New Bulletin Format Starting First Sunday in Lent

This coming Sunday a new bulletin format will be coming to Trinity, Easton.

Before now, the bulletin contained outlines for the services on Saturday evening, Sunday at 8 a.m. and Wednesday at 12:10 and the 10:30 service had the entire service printed out in full.

Now all four liturgies will be in outline form. For 10:30 service music (like the Gloria...Glory to God...and the Sanctus...the Holy, Holy, Holy) and prayers not found in the Prayer Book will be included.

This means that folks at 10:30 may have to learn how to juggle.

We have always intended the bulletin to be kind of like a magazine, with all the information you need to focus on the important part, which is the worship. We also mean it to be the chief communications tool in the parish, through not the only one by any means! Moist of the elements that you have gotten used to will stay the same, but a few things will change.

We won't do away with bulletin with complete services entirely. When we have special services and big events, we will use the long format. So at Christmas and Easter, Holy Week, special services like Baptisms, Confirmations as well as weddings and funerals will all have the complete service printed in it.

Here is a link to a draft of this Sunday's bulletin in PDF format.

Here is an outline of the Trinity Sunday bulletin:

• The Cover: Pretty much the same although the picture will emphasize some aspect of Trinity's life and ministry and change a little less often.
• Welcome Page: The inside front cover still has our welcome message and everything you need to know to navigate the service, where to find restrooms, things for children to do and the list of ministry assistants for the day. 
• Lessons and Prayers: This next section contains things that are common to all our Sunday liturgies, namely the Lessons and Prayers. This starts on Page 2. 
• The Great Litany (page 2). On the First Sunday in Lent we pray this great prayer, the first English liturgy of the English Reformation, originally penned by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. This version is printed in the bulletin because it is not the version found in the Prayer Book, but is the version found in an official supplemental liturgical text of the Episcopal Church called Enriching Our Worship. This version is both contemporary in style and gender inclusive. Because we are using something not found in the Book of Common Prayer, it is printed in full here.
• The Collects for the Day (page 5): The collects gather the prayers of the faithful according to a theme for the Sunday. Both Rite II and Rite I (8 am) collects are found here.
• The Lessons (Page 5): The Sunday readings from the Bible are here. We follow the Revised Common Lectionary, now the official lectionary of the Episcopal Church. The Psalm comes from the Book of Common Prayer. We reprint it here instead of naming a page number in the Prayer Book, as we do on Wednesdays.
• Sending Out Lay Eucharistic Visitors: This ritual is found in The Book of Occasional Services. In the past we put in the 10:30 section of the bulletin, even though it might be used at 5 p.m. or at 8 a.m. Because we only use it when needed and that could be at any of the weekend liturgies, we put it here.
• Blessing and Dismissal: Again, this also used to be found in the 10:30 section, but these are used in all three liturgies so it is found here.
• Next Week's Lessons: The continues to reside at the end of the readings section.
• The Prayers of the People: This would normally be found here, between the Lessons and Liturgies, but on this Sunday, the Great Litany serves as the Prayers of the People.
• Saturday, 5 p.m.: The outline for this service is found next. The format has not changed. The pages refer to the Book of Common Prayer or to the Bulletin. The bulletin pages are always italicized. 
• Sunday, 8 a.m.:  The outline for this service is found next. The format has not changed. The pages refer to the Book of Common Prayer or to the Bulletin. The bulletin pages are always italicized. Please note the parts that are have an asterisk, this tells you where the people are to stand. 
• Sunday, 10:30 a.m.: This is the part of the bulletin that has changed the most. 
• As with 8 a.m. the asterisk indicates where the assembly stands. 
• The Hymns may be found in the blue Hymnal 1982
• The page numbers refer to the Book of Common Prayer, which are usually red but a few are black. (There are only a few of these scattered about. If you should find yourself using a black BCP, we should give you a prize but, alas, we don't. Sorry.)
• Notice that any service music, such as for the Psalm, the Sursum Corda ("The Lord be with you."), another other music are printed in the bulletin. Most of these are in the Hymnal but they come and go so fast, we thought it easier to simply print them out for you.
• The Prayer List: In Our Prayers This Week comes next and it is the same as before. Please use it in your devotions every week.
• The Wednesday Holy Eucharist: This is unchanged and still includes a description of the feast or saint that we celebrate that day.
• Calendar and Announcements: Here is a guide to what is going at Trinity in the coming week and more. This section remains the same. Please take home your bulletin and use this as a guide for your participation in the parish.
• The Back Cover: "One Step More" continues on the back cover with a short description of the Sunday's lessons, a short Stewardship reflection based on the Sunday's lessons.  We hope "One Step More" helps you take the extra step to be faith follower of Jesus Christ in the coming week. 
• Agnus Day, the Sunday cartoon based on the week's scripture remains on the Back Cover. Each week, two sheep from Jesus' flock, go to coffee hour after Church. Rick, the one with the black nose, and Ted discuss one of the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. We don't know what you talk about in Coffee Hour, but we do know that Sunday just would not be Sunday without Rick and Ted. (See the bottom the page on this blog.)

