Diversity is the way to Unity

This past weekend we celebrated Trinity Sunday. It’s the only Sunday festival of the Church that celebrates a doctrine rather than a historical event, and that tells me that the Episcopal Church considers something about the Trinity to be especially important.

And what about it is so important? It’s certainly not the specifics of how One God manages to be three persons in unity of being. Because pretty much the best we can do in laying that out is to say what it is not rather than what it is. It’s striking that in the end, we say it’s a Holy Mystery and back away from trying to explain it all.

So, what is it then? To me, it’s not the details of the doctrine but the implications that matter. I think there are three of those: Unity in Diversity, Interdependence and Cooperation, and Complexity and Order. Because God is the Creator of the reality we know, we ought to expect to see these implications everywhere we look. And when people insist on ideas that contradict them, we should be wary.

As citizens of a great democracy, I think we fundamentally understand how Unity in Diversity works. You can find that sentiment on our nation’s Great Seal: E Pluribus Unum – out of many, one. The motto doesn’t mean that we lose our distinctiveness by being part of one nation; it means that our individual gifts contribute to making the whole more robust than it would otherwise be.

One of the great gifts of being part of the worldwide Anglican Communion is that we have been taught the meaning of Ubuntu by our siblings from the nations of southern Africa. Human beings are fundamentally social beings who exist in relation to others. The philosophy of Ubuntu encourages people to be inclusive and value each individual’s diversity and uniqueness. Like E Pluribus Unum, Ubuntu is a reflection of the love that is the essential quality of our Trinitarian God.

One of the most striking qualities of chaotic materials and situations is that, over time, a sort of mostly stable order emerges spontaneously out of the chaos. It’s like the flight of a large flock of birds when the individual behaviors suddenly seem to be coordinated and arresting patterns emerge – what scientists call “murmuration.”

None of these things could exist if we were just one thing or all held to a singular set of beliefs. It is the diversity and, frankly, the sometimes frustrating division that makes us who we are. Our duty as believers in this Trinity is to recognize the power of our diversity and do what is needed to protect it when it is threatened. It’s why we celebrate Pride or Black History, Women’s History or Asian American History, or the History of our Native forebears. The wonderful diversity of our communities should be reflected in our congregations and our life as a church. Just as our churches and communities, at the very very best, reflect the Trinitarian God we worship and adore.

+Nicholas

Partnering with RIPTA

For the third summer, the Diocese of Rhode Island is partnering with the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and the Discover Newport tourism board to fund free electric bus service to the city’s beaches and tourist destinations.

Speaking at a celebratory press conference on May 27, Bishop Nicholas Knisely said that the diocese’s support of the initiative represents “a vision for a different way of being a community.”

Citing the diocese’s commitment to both environmental sustainability and equity, he said that the summer trolleys provide residents of Newport’s North End, especially children, “with a way to get to the beach you can see but not safely get to—the beach where your friends spend the summer.

Newport Mayor Xaykham (Xay) Khamsyvoravong agreed. “I grew up riding RIPTA down to Newport and have remained an avid rider ever since,” he said. “To improve traffic, mobility and equity in Newport, we need to build public transit partnerships like the ones we are proud to continue with these routes.”

The chief executive officer of RIPTA, Scott Avedisian, is a longtime diocesan leader and lifelong member of Trinity, Pawtuxet.

“I am proud of Discover Newport and the Episcopal Diocese for providing funding to help make transit more accessible to both tourists and residents alike,” he said.

The Rev. Della Wager Wells, rector of Emmanuel, Newport, and the Rev. Kevin Beesley, rector of St. John’s, Newport, also attended the event.

Adapting Creatively at Emmanuel Cumberland

Emmanuel Church in Cumberland is a youthful congregation by Episcopal standards with an average age of 44, almost 15 years below the churchwide average. Its members’ lives “are so full of upheaval with so few sacred cows, it can be easier to shift directions,” says the Rev. Joan Testin, the church’s rector of 10 years.

This stood the parish in good stead when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing congregations around the world into a lengthy period of adapting services, ministries and formation opportunities for consumption online. And it was equally helpful when the cloud of COVID began to lift and some people returned to services while others did not.

Having a rector who taught music and drama for 23 years, and who picked up a few ideas about improvisation, and “telling stories through theater” didn’t hurt either. The process of adapting during the pandemic wasn’t always smooth, and Testin acknowledges that some of the “quirky” things that worked at Emmanuel might not work elsewhere. But the congregation’s experience illuminates the particular challenges that have faced congregations everywhere in the last several years.

Compared to many churches, Emmanuel seemed well-positioned to confront pandemic challenges. The parish began a virtual Sunday School in 2018 with a video each week featuring cartoons, a story, and other activities. The video was linked each week in the e-newsletter and themes and images presented virtually were then brought up during Children’s Chapel for younger children, reinforcing the lesson.

Testin created an avatar, or cartoon, of herself as “Vicar Joan” who engaged with children attending virtual Sunday School each week. “It was a lot of fun and we were poised, then, when 2020 hit to continue doing that kind of Christian formation for the kids.”

