Join us this weekend to hear from our guest preacher, Reverend Dr. Belton Joyner, as he preaches his sermon titled "We Belong to the Day," on Commitment Sunday. We invite everyone who is making a committment for this next year to come with their Commitment Cards. Scripture readings will be from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and Matthew 25:14-30. We hope you will join us!

Join us for Sunday School this week. Above you will see the details of our Sunday School options and where they meet. Sunday School starts at 9:45am, hope to see you all there!

**REMINDER: There will be NO Sunday School on November 26th.**

Click the link below to join the Aldersgate Sunday School class virtually. Every Sunday morning, at 9:45am. 

This Sunday, November 19th is Commitment Sunday. In our worship service, we will have the opportunity to consecrate our personal commitments for the coming year. You should have received an Estimate of Giving Commitment Card in the mail. If you did not receive one, or if you forgot to bring it with you, additional cards are available in the Narthex at the Welcome Table. We invite you to prayerfully consider what your offering to God through our church will be in the coming year. Then fill out a card and bring it forward at the conclusion of the worship service.

On November 19th, Commitment Sunday, we will have Rev. Dr. Belton Joyner join us as our guest preacher. We are really excited to hear from him! We would love to invite everyone to be at this service on Sunday, November 19th with their commitment cards.

For those who have ordered pecans from Liz Allred, she will have them available for pickup THIS Sunday. 

For those who did not order any, and are interested, she still has some available. Please contact Liz with any questions: lizallred@hotmail.com  or (919) 943-0317

With apologies to Jane Austen, “It is a truth universally acknowledged,” [by those who can carry a tune] that “The one who sings prays twice.” To those of us lacking musical talents, this lovely truth, attributed to St. Augustine, looms within the dimly-lit recesses of our intellects as one of the holy mysteries awaiting the light of the Holy Spirit…

On Congregations for Children’s Packing Day, Sunday, November 12, the sanctuary on Church Street was a venue ripe for the revelation of this “mystery.” The quiet chatter, the laughter, and the shuffle of human hands and feet around the gift-laden mission pews melded into a percussion section to accompany hearts quietly humming in time to God’s work. And when hearts sing to God, every note is perfectly pitched. “For the LORD sees [and hears] not as humans see [and hear]: humans look to the outward appearance [and sound], but the LORD looks on [and listens to] the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7). God hears the singing in our hearts as a plethora of joyful prayers pleasing to Him.

Thank you, Trinity Family, for generous hearts and for gifts that will spread joy so that other hearts might sing all through the coming Advent Season and beyond. In this mission drive you collected 30 marvelous coats, sweatshirts with matching sweat pants, 12 boxes of food to last families of four for the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, 695 dollars of gift cards to Food Lion and Walmart, and hand-crafted faculty/staff thank-you treats. Every can, every dollar, every coat, every prayer, every gift card, every helping hand was a beautiful note in the hymn our hearts continue to lift to our Magnificent God.

Mary Beth Markham and Gwen Palmer, Co-Chairs

on behalf of the Congregations for Children Committee

Our Congregations for Children collected coats and food for families at Eastway Elementary School. On Monday, the leaders of C4C and some of our church Staff were able to deliver the items that we collected over the last few weeks! Thank you to all who participated in this missions event.

Thank you to Annette Baker for participating on this panel discussion. She would love to talk to you about her experience on this interfaith trip to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. If you would like to hear more about her experience, please reach out to: drbakernc@gmail.com

Click the link below to watch a recording of this event.

Take a look at our Thanksgiving office closures. 

We are praying that everyone's holiday is filled with so many beautiful things that they are thankful for!

On Saturday, November 25th at 10 am, we will be moving in, and setting up the 12 foot Christmas tree for our Advent Season. 

We need 8 STRONG people to volunteer to help Ed Palmer with the set up. For more info, and to volunteer, please contact Ed Palmer: (919) 272-7224 (call or text) or email: gwendolyngardens@aol.com

On November 26th, we will have our annual Hanging of the Greens service. We will meet from 5pm - 7pm.

What to expect: a short worship service, dinner - pizza in Rm 110,  and decorating the church to look beautiful for the Advent Season.

For more information, please contact: Linda Stewart (919) 516-6566

Monday evenings in December at 6pm at the parsonage join Pastor Tobi and explore the scriptures as we prepare for the coming of the Light of the World!

For details and questions, please reach out to the office: office@trinitydurham.org

The next Allred / Shoaf Christ Care meeting will be held on Monday, December 4th at 9:30am in the Parlor. All ladies are welcome to join!

Luz de Vida, our Spanish Church, is embarking on a donation drive for children’s toys and shoes to be sent to Honduras. Resources for these items are extremely low in that country.

Details of their effort are as follows:

• The deadline for contributions is November 26, 2023.
• Shoes and toys should be new or in good condition.
• There is no preference for size or age, as long as it is for children age 13 or younger.
• If you prefer to write a check, address the check to Pastor Hilda Rodriguez with the memo line labeled “Honduras Children,” and leave it in the church office or place it in the offering plate during Sunday worship.
• Donations of toys and shoes can be left at the church office or in the Sanctuary mission pews.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration and generosity during this holiday season.

Pastor Hilda Rodriguez

Do you have a youth who is interested in Confirmation? Trinity UMC youth (6th-12th grade) will attend the Confirmation Retreat at Camp Chestnut Ridge February 9-11, 2024 in order to learn about what it means to join the Church. View an example schedule here: https://www.campchestnutridge.org/confirmation-retreat

Contact the church office if you would like to register or have questions: office@trinitydurham.org

Join Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham Thursday, December 7 at noon in the fellowship hall of Elizabeth Street UMC (1209 N. Elizabeth Street) for our final Community Luncheon Roundtable of 2023. To close out the year, we'll welcome good friends from Prescriptions for Repair, a (recently completed) pilot initiative using restorative practices to "listen and learn what gun violence survivors need to heal." We're grateful for a chance to offer space and voice to folks who've spent many hours in deep, intentional listening to 30 of our neighbors most-impacted by gun violence. Come expecting a fresh and grounded perspective on the truth of our violence, and the gift of our sacred attention.  As always, a delicious lunch is free and everybody is welcome.

Give if you can and call if you need.