TIDINGS Trinity’s Mission: Acting in God’s love, Trinity Episcopal Church welcomes everyone to enthusiastically live the Christian faith. We call our members to worship and prayer, lifelong education, spiritual growth, cheerful giving, and active ministry with our community. All members serve as witnesses to Jesus Christ.
Vol. XXVII No. 1 January 2018
FROM THE RECTOR by The Reverend Andrew R. Thayer
Inside this Issue Stewardship page 2 Christian Formation page 3 Children and Family Ministries page 4 Young Adults page 5 Trinity Connections pages 5, 6, 7
On the last Wednesday of Advent I joined parishioners, young and old, as we walked around the Garden District singing Christmas Carols accompanied by a brass quintet. We all lit candles and processed into the night to share Christ’s birth in song. Although it wasn’t a particularly windy night, there was enough breeze that my candle blew out. By night’s end my little light had extinguished at least half a dozen times. On every occasion there was someone nearby ready to let me relight my candle - light from light. I noticed that as we travelled on our musical journey everyone at one point or another needed to relight. Together we made it back to Trinity with our candles lit. This is the benefit of walking together and is an apt metaphor for living in community. Our relationships are the most powerful force that shapes us. In 1938 Harvard University began what would be one of the longest running studies on human health and happiness. Over the last 80 years what they found was that the single greatest contributing factor for happiness was strong relationships more than money or fame, more than social class, IQ, or genes. The fourth director of the study, Robert Waldinger, recorded a TED talk, titled “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness,” in 2015, and it has been viewed 13,000,000 times. I encourage you to watch it. Visit: (https://tinyurl.com/ y9kgrtld) to view the video. What does this have to do with Trinity church? Well, if you ask the people who participate fully in the life of Trinity, in the many activities and ministries we offer, what you will hear is the transformative and life-giving relationships at the core of their church experience. Through worship, service to others, music, outreach, small groups, and the sharing of our lives together we contribute to the kind of authentic community that leads to a fruitful, meaningful life. I pray that in the new year one of your resolutions is to connect more deeply with your church community. It isn’t just beneficial for your soul, but for your life as well.