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Music News

Dear Rob,

Do you read this while you are on sabbatical? If so, know that we miss you!

Things are going well here. Rachel is handling your white collar duties with skill and grace beyond her years. It can't be easy stepping into this role so early in her ministry, but you wouldn't know it. Jim is adding his well seasoned brilliance on his occasional visits to the pulpit and attendance is up for the summer time so they must be doing something right. Phil is keeping us organized with his usual blend of thoroughness and humor, Tommy and Angela have everything looking spiffy inside and out, and of course we all know that Betsy could run the whole place by herself if necessary.

We celebrated our first "cat's away" Sunday with a visit from the Cathedral Brass on Trinity Sunday and followed that with a wildly successful Vacation Bible School, again thanks to Rachel's hard work and a team of wonderful volunteers. Now we are hopefully settling in to the quieter flow of the summer months and looking forward to some vacation time. I'm thinking next summer might be a good time for the rest of us to take a three month sabbatical.

One of the signs of a good leader is to have that which they oversee be able to continue well without them. We are glad that you have this time to reflect and refresh and are pleased to report that your ministry here continues well in your absence. Even so, we look forward to your return.

Music News

As the leadership of the church is contemplating our overall mission, I thought it would be a good time to remember the mission statement of our Music Ministry. It was written by our Music Committee about 15 years ago and I have tried to publish it in conjunction with Genesis articles at least annually ever since. It can also be found on the music page of our website, in Music Ministry brochures, and on the bulletin board over my desk in my office where I see it every day. I hope it sounds familiar to you.

It is our mission to enable and encourage all members of the parish to share in the experience of glorifying God through music; to teach together the skills of music and the practices of faith; and to build the body of Christ through worship, rehearsal, outreach, and fellowship using music as an instrument of God’s peace.

This can easily be broken down into three sections. The first reminds us that we strive to do music in such a way that it enhances our worship for all members of the parish be they musicians in the choirs or congregants in the pews. The second shows that we do not separate music from the rest of our faith but instead experience both notes and words together in a way that is entirely sacred. Finally, we recognize that music in the church is truly a ministry intertwined with many aspects of our church life. From 8 year old choristers to 80 year old bell ringers, our church’s music participants spend countless hours not just practicing the sacred art of music but supporting the overall mission of the church using music as an instrument of God’s peace. For that, I am supremely grateful.

Vestry Notes

Our Vestry met on Wednesday, May 17th for its monthly meeting. The minutes for the meeting will be filed and will be available for your review.

As I was looking at the note I wrote last year for the June Genesis. I started by saying welcome to our new Assistant Rector, Rachel. Wow- what a difference a year makes as this month I’ll say good luck to Rachel as she takes the reigns for few months with Rob leaving for a his three month sabbatical. I hope you all agree with my thinking that we are in good hands! Yes, we’ll miss Rob... a lot and yes, we have an awesome back up Priest in Jim, but I’m still very happy that God sent Rachel to us. She’s done a fantastic job with our family ministries and don’t forget Vacation Bible School is almost here.

A few notes from the Vestry meeting:

  • We received a very good financial report. We have positive variance from budget in our pledge income which, while perhaps temporary, is always a good thing. The rest of the report is positive too and we remain in a good position with cash.

  • Worship committee gave a thorough report having come through a very successful Easter season and our confirmation visit from Bishop Gulick.

  • B+G reported that the electrical repairs in the Cox Hall kitchen were almost completed- I think they are done now. While not a highly visible project, the added safety is critical. B+G is continuing to improve our internet and intranet capabilities across the campus.

  • We also continued our discussion about God’s call to mission and how we can translate that into ideas and actions at Trinity.

All in all, a very good and productive meeting.

 

Another thing that I did at this time last year was to ask you all to join the Stable Tour volunteer list because I was writing this note before Memorial Day weekend. However, this time, the 2017 Hunt Country Stable Tour is done... and what a fantastic weekend it was! Thank you, and thank you to ALL of the many volunteers, Trinity staff and our friends who contributed innumerable hours. I had the pleasure of working at Peace and Plenty on Saturday and Sunday with two different teams and I made new bonds of friendship that I’m sure will continue to grow.

