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9:30am Adult Forum

Birth Narratives: Ours and Others

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SUNDAY READINGS

First Lesson:

Isaiah 11:1-10

Second Lesson:

 Romans 13:11-14

Gospel:

Matthew 3:1-12

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December 7th

Welcome Alicia our new Administrative Assistant to the Rector!

Alicia McCarther and her family have been attending Trinity for the past 11 years. You’ve probably seen them sitting in the back row of the nave at the 10:30 service!

Alicia has served on the vestry for the past three years and will complete her term in December. She has many years of experience working in various churches as a hired singer, choir director, and youth director, and she is thrilled to bring that background into her new role as the Administrative Assistant to the Rector. Alicia and her husband, Sean, have been married for 19 years and have two children: Ian (13) and Lily (9). Alicia is incredibly excited to join Team Trinity in this new way!

Music for Sunday | 7 December 2025

Holy Eucharist | 8 and 10:30 am

Prelude: (8:00) Advent 2: Jerusalem surge - Gerald Near; (10:30) Rorate caeli - Jeanne Demessieux

Hymns: “Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding” (tune: Merton), “Creator of the stars of night” (tune:

Conditor alme siderum), “Hail to the Lord’s annointed” (tune: Es flog ein kleins Waldvögelein)

Offertory Music: (8:00) Rorate caeli - Jeanne Demessieux; (10:30) Vox clamantis - Juan Esquivel

Communion Music: The Call - Ralph Vaughan Williams

Postlude: Toccata (from Triptych on Helmsley) - Brenda Portman

Choral Compline | 5 pm

Nunc dimittis: Septimi Toni - Orlando di Lassus

Motet: O Adonai - Gierolamo Lambardi

Marian Antiphon: Alma redemptoris mater - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Brenda Portman is a Cincinnati-based composer who specializes in the organ, both as a composer and as a performer. Her works have won myriad awards, including from Notre Dame University and the American Guild of Organists. Her Toccata on Helmsley, which we will hear as this Sunday’s postlude is part of a three-movement set centered on this popular Advent hymn (the text of which is “Lo! He comes with clouds descending”). We will hear another organ piece based on an Advent hymn this weekend: Jeanne Demessieux’s supremely lovely “Rorate caeli.” Also known as the “Advent Prose,” the text of this calls upon God to be presentwith us: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.”

Trinity Church Angel Tree 2025

Please partner with us to bring the joy of Christmas to children in our community. Together, we can add more light and love to one another.

Select one of the two options to add joy to a family:

1 )Select a tag with a gift request from the tree in the Narthex. Sign your name on the sign-up sheet.

2) Use the link below or QR code above and purchase a gift from the wish list registry.

Return the gift to Trinity Church by Friday, December 12.

The gifts will be delivered to families affiliated with: Arm in Arm Housing Initiatives of Princeton Urban Promise

Click here for Angel Tree Registry

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Arm in Arm Volunteer

Due to the distribution of holiday gift cards next week in addition to food, Arm in Arm is expecting a higher volume and increased demand and will need extra volunteer support for all locations. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Shariq Marshall at shariqm@arminarm.org

Cookie Walk Sunday, December 7th

There will be a Cookie Walk on Sunday, December 7th, from 9am-12:30pm

Here is how it works:

You buy a bag for a small fee, and then you fill it with cookies of your choice from the trays of delicious home-made cookies baked by fellow parishioners.  So please stop by after the 8am or 10:30 service, and enjoy this Christmas tradition!

Bakers Needed!!

Can you find some time to bake some of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes?  We would love any amount you can make!  (Please, no store bought!)

If so, then get in touch with Terri Brown at 609-915-3800 or terribrown4@gmail.com 

or sign up here:

LINK

Trinity’s Children and Family Ministries

Family Ministries Corner

Thank you to the youth for their leadership at the church family breakfast. It was a beautiful first Sunday of Advent! I loved watching folks of all ages create their wreaths together.  We also have Advent calendars from StoryMakers! Please let us know if you’d like one. This Friday at 5:30 p.m. is the Trinity Family Christmas Party. Entrees and drinks are provided. Please bring a side or dessert to share. We have a lot going on at Trinity this month, and we would love to see you!

