The Lord's Day

Each Sunday, we do liturgy—the "work of the people"—as we join collectively to encounter God. We gather in God's name. We hear God's words as we have learned them in scripture and we respond to them. We pray for the church and for the world. We share a meal. But most importantly, we do it as one people, assembled together to hear, reflect, sing, pray, and break bread.

Our worship is simple, yet creative and inspiring. We're not overly serious—you can expect to laugh at least once... you might cry, too. We believe that as our lives evolve, our ways of encountering the Divine (as she reveals herself to us) change and transform, leading us to a deeper understanding of our 'selves' and our lives. Our community's worship is only one of these paths, and we hope it inspires you to take that next step.

If you're used to liturgical traditions (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.), our liturgy is familiar, yet with a few twists. The different components which make up our Sunday worship are always changing—sometimes according to times of the year, sometimes according to the whims of the pastor. Our worship is grounded in the Episcopal tradition, but is influenced by many other cultures and traditions, often pulling material from other member-churches of the global Anglican Communion, other denominations, and even the occasional homebrewed prayer, thereby demonstrating the wide range of liturgical practices across traditions.

The liturgical orientation of this congregation compels us toward expansiveness. Often, our language about the Triune God does not always mesh onto traditional “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost” language; we aim to embrace a broader gender-fullness of Godself. However, occasionally words like “Father,” “Lord,” and “King” are included to reveal the Christian tradition from which our roots have grown. Additionally, our scripture, music, and liturgy occasionally reference “Israel.” In our usage, we understand the word ‘Israel’ to refer to the full People of God, not the contemporary State of Israel. With this understanding, we acknowledge and bewail the enduring hardship and violence in Palestine, and we ask you to pray for peace in the region.

Our community's liturgical practices include a variety of movements, gestures, and positions. At various points throughout the service, some people may stand, bow, or sit. We invite you to participate to whatever degree you can or desire. It is more important to us that you decide for yourself what you find spiritually meaningful and physically comfortable.

Most Sundays, we do Communion. What that means is that at the center of our weekly Sunday worship, we provide the ritual sharing of bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus doing the same thing with his friends, sharing out of abundance with any who feel inclined to encounter the Holy One at the Table. As we read and understand the Gospel, providing hospitality at the meal was central to who and what Jesus was all about. In a society with a rigid caste system that separated people by gender, age, income, and religion the fact that Jesus hosted a table open to all—including the one who betrayed him—is challenging and provocative. We rehearse the same thing each week.

Preaching

At Trinity, preaching matters. It is not the dispensing of doctrine, dogma, and morality and insisting upon everyone believing in and following a party line. Rather, our preaching invites the hearers to allow their thoughts to follow the word or whisper they hear in the course of the sermon—whether or not it is what the preacher is actually saying. Preaching is a relationship between the life of the preacher opening to their life to the lives of the hearers, who, in turn, open themselves to the sermon.

Music

At Trinity Place, our music comes from a wide variety of traditions and backgrounds, bridging ancient to contemporary and offering a chance to learn something new. The congregation is the choir—everyone helps us pray through song. We welcome people to sing at their own level of comfort but hope people will join in as unself-consciously as singing in the shower.

Lisa Gibson is our gifted and talented pianist who provides both accompaniment for congregational singing and meditative moments.

Trinity also has a proud tradition of offering special concerts for the larger community and welcoming musicians from Western and Central New York, as well as some groups from New York City.