Trinity Children Celebrate The Season Of Advent

Every year the Trinity Church School classes collect money for the Bishop’s Fund for Children, which for the last 11 years has distributed more than $2.5 million to programs in Connecticut that support at-risk children.

The youngest children at Trinity Episcopal Church (sixth grade and under) use mite boxes (little cardboard boxes) and an activity calendar to count their blessings each day during Advent. The activities tell them how many coins to drop in their boxes.

Then at  the Christmas Pageant on December 20 at 4 pm, the little boxes are brought up to be set before the baby Jesus in honor of his birth. The money then goes to the Bishop’s Fund after Christmas.  Last year, Trinity Newtown made the largest mite box contribution out of all the Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Connecticut: more than $450 from children helping other children.

The older youth (seventh grade and up) do their own other activities to add to the Bishop’s Fund Collection, including collecting change in the classes or doing a fundraiser.  The Rite 13 Class (seventh and eighth graders) decided to sell hot beverages in front of the church during the Newtown Holiday Festival earlier this month so they could contribute more money to the mite boxes. They invited people walking by to have some hot cocoa or cider and then come into the church for the Lesson and Carols service presented by the Trinity Choirs for the Holiday Festival.

The Rite 13 class made $56 on Sunday, December 6, at their sale, but will continue to collect pocket money during their Church School Classes each week during Advent. 

In addition, Trinity hosted its annual St Nicholas Day Celebration on Saturday, December 5, in the Trinity Undercroft.  This was for children ages 3 to third grade from Trinity Church School (the church, not the preschool). About 35 children attended the party this year.

On that day, the children left their shoes out by the fireplace with hay and carrots in them in the hopes that St Nicholas would come and leave them some treats. Then they traveled back in time to visit with St Nicholas, who told the children a story about how he gave to the poor in secret when he was a Bishop who lived 1,700 years ago in Myra. St Nicholas reminded the children to use their mite boxes to collect money for other children who are less fortunate.

After St Nicholas gave everyone a piece of gold chocolate, he departed and everyone played games, did Christmas crafts, and decorated cookies.