So that's it. We know that for you 10:30 worshipers this change may feel a little off-putting at first.

We know you only have two hands, and like Episcopalians everywhere we are asking you to hold three things. Here some things you can do to make your life a little easier.

• You can go to an 8 o'clocker and ask for a lesson on book and hymnal juggling. 
• You can share. Right away you have doubled your hand count.
• Mark your book before the service. Long time Episcopalians used to do two rituals before church....kneel in silent prayer when the first come in to church...and mark their prayer book and hymnal. 
• Look around. If you see someone struggling to keep up, offer to share or hand them your prayer book open to the right page. Let them know that they are not alone and that help is always there!
• Read what you need, say the rest...many of us have learned the parts of the service by heart. Look up! Sing and speak aloud! 
• Use the Hymn Board. Those numbers in front of church indicate the hymn numbers and the Psalm. 
• Relax. We will give you a little time to find where you are. We will announce some pages but only when we need to, not for every item in the liturgy. 
• Relax. And let God into your heart.

So why are we doing this? Partly it is to save trees. Our old bulletin would crack 28 or 32 pages sometimes. That's 7 or 8 sheets of paper per bulletin per week. This new version comes in at 20. Not only do we kill fewer trees (even though we use recycled paper), it also saves money.

But there is another reason. We were finding that people were becoming less and less conversant with our Book of Common Prayer. The Prayer Book contains what Episcopalians believe. We pray what we believe and do what we pray. Becoming practically connected with our Prayer Book tradition will build us up as Christians and as a Church.

If you have any questions, talk to me, Dale Grandfield or one of the members of the Worship Committee.

--Father Andrew


Cartoon by the Rev. Jay Sidebottham, copyright 2009, Church Pension Fund.

Newsletter and bulletin changes coming soon

Bi-monthly Citadel
Starting in March, the Citadel becomes bi-monthly. We will publish 6 issues per year of the print edition: January-February, March-April, May-June, July-August, September-October, and November-December. This is also the last issue that is going out to everyone on the “big” Citadel list.
In this issue you will find a post-card. We are asking each household to fill this out and send it back or put it in the offering plate. We are asking for your preference:

1. I want the bi-monthly print Citadel mailed to me.
2. I will pick up the bi-monthly print Citadel at the back of the church on the Mission Table.
3. I will read version of the bi-monthly print Citadel on the parish web-site when it is posted.

It is very important that when you complete the post card that you fill out your name, address and your e-mail address. We need your e-mail address even if you choose to get a print edition mailed to your home.
We will also set up a similar survey on our web-site using a web-based tool called Survey Monkey.

Deadlines for Citadel and other media and mailings.
2012 Print Citadel Deadlines are as follows:

• February 19 for March/April
• April 22 for May/June
• June 17 for July/August
• August 19 for September/October
• October 21 for November/December
• December 16 for January/February.

Wednesday noon is the deadline for the weekly e-Citadel and the bulletin.
Facebook, Twitter, Blog and web-site news goes up as often as needed up to once a day.
Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, All Saints, Stewardship and special event mailers or post cards as well as quarterly financial statements will still go out via US Mail. Statements will go on the Mission Table for two Sundays before to be picked up in Church before being mailed.

Why the change?
There are three things that are driving the change: cost of postage, cost of copying and effectiveness.
On January 22nd, postal rates went up again. The cost of mailing is driving us out of the mass-mailing business. We just aren’t big enough. While bulk rate does save money over first class, the savings are decreasing while the work we have to do increases. For example, we have to “test” our mailing list for errors using special software and then print the labels so that a bar code appears. Doing this saves us money per piece than if we just pre-sort and let the post office check for errors or bar-code. The more work we do to prepare a mailing, the less it costs per piece. But that cost per newsletter does not include the cost of the software…about $100/year. If an address is wrong or if a person’s forwarding address expires, we have to pay the post office for returning it to us—at first class rates. Finally, the cost of the permit is also fixed and we pay that every year as well.