If you were at the outstanding finale dinner on Sunday evening, you heard our HCST chair tell us about how many people we touched during the build up to the weekend, during the weekend and that we intend to continue to reach through the coming year. Kat had a lot of numbers that matter- especially in today’s digital age and considering the changes that our social interactions continue to undergo. I want to list just a few for your information, awareness and consideration as we begin thinking about next year’s tour and how we can reach even more people:

  • The Hunt Country Stable Tour Facebook page was viewed over 35,000 times

  • At least 12,500 of those viewers like, shared or commented on the site

  • In the last couple of weeks before the event, over 6,000 people viewed the HCST site and 3,000 (three thousand!!) of those viewers bounced from the HCST site to Trinity’s home page to view information about our church

Very good numbers by any person’s yardstick, and a great way to make initial contact with people who may not have found us by happening to drive by Trinity one weekend, like a lot of us did. The views of the live feeds from the tour, like the horse swimming event at Trappe Hill Farm, are still getting new views as I write this note.

So- Bravo to the Stable Tour team, Godspeed to Rob for a productiive sabbatical and a safe return, and on to summer for us. Don’t forget the June picnic and the Vestry sponsored picnic in July!

 

S.O.M.E. News in June

355 guests plus many school volunteers were fed this month!

Thursday Cooking Crew

Holly Bimba
Valerie Davis
Ellen Hall
Robin Keys
Stephanie Knapp
Ann MacLeod
Jennifer Youngman

Friday Serving Crew

Jim Gemmer
Gina Hammond
Robin Keys
Ken Knapp
Beth Lamond
John MacDonnell
Mary MacDonnell
Ann MacLeod
Carol Miller
Len Shapiro
Mark Thompson

Next S.O.M.E. Schedule:

We will cook on Thursday, July 20 starting at 7:30 AM. We will go to DC to serve on Friday, July 21. The van will leave the church parking lot at 8:30 AM.

This is our only summer visit and youth age 16 and over are encouraged to participate. Please contact Ann MacLeod at 592-3313 for more information.

Pentecost at Trinity

Pentecost is the fiftieth day after Easter, this year, June 4, and we will celebrate Pentecost by wearing red (if we have red to wear or perhaps pink) and by reading Scripture together, some of us in other languages. But why do we do this? Why is Pentecost important?

After his death on the cross and his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and gave them proof that he was alive. He told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Father’s gift of the Holy Spirit, from whom they would receive power to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Jesus ascended to heaven and the disciples returned to Jerusalem and joined together in prayer in an upper room.

Acts 2: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

We celebrate Pentecost to recognize the gift of the Holy Spirit to the believers, to all believers, to “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” We bear witness to this gift on Pentecost by wearing red to symbolize the color of the tongues of the flames that rested on each disciple; and we bear witness to this gift by speaking in other languages - modern languages today - by those who have the ability, to symbolize the diversity of languages that were spoken in the upper room.

2017 Stable Tour Results

Over $14,000 in Thrift Shop Sales!

Over 35,000 views on the Stable Tour Facebook page!

775 advance-sale tickets sold!

Over $53,000 Raised for mission outreach projects!

12 Vendors at the Country Fair!

12 Farms on the tour!

Music News

The origins of the pipe organ can be traced to 3rd century BC ancient Greece and it has continued to grow in size and complexity throughout history.  In 812 AD, Charlemagne commissioned a large pipe organ for the Chapel at Aachen which began the enduring association of pipe organs with western church music.  While pipe organs have been used in theaters, concert halls, and even private homes, there is no other instrument more associated with churches and thus more ultimately sacred than the pipe organ.  At Trinity Church, we are greatly blessed with what is one of the finest pipe organs in the area.  In addition to supporting the rest of our music ministry, it is used for lessons, recitals, concerts, and educational forums all of which provide sacred inspiration to those in our community and beyond as well as furthering the development of church music and church musicians.  Trinity’s pipe organ is not just a musical instrument but an instrument of ministry.  Much like the rest of our invaluable campus, our pipe organ is also a unique religious resource whose stewardship requires special care to maintain it to its original standard.

Trinity’s pipe organ was built by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston and originally installed in the church in 1960.  By the early nineties, it was in desperate need of major repair.  In 1996, the Lawless-Johnson Organ Company of Hagerstown, MD, performed an extensive rebuild of the organ including some greatly needed additions bringing the total size of the organ to approximately 3000 pipes in 55 ranks at a total cost of $250,000.  Within five years, there were more problems so in 2002, a professional organ consultant, Haig Mardirosian, was brought in to perform an unbiased evaluation and deliver a consultative report which outlined three phases of work to be done.  Phase I involved bringing the organ up to workmanlike order by correcting many mechanical deficiencies from the 96 rebuild.  This work was performed by David Storey of Baltimore, Md. in 2005 at a cost of approximately $50,000.  Phase II involves a thorough tonal finishing of the organ which was not done in 1996.  This work was estimated at $50,000 in the 2002 report.  The music committee has been asking for funds to accomplish this phase ever since and has gradually raised our estimate of the cost to $100,000 to reflect both inflation and continued deterioration.  Phase III involves additional expansion and reconfiguration which may be included in the next major rebuild of the organ.  It should be noted that the life cycle of rebuilding large pipe organs is 30-40 years so we should be planning for this in the next 10-20 years at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars.

