Hello Trinity Friends,

As a member of our downtown community, our collective hearts go out to all those individuals and businesses affected by the fire on Main street this week.  We give gratitude for the courage and care of the North Bay Firefighters and all those first responders who ensured that no lives were lost.  We pray for those who are dealing with the trauma of losing their homes and businesses.  Please look for ways to support our downtown community during this difficult time. 

The regular Friday email is coming to you a few days early so that we can share the special services and events that are taking place this week. Below you will find information about the Maundy Thursday Potluck at St. Andrews, the shared United Church Good Friday service at Emmanuel and the Easter Sunrise Outdoor Service. Holy Week will conclude with our joyous musical Easter Sunday Communion service. 

As we prepare ourselves to journey from the grief of Good Friday to the joy of new life on Easter Sunday, we invite you to join us in the following worship services. 

MAUNDY THURSDAY POTLUCK AND TABLE COMMUNION SERVICE at St. Andrew’s United Church on Thursday, March 28th in the gymnasium. Please use the McIntyre Street entrance. Doors open at 5:30pm, dinner starts at 6pm. Table communion worship will follow the meal. Please bring your own plate, cutlery, and a potluck dish to share.

GOOD FRIDAY UNITED CHURCH WORSHIP – hosted by Emmanuel United Church. The area United Churches will gather for a shared Good Friday Service at Emmanuel United Church on Friday March 29th at 10:30 am. 

SUNDAY MARCH 31ST: EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE, 7:30AM Outdoors at the corner of Ferguson and McIntyre (The Thomson Building) at 7:30am (in case of inclement weather, the service will be in the Trinity Fellowship Hall). We will be joined by friends from St. Andrew’s United Church. After a brief service of singing and contemplation, coffee and hot-cross buns will be served in the Fellowship Hall, courtesy of the Trinity AOTS!

EASTER SUNDAY SPECIAL MUSICAL SERVICE – Sunday March 31st, 10:30 am

Easter Sunday at Trinity promises to be uplifting and joy filled! A musical Communion service will be served.  We close out the service with the Trinity Choir tradition of singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.  All are welcome to join the choir for that chorus (music will be available). 

Hello Trinity Friends,

This Sunday is Palm/Passion Sunday and marks the beginning of Holy Week.  Our Lenten Blues series concludes with  Chris Mogan as our guest musician this week.  Sunday School Children will be folding Palm Crosses and engaging with the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Fresh off the presses, Trinity’s Spring Newsletter, is ready for your reading pleasure!  You will find the newsletter on our website. Click here to access it Spring Newsletter

There are a number of announcements that continue in this email – please read on!

Hello Trinity Friends!

This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday in Lent, and happens to also be St. Patrick’s Day. Throughout this service, you will hear some Irish melodies and hymns.  This Sunday’s blues performers are Samantha Depatie and Ariel Hyatt, who regularly provide musical accompaniment to Trinity’s “Longest Night” service. 

When you arrive on Sunday, be sure to pick up an order form for an Easter Lily.  Lilies can be purchased in honour of someone, or memory of a loved one. Those names will be listed in the Easter bulletin. Lilies will be placed in the Sanctuary on Easter Sunday and can be picked up after the service.  The deadline to order lilies is next Sunday, March 24th. 

If you haven’t already picked up your Lenten Offering envelope, those can be picked up from your ushers as well.  This year our Lenten Offering will go to support Trinity’s Food Shelf programs. We are grateful for your continued support of these programs.  

Special Lenten/Easter Services

Hello Trinity Friends,

This Sunday is the fourth Sunday in Lent.  Our Lenten Blues musicians this week are Jodi St Pierre and Paolo Dottori with Pat O’Kane performing “Have You Ever Seen the Rain.”  In Sunday School the children will begin a series on Prayer. 

A reminder that this Saturday night, Daylight Saving Time begins, therefore you should set your clocks ahead an hour before you go to bed on Saturday night or you’ll be late for church!

Spring Newsletter

The deadline for submissions for our Spring Newsletter is March 17th

Trinity Library

Be sure to check out Trinity’s library to see the Easter books available to borrow.  There are a number of great children’s books with activities! 

Lent/Easter Services

• Sunday March 17, 10:30 am:  Fifth Sunday in Lent
• Sunday March 24, 10:30 am:  Palm/Passion Sunday
• Thursday March 28, 6 pm:  Maundy Thursday Potluck at St. Andrew’s United Church gymnasium.  Table communion worship will follow the meal. Please bring your own plate, cutlery, and a potluck dish to share.
• Sunday March 31st, 7:30 am:  Easter Sunrise Service outside. We will be joined by friends from St. Andrew’s United Church. After a brief service of singing and contemplation, coffee and hot-cross buns will be served in the Fellowship Hall, courtesy of the Trinity AOTS!  
• Sunday March 31, 10:30 am:  Easter Sunday Musical Service with Communion

Upcoming Events

Mustard Seed Information Session – Sunday March 24th from 12:30 – 1:00 pm followed by a Drama Workshop and Auditions from 1 – 3 pm.
Rehearsals will start in April. All young people 5 years old and up are invited. Friends are welcome to come out too. There will be parts for everyone!

Maundy Thursday Youth Prayer Vigil – Thursday March 28th 7 pm to Friday March 29th 8 am. For youth in Grade 7 and up. Throughout the night we will be holding prayer sessions and reflections, participating in prayer stations, having a late night agape feast, and more. Please RSVP to Lisa at blais.trinity@gmail.com

Save the Date! Trinity’s Vacation Bible Camp week is August 12th – 16th.  Registration packages and information will be available by Easter weekend!

Hello Trinity Friends,

This Sunday is the 3rd Sunday in Lent.  We continue our journey through Blues Lent with a special musical offering from Marcel MacDonald, accompanied by Peggy Millar. Following the service, we will launch right into our Annual Congregational Meeting.  All people are encouraged to remain in the sanctuary for this meeting.  Children will be supervised while the meeting takes place.  Annual Reports were emailed last week and are available on our website.  Paper copies will be available at the meeting – no need to print your own!

For those who wish to join our Annual Congregational Meeting but are unable to attend in person, there will be a zoom link available.  John Roberts and I have been working on ensuring that those at home participants are able to participate.  If you’d like to join us for the meeting via zoom, please let me know so I can send you the coordinates and instructions.  

Our Lift is still out of order.  We do not have a timeline for when it will be repaired as we are waiting on an engineering report.  We apologize for this inconvenience.  We hope you will join us on YouTube or Cogeco’s YourTV. 

There are a couple of important announcements and a few upcoming events listed below.  Please keep reading!