Remembering Dr. John Bertalot

It is with sadness that we share the news that Dr. John Bertalot died on February 21, 2026, at the age of 94.

Many at Trinity Church will remember John for the joy, beauty, and reverence he brought to our music ministry during his years as Director of Music. His leadership shaped not only the choir’s sound, but also the congregation’s understanding of music as prayer.

Before coming to Princeton, Dr. Bertalot served for many years as Director of Music and Organist at Blackburn Cathedral in England, where he established a choral tradition of international renown. His work as a teacher, conductor, and author influenced church musicians around the world. Yet, even more so, he was a man of deep faith and a generous spirit. We give thanks for his life and faithful ministry.

We will be offering a service of Choral Evensong on Sunday, May 3, in thanksgiving and celebration of Dr. Bertalot.

More details will be forthcoming.

May light perpetual shine upon him.

 

Welcome Jacqueline Burkholder!

A recent graduate from Westminster Choir College, Jacqueline Burkholder is a mezzo-soprano soloist and bass chorister who lives in Riverton, NJ. She teaches piano and voice at Cornerstone Music Studios in Millstone NJ and is a staff chorister at Trinity Church, Princeton. Jacqueline is thrilled to be expanding her involvement at Trinity Church, Princeton to include the role of Administrative Assistant for Music. She looks forward to taking her place in the staff who support the music program and the enrichment it brings to the community here. Jacqueline is the parent of an eleven year old girl and enjoys making and listening to music with her daughter, cooking meals for the people she loves, and reading books aloud with her partner.

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Advent: The Beginning of the End of All in Us Not Yet Christ

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Inspired by Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, in his Advent essay Hope or Delusion, writes that Advent is “the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ.” With that single line, he invites us to step away from any sentimental or Hallmark-style picture of the season. Advent is not a time of nostalgia. It is not a gentle manger scene meant to soothe us. Advent confronts us with the truth of Christ’s birth within the broken, chaotic reality of our lives and our world.

The Incarnation is not sentimentality — it is reality. It is God choosing to enter the world as it is, not as we wish it were. And so, Advent asks us to do the same. It calls us to look honestly at who we are and the difference between our lives and the life of Christ, and at the hopes we carry. Is our hope grounded in the real, living Christ, or is it about an illusion — a kind of spiritual pixie dust we imagine will make everything right without asking anything of us?

Advent, therefore, is not sacred sentimentality or ecclesial escapism. It is a moment of truth — the truth about ourselves, the truth about our world, and the truth about what God is bringing to birth within it. Merton’s insight reminds us that Advent is both invitation and challenge: the call to let the false power of our egos fall away, and to surrender our hearts to the transforming grace of God.

So let us rejoice and give thanks in this season of beginnings —
a season that marks the beginning of the end of all in us not yet Christ,
and the beginning of Christ being born in us anew.

Advent Blessings,

Paul+

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!

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