Choral Evensong for Lent 

Thursday Night at the Cathedral

 on March 12

6:00pm - Choral Evensong

6:15pm - Lenten Soup Supper ($5)

7:00pm - Small Groups

There are several small groups that meet on Thursday evening.  If you would like to see the full list of  groups that are offered follow this link. 

Easter Flowers

On Sunday, March 15 and 22, the flower committee will be passing out forms so that parishioners may make a memorial or thanksgiving donation for Easter flowers. 

If you prefer, follow this link for a printable donation form which you can mail to the church along with your check.

The deadline date for inclusion in the Easter services program is Monday, March 23rd 

Newcomers' Group

The group will Tour the Cathedral.  ALL are welcome to join us!

All are invited to be with us especially Newcomers and visitors. If you have questions contact Randie Strike at email randie.trinity@gmail.com or 916-446-2513.

30/40s and Beyond

Meets in the Conference Room at 10:15am

We will begin our small group for Original Blessing series during Lent. ALL ages welcome! Contact: Amy Dierlam at dnarock@pacbell.net  

Integrity Meeting

Sunday, March 22, at 1 pm in Room J

Key topic will be preparing for Sacramento Pride which is on Saturday, June 6. Any questions please contact Rod Thomas at rthomas0604@gmail.com or 502-558-2497.

Meditation Practice and Spiritual Practice Conversation

Exploring the

Body, Mind, Spirit Connection 

Sundays at 5pm

in the Assembly Area

Join the Rev. Megan Anderson and the Rev. Kathy Hopner for a weekly gathering with simple meditation practice and conversation on spiritual practice.

Help Make Palm Crosses

Join us on Sunday, March 22 in the Great Hall during coffee hour to help make Palm Crosses.  Palm fronds, instructions, and lots of laughter. 

Easter Preparation

Saturday, April 4 at 9:00am

Come and help us prepare the church for the Great Easter Vigil and Easter Day.  Enjoy a Pancake Breakfast and join us for Holy Saturday Liturgy.

March 29: Palm Sunday Services: 7:30am, 9am, 11:15am, 12:45pm

March 29: Palm Sunday Interfaith Service at Sutter's Fort 8am [Click here for more information] 

March 31: Solemn Office of Tenebrae Service - 7:30pm

April 2: Maundy Thursday Liturgy for Families and Children - 4:00pm

April 2: Maundy Thursday Eucharist with foot washing - 7:30pm

April 3: Good Friday Meditations: Noon - 3pm

April 3: Solemn Liturgy for Good Friday with music by The Cathedral Choir - 7:30pm

April 4: Holy Saturday Liturgy - 9am. Pancake Breakfast 9am - 10:30am. Children's Easter Eggstravaganza! 10:00 am

April 4: The Great Vigil of Easter - 7:30pm

April 5: Easter Sunday Services 7:30am, 9am, 11:15am and 12:45pm

Palm Sunday Ecumenical Service

at Sutter's Fort

Sunday, March 29th at 8:00am

Love a parade? Love to sing?

Love to meet people?

Love Brass Bands?

Have we got a deal for you!

On Palm Sunday, several churches in the Sutter's Fort area will be gathering to start our worship service together, and we will then process to our home churches for Palm Sunday service.

We will be joining with First United Methodist, Pioneer Congregational, and our own St. Paul's for this wonderful worship experience. City of Trees Brass Band (think New Orleans marching band!) will be providing good 'ol heart thumpin' music. To paraphrase Fats Waller, 'This Fort is jumpin!'

Nine-o-clockers will have plenty of time to be back home at Trinity for our Palm Sunday service. We hope to make this an annual event.

Questions? See Deacon Steve or drop him a note at deaconskiff@gmail.com 

Women's Retreat

June 12-14 at the Mercy Center in Auburn

Register now for the

June Women's Retreat.

Emmaus Journey will be the theme of this year's retreat led by the Rev. Dr. Pamela Anderson and Rev. Diana Turner. The retreat will again be held at the beautiful Mercy Retreat Center in Auburn. The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. Friday and end at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Early registration by May 10th is $175; after May 10th the cost will be $185. Registration forms are available in the Bookshop. Accommodations are limited to 40, so sign up early to ensure a space.  

