Trinity Church in Menlo Park


 

This Sunday, September 11, is our annual Celebration Sunday that signals the kick-off of a new year of life and ministry together. We will have one service this Sunday, at 10:00 am, to bring the whole congregation together, and then enjoy lunch and some fun afterwards.   Children should begin in church with their parents, but after we start, they will be led out of the church to the Chapel for their own special liturgy.  We encourage parents to stay in church and collect their children afterward (unless your kids are very young), or you may accompany your kids to the Children's Liturgy.

We will also be talking about our new three-year plan with you, and inviting you to offer your time and talent in some particular ministry opportunities for the first year of that plan. You can see that plan now by clicking here. We will also have a Photo Booth here, that you can use to take some fun pictures, but also to provide us with some photos for a new picture directory.  And the great thing is, you don't have to do anything but take some pictures!  We automatically receive copies of them.  For those who don't use the photo booth, we will be providing you the opportunity to send us a digital photo (or bring one in for us to scan) for the directory.

There will be a Jam Session on the porch for all our many musicians, and games and activities for children.  Please plan to be with us for all the fun!

Please also mark on your calendars that we have two Formation Sunday Sessions coming up on September 18 and 25, following the 10 am service.  After church, we'll enjoy a brief lunch together in Trinity Hall, followed by a Formation Session in keeping with this year's adult education theme, "Episcopal 101".  This first two sessions will focus on the ethos of our Episcopal tradition as the "Via Media" or "Middle Way" between Catholicism and Protestantism, looking both at our history and at our church today.   The Nursery will stay open for these sessions, and older children will use this time to rehearse with Elise Jones as The Singing Saints, preparing for our bishop's visit on October 16.

Our annual Retreat at Bishop's Ranch is coming up at the end of the month!  Click here for more information and to register online. 

Peace,
MatthewSignatureGenuine  
 
P.S.  The schedule for my Monday evening OR Wednesday morning classes has been set for 2016-2017, and will focus on mystical Christianity.  You can see the schedule HERE.

P.P.S.   See below in this email for information on our Sunday Formation Sessions for adults and this year's Bishop's Ranch Retreat!
UPCOMING EVENTS
In August you should have received the Fall planning email from the Trinity Staff. We have so much coming up in this program year and we don't want you to miss any of it! You can see all our upcoming events, links to affinity groups, calendars, and adult education by accessing the archived planning email here.

September 11 - Celebration Sunday 
 September 17 - Outreach Work Day at Redwood Family House
September 30 - October 2 - All Church Retreat
October 16 - Bishop's Visitation to Trinity
October 22 - Hearts for Justice

All of our upcoming events can be viewed here.
CHILDREN, YOUTH, & FAMILIES NEWS
 
This Coming Sunday

Children's Liturgy
This Sunday September 11 kicks off our program year with the first of our monthly 10:00 services for children (and families) in the Chapel. All will gather in the main sanctuary for the start of the service. After the readings children will be led to the Chapel for their liturgy. Parents are encouraged to remain in the main church for the service there, but may accompany their children to the chapel if they wish.  Kids may be picked up there at the conclusion of the service.

Singing Saints
Children in grades K-5 Are invited to join the Singing Saints this year as we create some beautiful music and have fun building a community of singers. As an added bonus, our church music director, Ron Valentino, and a member of the adult's choir, Alex Bonner, will be joining us as a special musical mentors and coaches! We will be meeting for three "seasons" this year, this first of which begins September 18 after church (and lunch) until 12:45 p.m.  We will also rehearse again on September 25, and those at the Ranch for the Church Retreat, we will rehearse on October 2 there.  This is all leading to October 16, when we'll perform for Bishop Marc's visit. All children in grades K-5 are invited to join and no prior music experience is necessary; just a willingness to sing! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Elise Jones.

Youth group kicks Off Sept 18
Parents and youth are invited to attend our first youth group meeting beginning at 6:00 p.m. The kick off meeting is a fun and helpful night to orient incoming youth groupers and parents about our program year.  After enjoying dinner together, Rev. Mary will be leading the time with the youth and Rev. Matthew will be meeting separately with parents.  Contact Rev. Mary with any questions.

Fall Family Ministry Formation Programs Begin Sept 11th

Sept 11th at 10:00 -- Children's Liturgy Kick Off in the Chapel 
Sept 18th at 10:00 -- Children's Godly Play and Explorers Resume in Trinity Hall 
Sept 18th at 11:15 -- Singing Saints for K-6th graders
Sept 18th at  6:00 -- Youth Group Resumes in Trinity Hall (including parent meeting!)
Sign up for the Church Retreat

Trinity will be enjoying spiritual renewal at Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg the weekend of September 30 through October 2.  Families with children and youth won't want to miss the fun! Interested K-5th graders will work with master artist Lisa Thorpe on Saturday and all youth will get to hang out together in the the fun and relaxed ranch atmosphere. Sign up and learn more about the retreat here.

Meet Trinity's Nursery Staff

Trinity's own Erica Girvin will lead the nursery this year and brings many nurturing and creative ideas to make parents' and children's nursery experience on Sundays and during special church events the best it can be. Nancy Macias and Milagros Barahona, two experienced and highly qualified child care providers with numerous child care certificates and child development courses in their portfolios, have also joined our team. Sara Andrade, who has supported Trinity's child care team for about a year will provide back up support occasionally as well.  Please welcome our new child care providers!



