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Trinity Episcopal Church response to the Pandemic We have suspended services in our church building until further notice. Please see CALENDARS for a listing of the presiders for our outdoor services. Friday Bible Study is suspended until further notice. Our church is also currently closed to all groups utilizing it for various services/meetings and outreach. 
8SUNDAY, October 11th WORSHIP BULLETIN Service is in the Wellness Park
@ 2:00pm and on Facebook Live. Please join us! |
For the month of October, we will be providing our Sunday Service of Holy Communion (bread only) in the pavilion of Tolfree Wellness Park @ Mid-Michigan Community Hospital. Our Services will be held at 2 p.m. Please bring your own chair. Per the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan, masks must be worn and social distancing practiced. We look forward to seeing you there! If you are unable to attend in person, please follow our service on Facebook Live. |
Throughout this season of our public health crisis,
clergy from the diocese will lead Morning Prayer
each Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Click here:
DIOCESE FACEBOOK PAGE
Throughout this season of our public health crisis,
clergy from the diocese will lead Morning Prayer
each Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Click here:
DIOCESE FACEBOOK PAGE
Washington National Cathedral is currently holding daily services. Check their website for information.
Click the link below:
WASHINGTON NATIONAL
Click the link below:
WASHINGTON NATIONAL
TRINITY NEWS UPDATES
September 24, 2020
As autumn settles in, we are getting accustomed to having The Rev. Brian Chase and The Rev. Rebecca Owsley serve as regular supply priests. The past several weeks we have had the opportunity to attend outdoor worship services, with communion (bread only), at the Tolfree Wellness Park pavilion. We are appreciative of this opportunity to come together for worship in a safe environment. Services continue to be available on Facebook Live each Sunday morning as well. The Vestry decided to continue to offer an outdoor service during the month of October. Please note that the time of the service will be changed to 2:00 p.m. to accommodate the anticipated cooler weather.
The Vestry continues to evaluate the possibility of holding in-person worship services at Trinity Episcopal Church. Vestry members will be contacting the congregation to gauge interest and concerns regarding the return to indoor worship services. A reminder that we are still in Phase 2 of the Diocesan Re-Entry Plan. Please note that the Dioceses’ phases of re-entry do not necessarily align with the state of Michigan phases. The joint Diocesan Plan is clear that congregations are not required to reopen at any time, but should only reopen when they feel it is safe. Phase 2 allows limited use of church buildings, including worship, but with strict limitations, such as following a ten-person limit (a state guideline), six-foot physical separation, mandatory mask-wearing, no singing, no passing of the peace, no coffee hour, no handshaking, hugging, or any other form of touch, bread-only communion, and a thorough deep cleaning after each service. This also includes restricting access to the church for outside group usage. The only group on site is the Ogemaw County Christian Fellowship (O.C.C.F.) Food Pantry. They continue to use Cooper Hall to stock, prepare and deliver food via the curbside delivery model.
On another note, the Vestry met with The Rev. Michael Spencer, Canon to the Ordinary for our Diocese, via a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, September 8. Father Spencer is the Transition Minister for the Diocese. He led us in a conversation regarding the transition that our church is experiencing with Father Brian’s retirement. He provided the Vestry a great deal to think about in the 75 minutes that we were together. The Vestry met on Sunday, September 20, at which time this topic was discussed further. The Vestry plans to meet with Rev. Spencer again sometime in October to further review our situation and develop an Action Plan. More details will follow after this second meeting with Rev. Spencer. We will be reaching out to you, seeking your input. For now, we are fortunate and grateful to have our supply priests each Sunday.
As always, please reach out to any Vestry member if you have any questions or concerns. Our next regular Vestry meeting will be held Wednesday, October 21st. Meetings are open to members of the congregation, with adherence to the Covid-19 Guidelines required.