Upcoming Events

12/5 5:30-7 p.m. Church Family Fun Friday Christmas Party

Celebrate the warmth and joy of the season with your church family. Join us for a festive evening of fellowship, food, and fun. RSVP by Tuesday, 2 December!

12/7 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, No Children’s Chapel (child-friendly sermon), Youth Group and Pageant Practice after second service. Dismissal at 1 p.m.

8:30 a.m. Move on Mondays (will not meet December 29)

12/21 Trinity’s Christmas Pageant at 10:30 service, No Sunday School, Children’s Chapel, or Youth Group

12/22 4:30 p.m. Caroling at Brandywine

Spread some musical cheer to local seniors

Adult Formation This Week:

Sunday, December 7 at 9:30 AM in Pierce-Bishop: Adult Forum on Birth Narratives: Ours and Others’

Monday, December 8 at 7:30 PM at Yankee Doodle Tap Room: Pub Theology

Wednesday, December 10 at 6:45 PM at the home of Joseph Syzdek and Joanne Witherow (320 Hamilton Avenue in Princeton): Lectio Divina Bible Study

During the season of Advent, our Wednesday Bible Study will be an exploration of Lectio Divina, a contemplative form of Scripture reading and discussion. Contact Joseph Syzdek at jsyzdek@yahoo.com for more information or if you have any questions.

Sunday, December 14 at 9:30 AM in Pierce-Bishop: Adult Forum on Touring with Trinity’s Choir this Summer. Come find out more about our 8-day trip to London to accompany Trinity’s choir as they sing at Westminster Abbey. This isn’t only for choir parents and spouses: anyone can come! 

Lectio Divina

A holy invitation awaits you this Advent —

— to pause, to listen, and to prepare your heart for the coming of Christ.  This Advent, the invitation is to pause amidst the busyness of the season.  To take an opportunity to slow down if even for a brief time. To notice the sacred in the ordinary. And to make space for joy through the practice of Lectio Divina — a traditional Christian practice of prayerful Scripture reading.

You are invited to join Joseph Syzdek and JoAnn Witherow for three evenings of Lectio Divina: December 3, 10, and 17 at 320 Hamilton Ave. We’ll gather at 6:45 p.m. for light refreshments and introductions and begin at 7:00, concluding around 8:15.

This holy invitation awaits…

To pause in the hush of the lengthening dark.

To let hope kindle where shadows linger.

To prepare a place where joy can dwell.

It is an invitation to wait with wonder.

To listen for whispers of grace.

To open your heart to Love’s arrival.

And to welcome the Light that breaks into the dark.

Come as you are.  Tired.  Longing.  Expectant.

This season is not about perfection.

But about presence.

As the Holy One draws near --

— the invitation is yours to accept.

Foundations Course

Coming Soon

Are you new to Trinity Church, new to the Episcopal Church, or just looking for a refresher course? Join us in Advent for the all-new Foundations course, a four-week introductory class. We will start meeting on Sunday, January 4 at 9:30 AM in the Library. Email sladek@trinityprinceton.org if you’re interested.

Pub Theology

Monday, Dec 8th 7:30pm

Oregon Trailblazers Lunch

On Sunday, December 14, the Oregon Trailblazers will host a lunch following the 10:30 service. For parents in the group, this will give you a break and a chance to eat during the Christmas pageant rehearsal. But this isn't just for parents - Oregon Trailblazers is for everyone who is "vaguely middle-aged"! Let us know if you're coming so we can order enough food. You don't have to bring anything but yourselves! 

RSVP here: https://forms.gle/mDaBuHXC6KaJfpdr9

CHOIR TO LONDON

In August 2026, our choir will be on tour in the UK, first at Ely Cathedral and then at Westminster Abbey.

