143 Lincoln Street, North Easton, MA
On Saturday, March 1, we welcomed some of our church school kids to “A Place for You at the Welcome Table” – a special event focused on the sacraments of baptism and communion – and on how Jesus calls us to welcome EVERYONE to the table! We explored the sanctuary, made baptism books, and baked communion bread, and had fun together. We hope you enjoy some snapshots from the event!
The funeral for Beatrice Pearson will take place at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in North Easton, Massachusetts at 10:30 AM Eastern Time on Saturday, June 15.
As part of Holy Trinity’s current transition process, we are inviting you to participate in the Congregation Assessment Tool (CAT), an online instrument created by Holy Cow! Consulting that helps leaders gauge the strength, vitality, and trends in our church. The information gained from this assessment will be valuable in helping the congregational leadership team make decisions about the future of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
The Congregation Assessment Tool is an 86 question online assessment of a congregation that is completed by members of a church. It gives leaders a read-out on the health of the church, a sense of where members think the church should head in the future, and a description of the church as a unique body of people. Holy Trinity has participated in the CAT process during previous transition periods, and the current survey will provide valuable information about how the congregation has changed since these prior assessments.
Leaders talk to people in the church all the time. Why do they need a survey to know what people are thinking?
Leaders, like everyone else, tend to talk with a relatively small number of people. It can be difficult for them to have a comprehensive understanding of how the entire body is doing. When someone comes to them with a problem and concludes with “And I’m not the only one who feels this way,” the leader is left wondering “How many people do feel this way?”
Isn’t a survey too impersonal?
In fact, many people find a survey to be very personal because it asks them their personal perspective on a number of topics that they are rarely asked about. What is certain is that the Congregation Assessment Tool is impartial. Because the results are completely confidential, it does not matter whether a person is talkative or shy, young or old, a recent member or a longtime member. Their views are equally respected.
Should leaders be discerning God’s will through surveys?
Information from the Vital Signs© report is just one component of a discernment process. Leaders must also include prayer, Scripture, and tradition. However, leaders cannot help their members move in a new direction if they do not know where their members are. When I call someone to ask for directions, the first question they will ask me is “Where are you now?” If I don’t know, they can’t help me. It is a cardinal rule of spiritual leadership: You cannot help a person or group of person move to a new place if you do not start with where they are. The Congregation Assessment Tool© helps leaders know where their members are.
All members, attenders and affiliates who have been active in some way, who are able to physically and emotionally cope with the survey, and are 16 years of age or older.
Yes. We will not lock the assessment by email address or IP address just so that people who share email addresses, e-readers, computers, etc. can each take the assessment.
We will schedule times and assistance for people to take the survey at Holy Trinity. Under special circumstances we will provide a printed copy that members can complete and return to the church where a trusted person can go online and input their data.
The assessment takes on average 22 minutes (that is the real average). We usually ask that people set aside 30 minutes to take the assessment just in case they need more time. We suggest that people take the assessment in one sitting although the assessment program will not time folks out if they walk away and come back. The only concern is if the individual’s device is set to “go to sleep” or shut-down after a certain period of activity. This may mean that they will need to start the assessment over and we will need to be notified so we can delete their earlier response.
While the assessment is running, Holy Cow! will send a weekly update on Fridays to its church contact person with the number of people who have taken the assessment. All data collection is done anonymously.
About a month. We are planning it to start on May 5th, 2024.
During the Lenten season of introspection, prayer and repentance we turn to music as a creative agent of healing. Each Wednesday we will enjoy dinner together, and our guest artists will share how music serves as a beautiful source for renewal, peace and contentment.
Kathleen Kalogeras has been playing viola in the New England area for more than 30 years. She is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace College and Boston University, and her dual career in performing and teaching has taken her on many adventures through the United States and Europe. She is an experienced soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician, but her love is teaching, which she has done in many different capacities. During the season, she maintains a private studio in Sharon Massachusetts and performs in the New England area. In summers, she teaches and performs extensively during a 10 week summer camp on the island of Naxos and a major festival on the island of Chios, Greece. That being said, performing in and around her adopted home town of Sharon, for her friends and neighbors, holds a special place in her heart.
