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Let every heart prepare him room.

As I shared this past Sunday, when our girls were growing up, we always kept the baby Jesus in a hiding place when setting up our manger and crêche scenes around the house. Our plan was always to have the girls put baby Jesus out first thing on Christmas morning.

I’d say nine years out of ten, we’d forget in the excitement of getting to the presents under the tree. One year, we couldn’t even remember where we had hid the baby Jesus!

I am always reminded both how much fun Christmas can be, and how its easy to lose track of why God became incarnate in human flesh: to save us from ourselves and the arrogance of believing we can save us from ourselves.

The best remedy I know for balancing the joy of Christmas with the seriousness of the incarnation is worship. This Sunday is Advent all morning, and the beginning of Christmas with Lessons and Carols at 4 p.m.

On Christmas Eve, the 4 p.m. service will be fun, chaotic and joyful with the pageant. At 9 p.m., we have the beauty and transcendence of the Holy Communion service with glorious music and solemn intent.

On Christmas Day, we gather at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Newport at 10 a.m.

Let every heart prepare him room.

Timothy Safford, Interim Rector

Tower Lighting

The tower will be lit on December 21, 2024

to the glory of God and in loving memory of

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Wilson,

devout Episcopalian parishioners

all their lives in Edgewood, RI

by Peggy Wilson Hersam

and

The tower will be lit on December 21, 2024

to the glory of God and in loving memory of

of Anders Staats Nielsen

by Edawards Staats and family.

There will be a Christmas Day Service, December 25, at 10:00AM at Emmanuel Church, located at 42 Dearborn St., Newport, RI in place of the

Wednesday Noon Healing Service.



The Noon Healing Service will resume Wednesday, January 1, 2026.

Stewardship 2025

A big thank you to all of our members who added their pledge this week.

With 101 pledges received to date (12/16/24), your generosity totals over $330K. The Stewardship team is delighted to see that 10 of those pledges are new this year, and many of the pledges are increased over last year.

If you have not yet made a pledge for 2025, it’s not too late. You can make your 2025 pledge online with a click here.

If you need a pledge card or coaching to enter your pledge online, Terry Commodore or Molly, the Parish Administrator, can help with that.

Christmas Gifts for Trinity Guests!

  Community Meal gathers this month on the 23^rd and the 30^th of December.  Our parish would like to collect gifts for people attending supper.  We are looking for men’s and women’s gloves, and mittens, scarfs, and white tube socks. You wonder, what about Hats?  The generous Prayer Shawl Group has already provided those! 

A special request has been made to create a "Newborn Kit".

If you so choose, please donate items for a newborn (Diapers, burping blankets, onesies).

 If you prefer to give a $5 dollar coffee card, please put it in the collection basket or hand it to Norris Commodore.  Trinity Cares and lives the Gospel!  

From St. Matthew:

 " And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me'".  

Boxes will be in the Tower room on Sunday December 8, 15, and 22.  

Thank you! Deacon Christine and Community Meals

Community Meal Needs Volunteers

Please join us in serving the community! We have been very busy this year and are serving about 100 guests per meal. We delight in providing a restaurant-like experience for our guests but need your help! Please consider joining the team (we have a lot of fun!) by signing up for the many open volunteer slots here: Community Meal Calendar Sign Up. We always serve on the 1st, 4th, and 5th Mondays of the month. - D'arcy Carr.

Trinity Church Reading Group: At our meeting on Monday evening, we decided to skip our meeting in December and fully enjoy the holidays. Our next meeting will be on January 13 at 5:00PM. In the meantime, we decided to read The Lost City of Z, by David Grann. Mr. Gran researched and writes about the expedition of Percy Fawcett in 1925 into the jungle of the Amazon with the aim of discovering the location of the legendary city of gold as described by the native tribes of that region. 

Trinity Loves and Cares 

Trinity Loves and Cares is a ministry of pastoral care of praying for and providing support to members of Trinity Church for December 2024, the TLC coordinator is Jeff Clark , who can be reached at Jeffreyclark1@mac.com. 

Construction as of 12/12/2024

Trinity Serves Capital Campaign

Behan Bros is making great progress on the construction of the Education and Administration building.

As for the Trinity Serves Capital Campaign, we are closer to unlocking the challenge gift of $75,000. We only have to raise another $230,000 by December 31, 2024.

Your gift presents a unique opportunity to secure our future and be permanently recognized in the new building. Consider taking advantage of the available naming opportunities listed below. You may choose to honor a family member or friend and leave a lasting tribute through your philanthropy.

New Construction Naming Opportunities:

Classroom A                                    $100,000

Classroom B                                    $100,000

Mill Street Entrance                          $75,000

Nursery                                              $50,000

Large first floor windows                 $35,000

Landscaping and planting              $30,000

Ground floor furnishings                 $20,000

Built-in storage                                  $10,000 / Office

Restroom                                         $5,000 and above

Thank you

Norris Commodore

Senior Warden-

December Dates to Remember

Sunday, December 22nd – 4:00PM

Christmas on Historic Hill - Lessons and Carols for Christmas. Trinity Church.

Tuesday, December 24th

Christmas Eve Services at Trinity Church.

• 4:00PM Pageant and Family Service.
• 9:00PM Festal Eucharist – with Charpentier “Messe de Minuit”.

 Trinity Choir with members of Providence Baroque.

Wednesday, December 25th - 10AM

Christmas Day Service with The Rev. Della Wager Wells at Emmanuel Church located at 42 Dearborn St., Newport, RI. This is a service for Trinity Church, St. John the Evangelist, and Emmanuel Church on a very special day.

How to get involved

Christmas Services Volunteers needed: For the roles of Ushers at the 4PM Christmas Eve service. These services are not only special to Trinity but to the Newport Community as well. Please contact Molly Chamberlain, Parish Administrator, 401-846-0660, if you are interested.

Message from TLC: 

"Look at your muscles. The only one that matters is your heart and the compassion it gives." -- Dr. Nichola D'Arienzo, MD (shared by Pam Alexander). Volunteers are welcomed anytime.

Mens Bible Study: Meets weekly on Wednesdays, 12:00-1:00PM via Zoom. If interested in joining, please contact john_gilmartin@mac.com.

Choir Practices: If interested, please contact the Michael at michaelbahmann@yahoo.com or Fred at fjodry@trinitynewport.org.

Prayer Shawl Group (PSG) This Group meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month, 1-3PM in the Hawes Room. The group creates Prayer Shawls, Baptismal Blankets and fellowship. All knitting and crochet talent welcomed.

*Should you have any questions, contact the Parish Administrator, Molly Chamberlain. 401-846-0660

Graveyard Aerial Photos Needed.

We would love to hear from anyone who can take pictures of our graveyard from a drone. Please contact Charlotte Johnson. Email Charlotte02840@gmail.com

The Trinity Altar Society is happy to assist you in providing flowers as a beautiful symbol of what we offer to God in our worship. Whether to honor a loved one’s memory, to celebrate a special occasion, or simply in thanksgiving, it only takes a phone call or an e-mail to Chris Pimentel, cap5182@cox.net

Tower Lighting

The historic spire of Trinity Church is lit nightly. When you contribute to the cost of lighting, you may memorialize a person who has passed or give thanks for an event, like an anniversary or birthday. The traditional offering is $50, but please give as the Spirit moves! Contact Molly Chamberlain, Parishadmin@trinitynewport.org to make arrangements.