In the last year, an organ fund was created to begin to collect money for both short term Phase II tonal finishing and long term Phase III rebuild and this fund has now been seeded with the gift of $50,000 from the Lambert Foundation.  Considering this, we have brought in renowned organ builder Larry Trupiano of NY and Curator of the National Cathedral organ, Bard Wickkiser of Baltimore to examine the organ and develop a joint proposal for accomplishing the Phase II tonal finishing work.  We have been in constant dialogue with them about tailoring their work to our needs and at their April meeting, the Vestry voted to approve the thoughtful and thorough Trupiano/Wickkiser proposal at a cost of $100,000 with work to potentially begin this summer.  However, final ratification of a contract is pending raising the additional $50,000.  Hurst Groves has agreed to lead this fundraising effort.  For more information about this project or to consider donating, please contact me at the church or Hurst at hkgroves@aol.com.  Completion of this project has been a long time coming and will finally bring the organ up to its full potential as we continue to build the body of

Christ using music as an instrument of God’s peace.

Vestry Notes May 2017

Our Vestry met on Wednesday, April 19th for its monthly meeting. The minutes for the meeting will be filed and will be available for your review. Your Vestry wants to sincerely thank ALL of the many people and groups who helped with this year’s Holy Week and Easter Sunday. We are blessed with a beautiful campus and a wonderful membership who pulled together this year to ensure it was a success. The Sunrise Service was one of the best ever. If you missed it, please consider joining us next year and of course, also for the many special events that happen around Easter… Thank you Trinity!

In case you have not been made aware yet, Trinity has secured a weekend at Shrine Mont for another congregational retreat! It will occur the weekend of October 14/15. More information will be forthcoming, but if you can, please put a hold on that weekend and join us for Friday and/or Saturday night. Depending on the weather from now until then, it may just be the peek weekend for fall foliage viewing.

We had a fairly regular Vestry meeting this month. We received the Treasurer’s reports. Our cash position is good. Pledge income was a bit down for the month, but with our impending draw from endowment, we will remain in good standing through the next several months. Pledge income for the year was up compared to our budget so we’re looking okay.

A couple of items from the Finance Committee to report are 1) the Spending Authority policy was updated to reflect changes approved by Vestry last year- mostly dealing with the approval of funds by Vestry and acquisition of bids; 2) upon discovery that there was no formal oversight of the Food Closet, Vestry approved that the Food Closet be formally assigned to the Outreach Committee for financial oversight; and 3) Vestry unanimously authorized the Parish Administrator to enter into a new contract for a leased printer/copier as described in the Finance Committee Report.

Vestry received a Proposal for Organ Improvements submitted by Mann & Trupiano Organ Builders in partnership with Bard B. Wickkiser Organ Builder. Trupiano and Wickkiser are two of the most skilled organ builders in the country, especially for Aeolian-Skinner organs and Wickkiser is the curator of the National Cathedral organ- also an Aeolian-Skinner. Considering the funds already in our recently created Organ Repair Fund, Vestry concluded that it could not approve a contract until the additional funds have been secured. Vestry formally accepted the proposal from Trupiano and Wickkiser as presented, and voted that a contract for the work be ratified upon receipt of the required additional $50,000.

We received the Stable Tour update. Thanks be to God for the remarkable response to this year’s donor campaign which was reported to be at $25,000 already. I won’t go into a lot of detail here as more information will be given elsewhere, but I will ask that everybody please consider how you can pitch in to help. Our Outreach efforts for the whole year are dependent on a successful Stable Tour and as Rob has been telling us, Vestry has been considering ways that we can have a greater impact with our Outreach activities as we attempt to clarify and carry out our purpose and mission.

We briefly discussed the need to identify new Vestry candidates. This month we have identified a list of eligible candidates and the outgoing Vestry members will be taking this issue for action. You may start seeing reminders that we are seeking candidates for nomination so if you interested in learning more about what it takes to be on Vestry, please let us know. 