The congregation had also done the difficult work of reshaping its service schedule to meet the changing needs of its members. Recognizing in 2016 that getting to church on Sunday morning was a struggle for some people, it switched its 11 a.m. service to 5 p.m., a move Testin describes now as “an abject failure.” But moving the service to 5 p.m. on Saturday and setting a contemplative tone with reflective opening music had proven successful.

The pandemic, however, disrupted both dynamic and static parishes alike, and some of Emmanuel’s adaptations and innovations were lost, at least temporarily, only to be replaced by new ones. The parish worshipped either online—a 9:30 a. m. service each Sunday—or outdoors for most of the first two years of the pandemic before returning to in-person worship.

The virtual Sunday School did not survive the transition, and the parish has shifted its efforts to drawing children more deeply into Sunday worship. The Children’s Chapel is once again available during the 9:30 service, while older children serve as lectors and acolytes and confirmed youth serve as lay eucharistic ministers. Children who are not serving on the altar (where coloring books and crayons are readily available) are invited to sit near the front to see something other than the backs of other heads.

The 9:30 Sunday service—which is still live-streamed—had the parish’s highest pre-pandemic attendance. While that is still the case, Testin notes, the service has also had the highest level of attrition in in-person attendance. Some congregants to watch the livestream, as do newcomers who discovered the parish online, and the numbers of in-person and online attendees are about equal, Testin says. The 5:30 Saturday service is also back on the parish calendar.

The parish has come back to life in other ways, too. Bishop Knisely visited recently to confirm those who had completed the parish’s two-year preparation program. After baptizing nine babies this year, Testin and the parish held a reception for the infants and their families. Helping young parents get to know each other, asking what the parish can do to support them, and building a strong foundation of connection supports the parish’s goal of engaging children and teens in the worship and communal life of the congregation.

Emmanuel also offers opportunities for older members, whom Testin says “may have more time and energy for formation and fellowship.” Online, hybrid, and in-person, book studies, DVD courses, and a monthly lunch and learn program with the United Methodist congregation down the street meet many of those needs, while accommodating people’s varying degrees of ability to gather in-person. Some participants in a recent “theology of Harry Potter” series came for the study and stayed to become members of the parish.

Testin’s own attitude about the post-pandemic challenges ahead were best captured in a sermon she preached early in 2023 and her rector’s report to the Annual Meeting, which focused on the need to discern what comes next. “The church we were in 2020 will never come back. It is hard to let go—and it is gone.”

She believes that during the pandemic, Sunday morning became family time. Just as with the tension between worship and Sunday-morning sports practices, she wonders how the parish can continue to offer opportunities to participate in worship. “These families with young babies, I want to ask them if Wednesday evening works better for them. We are wrestling with two goods here: how can we figure a way for both things to happen?”

The best response to the challenges facing the church will arise from individual congregations discerning in their own contexts, she says.

“We need to be true to being Emmanuel, just as other parishes need to be true to being themselves … We see article after article after article telling us that the church is dying. I think the church is pregnant. And yes, it’s hard, and yes, it’s exhausting, and yes, it’s painful, but in the end, we have new life. That’s where we’re going, but it’s going to be a while to get there. You have to find what is going to work in your own context and what’s going to be authentic for who you are and go from there.”

-Jim Naughton, Canticle Communications

The Ordination of Andrea Hutnak

On Saturday, June 3, the Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely will be pleased to ordain Andrea Hutnak to the sacred order of Deacons at All Saints’ Memorial Church at 2 pm. All are welcome. If you wish to watch the service online, it will be streamed to All Saints’ Facebook page.

The service bulletin will be found here.

Sermon from the Rev. Elizabeth Nestor

Rev. Nestor gave a very moving sermon at the Renewal of Clergy Vows service. She is an Emergency Room doctor as well as a Priest, and spoke about her two vocations in the time of Covid. The entire text is here.

Holy Week Services

A listing of services for Holy Week and Easter 2023 can be found on this page.

