 |
|
|
|
There’s Room for You at Trinity
Making It Official
Have you been enjoying our community and want to move beyond courtship to making your membership official?
With membership – whether by baptism, confirmation, reception or letter of transfer – you become entitled to certain privileges that welcomed guests and visitors do not enjoy.
Trinity members may vote in lay leadership elections. Active Trinity members may receive our monthly newsletter (by mail if desired) and other direct mailings that contain important announcements and church information. Trinity members who are communicants in good standing (i.e., a baptized and/or confirmed person who is faithful in worship, working, praying and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God) may be elected to select leadership roles such as Vestry service. Trinity members, through their service and voting privileges, help shape the direction and ministry of Trinity Church.
There are several ways in which you can become a member of the Church universal and of Trinity Episcopal Church in particular.
Becoming a member through BAPTISM
Holy Baptism is full initiation, by water and the Holy Spirit, into Christ's body, the Church universal.
There are no age restrictions for those desiring to be baptized. Holy Baptism may be administered to persons of any age, and the baptized of any age are entitled to participate fully in the sacrament of the Holy Communion.
In addition to becoming part of the Church universal, persons who are baptized at Trinity Episcopal Church also become members of Trinity.
In the Episcopal tradition, all baptized individuals – whether lay persons, bishops, priests and/or deacons – are ministers of the Church. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church (see page 855 of the Book of Common Prayer)
At Trinity Church, we schedule baptisms during any Sunday service with the exception of Sundays during the season of Lent. Special baptism Sundays include Easter Sunday, Day of Pentecost, All Saints' Day, Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord (the first Sunday after Epiphany) and the Sunday of Trinity’s Annual Bishop’s Visitation (customarily in February)
Candidates for baptism (and sponsors of children to be baptized) are expected to attend baptismal instruction classes prior to baptism.
Through CONFIRMATION or the LAYING ON OF HANDS
In the Episcopal Church, baptized persons seek confirmation when they reach the age of mature understanding and commitment.
Confirmation provides an opportunity for individuals to own for themselves promises made on their behalf by sponsors at the time of infant baptism.
Confirmation includes a public affirmation of faith and the laying on of hands by a bishop. Only bishops may confirm.
All persons considering confirmation or reception first receive instruction in the faith, the church, the sacraments, and in the exercise of ministry and witness. Trinity provides this instruction through Inquiring Minds, a six (6) session class that explores how Episcopalians live into our baptismal promises and what it means to be an Anglican Episcopalian.
Trinity offers the Inquiring Minds class each fall and winter prior to the bishop’s annual parish visitation.
through RECEPTION
Persons already confirmed in a Christian tradition by any Bishop in apostolic succession (e.g., Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Old Catholic) are received into the Episcopal Church without repeating confirmation.
At Trinity we encourage such persons to attend the Inquiring Minds course to deepen their understanding of and orientation to life as an Anglican Episcopalian.
by LETTER OF TRANSFER
Persons who have been official members of other Episcopal churches may become members of Trinity Episcopal Church by requesting that a Letter of Transfer be sent to Trinity by their former churches.
by REAFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Persons who have been church members but who have not been active in recent years may renew their membership by reaffirming their baptismal vows.
The INQUIRING MINDS Class
We encourage all persons to attend the Inquiring Minds class who have questions about the Anglican or Episcopal way and how Episcopalians differ in understanding, approach and practice from other Christian faiths.
This class examines Anglican Identity and Authority (i.e., how Anglicans understand scripture, tradition and reason), what Anglicans believe (i.e., the Creeds and how we live into them); the place of prayer and the sacraments, Episcopal particulars of liturgy and practice (i.e., why we do the things we do); the ministry of the baptized, and Anglican polity.
TAKING THE FIRST STEP
Persons desiring to make their membership official via BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, or RECEPTION, and those wishing to REAFFIRM THEIR VOWS should make an appointment to talk with one of the clergy of Trinity Church.
Those persons wishing to have their LETTER OF TRANSFER sent to Trinity also begin by having a conversation with one of the clergy of Trinity. Letter of Transfers may then be initiated by calling the Trinity parish office and speaking with the Rector’s Administrative Assistant.
Trinity Church is building community one by one.
There’s room for you.
Why not join us?
|
||
Member of the Worldwide Anglican Communion
|
2217 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA 22204 Phone: 703-920-7077 Fax: 703-920-5560 Office Email: info@tecarl.org |