Rites and Services
In addition to our regular Sunday and Holy Feast worship services, we also celebrate life from birth to its end through special services
Baptism
Holy Baptism is the full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ's Body, the Church. In baptism we are made sharers in the new life of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins.
Baptism is the foundation for all future church participation and ministry. Each candidate for baptism is to be sponsored by one or more baptized persons - the godparents.
During the baptismal service, the members of the congregation promise to do all they can to support the candidates for baptism in their life in Christ.
Baptism is normally performed within the Eucharist as the chief service on a Sunday or another feast. Please speak with the our priest to arrange for Baptism.
The marriage of two people is a holy union. It begins with your desire to form a lasting, life-long partnership with another in God’s love, and continues throughout your lives as a process of intentional living and growing together. In a marriage, each of you as an individual, and together as a couple, gradually transform and mature in God’s presence and image.
A wedding, then, is a rite of passage, a sacred ritual that celebrates your desire to enter into a life-long relationship. By uniting within the embrace and love of a faith community, you recognize that God is active in the love you feel for one another, and you place your relationship in God’s care.
Through a wedding, you as a couple, enter into a life-long commitment: you make your vows before God and the gathered community of family, friends and the Church, and receive the grace and blessing of God to help you fulfill your vows. Your marriage is a sacrament – an outward and visible expression of God’s grace in bringing you together and nurturing your love.
Weddings in the Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church is happy to consecrate the marriages of all couples who may legally wed - the services for a Marriage shown in the Book of Common Prayer are extended by services agreed to for the Episcopal Church, including weddings for same-sex couples. To be united in the Episcopal Church, it is required that:
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at least one of the couple be a baptized Christian,
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the ceremony be attested to by at least two witnesses, and
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the marriage must conform to the laws of the State and the Canons of the Church.
Scheduling your wedding date at least six months in advance is advisable. This allows plenty of time to plan your service, complete your series of counseling sessions, and meet with the priest who will officiate at your wedding. Please see Trinity's Guidelines for Marriage.
The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage
Funerals and Memorial Services
The Burial of the Dead is the funeral rite for the burial of a baptized Christian. It includes anthems, psalms, scripture readings, and prayers. The Book of Common Prayer provides both traditional and contemporary liturgies (pp. 469-507). The burial rites includes the Apostles' Creed, a special form of the prayers of the people, prayers for the consecration of the grave, and additional prayers that may be added after the Lord's Prayer.
The burial office is an Easter liturgy. The liturgical color is appropriately white, and the Paschal candle should be lighted as a visible reminder of Jesus' resurrection and our hope of life everlasting in Christ. At the Burial of the Dead those who mourn may express grief and sorrow as they share in the community's expression of faith, hope, and mutual support in Jesus Christ.
The parish has prepared Guidelines for Funerals and Memorial Services to assist in planning the funeral service. The texts of the Scripture readings suggested in the Book of Common Prayer has been compiled in one document here.
Completing these Guidelines will help your family and the church to know your wishes and plans. You can have your funeral plans filed in the church office. Also, a helpful document is Checklist: Important Information. It provides a place for you to answer questions: "What do I have? Where is it? Who needs to know? How do I want things done?"The rector is available to pre-plan funeral arrangements with you. Call the church office at 607-723-3593 to make an appointment.
Columbarium The Church has traditionally been the final resting place for deceased members of the Christian community. Interment within the church or adjacent churchyard was once common practice. Trinity Memorial has joined the growing number of Episcopal churches that now provide a burial option for church members who desire cremation. The Columbarium located in our All Saints Chapel gives witness to the risen life and the deceased's place among the Communion of Saints.
For more information, call the church office at 607-723-3593 for application materials.
Beloved Animal Friends
The Episcopal Church passed a resolution at the 2012 General Convention approving new rites and prayers for the care of beloved animals. The resolution recommends the liturgies be made available “for use in a variety of settings to provide pastorally for people caring for animals,” and the committee revised the format to make it easier for worshipers to use at home. "Rites and Prayers for the Care of Beloved Animals" includes a Service at the Loss of a Beloved Animal and also additional suitable prayers.