Have Easter flowers placed in the church in honor of or in memory of a loved one this Easter. Please enclose your contribution with this form ( for checks, be sure to write “Easter Flowers” in the memo line). Contact the church office or complete an order form during service and place it in the offering plate no later than April 14th.
EcoPalms for Palm Sunday
This Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019, you will receive a different type of palm. The church has invested in a product called “EcoPalm”. Unlike the strip palms you normally receive, this year’s palm will be a frond as shown in the picture. Purchasing this product provides several benefits
Promote Social Justice
Harvesting palms is an important source of income but gatherers receive a low price
Gatherers will receive a higher price for their “fair trade” palms improving their income.
Promote Environmental Stewardship
Palms protect valuable natural forests because they provide income to forest communities.
Palms will be “sustainably” harvested and managed protecting the palms and the forests they need for shade.
Why a "Fair Trade" Palm?
To improve income and living conditions for the communities gathering the palm.
To protect the palms and the important forests from which they are gathered through sustainable harvest programs.
Did You Know?
Approximately 308 million palm fronds were consumed in the United States in 1998.
Palm purchases for Palm Sunday may be worth up to 4.5 million dollars/year.
A congregation of 1,100 to 1,500 members will order approximately 700 palm fronds for Palm Sunday services.
Palm gathering actually protects valuable natural forests.
At least half of the farmers in the Central Peten of Guatemala earn additional income from harvesting fronds and, more than a quarter of household heads support themselves exclusively by collecting fronds.
Each palm plant produces 2 to 5 harvestable leaves over a 2 to 4 month period.
Join us on Palm Sunday and know that your palm frond has been sustainably harvested and provided important income to the farmers.
From the Wardens
With Spring just around the corner, we want to acknowledge new growth and rebirth in several aspects of our life at Trinity Church in Upperville. Thanks to several parishioners who have taken the laboring oar, our Sunday school program for the Lenten season is up and running. The parents and teachers who have participated in this revitalization, with the eager support of our Interim Rector Ed Miller, are a cause for rejoicing. Our Christian education program for youth is being resurrected as well. We are grateful for the support of all participants in this critical part of life at Trinity, especially Melanie Hitchen, Lisa White, and Sheila Harrell.
As you are keenly aware, our 60th Annual Hunt Country Stable Tour is a mere two months away. Kat Gemmer’s team has lined up eleven farms for the Tour. It is always a fun event for our visitors but also it is the lifeblood of our growing Outreach to the community. We urge everyone to volunteer your time and treasure to ensure the Stable Tour is a magnificent success.
Under the chairmanship of Matt Blunt, the Discernment Committee formed by the Vestry to identify a permanent Rector has begun its work. We will apprise you of this work as the committee moves forward. Soon, parishioners will have an important opportunity to help the Discernment Committee develop a profile of our Christian community by responding to a thoughtful and confidential survey. We would very much like to see 100% participation.
Through the efforts of the Committee, Trinity will ‘put its best foot forward’ in attracting Rector candidates. Our website, our internal communications, our management systems, and our financial profile are among the ways we communicate the vitality of the Church. We are happy to report that the Church has made important strides recently in these respects, again with Ed’s support and direction.
The Church’s internet security is being upgraded. Staff’s aging desktops, printers, and the Rector’s laptop are being replaced or upgraded. Once the new devices arrive and are set up, we will deploy Office365 across all staff devices. Campus internet signal strength, speed, and security are being addressed. We are turning our attention to improving our database and hope to organize it in ways that better serve our missions. Over the coming year, everyone should experience better communications and outreach capabilities. With God’s help, these initiatives will be in place by the end of Spring.
As many of you know, our database and our member guide need to be unified and updated. Our Junior Warden appeals to everyone to help correct the problem. If you, a group, or a committee you are involved in has member lists with contact information, please send that information to Di, our Parish Administrator and please use “Member List” as the subject line of your email.
All the systems currently being improved will ensure that we can carry out our Christian mis-sion and our ministries effectively. Christian Education, The Stable Tour, Outreach, and innumerable other ministries depend on this infrastructure, and we depend on you, the faithful members of Trinity Church.
Blessings,
Jim Hoecker, Sr. Warden
Sandy Diday, Jr. Warden
Piedmont Spaghetti Dinner & Raffle
Men's Breakfast
Calling all Men
The Men’s Breakfast will be at 8:00am on March 16th. This is a great opportunity for Fellowship and Fun. Please join us.