We can send 75-100 first class pieces to the homebound, shut-in and those who do not have a computer for less than the cost of 325 to every household in the church and every friend or former member outside the parish.

The second cost is copying. We use up a lot of dead trees running things off in the copier and the cost to do that has gone up, too.  A complete copy of the print newsletter can be viewed on line as a PDF file, is searchable and doesn’t require printing. The same is true with the parish calendar. We could handle the ministry assistant schedule the same way.

What balances the second issue is effectiveness. We don’t know who opens or reads the print Citadel but we do know how often the electronic versions are opened. No less than 65% of you who receive the e-Citadel every week by e-mail open it (and that number is higher if you open it without the images or as a text file which we can’t count). We also know that the PDF version of the print Citadel that we post on the web-site is viewed and opened about 500 times by about 350 unique visitors. While we can’t count how many people open the print Citadel that comes by mail versus those who throw it right into recycling, the number indicates that people are used to opening and reading the newsletter on line.  We see fewer people use the on-line calendar but we think it is because fewer people know that tool is there.

In other words, we have now reached a point where enough of you use the internet and e-mail that those forms of parish news are reaching you. Not as many people in the parish use our Facebook page, Twitter feed and parish blog, but these have a decent reach outside the parish and can become normal for people in the congregation.

Help!
We need to have more information, and here is how you can help. Fill out the postcard and mail it in or go on line and use the on-line survey that will appear in the e-Citadel staring on February 3. This will determine how we make this change, if at all.

Another change in print media: A Simpler Bulletin
The Worship Committee and the office staff are working on a simplified bulletin. We hope to roll out the new design in Lent for your feedback. Our basic plan is to stop printing hymns (except for hymns that don’t appear in the Hymnal 1982 and service music) in the bulletin. We will also print less of the text of the liturgy and point to the prayer book more. On seasons when we use alternative Eucharistic Prayers from Enriching Our Worship, we will print booklets for the pews. Look for more about this at church in weeks to come.
On Sundays where the liturgy is very different or where we expect a large number of visitors, like weddings, funerals and major feasts, then we’ll print the service in the bulletin entirely.

Why?
Cost and effectiveness.  Again, we want to kill fewer trees. Even if one bulletin per household goes home for the week, we end up recycling most of the bulletins we print. We can’t change that, but we can print fewer pages that go to the recycler.

We also want people to become at home with the Prayer Book or simply to look up from the bulletin and see what’s going on, and hopefully feel more apart of the liturgy.Again, we will survey people’s experience in a variety of ways including an on-line survey using Survey Monkey.

Questions, ideas, concerns?
Please speak to Father Gerns, call the parish office or e-mail us at parish@trinityeaston.org.

An Evening with C.S. Lewis, Friday, March 2, 2012

Trinity Episcopal Church in Easton Pennsylvania to host  British actor David Payne and his recreation of  An Evening with C.S. Lewis, March 2, 2012 at 7:00 P.M.  Trinity Church is located in downtown Easton on 234 Spring Garden Street between Second and Third Streets.   Tickets are $20.00. Students with id may buy tickets for $15 and groups of 8 or more may buy tickets at $15 per person.  Tickets are available here.

An Evening with C S Lewis  takes you into the unique world of a British author, C.S. Lewis.   Lewis’ writings spanned a broad range of subjects and continue to be popular..  He is best known as for his classic children’s series- The Chronicles of Narnia.  His academic books still remain essential reading for students of English literature and he is known as one of the 20th century’s foremost Christian writers.

An Evening with C S Lewis recreates an informal talk to a group of American writers who are visiting England in 1963..   They have come to Lewis’ home, just outside of Oxford, and are eagerly anticipating hearing the man who has become a legend in his own lifetime.   They are not disappointed.   Despite his failing health, Lewis is in great form.    His audience is spellbound as, with a display of oratory and humor that made him one of England’s most famous public speakers, he recounts the significant events and the people that shaped his life. 