SUNDAY FORMATION SESSIONS & BISHOP'S RANCH RETREAT
With the success of our last Lenten Series, we will be offering several Sunday Formation Sessions this year.  As a result of our recent planning process, the theme for these Sunday Sessions in 2016-2017 will be "Episcopal 101:  Faith & Life in the Episcopal Tradition".  The first two of these Sunday Sessions will be on September 18 and 25, and will focus on the ethos or spirit of our tradition, captured by the term "via media" or "middle way".  As we did this past Lent, we will have a quick lunch following the 10 am service, followed by learning time, all to be done by 12:45 pm.   Children will be invited to practice with the Singing Saints children's choir in preparation for the Bishop's Visit on October 16.  More information on these sessions, and all our Sunday Session offerings this year, may be found here.
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Our annual All-Church Retreat at Bishop's Ranch is coming up!  We begin Friday evening, September 30, and run through Sunday morning, October 2.  The retreat provides generous amounts of free time to relax, reconnect, and deepen relationships.  A programmatic element is included for Saturday morning, and this year we will be following our "Episcopal 101" formation theme with a focus on the history and meaning of the various parts of the Eucharist.   All are invited, but space is limited, so we encourage you to sign up as soon as possible. Confirmation youth will have special programming at the retreat and should attend. Information, including online registration link, may be found here. 
 
UPCOMING TRINITY EVENTS
Outreach Work Day at Redwood Family House 
Saturday, September 17
Join Trinity Outreach for a work day on Saturday, September 17, at Redwood Family House. The facility is operated by LifeMoves to provide transitional housing in Redwood City for 9 homeless families with 15-25 children, and we will be offering our hands and hearts to help maintain and improve it. Volunteers are needed to prep and paint railings and other areas, build a cover for the sandbox, and do some general landscape clean-up of the playground area. You can learn more about our upcoming work with Redwood Family House on the Trinity blog. 
 
Would you like to help brighten the environment for these families? To volunteer you can sign up online by clicking here  or if you can contact Jim Bramlett or Barbara Newton.  

Save the Date - Hearts for Justice: Addiction, Recovery, and Grace
October 22, 2016

Save the Date for this year's Hearts for Justice conference! We will be focusing on addiction and recovery with two great speakers: Fr. Tom Weston and The Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen. You can read more about them here.
 
Want to volunteer help make Hearts for Justice happen? Please contact Rev. Elizabeth Riley.

Stephen Ministry Training This Fall
 
Two years ago Trinity launched a Stephen Ministries program. Stephen Ministries is a one-on-one pastoral care program. It trains members of the congregation to offer ongoing pastoral care to individuals in the midst of transition, change, or life hardship. Stephen Ministers are weekly prayer partners to those they minister too. Stephen Ministies work with the clergy to provide long term pastoral care and comfort to our community. 
 
We are currently looking for new members of the Trinity community to join our current Stephen Ministry Team. You can learn more about Stephen Ministry here. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Rev. Elizabeth Riley.

Join the Trinity Ringers

Trinity Ringers are back in action.  Rehearsals return on Thursday, September 8, 7:00 pm in the Sanctuary. Curious?  Stop by!  The Ringers always welcome anyone who wants to learn more about the fun and beautiful art of English Handbell ringing.

No OWLS in September

There will be no OWLS luncheon or speaker in September. Trinity's "Celebration Weekend" is Sunday, September 11, so we hope you will put that date on your calendar for your first Fall parish event! We will resume OWLS luncheons and speakers in October with Ron Mancini talking to us about NASA on October 14. Rhonda Smith will be our speaker on Nov. 11, sharing her outreach ministry at a refugee camp on the Greece/Macedonia border. See you all soon, for interesting, informative presentations by our own parishioners.

THIS COMING SUNDAY
September 11th, 2016
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
    
5:05 Service:
There is no 5:05 Service during summer. The 5:05 returns September 18th.
 
Did you miss last Sunday? Listen to the sermon here!

UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS
Make Music with MPRO

 Rehearsals for the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra begin on Wednesday September 14th at Trinity Church. The orchaestra is open without audition! Learn more here
.
Dementia Awareness
Sept. 8 6:30 pm

Join with Seniors at Home for a information session to talk about dementia, signs and symptoms, and how to connect to local support. Learn more here.
Multi faith  Peace Walk & Picnic
September 11, 2 pm
 
Join with other local houses of faith for a multi faith peace walk in September 11th! The walk starts at Congregation Etz Chayim, Spark Church and St. Andrews United Methodist Church parking lots, 4111 & 4161 Alma St., Palo Alto. You can learn more bout it here.
 
LINKS
The Trinity Church calendar can be found here.

A complete list of upcoming Trinity events can be found here.

For information about online giving, and other information about Trinity, please visit our website: www.trinitymenlopark.org
 
 
 
PRAYER
Blessing in the Chaos

To all that is chaotic in you, let there come silence. Let there be a calming of the clamoring, a stilling of the voices that have laid their claim on you, that have made their home in you, that go with you even to the holy places but will not let you rest, will not let you hear your life with wholeness or feel the grace that fashioned you. Let what distracts you cease. Let what divides you cease. Let there come an end to what diminishes and demeans, and let depart all that keeps you in its cage. Let there be an opening into the quiet that lies beneath the chaos, where you find the peace you did not think possible and see what shimmers within the storm.
- Jan Richardson

Sincerely,
 
Trinity Church Communications
Trinity Church in Menlo Park
650-326-2083