So Others May Eat
If you are interested in volunteering for this vital ministry, the cooking will begin at at 7:30am on March 14th in Cox Hall.
For those who serve, the van leaves the parking lot at 8:30am, on March 15th.
Kairos Cookie Ministry
It was traditional in many societies to clear our cupboards of foods made with butter, eggs and fat that would be given up during the Lenten season. However, may we offer an alternative suggestion, use those ingredients to make cookies. We don’t need them until April 7th but they can be made ahead of time and frozen.
Please make each cookie with prayer. These cookies help open hearts to repentance and forgiveness and an awareness of God’s vast love.
Bake any recipe you would like, but please keep in mind that if we are to take each and every cookie into the institution, we need to follow certain guidelines.
This means that specific ingredients cannot be used. When baking, please remember:
NO raisins or other dried fruit or coconut
NO toppings such as sugar, decorations or icing
NO candy such as M&Ms
NO nuts
YES to chocolate and butterscotch chips
COOL COOKIES completely before placing them in 1 quart zip lock bags
Cookies should be approximately 2 to 2 1/2 inches in size.
12 cookies per quart size ziplock bag
Please indicate the type of cookie on each bag
We need 100 dozen cookies so feel free to start baking now and put them in your freezer.
Questions? Please call Cheri Martin @ 540-837-1774
All cookies need to be here by Sunday, April 7th.
Hunt Country Stable Tour Updates
Mark your Calendars!
This year, 2019, marks the 60th Anniversary of our treasured annual tradition - the Trinity Episcopal Church Hunt Country Stable Tour. It will be held on Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, May 25th and May 26th from 10:00am to 5:00pm.
As always, all proceeds go directly to the Outreach program here at Trinity, supporting various missions including S.O.M.E., Helping Haitian Angels, and Piedmont Child Care Center, to name a few.
This is an amazing congregation-wide event, with everyone in the parish participating. So mark your calendars and when the signup sheets go up in Cox Hall, pick out your favorite farm and spend a wonderful day visiting with guests and teaching them about the farm and Trinity Church. If you want to be part of this momentous event call Kat Gemmer at 540-338-7130 or email gemmerkathryn@gmail.com.
Join our celebration with your early commitment to support this historic Memorial Day tradition.
Friday Night Lights
Every Friday during Lent, beginning on March 8, the church will be lit from dusk until 9pm to welcome and invite passersby to end their week with reflection and prayer..
Parishioners have noticed that Trinity receives visitors when the Church is lit in the evening and we want to encourage those in our community as well as commuters from surrounding areas to stop by and experience our sacred space.
Clara Gerdes in Recital
Friday, March 22, 2019
7: 30 PM
Musicians and the general public alike have a special opportunity on March 22 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville to hear an outstanding performer on an outstanding pipe organ. CLARA GERDES, the award-winning organist, will play works by Reubke, Hakim. Dupre and others. The program is designed to feature the talent of this exceptionally gifted virtuoso and to feature Trinity Church's recent tonal revision and regulation of the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ.
The recital is free with a suggested donation of $10. Inquiries should be made to Dr. Steven Cooksey at scooksey@su.edu or to the chapter's web site at WAGO. org
Ms. Gerdes website is www.claragerdes.com
Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 marks the beginning of Lent, a season of reflection and introspection in preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
Lent begins with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday we will have 2 services, one at noon and one at 7:00 PM. We encourage everyone to participate.
The services will include both the Holy Eucharist and the imposition of ashes. During the imposition of ashes, the interim rector will take ashes (from the burning of the previous year’s Palm Sunday palms) and will make the mark of the cross on each congregant’s forehead. The imposition of ashes is a reminder of our mortality, and our total reliance on God.
“For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” - Genesis 3:19
Shrove Tuesday & Sacramental Burnings
Tuesday, March 5
5:30-7:30pm
Come one, come all, for our annual Shrove Tuesday celebration. The men of the church will be cooking us a pancake dinner. The dinner will run from 5:30-7:30 PM. This is a free dinner. All are welcome! (Decorations and set-up by the Parish Life Committee)
Sacramental Burnings
In conjunction with the Pancake Supper, we will perform the sacramental burnings in the courtyard circle. Parishioners are invited to bring their palms to be part of the palm burning activity. The Altar Guild has identified some very worn purificators that will also be decommissioned, burned and buried. If you would like to witness these ceremonies, please be in the courtyard at 6 pm.
