COVID-19 Resources

Grace & Peace to You From Our Lord Jesus Christ
Message from Rev. Rhetta Wiley

The most important thing for you to know is that I remain available to you through the pastoral care line (410) 470-5539 no matter what rules are put in place by authorities. While the loving Spirit of God is always waiting for you in your own prayers, I am honored to support you in that in whatever way I can. Now for the news.

Worship
Bishop Sutton has directed that we will not hold public worship services until at least May 16. This means that we will not only be unable to gather for Sundays, but also for Holy Week. Here are some ways to maintain worship and formation in community.

• The Diocese is hosting a live stream of Holy Eucharist from the Cathedral of the Incarnation on Sundays at 11 am.  Click to view those services
  • Some people are doing this and sharing the peace with friends and fellow parishioners by text message when the celebrant offers the peace, which is very nice.
  • Others are tuning in while on phone calls or video calls in order to experience better how we are worshiping together on Sunday mornings.
• On Sunday evenings at 5pm, Kathleen, Hardwick, and I are hosting a live stream of Evening Prayer from the Lee Chapel.  We will also sometimes have singers from the Trinity Choir.  You can tune into this live using the link to the right or directly from our Facebook page.  –  Click Here – Trinity Facebook
• On Weekday evenings I will continue live-streaming Evening Prayer at 6pm from the same links as able.  All these videos will be stored on the website, Facebook and YouTube for later viewing.
• Kathleen Capcara, our Lay Associate, is live-streaming Godly Play lessons on Thursdays at 11am.  These will likewise by stored so you may look at them later.
• Please stay tuned for more information about Holy Week.  We will be making recommendations for observances at home as well as providing online prayer opportunities.

Staying Connected, Staying Church

• Vestry members have received a copy of our rolls and will each be reaching out to folks in the parish to help us stay connected.  If you would like an updated directory, please let Jill Dumser know. (Contact Jill)
• Jill is maintaining our prayer list.  Please help us keep this list up to date by letting us know when people are in need of our intercessions, and when the crisis has passed sufficiently that we can either move them to long-term needs or off the list for the time being.
• Cathy Evans is coordinating volunteers for ACTC.  Many of their core volunteers are older and more vulnerable to COVID-19, and they are in need of extra hands in small groups that are taking all precautions. (Contact Cathy)
• Kathleen Capcara ; will be coordinating a corps of folks willing to do food and prescription pick-ups for people who might need it.  Not everyone can afford delivery service.(Contact Kathleen)

Stewardship
We anticipate that the COVID-19 crisis will continue to have an economic impact on all of us.  Please continue to fulfill your pledges as you are able by one of the following methods.

• Mail checks to
  Trinity Episcopal Church
  120 Allegheny Ave
  Towson, MD 21204
• Set up automatic payments through your bank’s online Bill Pay function.  You may need to call your bank for assistance with this.
• Use our online donation system.  Please note that this system takes a fee from your donation. Click to use this system
• Give through the Diocesan website: Click to use this option

If you find that you are not able to meet your pledge for some reason, please let us know so we can plan accordingly.

In addition, our business manager Jen Korczakowski has set us up as a charity through Amazon Smile.  I encourage you to use this option as a way to send us a little something (0.5%) every time you shop.  Many of you know that I am not an Amazon fan, but if you rely on it, by all means use it to support Trinity.

1. Visit  Amazon Smile
2. Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials
3. Select your charity – Choose Trinity Episcopal Church in Towson
4. Start shopping!
5. Add a bookmark for Amazon Smile to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile

Preschool & Surprise Shop
Trinity Episcopal Preschool is currently closed through April 24, and we are weighing our options about reopening. I will share more about this once we have all the information and have made a decision.

The Surprise Shop is likewise closed until April 24. It is likely that they will stay closed longer, but that decision has not yet been made. We will keep you up to date as things develop.

Meanwhile, please know that you are in my prayers, and that we will get through this together. Our God is the source of Resurrection, and out of this shadowed valley new life will surely grow.

in peace,