| Spiritual Growth |
Spiritual Growth at TrinityTrinity offers a number of avenues for individuals seeking to develop their spirituality. Throughout the Church year, several groups gather to deepen and further explore their relationship with God. In addition, classes are held periodically through which participants can learn more about their faith and practice.
The Centering Prayer Group at Trinity meets every Wednesday evening at 6:15 pm for a short reading, two 20-minute prayer periods with a short meditative walk between sits, and conversation. The sessions usually conclude between 8:30 and 9:00 pm. Through the practice and nurturing of centering prayer, we seek to be open to the contemplative dimension of the Gospel. We practice a method taught by Fr. Thomas Keating, and are members of Contemplative Outreach Northwest (http://www.conw.org/)
Interested persons may contact Michael Regis by email or at 206-328-2318.
The Rule of St. Benedict was written in the 6th century, a time not unlike our own. It is now, as it was then, a very practical way of living the Gospel. The spirituality of the Book of Common Prayer is Benedictine.
The Benedictine Spirituality Group meets every other Thursday from 10:00 to 11:30 am. The group reads ahead of time on some aspect of Benedictine Spirituality and shares in discussion when we gather. At about 11:00 we break for lectio divina, an ancient form of reflective reading of a psalm, and then conclude with Noon Day Prayer.
Interested persons can contact Peggy Burt by email or at 425-775-0928.
The Order of the Community of the Paraclete is an apostolic order of the Church, which means members take their vows with the Bishop. Members of the Order live in the world and are fully responsible for their own welfare. Each Paracletian is on a spiritual journey and is always becoming more aware of the need for growth, which is done by prayer and meditation.
Paracletians come together to form community twice a month. The first Friday of the month, they meet at 6:30 pm at a local restaurant for dinner. The third Sunday of the month, members meet at St. George's Episcopal Church for a business meeting, beginning with Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm, followed by the Eucharist. They dine together and then talk business, study or meditate (led by a member), and finish up with the Compline service.
Interested persons can contact Brother Marvin Taylor, OCP by email.
A Map of Spiritual Practice for the Parish
1. Eucharist: Weekly Practice
The Holy Eucharist celebrated several times each week as to allw people with a variety of schedules to find one that might serve as their weekly spiritual practice.
2. Daily Prayers of the Church: Daily Practice
There are two things to do here. The first is to equip and support parishioners in saying the Daily Prayer of the Church in their own course of daily life. The second is to offer the Daily Office in some routine form on most days of the week.
3. Reflection
There are two primary acts for the Parish to take. One is to offer members assistance in identifying and maintaining ways of being reflective. The second is for the Parish itself to engage in reflective processes -- ways of listening to and learning from its own life as a community. The beginning place for this is to create an environment with significant space for stillness and silence. This kind of reflectiveness can naturally take a community into experiments with new ways to adapt what it has received.
4. Parish Community
The Parish needs to provide opportunities for social life among parishioners and create an environment in which they may find and live what Augustine call a "real life;" a life in which they might be genuine, be open and honest about themselves, and still be in deep relationship with others and God. This is a community where our differences can be expressed and will be accepted; in which we can fight with those we love without fearing the loss of the relationship.
5. Serve
The Parish can hold in front of its members the moral vision of Christian Faith. The primary place, the most effective place, of service for the Christian is in his or her daily life. We serve within our friendships, families, work and civic life. The Parish can help members identify how they serve, how they may better serve, and the gifts each brings to that task. The Parish can also have at least one service ministry that is done as a parish.
6. The Process of Change
The Parish can provide a foundations program that equips people to take responsibility for their own spiritual life and moral action in daily life. It can also model and approach to change of experimentation and learning from experience. It can teach methods that allow people to face change.
Copyright Rev Robert Gallagher and Michelle Heyne
Classes to prepare candidates for baptism and confirmation are scheduled either of two ways: once a year during September or October, or on an as-needed basis.
Most baptisms take place on one of the five days of the church year set aside for that celebration -- Easter, Pentecost, All Saints Day, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and the Bishop's regular visitation. But we also certainly work with your individual and family needs.
Confirmation and Reception into the Episcopal Church are done by the Bishop, either at a regional gathering or on the Bishop's visitation to our church.
Please contact The Rev Paul Collins to inquire about baptism or confirmation.
The clergy of Trinity Parish offer help and services to those requesting them. Please contact the Parish Administrator to arrange a funeral service. The Church courtyard is a Memorial Garden where the ashes of deceased members may have their ashes interred. Parish members are encouraged to meet with the clergy to make service and bequest plans ahead of time, and to have them on file in the Parish Office so that their wishes are known and honored when the need arises.
Although it is one of the sacraments of the church, "marriage" often gets a bit overlooked as we work our way through all of the "wedding" plans and preparations. The Episcopal Church requires pre-marital counseling with a clergy person or other assigned professional before entering into such a sacrament. This often sounds daunting to new couples, but actually is a good experience and great fun.
Most couples married at Trinity are connected to the parish somehow, but many are not, and so we encourage couples particularly to come and experience the worshipping community at Trinity, or, alternatively, in their hometowns. We do this to emphasize that the sacrament of marriage is made within a community, and not in isolation. This community of family and friends are those who will love and support a couple in their lives together in the years to come, and so they are encouraged to be present to witness and support the marriage--not just the wedding.
Please visit our Weddings page for more information about having your wedding at Trinity Parish.
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 April 2010 ) |
Centering Prayer Group