Important Message From the Wardens
We are pleased to tell you that the following parishioners have graciously agreed to serve on the Discernment Committee that will seek a new Shepherd on our behalf: Matt Blunt (Chair), Jonathan Catherwood, Alix Coolidge, Ellen Hall, Ashley Hambrick, Margaret Moore, and Laurie Volk. The Vestry has worked prayerfully to choose these dedicated people for this faithful and fateful task. We are asking a great deal from our fellow parishioners and now we ask for your trust and prayerful support for the process they are undertaking.
Please keep in mind that, as the committee seeks to discern the Lord’s will for Trinity and its leadership, we should each open our hearts to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Although the search process is necessarily confidential, we will do our best to keep the congregation apprised of what is occurring.
Of course, everyone has a role. The discernment process will begin with challenging questions that our Members will be called upon to answer. What is the history and tradition of Trinity Episcopal Church, Upperville, VA? How is it situated demographically, geographically, and historically? Who have we been? Who are we now? And, importantly, who is God calling us to be next? All of our likes and dislikes, hopes and concerns, as well as our thoughts, feelings, and opinions are relevant.
Based on our mutual conviction that the Church exists for the glory of God, we ask for your prayers, trust, and enthusiastic support for the discernment committee’s labors.
“A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Luke 6:37-38
Blessings,
Jim Hoecker, Senior Warden
Sanford Diday, Junior Warden
Stable Tour Updates!
Another reminder that we all need to keep in the back of our minds that the 60th Annual Hunt Country Stable Tour will be held the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. May 25 and May 26, 2019, 10:00am to 5:00pm both days. The committee is meeting monthly and we would love your input and ideas. This is an amazing congregation-wide event, with everyone in the parish participating.
The entire proceeds from the Stable Tour are given away as our Outreach budget, so it’s such any important part of the life of this parish. So mark your calendars and when the signup sheets go up in Cox Hall, pick out your favorite farm and spend a wonderful day visiting with guests and teaching them about the farm and Trinity Church.
If you want to be part of this momentous event call Kat Gemmer at 540-338-7130 or email gemmerkathryn@gmail.com
Thrift Shop Update
Just want to continue to remind everyone that the Thrift Shop is always looking for new volunteers to help out with receiving and going through the donated items. Items in good shape can go onto the shelves/hangers and not so good items can be put out for recycling. You can go into the shop anytime you want, just ask Betsy for the code for the key to the front door.
We also have openings on the Saturday selling teams. The schedule is on a rotational basis and we have teams that come in on Saturday mornings from 9:00am to noon. It’s fun and rewarding working in the shop. You get to visit with neighbors and visitors alike, and the proceeds from the shop help our less fortunate brothers and sisters in the neighborhood.
If you don’t know where the shop is located, it’s across the side street from the Upperville Post Office, right on route 50. So give Betsy a call in the church office (540)592-3343 and give it a try.
Youth Group Event - Escape Room
Sunday, February 17th, 12:30 pm -3:30 pm
Calling all youth!! 6-12 grades!
You are invited on an excursion to the Escape Room adventure challenge!
Lunch will be provided following the 10:30 am service.
The Trinity van will depart at 12:30 pm.
For questions and to RSVP, please contact
Lisa White via lwhite@longcompanies.com
or
Jessica Diday via jvanheimdiday@gmail.com
CMSP 12th Annual Candlelight Concert Fundraiser
Clara Gerdes, Organist
S.O.M.E. Updates
Undeterred by a messy weather forecast, and in the midst of a partial government shutdown, a full load of volunteers with a delicious and hearty lunch meal for So Others Might Eat (SOME) coasted into Washington, DC in January in the Trinity van to begin our 32nd year of service.
Our fish lunch, with rice, green beans, coleslaw, and featuring an abundance of desserts and bread donated by parishioners, was well received by about 300 guests and staff.
Notable on this visit were a table of children, accompanied by their grandmother. The grandmother has ten daughters of her own and 30 grandchildren, 10 boys and 20 girls. There are two sets of twins and one set of triplets among her brood. We lavished treats on the young ones in attendance who were enjoying an early dismissal from District schools. The kids were curious and polite, and content in their grandmother’s care.
