The members of Holy Trinity serve the church, each other, and the world by
participating in the many ministries and programs sponsored by the church,
including the following:
Acolytes
Alpha
Altar guild
Building and Grounds
Cursillo
ECW
Lay Eucharistic Ministers
Lydia Prayer Group
Music Program
Outreach
Accomack Interfaith Crisis Council
Camp Wakonda
Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Eastern Shore Habitat for Humanity
Flower Ministry
Girls Club
Gleaning Network
Operation Christmas Child
United Thank Offering
Ushers
Vestry
If you wish to join or support any of these
programs or ministries, please contact Father Johnson.
ALPHA HAS ARRIVED AT HOLY
TRINITY!
For more pictures,
click here.
The Alpha course is free; to
register, click here,
or call Father RJ Johnson at 757-787-4430. The
next 10-week
course will start in April, 2008; each session will run from
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., beginning with a dinner. All sessions will
take place in Holy Trinity's parish hall (for directions to Holy
Trinity, click here). Free childcare is
provided. Did not register
in time for the current course? Look for announcements of the next course
beginning in Fall, 2008, and call or e-mail Father RJ to let him know that you are
interested in attending.
For more information about
Alpha, click here, or go to the Alpha USA website at
www.alphana.org.
The Acolyte Corps provides the opportunity for youth and adults to
take an active leadership role in worship of the congregation. Their traditional
service involves leading processions, helping to prepare the altar for Holy
Communion, and generally helping the services run smoothly. Preparation to serve
as an acolyte involves training and practice in specific tasks. While most
commonly the acolyte corps is comprised of youth from 3rd grade
through high school, adults and college students serve in this ministry.
Acolytes are expected to develop a greater understanding of the structure of
worship services, demonstrate proficiency in a variety of tasks, and regularly
serve during worship.
The Altar Guild works behind the scenes, truly a servant ministry.
It is a ministry of housekeeping and beautification for the sanctuary and all
items associated with worship. The Guild members not only prepare the altar for communion but
also prepare the sanctuary to support and enhance our worship. This
includes laundering the linens, polishing the brass, arranging flowers, and
providing for all other decorations in the Church. They prepare the church for
baptisms, weddings, funerals, confirmations, and all regular and special
services. Members are divided into teams and each team is volunteers for a
particular month. Members support one another in preparation for special Feast
Days such as Christmas and Easter.
Breakfast is offered each Sunday morning after the first worship service
by a corps of women (and a few men assisting) in the parish. This is an informal
gathering around the kitchen table consisting of delicious breakfast treats,
coffee, and juice. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know one another
and hear of God’s action in lives and the community. All are invited. Come as
you are. Reservations not needed.
Building and Grounds fall under the
authority of the Junior Warden, and the chairs of the House and Grounds
Committees. Many opportunities exist to serve the church by assisting with
the upkeep of the church and parish hall, and with the maintenance of the church
and rectory grounds and gardens.
Cursillo Ultreya Meetings take place on the
second Monday of each month in the parish hall at 6:00 p.m., with a potluck
following the meeting. For more information regarding Cursillo in the
Diocese of Southern Virginia,
click here.
The Episcopal Church Women’s (ECW) purpose is to be religious and
benevolent in serving others through the congregation. ECW members are focused
on a future of continued service and reaching out in love to each other in our
Christian community, to the greater community, and to the world. The Annual Bake
Sale is their major fund raiser each year. Funds are gathered for benevolences
to a variety of organizations including the United Thank Offering, a ministry of
ECW for over 200 years, that provides assistance of over three million dollars
each year around the world. The ECW meets the first Tuesday of each month at
noon. Meetings include spiritual formation, business meeting, occasional
program, and refreshments. All women in the parish are invited to attend.
Lay Eucharistic Ministers ( LEMs) provide a sacramental ministry in the
context of our worship by administering the wine at Holy Communion. They also
assist in worship by reading the lessons, leading the Prayers of the People. Lay
Eucharistic Ministers represent the congregation when they take Holy Communion
to homebound members. LEM requires training and licensing by the Bishop of the
Diocese.
The Lydia Prayer Group
is an intercessory prayer group that is
international in scope. It is made up of small groups of women of various
denominations who meet in a regular basis to pray for concerns of every kind -
from personal to world wide situations. At Holy Trinity we have been meeting weekly since the mid-seventies.
Once or twice a year we join with our prayer sisters here on the Eastern Shore
and also across the Bay for a day of encouragement and prayer. We meet
each Monday morning.
Music is an integral part of our 11:00 a.m. service.
We have a beautiful organ, and a wonderful organist/choirmaster, Lillian Berg,
who supports the liturgy through music and encourages the talent we have in our
choir. Additional members are needed for the choir, and anyone who enjoys
singing is welcome to join.
Outreach is an integral part of our mission. Serving others within the
community and in the world at large is one of the ways Holy Trinity strives to
extend Christ’s message of service and love. Substantial financial support is given to
local, state, national and international organizations that benefit those in need.
Some specific ways in which we reach out to others include the following:
Accomack Interfaith Crisis Council (AICC) is a
partnership of individuals, churches and civic
organizations which act in concert to assist the needy in Accomack County.
