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• September/October issue [download here]

Front page of September/October Newsletter

The Church’s New Year Begins!

 from Assisting Priest, Mother Mary Frances Schjonberg

By the time you read this newsletter, summer will be winding down and it will be a “new year.” Congregational life in the Episcopal Church revolves around the secular calendar as well as the liturgical calendar. When Labor Day comes and goes and school resumes (or vice versa for some students), congregations think of it as a new program year. Here at Trinity Church we’ve planned a very full four months of Christian formation programs. You'll find a booklet in this newsletter describing the many ways you can deepen your knowledge and grow in faith.

We’ve considered once again how best to balance education for youth and children with school and sports demands, and you can read more about that on page 3.

Our annual stewardship plans are moving ahead. And a few weeks ago, on a day when the thermometer read 93 degrees, Father David sent us clergy the Sunday preaching and presiding schedule through Christmas.

And we’re still hoping for some great beach days and quiet afternoons with a good book before the pace picks up again, aren't we? In the midst of all this, it’s good to remember that the planning and the programming are not ends in themselves. They’re about building community – the community of Trinity Church – and helping you find ways to set down roots here that will anchor your faith, and that’s an ongoing process.

Vacations and other distractions sometimes keep us away from church during the summer. When we all “return” after Labor Day, we are slightly different people than when we left. Plus, each September parents decide that their young children need a religious education as well as a secular one, and they go looking for a church home. Other seekers vow again to “look for a church,” and they step tentatively across our thresholds. We build our community anew with each "new year."

So, Happy New Year, and blessings on this community of Trinity Church on our journey of faith.

-- Mother Mary Frances Schjonberg+