It often goes without mention that much of the success of our visits to SOME lies with the long time dining room manager, Lynette Moore. Lynette has the biggest smile and is full of grace, leading our chorus welcoming the guests in the door. Lynette is supervising a new service at SOME, a soup course mid-morning. About 80 guests partook prior to our arrival.
The handy Bob Appenzeller is taking on an important task at SOME, the repair of one of the industrial can openers. A master at green bean making, ranking alongside the skills of Florida bound Len Shapiro, Bob made the right call deducing that two quality can openers are better than one. He donated the one good one on a previous visit.
Ably joining Bob were Ken Knapp, Jim Gemmer, Ann MacLeod, Gina Hammond, Josefina Hooker, LeighO and Liza Wood, Becky Hoecker, Carol Miller, Sheryl Mazzatenta, and Robin Keys. All of these folks are so handy and fell into rhythm at the ovens, on the sink and along the serving line.
We are ever grateful to our congregation who rallied and provided a wide away of mouth-watering desserts and breads. We especially appreciate the individually packaged items and encourage others to donate a box of Little Debbies brand snacks, or mini packs of potato chips, raisins, etc. The guests appreciate something portable and non-perishable that they can take away with them. Lunch is the last meal served at SOME and it is a long time until breakfast rolls around the next morning.
As the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King was about to be observed, we were advised that members of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s. family would be at SOME volunteering and serving the soup course on his day of remembrance. The MLK Day of Service honors a man who espoused, “What are you doing for others?”
Our experience serving at SOME was supported by a wealth of experienced cooks who assembled the rice casserole in the Cox Hall kitchen the previous day.
Among those in attendance: Carol Miller, Richard Taylor, Ellen Hall, Holly Bimba, Jolly de Give, Robin Keys, Ann MacLeod, Joan Eliot, Harriett Condon, Mark Thompson. The vegetable chopping was dispatched with in near record time.
Lord willing, we will gather to cook again on Thursday, March 14 and return to SOME on Friday, March 15 to prepare and serve lunch. Please make every effort to join us, either with prayer, or in the Upperville and/or DC kitchens, on the serving line, or by donating baked or individually wrapped goods. We appreciate your continuing support.
Stewardship Updates
Dear Fellow Parishioner,
In Matthew 6:21, Jesus said “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.
When was the last time you made a major investment, but never managed it? Built a beautiful house, but didn’t maintain it? Purchased a wonderful car, but never changed its oil? Acquired a fine piano, but never tuned it?
Of course we pay attention to these things. Who wouldn’t? Who shouldn’t? We do this because we see these items as our possessions, as the fruits of our labors. As something we worked, saved and sacrificed for. But are they really just “ours”?
In the liturgy prior to the 1979 Prayer Book, after the ushers collected our offerings, we often heard the following, as the Celebrant lifted the offering plates for all to see: “All things come of thee, O Lord” And we responded: “And of thine own have we given thee”
We still hear this from time to time, but if it were up to me, it would always be said, to remind us that what we give to the Church is a portion of what God has given to us, what God has made it possible for us to achieve, what God has allowed us to use as we see fit.
Stewardship involves the use our resources to make a positive difference – in our lives, of course, but also in the lives of our families and friends, in the lives of other communities of which we are a part and, yes, in life at Trinity Church. Stewardship viewed this way is an expression of our gratitude for God’s gifts. It is a way in which we help Trinity be a resource for the worshipers who enter its doors, the community in which it is located, the Diocese of which it is a part, and even beyond these parochial and geographical limits.
By the time you read this, your Vestry will have approved Trinity’s budget for 2019. It will have done this based on its faith in the generosity and stewardship of Trinity’s parishioners. It is confident that those qualities will allow Trinity to achieve its objectives for the year, including meeting unanticipated challenges, like a broken boiler or a leaking roof. If you haven’t yet submitted a pledge for 2019, it’s not too late to do so. Please call the office (540-592-3343) and a card will be sent to you.
If you are uncertain about this, take a moment to ask yourself – “where is your heart” when it comes to Trinity? Take a moment to pray for God’s guidance. You will not regret it.
Faithfully,
Hurst Groves 2019 Stewardship Chair