Holy Trinity is an active member, and supports AICC by donating funds,
sponsoring fundraisers, publicizing AICC-related events, and assisting with
administrative tasks related to the organization.
Camp Wakonda is a project of the Norfolk Urban
Outreach Ministry of the Diocese of Southern Virginia. The one-week
camp is offered free of charge to children who are suffering from, or have a
family member who suffers from AIDS/HIV. Each year, the campers come
across the Bay to visit Kiptopeke State Park. On that day, the members
of Holy Trinity join with members of other Episcopal churches on the Shore
to provide supervision for the children, and to host a cook-out for the more
than 100 campers.
Holy Trinity sponsors a girls' club known as the
"Third Grade Great Girls Club" comprising all third grade girls attending
Accawmacke Elementary School. The parish hosts play dates at which the
girls mingle and have fun together. It is our hope that our efforts will
help to reduce tensions among the girls, prevent bullying and cliques, and
foster friendships that will bridge racial and economic divides.
The Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic
Violence (ESCADV) is a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation. It was
established in May, 1983 to help address the problem of domestic violence on
the Shore. The ESCADV is a two-county coalition of community organizations,
groups and individuals who are deeply concerned about the serious problem of
family violence. It provides crisis intervention, emergency shelter, court
advocacy, support groups, and counseling to victims of domestic violence.
Holy Trinity supports ESCADV financially, and with donations of food,
clothing, baby items, furniture and supplies. The parish also adopts
one family each year which has left the Shelter to establish a new home, and
provides money and gifts for the family at Christmas, together with other
support during the year.
Eastern Shore of Virginia Habitat for Humanity has
been committed to its mission of providing safe, efficient home ownership
for those citizens in substandard housing on the Eastern Shore. Since its
incorporation in 1988, Habitat has complete and dedicated more than twenty
homes in Northampton and Accomac counties. They are now occupied by families
who are working and able to make a small monthly mortgage payment, which is
interest-free. Each family is partnered with a support person who works with
them on financial management, nutrition, health and parenting issues. A
system of workshops in coordination with the Virginia Extension Service
helps educate the families about home maintenance and financial planning.
These are given each year. Twice each year, in March and August, the
members of Holy Trinity house, feed and assist students from Boston College
who visit the Shore to work with Habitat. For more information about
Eastern Shore of Virginia Habitat for Humanity,
click here.
Our next visit from the students from Boston College will
be in late May, 2008. For more information regarding the
visit, or if you wish to assist with this important mission of
the parish, please call Father Johnson at 787-4430.
Flowers donated for the altar are delivered each
Monday following Sunday services to shut-ins and others in need of support
and caring.
Gleaning is the traditional Biblical practice of
gathering crops that would otherwise be left in the fields to rot or be
plowed under after harvest. The Gleaning Network is a project of the Society
of St. Andrew that coordinates volunteers, growers, and distribution
agencies to glean and thereby salvage food for the needy. Each year some
30,000 people go gleaning to pick up more than 15 million pounds of fresh,
nutritious food for their hungry neighbors. Holy Trinity supports the
Gleaning Network by hosting a lunch for a group of 100+ gleaners, and by
taking up a special offering for the gleaners in connection with their
visit. For more information regarding the Gleaning Network,
click here.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of
Samaritan's Purse, a registered charity, dedicated to relieving the
suffering of children in the U.S. and abroad who are homeless, live in
orphanages or are without family support, or whose lives have been blighted
by poverty, ill-health, natural disaster, conflict or war. The parish takes
part in this annual project, contributing by filling shoe boxes with gifts
for children.
The mission of the United Thank Offering (UTO) is to
expand the circle of thankful people. To achieve this mission, we encourage
daily prayers, offerings and awareness of the abundance of God's blessings.
To assist with the fulfillment of this mission, we sponsor two ingatherings,
or collections, in the spring and the fall. The funds collected are
forwarded to the United Thank Offering Office, which provides grants
throughout the world. In 2006, UTO awarded 112 grants for a total of
$2,419,628.54. For more information regarding UTO,
click here.
Ushers welcome those attending worship services and assist in preparing
for and participating in worship. This corps forms the front line of hospitality
at each worship service with a sincere greeting and distribution of bulletins.
These volunteers are representatives from the congregation who present our gifts
of thanksgiving.
The Vestry provides leadership and vision for Holy Trinity’s
community. The Vestry provides a leadership cradle for the ministry and missions
of the congregation ensuring effective use of God’s gifts in doing God’s work.
By definition the members of the Vestry serve in a fiduciary capacity,
responsible for all facets of parish life, including its business affairs. The
leadership corps consists of nine elected members who serve three year terms and
the Rector as chair. The Vestry meets on the first Thursday of each month at
7:00 p.m. to
review appropriate business affairs, engage in study and discussion for
improvement of Vestry life, and to prayerfully consider the needs, goals, and
vision for the congregation and the surrounding community. Minutes of the
Vestry's meetings are published in the parish Newsletter, but are omitted from
the version of the Newsletter which is published on this web site. For
copies of the minutes, please
contact Father
Johnson.
