News for the Week of April 12th

A Meditation for Easter 
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
 Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
                                                                                                      [Matthew 28:5]
 We are an Easter People.
Year after year, we return to the empty tomb.
Year after year, we wonder how we will move the stone that blocks our way.
Year after year, we are surprised by grace.
Year after year, we are at a loss for words.
Year after year, we hear these words--
            Do not be afraid.
And this year, let us do more than hear-
            Let us listen
            Let us trust God to do what God does—in the dusk and in the dawn--
            Let us commit ourselves to being an Easter People
                        Overcome with awe, trembling with hope.
                        Trusting in the new life that dawns this day.
                        Seeking the risen Christ.                                  In the words of John Donohue

Darkness and lostness are the worst parts of suffering.  The wonder of the Resurrection is that this darkness was opened out and at the heart of the darkness a secret light was discovered. . . So on this Easter morning, let us look again at the lives we have been so generously given and let us let fall away the useless baggage that we carry—old pains, old habits, old ways of seeing and feeling—and let us have the courage to begin again. . . . We don’t realize the good that we can do . . . We were send here to search for the light of Easter in our hearts, and when we find it we are meant to give it away generously.
                                             Walking in Wonder, ed. John Quinn   pp. 103, 104
           
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic at Trinity

A Prayer in the Time of the Coronavirus
God of compassion,
           be close to those who are ill, afraid or in isolation.In their loneliness, be their consolation;
in their anxiety, be their hope;
in their darkness, be their light;
through him who suffered alone on the cross,
but reigns with you in glory, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
The Parish Office is closed except for essential work. Per the governor’s order, public worship is suspended through May 3rd.  Magee will be on self-quarantine for the next two weeks after being exposed to someone diagnosed with the Covid-19 on Friday.  We keep Magee in our prayers, and her 94-year-old aunt, Jean Conway, who was diagnosed.  Magee has not been in the office or near anyone except her immediate family since being exposed.
 
Mother Judith is available by phone and email.   Videos of Mother Judith’s reflections are posted on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Videos of services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are available on YouTube, Facebook, and our website. www.trinitychurchmilford.org    Many thanks to Ann Marie Lockwood for being our videographer extraordinaire, to Wayne Stochaj for recording the music, and to Peach Warren and Mary-Ellen Yaroshefski for participating in the Maundy Thursday service and for preparing the altar for Easter Sunday.  
For service leaflet for Maundy Thursday, click here.
Good Friday click here
and Easter Day click here.

Holy Communion at Home
For this holiest week of the church year, you are welcome to set aside bread or crackers to eat during the Holy Communion service on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday.  We will be sharing what is called “spiritual communion,” and the bread will be a sign of the Christ-centered bond we share as a community of faith.
 For suggestions on setting up a home altar for Holy Communion click here

Virtual Easter Egg Hunt
Rachel Carpenter has designed a virtual Easter Egg Hunt for our website.  Invite your friends for some fun! www.trinitychurchmilford.org

Zoom-Chats: Wednesday @8-8:30 pm [beginning April 8th]
& Mondays @ 7-7:30 am [beginning April 13th ]
As the days of “sheltering in place” stretch on, most of us have developed new ways of living and relating with each other, with varying degrees of success.  With a few weeks behind us and an uncertain number of weeks ahead of us, it is a good time to share questions and strategies for coping.  Three members of Trinity who are mental health professionals have offered to host “zoom chats” for adults (anyone over the age of 18).  Sarah Prevelige is a psychologist, Laurel Pirelli is a school psychologist, and Cindi Scrimgeour is a Counselor; they work with families and individuals of all ages and they are themselves parents of teens and pre-teens.
 
These chats are designed to be a time for sharing stories about how we have adapted to a “new normal,” what has worked well and what has not. Specific topics for discussion will evolve depend on the interests of the group.  You are welcome to participate once or often.

The next Wednesday meeting will be held on April 15th, and the first Monday meeting will be on April 13th.  Sarah Prevelige will host the meeting via zoom.  Please send any questions you’d like to discuss to Cindi Scrimgeour at cscrimgeour@gmail.com 
go to zoom.us.  In the upper right corner click on "Join a meeting."
Wednesday meeting: ID 474-316-522   PASSWORD 744170
Monday meeting:  ID 413315567   PASSWORD 75478
For advice on guiding children through living with COVID-19 click here.
 
Pledges – Our expenses continue even with our suspension of normal activity, but we are facing a significant shortfall in our income.  During this period, please mail your pledge to the parish office to the attention of the Treasurer.  It is most helpful if you are able to arrange with your bank for direct deposit. Trinity also has an account with tithe.ly; to learn how to use this app contact treasurer@trinitychurch.org. 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
 
For the weekly announcements, click here 
 
The Worcester corridor churches are offering a virtual Easter Vigil on YouTube. Time: Apr 11, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://zoom.us/j/972935449?pwd=UTM5QnZuMllCTUp6cUFDMDdHQWxHQT09
Meeting ID: 972 935 449
Password: 024379
Dial by your location
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
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/
 
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 am. https://cathedral.org/

Rachel Carpenter will lead Digital Sunday School via ZOOM each Sunday at 10am.
Please contact Rachel for the link: rcarp76@gmail.com

As we set up our website and re-activate our Instagram account, we would like to post photos of all our members but we need your permission to do so.  Please click here for our Photo Permission Form, complete it, and return it.  An email to
office.trinitychurchmilford@gmail.org will meet this requirement as well.
 
For some suggestions on how to live during the Coronavirus pandemic click here.

Trinity GFS Scholarships are Available The deadline is just 2 weeks away!
Attention high school seniors and their families.   It’s time for the annual search for deserving recipients of the GFS Scholarships. Each year, Trinity gives monetary awards to qualified members who are entering an institution of higher education. These awards recognize attendance and service to Trinity Parish during the applicant's high school years. The application is available to download on the Trinity Church website at www.trinitychurchmilford.org .  Applications must be received by April 19th and the recipients will be notified shortly thereafter.  Please direct all questions to GFS Scholarship
Committee at gfs@trinitychurchmilford.org
 
Habits of Grace: An invitation for you, from Presiding Bishop Curry
As we learn how to adjust our lives given the reality of the coronavirus and the request to do our part to slow its spread by practicing physical distancing, I invite you to join me each week to take a moment to cultivate a ‘habit of grace.’ A new video meditation will be posted on Mondays through May.
 
For Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Word to the Church: On Our Theology of Worship, click here.