Anton Faynberg (artist name: Anton Fine) is a Russian-American pianist, whose performances are permeated with fresh originality and a deep sensitivity. Having graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and completed a doctorate in music, Dr. Faynberg continues to perform, record, produce, and lecture on all aspects of classical and contemporary music. Dr. Faynberg specializes in music for academic dance, improvisation, continuous music, and original and novel presentations of traditional music. His music is ever guided by the Holy Spirit and inspires a meeting with the transcendent.
Jagan Nath Khalsa is a versatile violinist in the MetroWest region of Boston. He plays for community and school theater productions, is a musical participant at benefit events, a soloist for church services of many denominations, a founding member of Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra (Milford MA), and is a leader of Seele Musicale Chamber Ensemble. He plays for Sounds of Stow and Assabet Valley Mastersingers in their choral\instrumental programs. He is an avid lover of the music of Bach, Handel, and the Baroque genre, and has lately become a big proponent of Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven. His motto is “Beauty, above all.”
MARCH 13
Joanne Sheehan grew up in Easton on a small family farm as one of 6 siblings. She attended Oliver Ames High school, and went on to become a Process Engineer for Motorola and Unicom in the electronics industry. As a child she took mandolin and violin lessons from an Italian teacher Fortunato Menga. Music was a daily tradition for her family and still continues to be a healing gift in her life. Ron and Joanne Sheehan raised their children in Stoughton. One son is now in New Hampshire with 4 children and another daughter is in Connecticut with 2 children. The couple moved back to Easton 25 years ago, and Ron passed 6 years ago. Joanne now shares her life with her boxer dog, Sam.
MARCH 20
Ingrid Yen received her Master of Arts in Music Performance at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern studying violin with Bartek Niziol and singing with Efrat Alony. She began learning violin in Boston, USA, later serving as section leaders of the Boston Youth Symphony and the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic. In 2011 her piano trio won the bronze medal in the Junior division of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In New York and New Jersey, she played in the Chelsea Symphony and Symphony in C. Previous teachers include Peter Zazofsky of Boston University and Masuko Ushioda of the New England Conservatory, and she has attended renowned masterclass programs such as the Banff Arts Centre and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University, where she was a member of the orchestra, concert choir, and chamber music society.
Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash
Gather every Wednesday during Advent for a home-cooked meal around one large common table during this special season. Just as the ancient church gathered around meals in homes to worship, we will come together in the Fellowship Hall for a meal and worship at the same time – good food, enjoyable conversation, beautiful music and a simple worship service while around the table. It may be a good way for you to introduce our church community to neighbors and friends.
While reservations are helpful, they are not required. Simply e-mail office@htlceaston.org, call 508-238-6666 or sign-up at church. A free-will offering will be an option. Our Bristol Trinity Episcopal Church friends will be joining us. A vegan option will be available.
Each Wednesday of the Advent Season
November 30, December 7, 14 & 21
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Friday, December 16th at 7 PM
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, North Easton, Mass.
The award-winning Abeo Quartet will perform a concert in North Easton to benefit the Rose Conservatory, a local musical program that transforms the lives of school children in Brockton through high quality musical instruction. The concert will be followed by a reception, and donations will be accepted at the door.
The Abeo Quartet, formed at Juilliard in 2018, is the inaugural Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the University of Delaware, under the mentorship of the Calidore String Quartet. The quartet finished an exciting 2022 summer, participating in the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute, the McGill International String Quartet Academy, and the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition.
Rose Conservatory nurtures love of music, transforming the lives of Brockton children after school through low-cost, exceptional musical training. Students learn to read music, play piano, violin, hand chimes, West African drumming, and more. Academic time, tutoring, chess lessons, and daily dinner are also provided.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is an Open and Affirming congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We welcome all God’s creatures of every race, ethnicity, heritage, culture, age, gender identity, gender expression, sexual identity, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic status, or where you are on your faith journey. You are embraced by us and God exactly as you are.
Join us on Monday, November 21 at 7:00 PM as we affirm all people while remembering transgender people, gender-variant individuals, and those perceived to be transgender who have been victims of hate crimes. The service will include a reading of names, guest speakers sharing their stories and contempla-tive music. A reception will follow. Sponsored by HTLC, Easton’s Human Rights Committee, and Raising Multicultural Kids.