As always, thank you again for your prayers, participation, engagement and support.

 

Hunt Country Stable Tour Tickets on Sale!

Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the grandeur of some of the finest equestrian facilities known to the world! The tour is widely known and hailed as a weekend not to be missed by all those who experience it. Spend your weekend traveling down winding country roads in a self-driven tour, with exclusive access to view the properties, horses, and stables of Virginia's Hunt Country. 

Community Music School of the Piedmont

Thank you for our World Headquarters!

It is fifteen years ago now since Christian Myers, Trinity’s Director of Music, had the wonderful idea that The Community Music School of the Piedmont (CMSP) might make its home at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville.  The Vestry agreed with Christian’s idea, and CMSP established our World Headquarters in the basement of Cox Hall where we have been ever since.  We have satellite locations throughout Fauquier, Loudoun, and Clarke Counties, but Trinity is our home.  Thank you so much for having us!  From our base here,  we have been able to provide high quality music instruction and performance opportunities for all members of our Piedmont community.

It has been a wonderful partnership.  It has been our great good fortune to work with so many excellent people over the years at Trinity, from rectors to staff, to members of the Vestry, and congregants.  Christian remains our dear friend and supporter and we are delighted to know and work with Rector Rob Banse, with Betsy Crenshaw, Phil Mohr, and of course, Tommy Breeden.

Our operating model of sharing space with churches started with Trinity and has been repeated in a number of our other locations, including Aldie, Purcellville, Stephens City, and Warrenton. By keeping our occupancy expenses at reasonable levels, we are able to participate in various communities.  It also greatly helps us to fund our scholarship programs so that music education is affordable and available across the community.  Over the past fifteen years, we have been able to provide over $75,000 in scholarships, including scholarships for music therapy students.

CMSP has had a fabulous time at Trinity and looks forward to continuing our relationship for many more years to come! Whether it be the lessons held throughout the week in the classrooms or Strings Days in the Spring, or the week-long Chamber Music Camps in the Summer, or the numerous recitals at Cox Hall and in the church itself, CMSP has thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful and welcoming location.  Thank you for our World Headquarters!

With much appreciation,
Martha Cotter
Executive Director,
The Community Music School of the Piedmont

Vacation Bible School

June 12-16, 2017
9 AM - 12 Noon

A little about this year’s program:

At the Maker Fun Factory, kids explore what it means to be created by God for a purpose. Kids participate in memorable Bible-learning activities, sing catchy songs, play team- building games, make and dig into yummy treats, experience one-of-a-kind Bible adventures, collect Bible Memory Buddies to remind them of Jesus’ love, and make crafts that represent their uniqueness and creativity. Plus, kids will learn to look for evidence of God all around them through something called God Sightings. Each day concludes with a Maker Fun Factory closing that gets everyone involved in living what they’ve learned.

Age Requirement and Placement:

This adventure is available to all children, age 3 through current 5th grade (Children must have turned 3 by June 12, 2017 and be potty-trained). Preschoolers will be placed in separate small groups, and elementary-age children will be placed in small groups of similar age and grade levels.

Registration Information:

Please complete one registration form per family - download via the button below. The cost of the program is free (although you may purchase a VBS t-shirt for $10 per child).

Full instructions for registration are included in the form. REGISTRATION ENDS ON JUNE 1. No walk-ins will be accepted on June 12.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Many volunteers are needed. If you are able to volunteer during VBS week, we need your help! Teens are also encouraged to volunteer - just click the button below to fill out our online registration.

If you have any questions or are interested in a volunteer opportunity, please contact: Rachel Rickenbaker, (540) 592-3343, rrickenbaker@trinityupperville.org

Vestry News

Our Vestry met on Thursday, March 16th for its monthly meeting. The minutes for the meeting will be filed and will be available for your review. The meeting was held on Thursday this month so as not to conflict with the Wednesday Lenten dinner series that Rob is leading on the Five Marks of Love. If you have not joined us yet for that, you should come next time. It’s a refreshing and lively discussion about how we can live more fully into God’s calling.

Welcome to Spring 2017! The clocks are moved up, the days are getting longer. Hopefully the last snow has fallen and the blooming flowers, greening pastures and, of course, the Cherry trees are reappearing everywhere. Thanks be to God for another season of renewal and resurrection.