David Payne is a British actor who has gained a considerable reputation for his portrayals of the famous author C.S. Lewis.   He has played Lewis in a number of productions of Shadowlands, in his self-penned Weep for Joy and in numerous presentations of his much acclaimed one-man show, An Evening with C.S. Lewis. Trinity Church is located in downtown Easton on 234 Spring Garden Street between Second and Third Streets. For more information call Peg Gerns at 610-657-3657 or go here to purchase tickets.

Father Gerns' Illustrated, Simplified and Painless Bible Study: Jesus’ Prayer Book (and ours): The Psalms

*with apologies to Marshal Efron 

This is not the Bible for dummies. But it is for people who feel dumb around the Bible. Wednesdays, 6:15 to 7:30 p.m., in the Charney Room at Trinity Easton. Call the Trinity office for more info and/or to sign up: 610-253-0792 Next session: January 4 – February 15: Jesus’ Prayer Book (and ours): The Psalms

Imagine a book in the Bible where God doesn't tell us what to do, but where we tell God how we feel!

That's the Book of Psalms! Have you ever wondered if there really is a God? Have you ever wondered if God really cares about you? Have you ever wondered why God would allow evil to exist or let evil triumph over good? Have you ever had to make a choice but weren't sure which way to turn? How you ever been awed by the beauty of nature? Have you ever been so sad that you did not know how to go on or felt so happy that you wanted to praise God in every way you could? The Psalms express every possible human emotion and honestly explore every human experience. The Psalms are the record of how people react to God every day. When we pray the psalms, we are using the very same prayer book that Jesus used. We are praying the words he prayed, we are summing our feelings, our questions, our experiences, before God just as Jesus did.

We will look at some of the Psalms to get a flavor of the depth, power and poignancy of this book.

•  January 4, 2012 - Happy or Wicked: You Choose! (Psalm 1) 
• January 11, 2012 - The Majesty of God (Psalm 8)
• January 18, 2012 - The Forgiveness of Sin (Psalm 32) 
• January 25, 2012 - A Lament for the City (Psalm 79) 
• February 1, 2012 - God's Dwelling Place (Psalm 84) 
• February 8, 2012 - Revenge! (Psalm 137) 
• February 15, 2012 - I Will Praise God (Psalm 146) 

Please sign up in the back of the church or call the parish office to sign up.

2011 Christmas Services at Trinity, Easton, PA announced

Saturday, December 17:

12:00 PM–Ark Soup Kitchen Christmas Dinner

5:00 PM– Holy Eucharist & Healing

Sunday, December 18 – The Fourth Sunday in Advent:

8:00 AM– Holy Eucharist, Rite I

10:30 AM – Advent Lessons & Carols with Holy Eucharist, Rite II

Wednesday, December 21:

12:10 PM– Holy Eucharist & Healing

Saturday, December 24 – Christmas Eve:

12:00 PM – Ark Soup Kitchen

4:30 PM – Choral and Organ Prelude

5:00 PM– Family Service with Holy Eucharist, Rite II

10:30 PM– Choral & Organ Prelude

11:00 PM– Service of Light with Holy Eucharist, Rite II

Sunday, December 25 – The Nativity of Our Lord:

10:00 AM– Holy Eucharist, Rite II

12:00 PM – Jacob’s Christmas meal Serves the Hungry at Third Street Alliance

See the Trinity website for more information!

Jesus’ Prayer Book (and Ours)

Father Andrew’s Simplified, Painless and Illustrated Bible Study

Imagine a book in the Bible where God doesn’t tell us what to do, but where we tell God how we feel! That’s the Book of Psalms!

Have you ever wondered if there really is a God? Have you ever wondered if God really cares about you? Have you ever wondered why God would allow evil to exist or let evil triumph over good? Have you ever had to make a choice but weren’t sure which way to turn? How you ever been awed by the beauty of nature? Have you ever been so sad that you did not know how to go on or felt so happy that you wanted to praise God in every way you could?

The Psalms express every possible human emotion and honestly explore every human experience. The Psalms are the record of how people react to God every day.

When we pray the psalms, we are using the very same prayer book that Jesus used. We are praying the words he prayed, we are summing our feelings, our questions, our experiences, before God just as Jesus did.

We will look at some of the Psalms to get a flavor of the depth, power and poignancy of this book.

