Driveway Safety Improvements

Our driveway that connects Mercer and Stockton streets is a great convenience for parishioners and for parents of Nassau Nursery children.   It is also a safety hazard as it tempts drivers to speed through our property to save a few minutes.  In addition, some drivers have been entering from Stockton Street in violation of the driveway's one way direction.  Finally, there was no signage alerting drivers exiting onto Stockton Street that they need to stop before the sidewalk.

Recently, the Grounds committee invested $2,400 in three improvements to minimize these safety risks:

  1. Installed a speed bump to slow speedsters down before they reach the Narthex area

  2. Asked the Municipality of Princeton to replace one of its Do Not Enter signs at our Stockton St. exit that had become extremely faded.  They promptly made that change as well as reoriented their second Do Not Enter sign for better visibility.

  3. Added two smaller "Do Not Enter" signs facing from our fence to Stockton Street to ensure that any driver turning from any direction will see that they should not enter our driveway.  

  4. Installed two Stop signs just before the sidewalk at Stockton Street  and painted the words "Stop" along with a thick white line across the driveway.

In addition, our contractors fixed three potholes in the parking lot, repainted two handicapped parking spots and the crosswalk by Ivy Hall.  Special thanks to our wonderful sextons for putting up all  of our new signs!

Please help keep parishioners and children safe by entering our driveway only from Mercer Street, driving slowly over the speed bump and by making a full stop when exiting at Stockton Street.  

Waffle House!

One of the great gifts of the South is Waffle House. Every time I find myself back "down South," as they say, my Waffle House radar is activated. Open 24 hours a day, Waffle House serves as a safe harbor in an often unpredictable world. People come in at all hours, for all sorts of reasons, and each one of them has a story to tell.

It's early Friday morning, and here I sit in a Waffle House. Some are here after a long night shift, and others getting ready to start their day. A woman sits alone at the counter, meticulously wiping it down as she prepares her glass of sweet tea, and awaiting her scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. The waitress approaches me with a lightness in her step and asks, "Can I get you some coffee, honey?" I place my usual order, and she replies with a smile, "Ok, baby, we’ll have it right up for you." Moments later, faster than expected, the cook brings over my eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. "Here you go, sir. I hope it’s OK. Is that bacon too crispy? I’m happy to make more if it’s not right."

Before long, Lonni, the cook, and I strike up a conversation. I ask, "Do you mind if I make a video?"


This moment reminded me of a video I had made early in my sabbatical, also during an early morning at a Waffle House. Life comes full circle in these quiet, simple moments.

 

 We all have a story. We have dreams and people we love. We want to be happy. We want a good life and a better one for our children. We’re all just trying to make it in this world, and with a little dignity. Whether you're dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant or sitting in a booth at Waffle House, that’s not the point. It’s about living your life with the people you love, having a dream, and trying to make that dream come true.

 I pray that Trinity Church is a place where people can come as they are, with the truth of their lives, their hopes and dreams, fears and struggles, sadness and joy. A place where, together, we find a safe harbor, and even more so, a home. A home to ground and sustain us on this amazing, challenging, unpredictable, and blessed journey of life.

Peace and Blessings,

Paul

P.S. Just before I left, Lonni came over and said, "Hey, nice talking to you. One day, I want to go back to Michigan. I want to open a diner—like one of those 1950s vintage diners." I gave him my number and said, "I’ll pray for you. You’ll do it! And when you do, call me. Because I’m coming."

Newcomer Opportunities

Newcomers Forum

  • Sunday, October 6   9:15 – 10:15 am  

  • Pierce Hall     

The Newcomers Forum is a great way to meet vestry members, clergy and fellow newcomers while enjoying bagels and coffee.  There will be a couple of welcoming speeches but mostly this is a time to talk to new and longtime members of the parish and to meet your clergy.   Pierce Hall is the main meeting room in the parish building, which is attached to the church.  

Tea at the Rectory

  • Sunday, November 10   4 -5 pm, followed by Compline in the church

  • 25 Mercer St.

Father Paul Jeanes lives in the house next to the parish hall.  Join him, vestry members and fellow newcomers for refreshments and fellowship.  Then at 5 pm, feel free to join us as we walk next door to the church for the evening prayers said during Compline.

You are welcome to attend any of these events without registering but if you know in advance that you’ll attend, please do email tomascott1965@gmail.com so that we can plan accordingly.  Also email Tom with any questions you may have.  We look forward to seeing you!

Volunteer Opportunities

Parish volunteers are always needed for these two Fall events which support Trinity’s outreach programs:

  • Rummage Sale - Details about rummage in the post above. We need volunteers for all aspects of the sale: set-up, sales, clean-up.  Setup occurs from October 13-17 and the sale itself is on October 18-19.  To volunteer for any of these days, please send your contact information to rummage@trinityprinceton.org .

  • Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot – This annual event is a 5k race beginning at 8 am on Thanksgiving Day.  Father Paul started it the year after he arrived at Trinity Church.  Over 2,000 runners and walkers participated in 2023 and raised over $70,000 for Trinity’s outreach programs and partners.  Trinity parishioners handle all of the functions of the race, from distributing race packets to monitoring the route.  More details will be available soon on how you can help make this year’s race a success.

Arm In Arm 50th Anniversary Celebration

Our Outreach partner, Arm In Arm, will be participating in a 50th Year Anniversary celebration and Health Fair this Saturday, September 21st at 9:30 am. It will be held at 1440 Parkside Ave, Ewing NJ (in the gym located to the right, inside of the main entrance).

They need 6 volunteers who can help prepare and serve non-perishable bags of food to the community during the event.  It will last until 3 o'clock or as long as the food lasts, but even if you can only participate for an hour or 2,  Arm In Arm can still use your help.

To volunteer please click  SIGN UP HERE or call Shariq Marshall with Arm In ARM at 609-508-7851. 

Welcome Noa and Richard!

We are delighted to have two wonderful interns, Noa Bolmenäs and Richard Pryor, III, join us for our 2023-2024 program year! Read a bit about Noa and Richard below. Please greet them warmly when you see them.

Noa: My name is Noa Bolmenäs, I am a 3rd year M.Div student at PTS. I moved to princeton in 2022, after living in beautiful Chicago since 2019. Before then I grew up in wonderful Sweden. Now, I am planning my next steps in life, as well as my marriage to my partner, Narvella. My path has led me on many fascinating adventures, but for now it is pulling me toward church and education. My main interest is the Old Testament. I have found it the most valuable conversation partner and inspiration for dealing with immigration and forced migration, which are the central issues my social work has gone toward. I am more than excited to be at Trinity for this coming year, to get to know this wonderful parish, and to worship together!

Richard: Richard Pryor, III is a Masters student at Princeton Theological Seminary in the Church History and Ecumenics Department. A graduate of the University of the South, he is also the creative editor of Earth & Altar. He is a son of Christ Church in Kent, OH, and is part of the team behind the Episcopal Chant Database and Metrical Collects. He has been a four-time Deputy or Alternate to General Convention, and most recently chaired the Consecration Planning Committee for the Transition to the 12th Bishop of Ohio. He enjoys making and listening to music, testing out new recipes, and reading long-form journalism.

On Friendship Human And Divine

“Friendship is genuine only when you bind fast together people who cleave to you through the charity poured abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us.” - St. Augustine, Confessions, Book V

This has been a difficult week for me. We are approaching the first anniversary of our beloved Sonia Waters’ death. Then, my dear friend Fr. Everett Lees of the Diocese of Oklahoma died, only a couple of weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Everett leaves behind his wife Kristin and three young children, and I ask your prayers for them all. He was a loving husband and father, but I knew him as the kind of friend who helps everyone around him be a better Christian. It was true for his parishioners at Christ Church Tulsa, it was true in the Diocese of Oklahoma, and it was true in the Episcopal Church where he was a tireless advocate for evangelism. Christ Church has been one of the fastest-growing congregations in the Episcopal Church, in no small part because of Everett’s relentless focus on what Good News it is to be made a new creation in Christ. 

St. Augustine tells us that true friendship is found not when we love our friends for worldly reasons, to gain some kind of advantage or favor. Friendship, by which he means Christian friendship, is a model of the friendship between humans and God. We love our friends because we love God in them, and because we love each other towards God. Sonia and Everett were both the kind of priests, and the kind of friends, who loved people towards God - who drew out the best in everyone around them. 

This isn’t a grace that comes only to members of the clergy - far from it! I suspect that each one of us can name people in our lives who have loved us towards God. But it can take intentional action as well as prayer on our part to be that kind of friend to others. I hope that in the year ahead, Trinity Church will grow not only numerically (which, praise God, it is!), but in the kind of friendship that helps us grow in holiness, and in the love of God. It may not be the only way we can experience the truth of the Gospel, but it is one way. As Stanley Hauerwas writes,

“I do not think that questions concerning the truth of Christian convictions can be isolated from what is necessary to sustain friendships that are truthful. I am not suggesting that Christians can be friends only with other Christians. Some of my most cherished friends are with non-Christians. Rather I am suggesting that if what it means to be a Christian is compelling and true, then such truthfulness will be manifest and tested through friendship.”

Your friend in Christ,

Kara

P.S. This interview with Fr. Everett on what makes a good church is outstanding and I commend it to you:

https://bencrosby.substack.com/p/church-growth-discipleship-and-the.

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