Trinity House Community Gatherings

Trinity House Community Gatherings at St. Theresa Parish

Trinity House Community is a Catholic ministry that inspires families to make home a taste of heaven for the renewal of faith and culture. The heart of the Trinity House Way is that families are a communion of persons, an image of the Holy Trinity.

Would you like to turn your family life into a taste of heaven and find fellowship with other families who would like to do the same?  Then bring your family – kids too! – and join us this year in the St. Theresa School cafeteria for the five (5) Trinity House Community Gatherings.

Level 1: FAITH LIFE – Saturday, November 18^th, 2023, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Level 2: PERSONS & RELATIONSHIPS – Saturday, January 20^th, 2024, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Level 3: HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY – Saturday, February 24^th, 2024, 6:30 8:30 p.m.

Level 4: FAMILY CULTURE – Saturday – March 16^th, 2024, 6:30–8:30 p.m.

Level 5: HOSPITALITY & SERVICE – Saturday – April 20^th, 2024, 6:30–8:30 p.m. (new date)

We’ll have fellowship, including a casual dinner, a short conversation starter and a short, small-group discussion for parents, while kids do activities with Virtus-trained volunteers.

APPEALING FORMAT

The Trinity House Community Gathering format gives overly busy families what they want—not lengthy talks and loads of paperwork—but friendship and community. By hosting what are primarily experienced as social events—kids included!, the Gatherings offer families formation, but in a fun context that starts by fulfilling their immediate, felt needs.

If we go a bit deeper, we know that faith is most compelling when offered primarily through relationships, not through lessons and homework. Perhaps not ironically, communion among persons is also God’s chosen method for conveying himself. Thus, the social setting allows families to grow in faith in the deepest way—in communion with one another. Throw in a free dinner and childcare, and the rest is history.

RELEVANT MODEL

The Trinity House model centers on how the family is a communion of persons in the image of the Holy Trinity. The relevance of the model for the highest ideal of family life—to increase communion with one another—is indisputable. There is no distance between the model and its goal. The social setting also builds communion, the heart of the faith, so the medium of the Gatherings is already the message.

The Parent Witness time also makes for relevant teaching. After the formal teaching is presented on video, witnesses illustrate with stories from their families. While guidance from a professional presenter is necessary for formation, the real genius of communion is found in personal witness. When parents own their role as primary educators, the faith becomes much more relevant to their families and peers. Nothing hits home like the example of someone who is relatable.

SIMPLE EXPECTATIONS

Families and parishes both have limited resources with which to undertake this critical work. That’s why Trinity House Community Gatherings use a simple and intuitive format that’s easy to implement. And the Gatherings only take place five times during the school year. Meeting five times a year feels like something busy families and parishes can manage.

When it comes to families building up their own Trinity Houses, there is no expectation of lessons to be taught at home or paperwork to bring back. Instead, the parents are given a Heaven in Your Home Flowchart for their fridge, which guides them to implement key practices, places, and principles over time. Those who are motivated have access to as many resources as they want, and those who aren’t don’t get overwhelmed with expectations they aren’t ready to meet.

For more information on Trinity House Community go to TrinityHouseCommunity.org

If you would like to help support the 5 gatherings financially, here is the parish donation site: St.Theresa eservicepayments.com

Activity Contact: Chris and Jodi St.George

Email: cjstgeorge84@gmail.com