Holy Trinity Anglican Church to host first variety sale since amalgamation

Holy Trinity Anglican Church Rev. Tianna Gocan, curate, Holy Trinity Anglican Church Women (ACW) president Karen Haslam and ACW vice president Lynn Ransom sort through some of the donated items stored in the church basement in advance of the church’s annual Spring Variety Sale May 28 and 29.

A longtime Stratford church variety sale is returning this month under a new name as Holy Trinity Anglican Church hosts its first spring variety sale since the amalgamation of three local Anglican congregations.

Formerly St. James Anglican Church, Holy Trinity was formed earlier this year when St. James, St. Stephen’s and St. Paul’s came together as one congregation. While the name is new, Holy Trinity Anglican Church Women (ACW) president Karen Haslam said the sale will be familiar to the many community members who have supported it over the years.

“We want to be sure that they know it’s the same sale, but we’re now called Holy Trinity,” Haslam said.

The Holy Trinity variety sale will be held May 28 from 7-9 p.m. and May 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church, located at the former St. James building. May 28 will serve as the sale’s highly anticipated opening night, when shoppers will have first dibs on all the donated items for sale, and on May 29, the remaining donated items will be reduced to half price before organizers open the floodgates with their toonie-totes offer from 12-1 p.m., when shoppers have the chance to fill a tote bag with as much as they can for only two dollars.

Haslam said the annual sale has long been one of the church’s biggest community events, drawing people from across Stratford and beyond. After the pandemic forced the church to pause the sale for a time, she said many residents were grateful when it returned.

“A lot of community people rely on the sale and like the sale and line up around the building,” she said.

The sale will include a wide range of donated items, from household items to books, games, toys, electronics, clothes and more – though organizers are asking that people avoid bringing heavy furniture or anything too large for volunteers to manage.

Donations will be accepted May 12, 13 and 14, and again May 19, 20 and 21, from 9 a.m. to noon at the church.

Proceeds from the sale support both the church and local outreach efforts. Haslam said the Holy Trinity ACW supports a number of community initiatives, including the church food bank, which will soon move to the former St. Paul’s building, Optimism Place Women’s Shelter, L’Arche Stratford and bursaries for students at Nancy Campbell Academy, whose students also help set up for the sale.

“We’re a community church,” Haslam said. “Our money goes back into the community.”

The sale also serves an important purpose within the church itself, giving longtime members and volunteers a chance to gather, work together and remain connected.

“I’ve always called the St. James sale the biggest social in the church,” Haslam said.

As the newly amalgamated Holy Trinity continues to reintroduce itself to the community, Haslam said the sale is an opportunity for members of all three former congregations to work together on a familiar tradition.

“We’re hoping that it does amalgamate us even more, to get us all to work together,” she said.

Holy Trinity now offers a range of worship services, including traditional and contemporary services, as well as other forms of gathering intended to serve the wider congregation.

For Haslam, the spring sale is both a continuation of a beloved tradition and one of the first major chances for the new church community to show Stratford who it is becoming.

“It’s interesting that it’s our first sale as a joint church,” she said. “We said it’s going to be what it is. You do what you can.”