January 4, 2012 – Happy or Wicked: You Choose! (Psalm 1)
January 11, 2012 – The Majesty of God (Psalm 8)
January 18, 2012 – The Forgiveness of Sin (Psalm 32)
January 25, 2012 – A Lament for the City (Psalm 79)
February 1, 2012 – God’s Dwelling Place (Psalm 84)
February 8, 2012 – Revenge! (Psalm 137)
February 15, 2012 – I Will Praise God (Psalm 146)

Please sign up in the back of the church or call the parish office to sign up.

Remembering a Day of Remembrance and Hope

Revised. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make today's Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Hope such a powerful, moving success. The church was full of people from all over Easton, the Lehigh Valley and beyond. Many people saw the service live on the web.

Here is a sample of some of the local media coverage of the event as well as the many memorials, remembrances and tributes around the Lehigh Valley.

There were two reports of the service on WFMZ-TV, one version is here.

The Easton Patch had this photo array of the service and other Easton events, including the City of Easton's Tribute to First Responders, which included a performance by the same members of the Metropolitan Opera chorus that performed at Trinity, accompanied by Dale Grandfield.

The Easton Express-Times at lehighvalleylive.com had this print story about the observances in the area including this:

The service at Trinity Episcopal Church in Easton was filled with song and prayer. Members of the New York City Metropolitan Opera, a chamber orchestra and the Easton Area High School choir serenaded the audience. Local religious leaders representing Jews, Christians and Muslims read from their holy books. One of the leaders, Rizwan Butt, who was representing the Easton Phillipsburg Muslim Association, read passages from the Quran in Arabic then in English.

At the beginning of the service, two column-like candles were lit in memory of the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

In an open letter to those who attended, Trinity Episcopal Church's the Rev. Andrew Gerns reflected on the people who chose good on Sept. 11 and those who chose evil.

"Many thousands of other people chose without prompting the good ... and helped keep descending evil from overwhelming us all," Gerns wrote. "We remember all of them today."

The Express-Times put the number in attendance at 150, but we counted closer to 300 based on the number of filled pews and candles and programs given out.

The Morning Call's web-site has a number of photographs from the Interfaith Community Service of Remembrance and Hope. If you go to this link, you will see the photo array. Slides taken at the service are numbers 17-26

Photo 26 shows the Easton Area High School Choir performing.

Photo 17 shows Rob Maher, Trinity's next door neighbor, performing with the members of the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera.

One of my personal favorites is number 22, which shows Rabbi Melody David, of Temple Covenant of Peace, and Rabbi Jonathan Gerard lighting two candles of remembrance at the start of the liturgy.

The service marked our first experiment in live web-casting the service. While only a few people viewed the whole prelude and service, we estimate that 50-60 people tuned in for at least a portion of the event. You can go to this site to see an archive of the event. The actual service starts about 26 minutes into the broadcast.

This post was very helpful in getting the word out. It was made a few days before the event and appeared on laini's little pocket guide.

The idea for the service started to take shape a year ago for Father Andrew Gerns, rector at Trinity Episcopal.

“I was, frankly, appalled at some of the hateful rhetoric that was flying around the Ground Zero Mosque controversy,” he said.

He realized that steps needed to be taken to avoid having fear and hate become the focal points of the 10th anniversary. So he began talking with members of his congregation and other area religious leaders to make plans for an appropriate event that would integrate elements of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths into one service. Everyone will come together Sunday for the culmination of their efforts. The service begins at 2 p.m., with an organ prelude starting at 1:30.

In addition to Trinity Episcopal Church of Easton, the following congregations are taking part in the service: Bnai Abraham Synagogue, College Hill Presbyterian Church, First United Church of Christ of Easton, First Presbyterian Church of Easton, St. John’s Lutheran Church of Easton, Temple Covenant of Peace and The Easton-Phillipsburg Muslim Association.

We had a photographer present and as soon as those pictures are ready, they will be posted on the parish's web site with a link to this blog.

The picture above was taken by Terry Gangaware, a member of our parish. A few of the runners from the VIA/LVHN marathon that went from Allentown to Easton--and which was wrapping up just as our service began-- ran over the Trinity, Easton to pay their respects. We appreciate how they brought these two important community events together.

To all the members of the Music & Arts Committee which organized the event, all the volunteers, the clergy and religious leaders who took part and especially to all the singers and musicians...thank you! Not only were the Met Singers and the orchestra great, the EAHS choir was fantastic. God bless you all!

--Father Andrew