Confirmation Classes

Confirmation Class for 8th Grade Youth

Inquirers’ Class for Adults

In preparation for the visitation by Bishop Ted Gulick on May 12, for Confirmation, there will be two opportunities for reflection on the affirmation of our Christian faith. Youth in grades eight and above who wish to explore Confirmation will worship at the 8:00 am service and meet with the Interim Rector from 9:15-10:10 on Sunday mornings from March 31 through May 5, (except for Easter).

Those interested in the Adult Inquirers’ Class, please contact Rev. Ed Miller at emiller@trinityupperville.org or call the office at 540-592-3343. This discussion series is open to all.

Bishop Gulick will also join us on Sunday March 31, for a special forum at 9:30 to share his insights on Christian Initiation in the 21st Century. His reflections will be based in part on the Confirmation Project, a recently completed study on effective Confirmation programs for youth, sponsored by five Protestant denominations.

Piedmont Spaghetti Dinner & Raffle

PCCC Annual Spaghetti Dinner & 50/50 Raffle
Friday, April 5th 4:30-6:30 pm

Join us for a spring themed night of fun at Trinity Episcopal Church

Dinner Admission:
Adults Eat In—$10
Carry Out—$8
Kids—$5
Children under 5 are free

Hunt Country Stable Tour Updates

Greetings from the Hunt Country Stable Tour Committee!

We are so excited to be near the 60th Anniversary of this event. Did you know that back in 1959 the first Stable Tour included four farms and a sneak preview of our current church sanctuary which was not in use until 1960?

Here we are as a congregation 60 years later and this wonderful community tradition is still a part of our fundraising effort for our Outreach work here at Trinity.

This year promises to be one of the best tours to date. We have ten outstanding farms who promise beauty and excitement for our tour goers this May. How can you help you ask? Well, you can give to our patron campaign, it’s the seed money that allows us to advertise and plan for the weekend, and more importantly, the net proceeds generated by your initial contribution are 100% of our Outreach Budget. Just go visit https://trinityupperville.org/stable-tour-donate, or get a patron card from our church. It’s as simple as that.

Mark your calendar for May 25 and 26. Join a volunteer team at one of our farms! It is such a fun experience and you will form friendships with church members and other volunteers as you serve the Lord in a completely unique experience. Farms are beginning to fill so reserve your farm early.

Just visit https://trinityupperville.org/become-a-volunteer or contact Jim Gemmer at jimdgem@gmail.com. The church will also have sign up sheets in Cox Hall the Sunday after Easter.

Help with advertisement! Do you know a business that would buy a small ad in our booklet or sponsor our maps? Contact Kat Gemmer at gemmerkathryn@gmail.com or pick up advertising brochures and forms in the church office.

We look forward to hearing from you all!

In Christ,
Kat

Spotlight on Easter Sunrise Service

The first of Trinity’s three Easter services will take place at 6 AM at the Outdoor Chapel.

Those wishing to make their way to the Outdoor Chapel together should plan to meet in the church parking lot at about 5:50 to walk to the Outdoor Sanctuary together with Ed. Please bring a flashlight as it will still be dark. If you are concerned about walking to the Outdoor Sanctuary, the Trinity van will be available to transport you to the service. The van will depart the church parking lot at 5:55 AM on Easter Sunday.

Our worship service begins at the Council Ring where the fire will welcome worshippers, and our prayers begin. After we light the Paschal candle, the congregation will process to the cross for the rest of the worship, and hopefully will greet the rising sun. The service consists of readings, songs and a homily. Communion will be celebrated at the 8 AM and 10:30 AM services only.

Please invite your friends and neighbors to this service, as it is a great opportunity to encourage ecumenical community worship. Also, after the service has been concluded, please feel welcome to return to the council ring and linger by the fire for coffee, hot chocolate, juice, donuts and Easter fellowship.

He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!

S.O.M.E. Updates for April

We had a most successful visit to SOME in March and are already looking ahead to our May 17, 2019 trip to DC. We will cook the day before, Thursday, May 16, 2019.

Participants are reminded to please contact Ann MacLeod if you wish to join us in any capacity at 540-592-3313. We have 8 spots for cooks and 10 seats on the van for servers.

The Outreach Committee and the SOME team are ever grateful for all of your support.. We are switching tactics a bit and invite the congregation to participate in another way. Our guests appreciate consistency, therefore we will attempt to stick with a single dessert of chocolate cake and whipped cream and a corn bread side dish, all secured from our food service provider. We intend to stick with our popular meal, voted the best by SOME staff, battered fish with tartar sauce, rice casserole, green beans, coleslaw, milk and the aforementioned cake and corn bread.

We welcome your contributions and encourage you to donate pre-packaged, take-away treats, such as fruit snacks, “Little Debbie” pastries, protein bars, breakfast bars, individual bags of nut mix - anything that comes apportioned and ready to hand out.

As you are probably aware, SOME serves 365 breakfast and lunches daily, however there is no dinner, which is why we like to give something to our guests to take with them to tide them over until their next meal. We will be providing small baggies and intend to wrap up any bulk items individually. This being said, if someone wants to donate 300 apples, we will get them into DC and have them ready for carry out. Rest assured, your food will be served and will be adored. We receive so many, many compliments at every visit.

Thank you again for all your efforts and prayers.

Order Easter Flowers

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.