Have you ever found yourself captured in photographs in someone else’s album? You remember the event; you may even have your own photographs of it. Still, you are interested, even surprised, to see the event in someone else’s photos, really, from someone else’s point of view. With our human tendency to see the world only as it revolves around us, it’s a shock to see how we figure in another’s story.

People bound by ties of family or school or faith might figure that all gathered at a reunion or a big game or a worship service remember the experience similarly. If we were to look at one another’s photos and hear one another’s stories, we might come to a broader understanding.

The people of Trinity Episcopal Church will take time Wednesday and Thursday to look back at the experiences and connections that form our common life. Combing through scrapbooks and albums, Trinity parishioners will bring photos, newspaper clippings, programs from special events, Sunday school artwork, recipes from guild socials, mementos from church summer camp and other memorabilia to post on a wall-size pin-up board. Everyone is invited and encouraged to bring items which help them tell a story of connection within the parish, within the community or within the larger church. Together, these items will be a storyboard of our common life.

With everyone’s memorabilia pinned in a collage, we will hear stories of how these small treasures are markers of the history we share. We may find that the objects placed by another figure in our own stories or may be reminded of forgotten connections.

As a part of Trinity’s summer season of sabbatical, the Rev. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley will be present again to offer reflection on the bigger picture — how bringing the past into the present helps us know who we are. Knowing who we are is essential to know where we will go and to bring others into the community.

Wednesday, following the 5:30 Healing Service and Eucharist, there will be a potluck supper and Ruth’s reflections. On Thursday, there will be a summer hot dog feast at 6:00. Following supper, Ruth will invite those present to share stories of our common life, using the storyboard. Afterward, she will lead us to consider where these stories point us for the future of the parish and the community.

What to do? If you are or ever have been a part of Trinity Episcopal Church or Trinity Episcopal Day School, you are a part of the common life of this community. If you have visited and wondered about parish life, or if you have stood on the church steps and questioned whether the doors are open, this is the chance for you to learn more. The doors are wide open. All of us gathered will learn things we do not now know about our connections to one another. You may be in the pictures already and not even know it! Come for services; come for supper; come and join the storytelling!

Amelia Salmon is a Natchez resident and a member of Trinity Episcopal Church.