Suffering and Remembering

Adult Education Theme for June 2022

Charles Lemert

This coming Sunday we will be at the eve of Memorial Day. Other modern nations may celebrate Victory Day as Russia did, ludicrously, earlier this month. France celebrates Bastille Day; Canada celebrates Canada Day. But none other, so far as I know, celebrates a Memorial Day as we do. But what are we remembering on Memorial Day? The Day began shortly after the Civil War in which some 865,000 soldiers were killed—more than in any war since. Not a community North or South was untouched by death. Drew Gilpin Faust, an historian of the Civil War, wrote The Republic of Suffering, a book that concludes: “We all live in the world of death the Civil War created.”

Suffering and Remembering are, obviously, central to Christian thought. I will take this as the theme for my sermon on May 29 but with special attention to the place of suffering and remembering in American culture. The Sunday after, June 5 at 9:30, Bob Sandine and I will begin a month-long Adult Education course covering Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown—and their roles is representing different versions of Christian thinking about slavery and the suffering it entailed.

Selma Nancy Oxford was born into the world to the Rev. Heidi Thorsen and Will Oxford on May 25, 2022 at 4:47pm. Everyone is healthy, tired, and happy. Prayers are welcome as Heidi begins maternity leave for some important time with family! Many thanks to all those who have helped them along the journey, including the wonderful staff at Yale New Haven Hospital and our Trinity community.

We are pleased to announce that applications for the Justina O. Anako Memorial Scholarship are now open to all women of color bound for STEM fields.

Started in 2021, the Justina O. Anako Memorial Scholarship is a $1,000 grant awarded annually to a graduating high school senior planning to enroll in college to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) or an undergraduate majoring in a in STEM field of study. Student must identify as a woman of color and can renew the scholarship if the listed requirements are met.

We are tremendously grateful for the generosity of the Anako family for honoring Justina's legacy through this program. Applications are due July 1st. Please spread the word and share this application widely!

Apply here: https://www.trinitynewhaven.org/the-justina-o-anako-memorial-scholarship

We will begin our Summer Worship Schedule at Trinity on Labor Day weekend, starting Sunday, May 29. Note the following changes:

Sundays

7:45am – Quiet Eucharist, Rite I

10:30am – Community Eucharist, Rite II

2pm – Chapel on the Green

*note: 9am Morning Prayer and 5pm Music and Prayer services will resume in the fall

Wednesdays

The 12:10pm Wednesday Eucharist will go on hiatus starting June 1, until the fall

We wish you safe travels, rest, and meaningful worship, whatever your summer plans may be – and we hope to see you around Trinity this summer!

You've heard this one before: rising COVID numbers have forced a change of plans! Your family's health and safety come first so instead of meeting in the Undercroft for Sunday Spark (School), we'll be meeting at this New Haven park for play and prayer instead: College Woods: East Rock (The address of the park is 41-125 Cold Spring St., New Haven, CT 06511.)

9 a.m. - 10 a.m., Sunday, May 15

Vaia will join us to play with the kids as the adults sip, chat, and pray. Juice, water, coffee and breakfast goodies will be available for your family at 9:00 a.m. -- look for Angela near the playground. Please bring a chair(s).

Dr. Susan Alsamarai, Trinity parishioner and mom of two, will lead this free, 6-week discussion based on the book, "The Hopeful Family: Raising Resilient Children in Uncertain Times." All are welcome to join us at the Woodbridge Library on Thursday evenings through June 23, 6:30-7:30 PM. If you are interested in attending, please contact Angela: family@trinitynewhaven.org.

In response to increasing local COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the CDC now indicates that the New Haven area is now an area of relatively high risk. Trinity on the Green will now recommend — but not require — masking for all those attending services and other functions in person. We hope that summer weather will help tamp down on this newest rise in COVID cases and that we will be able to relax these heightened recommendations soon. In the meantime, we’ll handle this as we have handled the rest of the pandemic: together, physically or otherwise, and confident in our community and our church.

Teens and Adults: Serve the children of our community by volunteering at our Vacation Bible Camp from Aug. 1-5, 8:15 AM to 12:45 PM daily at Trinity. Teens: This is a great opportunity to earn Service Hours for your high school. Contact Angela for details; no pressure, just information! family@TrinityNewHaven.org

This week, many people have been impacted by the news of possible changes to the legal decision of Roe v. Wade, which has protected women’s reproductive rights since 1973. These issues of unborn life, childbirth, abortion, and legal access to abortion are especially heavy in light of Mother’s Day, this coming Sunday.

Our faith is a resource for how to approach these difficult matters of sanctity of life, freedom of conscience, and gender equality – reminding us to place love of God and love of our neighbors at the forefront of how we live and pray. Other resources include past resolutions of General Convention, the governing body of the Episcopal Church (see below). These statements both affirm the sacredness of life and the need for special care to see that individual conscience is honored and protected:

• Summary of General Convention Resolutions on Abortion and Women’s Reproductive Health

• Resolution #1994-A054

Please know that the clergy and pastoral care staff are available for further prayer and emotional support. We also offer this prayer:

Loving God, ground us with a sense of wonder for the sacredness of all human life. Help us to be attentive to the needs of pregnant people, so that we may support their health in body, mind, and spirit. Give us wisdom to pursue just legislation that opens doors for compassionate care, while honoring the complexity of human decisions. May the power of your resurrection be a source of strength, healing, and renewal; in the name of God who made us, loves us, and walks on this journey with us. Amen.