Trinity is putting together a trip for any parishioners who would like to support the choir while they are in London - and see the sights in London and beyond.

Whether you are a chorister parent, a spouse or friend of an adult choir member, or a Trinity parishioner who enjoys music, liturgy, and history, this trip is for you!

The tour will include day trips to Canterbury Cathedral and to Oxford, as well as activities in London itself. We will attend daily Evensong at Westminster Abbey, as well as the Sunday Eucharist at which Trinity's choir will sing.

If you're interested in the tour and wish to be added to the list, fill out the form at the link below:

https://forms.gle/jKkcFtroi926g9oy6

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Travel to the Holy Land

A couple of years back, some members of Trinity Church traveled with our Rector, Paul Jeanes, and The Rev. Keith Marsh and to the Holy Land.

It proved to be a marvelous and spiritually uplifting experience for all who made the pilgrimage! After retiring in June of 2023, Keith started Spirited Pilgrimages, a business devoted to planning, promoting and hosting unique, small-group pilgrimages around the world for people of faith.

Two pilgrimages have been planned for the fall of next year and you are invited to join: 

• The Footsteps of Paul – September 9-19, 2026 – travel through Turkey and Greece by land and sea - visit sites from the Book of Acts associated with St. Paul on his missionary journeys: Ephesus, Patmos, Corinth, Athens and more, including the islands of Crete and Santorini  

• Celtic Christianity – October 12-24, 2026 – follow the path of Christianity’s early years in the Celtic kingdoms, beginning in Ireland and expanding into Scotland and northern England – trace the spread of Celtic Christianity from its introduction by St. Patrick to its demise at the Council of Whitby.

These pilgrimages will be led by Keith, an experienced pilgrimage planner and host. To learn more about these two all-inclusive pilgrimages – expansive itinerary, roundtrip airfare, lodging and meal details, price and deadlines, as well as how to reserve your spot – visit the Spirited Pilgrimages website at: spiritedpilgrimages.com

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PRAYER LIST:

Please keep the following individuals in your prayers:

Susan Barry, Zoe Beaton, Peter Brown, Peter, Chip Dongara, Daryll Eatmon, Gus Escher, Pat Grabiec, Bill Hackett, Reverend Dana Hall, Ellen Jane, Patricia Killian, Edwin Metcalf, Nancy Metcalf, Joan Nester, Bob Pietrucha, Carol Reynolds, Nancy Slade, Clive Muncaster, Dulcie Muncaster, Amber Schuppan, Dianne Senko, Samantha Seto, Isaiah Stevens, Gary Sykes, and Phil Unetic

Please pray for the following souls who have recently passed:

Larry Evans

Individuals will remain on the prayer list for one month, unless we are otherwise notified.

➨ If you want to add someone to the list, please email Annie Bryson at brysona@trinityprinceton.org.

RECOVERY MEETINGS: Looking for recovery meetings? See our list of recurring meetings here.

ZOOM EVENTS: Join all Zoom meetings, unless otherwise advertised, at ZOOM.US/J/2859819016 [By phone: 1 646 558 8656 Meeting ID: 285 981 9016 Password: 1979].

ABOUT US: Trinity Church ➨ Est’d 1833 ➨ An Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey ➨ 33 Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 ➨ (609) 924-2277 ➨ The Rev. Paul Jeanes III, Rector; The Rev. Cn. Dr. Kara N. Slade, Associate Rector ➨ Website: trinityprinceton.org

“We believe God’s love is expansive and unconditional and that through Christ, God has called us to love one another as God loves us. We welcome all people of every gender, race, age, culture, ethnic background, sexual orientation, economic circumstance, family configuration, or difference of ability. We celebrate the worth, dignity, and gifts of every person as a child of God.”

Please know that we are here for you, to support you and pray for you however best we can. Feel free to reach out to the clergy.