Trinity Episcopal Church welcomes you!
When you join us for worship, you will be greeted and given a bulletin that will help guide you through the order of the service. Episcopal services are based on The Book of Common Prayer which will be the red book in your pew.
During worship, you will be able to follow along from the bulletin with the corresponding page numbers in The Book of Common Prayer. There will be several opportunities where you can enjoy or join in singing hymns. Music and words for the hymns are found in the blue hymnal in the pew.
Episcopal worship is centered around Communion, also known as The Holy Eucharist. All are invited to come forward and receive the bread and wine during communion, or if you would prefer you can come forward to receive a blessing by the priest or simply remain seated.
Services start at 10:00am on Sundays. Service of Holy Eucharist typically lasts about an hour. Service of Morning Prayer is usually half an hour.
After service, please join us for refreshments and fellowship downstairs in Morrill Hall. A chairlift is available if needed.
If you would like more information about the Episcopal Church or how to join or get involved please see a church member or send an email to secretary@trinityware.org.
WEEKLY MESSAGE TO THE CONGREGATION FROM THE SENIOR WARDEN- August 29, 2025
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
As we begin Labor Day weekend, I wonder how many of us know how this 'day off' came to be. From the Department of Labor website: Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.
Some records show that in 1882, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested setting aside a day for a "general holiday for the laboring classes" to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." . . . but many believe that machinist Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday that year while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. September 5, 1882 would be the first 'Labor Day' celebration in New York in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. On June 28,1894 President Grover Cleveland signed the law marking Labor Day a national holiday to be observed on the first Monday in September.
The Episcopal Church lectionary has a service for Labor Day that uses this Collect Prayer:
Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
What a powerful statement! And it may be too oversimplified to say we are all cogs in the same wheel, parts of the same machine that keeps life moving for all. It may not seem like the work I do can affect the work one of you does but isn't the fact that we are all doing something what helps to make our community better? And empowers us to help, in small and bigger ways, when someone in our community needs some assistance? I wonder if it was a thought like that, rooted in the message of this Collect, that inspired those Trinity folks all those years ago to start what we will continue on with in our Jubilee Ministries. May it be so for the next 40 years.
Wishing all a restful Labor Day weekend.
God's peace to you-
Suzanne
