNING PRAYER via ZOOM A Celebration of our Graduates College Graduates: Jacqueline Masse & Elaina Chambers High School Graduates: AJ Cook, Liam & Rory Crisfield, Brandon Kee, Lorenzo Morese, Grace Prevelige, Betsey Scrimgeour Eighth Grade: Harrison Philips & Anthony Ruggiero https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82256827302?pwd=Z0E3ZlpXY0hIRFdIZHN0ZnltdXNlZz09 Meeting ID: 822-5682-7302 Password: 596896 If you cannot access through your computer, you may participate by telephone. Telephone: 929-205-6099 For the Morning Prayer leaflet, click here. We will hold Morning Prayer at 9 am every Sunday in June. June 14th: Prayers to honor our graduates June 21st: Prayers to honor our fathers June 29th: Prayers for Social Justice Next Steps: Moving Forward Almighty God, who has created us in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen. The diocese has developed a checklist for preparing to re-open our buildings. The Vestry will develop a strategy based upon this checklist, including disinfecting the sanctuary and church building. When we have completed the requisite cleaning and we have protocols for meetings, gatherings, and office operations, we will submit our plan to the Dean for review. When the Dean has approved the plan, it will be sent to the Bishop for review. With the Bishop's approval, we will implement our plan. Until then, we will continue with online Sunday Morning Prayer. The service will include music and we will explore safe ways to gather outside. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. Your Vestry has reviewed your responses and they have been very helpful in developing a strategy for going forward. The Bishops of the Dioceses of Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts issued a joint Letter with guidelines for our churches. Click here to read the guidelines. Parish Zoom Events: |
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January 2021
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