"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden."  Ruth Stout 

Spring is lovely and wonderful and full of agony ... I have to make decisions. Sungold or Super Sweet? Mortgage Lifter or Brandywine? Rosa Bianca or Listada De Gandai? Sloughhouse corn or grow my own? Try one more time to grow Charentais melons or use the space for Butternut squash? What vegetables are more drought tolerant? I've already let my grass die, so what do I trade in exchange for using the water for my garden?   

University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources indicates the following are relatively lower water using vegetables: asparagus, chard, eggplant, mustard

Bright Lights chard in the Garden

greens, peppers, roma tomatoes, and California native strawberries. Roma Tomatoes because they are "paste" tomatoes - the ones we make sauce from, with a thicker skin and more meaty interior. Also they are determinant - the tomatoes become ripe all at the same time, can be harvested and the plant composted - no further need for water. I do love pasta dressed with my sauce canned from the summer before.   But this does not mean we can't plant and enjoy other vegetables. We just need to be good stewards of our water by following guidelines provided by UC:

• Water efficiently
  Use drip irrigation rather than overhead watering. We have a few examples of drip irrigation in our community garden.
   
• Water timing
  The best time to water your garden is in the late evening and early morning hours, typically between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. The cooler morning temperature and limited wind reduced water evaporation rates. Plus, the garden is lovely and cool in the early morning during our hot summers.

• Mulch, mulch, mulch
    A 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch can reduce watering needs by as much as 50 percent. Mulch reduces water evaporation and keeps soil temperatures down during hot summer months.  Straw bales will be available for you to mulch with and our compost will provide mulch later this summer.
   
• Control Weeds
  Pesky weeds compete for valuable water, sunshine and soil nutrients in your garden. Remove weeds before they have an opportunity to flower or spread. Weeds that have not gone to seed and do not spread by runners can be composted.  

I'm struck by how much our gardens rely on darkness: seeds sprouting underground; mulch providing coolness and water retention with the darkness; watering during dark hours. In "Original Blessing," Matthew Fox urges us to befriend darkness, to allow stillness into our lives, "...to fill ourselves with wonder and gratitude and praise for what amazing things can happen in the dark." It's hard for me to do this. It's hard to slow down and be still and shut out the light and noise of life to find God in the stillness of breathing or meditation or sorrow. Even in the quiet of the garden I am entranced by bird song, the colors of new growth, the excitement of sprouting seeds. I am so used to finding God in exuberance!   

Today the rain is falling; clouds darken the sky. Darkness that brings the blessing of water, the cleansing of the air, the cool for sprouting seeds. For today, I'm breathing quietly, and sinking, like the rain, deep into the earth and darkness.  

For more information about Trinity's Community Garden, please contact Eileen Harvey-Qualset at Eileen@qualset.net or 916 502-0633.

by Ann Rothschild

SB 270 held up-plastic bag ban.

Out of state plastic bag manufacturers have spent much money and gathered enough signatures to put a measure on the Nov. 2016 ballot repealing the single use plastic bag ban. So the plastic bag ban is on hold-it was to go into effect July 1st in grocery stores and for other retailers a year later. I do hope everyone will be aware and support the bag ban-we don't need any more plastic fouling our water ways and killing sea life. Please check out one of the many sites that will describe the appalling condition of our oceans thanks to plastic.

http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/plastic-ocean/ 

www.sarariverwatch.org Winter 2015 newsletter.

Do you know what "Sustainability"means?

I heard a disturbing report on NPR recently.   It seems many people interviewed at Whole Foods had no idea what "sustainability" means. Some thought it was about shelf life!  Oh please.   Sustainability means that we harvest food and minerals from the earth in a sustainable fashion, without poisoning the earth, so that the environment can continue to nurture us.   It means farming so the soil is not depleted by pesticides and erosion; it means raising animals humanely for meat, and mining so that the surrounding land and water is not polluted for decades and centuries from run-off and leached pollutants. It means allowing the earth to sustain us and sustain itself. Easy to do if we put our mind to it.   Spread the word!