REMEMBRANCE SERVICE MONDAY NOVEMBER 21 — 7:00 PM
Coffee Hour is an important event after our worship services. It is so relaxing to sit and chat with those you rarely see for a longer conversation. I have made out a schedule for September through December and filled in the Sundays in August that were changed. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are not able to do a Coffee Hour hosting.
Thank you to all of you who have hosted already this summer and to those of you who will be hosting in the fall. Those who attend are very grateful and most take their turn when they are able to.
Sincerely,
Karen Danielson
We’re always looking for new hosts!
An anonymous donor is willing to match member’s donations to the Rose Conservatory up to a thousand dollars. The goal to reach $1000.00 is October 9 – the Sunday on which the Rose Conservatory students will be in worship at HTLC to perform.
Checks should be made out to “Holy Trinity” and please write “Rose Conservatory” on the memo line. Special envelopes marked “Rose Conservatory” are on the table in the narthex or outside. You can also put cash in these envelopes. If you would like credit for the cash donation, please write your name on the envelope, too.
In the future, on the weeks we sing a spiritual, a red rose will be placed on the altar as a reminder of the challenge grant and envelopes marked “Rose Conservatory” will be available.
Back in the fall of 2021, an organist acquaintance at United Parish in Brookline began a Negro Spiritual Royalties Project at her church. When the congregation or choir sang spirituals, an amount of money was set aside. Parishioners were asked to donate on that particular Sunday, with all proceeds going to Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts Academy in Boston.
In February 2022, I found out that Covenant Congregational Church in Brockton had adopted this model. In the Fall of 2021, Rose Conservatory started using their Parish Hall and classrooms every weekday from 3-6:45 PM. The School Department of Brockton buses 28 children, grades 2-5, to the church, provides them with a dinner and funding for the teachers. There is an academic component, an hour of music where you can learn African drumming, singing and piano, and a half hour of theory which is learning to read music, rhythms, etc. Greg Fernandes is the director of the program.
Greg would like to greatly expand the program in September. But there won’t be any additional funding from the Brockton School Department to do this. So he is trying to raise money to provide scholarships for these students. This fall he is planning to offer string instruments, guitar, etc.
The United Church of Christ in Norwell and their organist Karen Harvey have already helped by first lending their 3 octaves of Handchimes to the Conservatory and then by surprising Greg and the children with a 3 octave set of their own Handchimes at the end of their Spring Fling Bell Choir Concert in June. You can imagine how happy that made Greg and the children!
At Holy Trinity, during the winter, a committee formed to work on this project. Members are Karen Danielson, Becky and John Paolin, Allison Krajcik and Charlotte Rydberg.
We invited Greg to our service on Pentecost, June 5th. He spoke about his background and how and why he started the Conservatory. He invited Pastor and members of our committee to come and see it in action in June. Julie Un, her husband and I went to their final concert, which was terrific! Since then, Diane Ross found an article in the Bridgewater State University Alumni magazine about Greg and the Conservatory. You may have seen it on the Music & Arts bulletin board.
Pastor and I talked about starting this project last fall. It has evolved slowly but we are ready and eager to finally launch it, going all the way back to when it was first discussed. Between Advent 2021 and June 12th, we have sung 7 spirituals 18 times because some were new and we repeated them to really learn them.
–Rita Corey, Director of Music
Just as we rent our building space we are now renting our parking space as well to RV’s for overnight visits. The church council approved this initiative as a way to welcome people to our beautiful building and grounds and to provide a new revenue source. Harvest Hosts is a membership driven service for people who explore the United States in their RV’s. What is not known is that there are few parking spaces for RV’s around the country. Wineries, churches, museums, farms are all hosts for the program, and those who make an overnight reservation will be asked to make a donation to the church. In our space the RV’s will be completely contained with no possibility for hook-up to electricity, water or waste disposal, and they are required to leave the space as they found it leaving no trace of their presence, and they are allowed only one overnight visit. In addition the RV’s will be required to park only in the northwest corner of the parking lot on the older pavement – not the new pavement. For more information about Harvest Hosts click here: https://harvesthosts.com