Location Church Date Time Service
Cranston Church of the Transfiguration Sunday, 4/2 10:00 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 6:30 PM Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 2:30 PM Stations of the Cross, Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 6:30 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Barrington St John’s Church Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:30 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 9 AM, 11 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Cumberland Emmanuel Church Sunday, 4/2 Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Supper and Liturgy
Friday, 4/7 Noon Good Friday Liturgy
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Meditations on Stations of the Cross
Saturday, 4/8 7:30 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM, 9:30 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter, Easter egg hunt after the late service
Pawtucket Good Shepherd Thursday, 4/6 5:30 PM Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 5:30 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Sunday, 4/9 10:30 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Pawtucket St Luke’s Church Wednesday, 4/5 7:00 PM Tenebrae
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 3:00 PM Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Sunday, 4/9 5:30 AM Sunrise Service
Sunday, 4/9 9:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
East Greenwich St Luke’s Church Sunday, 4/2 7:45 & 10:15 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
M, T, W 7:00 PM Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 6:00 PM Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 Noon Good Friday Liturgy
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Taize service
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 7:45 & 10:15 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Greenville St Thomas’s Church Sunday, 4/2 8 AM & 10 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
M, T, W 7:00 PM Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 9:00 AM Morning Prayer
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist with Foot Washing
Friday, 4/7 9:00 AM Morning Prayer
Friday, 4/7 Noon Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 1 PM & 7 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 10:00 AM Holy Saturday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM & 10 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Westerly Christ Church Sunday, 4/2 8 AM & 10 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Wednesday, 4/5 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist with Foot Washing
Friday, 4/7 7:00 AM Good Friday Liturgy
Friday, 4/7 Noon Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 7:00 AM Holy Eucharist in Memorial Garden
Sunday, 4/9 9 AM, 11 AM Choral Eucharist
N. Scituate Trinity Church Saturday, 4/1 5:00 PM Holy Eucharist
Sunday, 4/2 8 AM & 10 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
M, T 7:00 PM Contemplative Eucharist
Wednesday, 4/5 7:00 PM Tenebrae
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist with Foot Washing
Friday, 4/7 Noon Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Passion According to St John
Sunday, 4/9 6:00 AM Sunrise Service at Horseshoe Dam
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM & 10 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Middletown St Columba’s Church Sunday, 4/2 8 AM & 10 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 5:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 12:00 – 3 PM Church open for prayer
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM & 10 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Bristol St Michael’s Sunday, 4/2 9:00 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 6:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 Noon Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 3:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 9:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Lincoln Christ Church Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 Noon Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Barrington Sts Matthew and Mark Sunday, 4/2 10:00 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Sunday, 4/9 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Tiverton Holy Trinity Church Saturday, 4/1 5:00 PM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Sunday, 4/2 8 AM & 10 AM Palm Sunday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist with Foot Washing
Friday, 4/7 Noon Ecumenical Walk
Friday, 4/7 3:00 PM Stations of the Cross
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM & 10 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Providence S. Stephen’s Church Sunday, 4/2 8 AM & 10 AM Low Mass at 8, Procession and Solemn Mass at 10
Monday, 4/3 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
6:00 PM Low Mass
Tuesday, 4/4 Noon Noonday Prayer
12:10 PM Low Mass
Wednesday, 4/5 5:30 PM Evening Prayer
6:00 PM Low Mass
Thursday, 4/6 7:30 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist, Night Watch with Blessed Sacrament
Friday, 4/7 Noon Good Friday Liturgy and Veneration of the Cross
5:30 PM Stations of the Cross
Saturday, 4/8 7:30 PM The  Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 8:00 AM Morning Prayer and Low Mass
10:00 AM Solemn Mass of Easter
Providence St Martin’s Church Tuesday, 4/4 9:00 AM Morning Prayer
Tuesday, 4/4 5:30 PM Sung Evensong
Wednesday, 4/5 7:00 AM Holy Eucharist
Wednesday, 4/5 9:00 AM Morning Prayer
Thursday, 4/6 9:00 AM Morning Prayer
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist
Thursday, 4/6 8:30 PM Gethsemane Watch
Friday, 4/7 9:00 AM Morning Prayer
Friday, 4/7 11:30 AM Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 8:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Sunday, 4/9 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Providence Grace Church Wednesday, 4/5 8:00 PM Tenebrae
Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist with Foot Washing
Friday, 4/7 Noon Sung Passion
Friday, 4/7 6:00 PM Stations of the Cross
Saturday, 4/8 8:00 PM The Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM & 10 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Wickford St Paul’s Church Thursday, 4/6 6:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist with Foot Washing
Friday, 4/7 5:00 PM Stations of the Cross
Friday, 4/7 6:00 PM Good Friday Liturgy
Saturday, 4/8 7:00 PM The Great Vigil
Sunday, 4/9 6:00 AM Sunrise Service at Old Narragansett Church
Sunday, 4/9 9:00 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter
Woonsocket St James Church Thursday, 4/6 7:00 PM Maundy Thursday Eucharist
Friday, 4/7 7:00 PM Tenebrae at St Mark’s Lutheran Church
Saturday, 4/8 9:00 AM Holy Saturday Liturgy
Sunday, 4/9 8 AM & 10 AM Holy Eucharist of Easter

Meet a team member: Christopher Schillaci

Chris is Co-Chair of the Creation Care Committee, a life-long Episcopalian, and former Junior Warden at St. Johns on the Point.  Chris grew up in Melbourne, FL, and was an active member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church — attending youth group, annual mission trips, and singing in the choir. Chris moved to Rhode Island in 2014 and  serves as the Regional Aquaculture Coordinator for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service based out of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center Narragansett Laboratory. In his role, Chris works with federal and state agencies, industry, and members of the scientific, academic, and NGO communities to support sustainable aquaculture production and restoration in the waters off New England and the Mid Atlantic. He holds a Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Conservation from the University of New Hampshire- Durham and a Bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a nature enthusiast and loves to spend summers hiking and on the salt ponds fishing and digging for quahogs with his spouse Alison, their son Maverick, and their three dogs, Hunter, Linda, and Tucker. Chris and Alison also enjoy traveling. Th­ey frequently visit Argentina, where Chris’s uncle was recently consecrated as the Anglican Bishop of Argentina.