Dear Fellow Parishioners:

 

We are writing to update you about the results of our stewardship campaign and upcoming decisions on our 2012 budget. First, we want to thank our stewardship chair Beth Fitzgerald and her team for their dedicated work over the past 6 months. And thanks to all who have pledged! We have received 460 pledges, including 71 new pledges and 135 increased pledges. However, we have also lost some pledges for various reasons, including financial hardship experienced by some members of our parish.

 

The bottom line is that we have fallen short this year-about $50,000 below 2011. On Tuesday, March 20, your vestry will be asked to vote on a 2012 budget that includes reductions in a number of areas. Our proposed budget includes no cost of living adjustment for any staff, a reduced music budget, a reduced Christian education budget for youth and adults, elimination of a planned increase in hours for our part-time sexton, and other miscellaneous cuts. We ask for your patience if at times things don't go as smoothly as we would like-our staff are doing more with less and inevitably a few things will fall through the cracks.

 

We want to stress that many positive things are happening around the parish! Attendance is strong. We are welcoming many newcomers and visitors. We have 30 youth participating in confirmation and youth group every Sunday evening. Parishioners are actively engaged in outreach both locally and internationally. Adult formation offerings have expanded. We are planning for Vacation Bible School and a summer mission trip.

 

With all this positive energy and activity, our parish can do better on stewardship. Next year we will have to do better! Your vestry takes seriously our responsibilities to ensure that we have the resources to carry our ministries. A major topic of our discernment this year will be how to better educate the parish about our financial needs and more effectively encourage giving. You can expect to hear more from us on these topics well before the official stewardship campaign kicks off next fall. In the meantime, we ask you to prayerfully reflect on your commitment to supporting Trinity financially and engage your fellow parishioners in conversations about stewardship.

 

Please know that all support for the parish is highly valued! We are a diverse community, and not everyone is in a position to increase financial support. Parishioners support the parish in many essential ways-- through time, talents, and prayers. If we all give as we are able, Trinity will have abundant resources to grow and flourish!

 

If you have not yet pledged or would like to increase your pledge for 2012, it is not too late. You can do so by contacting Elly Matsil, our parish accountant, at matsile@trinityprinceton.org or 609-924-2277. If you have any questions or concerns, we encourage you to contact us or any member of the vestry.

 

Yours in Christ,

 

Diane Paulsell               Doug Fitzgerald

Senior Warden              Junior Warden

 

 

New at this Sunday's Sung Compline! 
 
The return of Daylight Saving Time means Trinity's Sunday Night sung Compline will have a visitor.  The setting sun will cast its dying light in the rafters of the Church as the Trinity Choir performs Compline... the completion service at day's end, which is a 500 year old tradition of the Church.   Ancient harmonies from the time of Palestrina mingle with sung prayers in gratitude for another day of prayerful living.  No sermon, no offering, just candlelight, incense, and the music.    
 
Please join us at 7pm for approximately 1/2 hour. Come as you are and reflect as singing and the setting sun bring you inner peace and a good start to the week ahead.  

 Princeton University will be hosting a conference on Modern Slavery. All are invited to attend. For more information, please see this flyer. 

 

Are you a busy High school student with volunteer hours needed to complete your year before May 1, 2012? We need each other!

If you would like to perform your volunteer hours working our Spring Rummage event then let us know. We can sign off on your hours
in time for your academic year 2011-12. This is a great cause and helps you, us and people less fortunate. So come on down!

Hours and days available are:

Sunday April 22 from 1 - 5 PM
Wednesday April 25 from 6 - 9 PM
Saturday April 28 from 9 AM - 5 PM
Sunday April 29 from 1 - 5 PM

Call 609 924 2277 ext 351 and leave your name, age, and telephone number for our rummage team.

 

You can also sign up be sending an email to Nancy Metcalf at nebm1@comcast.net or  Mary Alden at  mlaeas@comcast.net 

See you there!  

 

 

 

Prayer shawls wrap, enfold, comfort and give solace to people who are dealing with illness, surgery or grief.

We are calling all knitters and wannabes to come join old friends and new friends at our monthly prayer shawl knit-a-thons held in members' homes. All are welcome who would enjoy knitting these easy therapeutic patterns, infusing your own prayers for recovery as you knit and then taking the shawls to the clergy for blessing before delivery.

 

We are asking and begging the congregation for names of anyone in the hospital or sick at home who might be comforted by receiving a cozy shawl accompanied by a card with a reading such as:

 

Every lovingly crafted stitch contains a special prayer,                            

That God will send his peace to you and keep you in his care.

 

Knitting Instructions:  

• 3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun Yarn - Michael's or Walmart
• Size 11 or 13 needles. Round needles work really well.
• Cast on 54, 57, 60 or 63 stitches or some multiple of 3.  
• Knit 3, purl 3 to end of row.  
• Turn and knit the purl and purl the knit.  
• If you have 57 or 63 stitches, you'll begin every row with knit.
• A weave pattern will develop. Knit about 2 and 2/3 skeins in pattern. Use the rest of yarn for fringe. The fringe can be as short as 3 inches or as long as 8 or 9 inches. It's up to you.

We suggest that you knit prayers into your shawl as you knit. Many gather for a collective blessing of the shawl before it is given away. There is no right or wrong way to knit or create these mantles of love and care. Come join us!

 

Contact: Molly Schneider at mhcsstrong@aol.com or Susan Finlay at swf1958@verizon.net. Many thanks for your interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen and household goods, books, linens, toys, electrical items, jewelry, small furniture, treasures and works of art for the Boutique, and clothing for all ages, tastes, sizes and seasons are keeping the Rummage volunteers busy every Friday - thank you!  Donations for the traditional Spring Rummage Sale on Friday/Saturday April 27/28 are accepted 24/7 except for the week before Easter and can be left on the bench outside Pierce Hall. Donation receipts are available at the Reception Desk during church office hours.