Be the church. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Luke Stefanovsky/Senior Warden
lukejstefanovsky@gmail.com
989.621.5382
Other current Vestry members: Chris Anderson, Bruce Ellis, Debra Heisler, Gene Hutchins, Jane Hutchins, and Tom Olson. Martha Bamfield (non-Vestry member) is our treasurer.
As autumn settles in, we are getting accustomed to having The Rev. Brian Chase and The Rev. Rebecca Owsley serve as regular supply priests. The past several weeks we have had the opportunity to attend outdoor worship services, with communion (bread only), at the Tolfree Wellness Park pavilion. We are appreciative of this opportunity to come together for worship in a safe environment. Services continue to be available on Facebook Live each Sunday morning as well. The Vestry decided to continue to offer an outdoor service during the month of October. Please note that the time of the service will be changed to 2:00 p.m. to accommodate the anticipated cooler weather.
The Vestry continues to evaluate the possibility of holding in-person worship services at Trinity Episcopal Church. Vestry members will be contacting the congregation to gauge interest and concerns regarding the return to indoor worship services. A reminder that we are still in Phase 2 of the Diocesan Re-Entry Plan. Please note that the Dioceses’ phases of re-entry do not necessarily align with the state of Michigan phases. The joint Diocesan Plan is clear that congregations are not required to reopen at any time, but should only reopen when they feel it is safe. Phase 2 allows limited use of church buildings, including worship, but with strict limitations, such as following a ten-person limit (a state guideline), six-foot physical separation, mandatory mask-wearing, no singing, no passing of the peace, no coffee hour, no handshaking, hugging, or any other form of touch, bread-only communion, and a thorough deep cleaning after each service. This also includes restricting access to the church for outside group usage. The only group on site is the Ogemaw County Christian Fellowship (O.C.C.F.) Food Pantry. They continue to use Cooper Hall to stock, prepare and deliver food via the curbside delivery model.
On another note, the Vestry met with The Rev. Michael Spencer, Canon to the Ordinary for our Diocese, via a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, September 8. Father Spencer is the Transition Minister for the Diocese. He led us in a conversation regarding the transition that our church is experiencing with Father Brian’s retirement. He provided the Vestry a great deal to think about in the 75 minutes that we were together. The Vestry met on Sunday, September 20, at which time this topic was discussed further. The Vestry plans to meet with Rev. Spencer again sometime in October to further review our situation and develop an Action Plan. More details will follow after this second meeting with Rev. Spencer. We will be reaching out to you, seeking your input. For now, we are fortunate and grateful to have our supply priests each Sunday.
As always, please reach out to any Vestry member if you have any questions or concerns. Our next regular Vestry meeting will be held Wednesday, October 21st. Meetings are open to members of the congregation, with adherence to the Covid-19 Guidelines required.
Be the church. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Luke Stefanovsky/Senior Warden
lukejstefanovsky@gmail.com
989.621.5382
Other current Vestry members: Chris Anderson, Bruce Ellis, Debra Heisler, Gene Hutchins, Jane Hutchins, and Tom Olson. Martha Bamfield (non-Vestry member) is our treasurer.
We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, widowed, straight, gay, confused, well-heeled or down-at-heel. We especially welcome wailing babies and excited toddlers. We welcome you whether you can sing like Pavarotti or just growl quietly to yourself. You’re welcome here if you’re just browsing, just woken up or just got out of prison. We don’t care if you’re more Christian than the Archbishop of Canterbury or haven’t been to church since Christmas 10 or 20 years ago. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome keep-fit moms, football dads, starving artists, tree huggers, latte sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems, are down in the dumps or don’t like organized religion. We’re not that keen on it either. We offer welcome to those who think the Earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or are here because Granny is visiting and wanted to come to church. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, both or neither. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down their throats as kids or got lost looking for the Historical Society museum and wound up here by mistake.We welcome pilgrims, tourists, seekers, doubters and you.
From a sign posted at Coventry Cathedral in England,
context edited slightly for
Trinity Episcopal Church, West Branch, Michigan