At our meeting in March, we received the Treasurer’s reports and I’m pleased to pass on that our finances remain in good order. While our plate collections are slightly behind budget, our pledge collections for 2017 are ahead of budget and we received a few catch up payments from 2016. I think that is a good trend and I like to believe that you all have listened and responded to Vestry’s plea that we take ownership of our beautiful place we call Trinity. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to Trinity and your diligence in helping us to stay on track with our commitments and goals. We remain hopeful that those who have not yet done so this year will prayerfully consider making a pledge of support to Trinity’s missions. We are all in this together and we still need your help in order to realize our full potential. As I said last month, it is never too late to make your pledge and it will ensure that we can support the missions and programs that we have set for the year.

We received a full report from Buildings and Grounds primarily focused on the much needed repairs that are underway in the Nursery. From fully rewiring the building to plumbing, painting and new floors, the refurbished old building is hardly recognizable. I invite you to go over and take a look when you have time. If you’ve noticed the lighting in the sanctuary is better and brighter, that’s because the first phase of that project has been completed too. The old dimmer unit in the basement is gone and new light controllers are in place. The next phase will be to improve the lighting in the choir. B+G continues to use the Facility Condition Assessment in planning future renovation priorities. As always, we’re in this together so if you see something that needs attention, please let us know.

We also received a detailed report from our Music Director, Christian, on the process and progress of repairing Trinity’s Aeolian-Skinner organ. We are fortunate to have located two experts on this type of organ who have completed an examination of needs and we are awaiting their proposal. If we accept the proposal, a plan will be created to supplement the $50,000 gift received from the Lambert Foundation to the Organ Fund so we can complete the project.

Not to be forgotten at this time of year, and actually at the start of our meeting, we received a report on the 2017 Stable Tour. This year’s tour is shaping up to be a grand one with several farms that have not been on the tour for a several years. The committee is in full swing and you will be hearing much more about this as we get closer to Memorial Day weekend. Watch for the May edition of the Country Spirit magazine for a cover story on the tour! That’s all for now- Thank you again for your prayers, participation and support.

S.O.M.E. News

A wee bit of Ireland by way of Upperville, VA traveled to So Other’s Might Eat (SOME) in Washington DC on St. Patrick’s Day where over 320 guests were fed a festivities appropriate meal, minus the green beer.

Thanks to Gina Hammond, who personally made and decorated a ton of shamrock cookies and to Mary MacDonnell who baked up a generous batch of Irish soda bread, our Friday fish repast complemented green SOME aprons in a gaily decorated Irish themed dining room.

 Here's our SOME serving crew getting ready to board the van for DC from last week. Thank you all for your servanthood!

 

Here's our SOME serving crew getting ready to board the van for DC from last week. Thank you all for your servanthood!

All told, with the breakfast production included, over 700 homeless and hungry men and women were fed at 71 O Street, NW, a typical day in the operation of one of the District’s most active daily feeding programs. Trinity Church has been involved in preparing and serving a meal there now for 30 years.

With all the ovens working and a thoughtful group of Georgetown students on hand to assist, we set about diligently. Kitchen duties were led by: Jim Gemmer, a champion at dishwashing; Len Shapiro, the green bean king; and John MacDonnell and Carol Miller who cooked the abundance of fish.

The aforementioned Gina and Mary laid out all the breads and cookies, along with Ann MacLeod and Maggie New. Robin Keys tried to be useful out in the dining room.

The previous day, our own Rev. Rob Banse assisted with the assembly of the rice casserole, handily chopping carrots, celery and green peppers. Joining Rob were: Holly Bimba, Ellen Hall, Bob Eliot, Jennifer Young, Carolyn Parks, Robin Keys and Ann MacLeod.

Please consider joining us on Thursday, May 18 when we will cook again in Cox Hall and the following morning Friday, May 19 when we will travel to Washington, DC.

 

Holy Week at Trinity

PALM SUNDAY

April 9
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ According to St. Matthew
8:00am Holy Eucharist Rite I
10:30am Holy Eucharist Rite II

MAUNDY THURSDAY

April 13
6:30pm Agape Dinner (Shrimp Boil with a Vegan/Gluten Free Chili)
7:30pm Worship | Holy Eucharist (includes stripping of the altar and a service of foot washing)

GOOD FRIDAY

April 14
12pm Noon Worship
7pm Concert: "The Last 7 Words of Christ" by Haydn

Other Holy Week Events

HOLY EUCHARIST offered during Holy Week
12pm Noon on April 10, 11, and 12

PRAYER VIGIL - sign up in Cox Hall for a 1-hour Time Slot
April 13 at 10pm
April 14 at 10am

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