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Dear Friends,

“O star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright – “ so begins the refrain to the well-known Epiphany hymn, “We three kings of orient are. . . “

This coming Sunday, January 5, we’ll observe the feast of the Epiphany. Although Epiphany is actually on January 6, Bishop Anne has given us the green light to celebrate Epiphany a day early.

The church has long celebrated the feast as the day the Wise Men found Jesus and his parents after following the star. Christmas cards and pageants often depict the creche with shepherds and their sheep AND Wise Men and their camels at the stable in Bethlehem all at the same time. But tradition has separated the two visits, with the Magi arriving at the end of the twelve days of Christmas.

Epiphany isn’t a word we use much anymore. It means “revelation” or “manifestation.” The Magi’s visit to Jesus was seen as the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles – since the Wise Men were not Jews. The event foreshadowed how Christ would be the Savior of the whole world, not just the Jewish Messiah. For a long time, the celebration of this Epiphany was a much bigger deal than Christmas because the growing Gentile church was so grateful to be included in God’s plan of salvation.

But Epiphany is more than one day – it is an entire season that stretches all the way to the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. During the Epiphany season, the Gospel readings contain little revelations or manifestations – unveilings, as it were, of who Jesus really is. One of the hymns for this season – #135 in Hymnal 1982 – contains a list of many of these unveilings:

• manifested by a star by a star to the sages from afar; (the Epiphany itself)
• Manifest at Jordan’s stream, Prophet, Priest, and King supreme; (Jesus’ baptism)
• and at Cana, wedding guest, in thy Godhead manifest (changing water into wine)
• Manifest in making whole palsied limbs and fainting soul (healing miracles)
• Manifest on mountain height, shining in resplendent light (the Transfiguration)

To highlight the Epiphany season, the Adult Spiritual Formation Committee will give each of us the opportunity to receive a “star word” to reflect on – a word that has been chosen for us by the Holy Spirit.

We’ll also chalk the front door of the church at the end of the service. The chalking will include the new year’s date – 2025 – with 20 and 25 separated by C+M+B – in the center. C+M+B can represent the first letters of the names of the Magi – Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar – or the Latin words Christus Mansionem Benedicat, which means “May Christ bless this house.” We’ll pray that Christ will indeed bless Trinity this coming year.

Whether you plan to travel by camel caravan or by modern horsepower, I hope you’ll join me and your fellow parishioners on this first Sunday of 2025.

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

If you are reading this week’s Topics on its publication date – Friday, December 27 – happy third day of Christmas. I’m in Granville for a couple of days enjoying time with our family. It’s been joyful chaos since I arrived home late on Christmas morning.

Yesterday, as I walked Bernie downtown for a “leg-stretcher,” we passed several Christmas trees already put out to the curb. These are the same trees I saw freshly-cut tied to the tops of cars driving into town the day after Thanksgiving. Their special time indoors has come to an end.

Christmas is already over for some people. The radio stations that converted to an “all Christmas – all the time” format have returned to their regular programming. Amazon, the US Postal Service, and brick-and-mortar stores are all handling returns. And we’re on the brink of a New Year.

Not so fast, I want to say. Christmas is twelve days long. We have at least one song that reminds us of the tradition – The Twelve Days of Christmas – the 18th century English carol celebrating true love, gift-giving and birds.

Originally published in 1780, it was a children’s memory game, and the words were chanted as each player attempted to recite the lengthening list of gifts. The melody was added in 1909 by Frederic Austin, who presumably gave the middle line its elongated flourish, “fiiivvve gooollld riiinnngs”— a detail best left off the composer’s resume. If it had never become a song, the multitude of leaping lords and milking maids might have disappeared completely right along with the traditional twelve days.

Some people love the song, and there are terrific versions of it – the one sung by John Denver of the Muppets is a classic with Miss Piggy claiming the five gold rings – and Straight No Chaser’s send up of the song still makes me smile every time I hear it, even though it’s been around since 1998. Others describe it as the Christmas equivalent of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.”

One year (2013, in fact), the independent writer Pamela Forsythe “wondered about the preponderance of fowl [in the list] – six of the 12 days feature gifts of birds: partridge, turtle doves, French hens, colly or calling birds, geese, and swans.” She asked, “Aside from the hens and geese, which could provide eggs, what was the recipient to do with all the rest? Stock an aviary?”

And then she went on to compose her own fresh set of lyrics. Here they are:

The Twelve Smart Days of Christmas

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:
Twelve consoling kisses,
Eleven geeks-a-helping,
Ten friends advising,
Nine coders weeping,
Eight teens-a-texting,
Seven new devices,
Six thrilling e-books,
Five ibuprofens,
Four “Downton” downloads,
Three apps to save time,
Two tiny earbuds, and
A smart phone delivered by drone

If you were to write your own list of gifts for the Twelve Days of Christmas, what would the list include? Fowl? Electronic devices? Experiences? Something for you to ponder in these days between December 25 and January 5.

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

In a few days, it will be Christmas once again. This year, everyone is coming home to Granville for Christmas – everyone except one son-in-law whose work in the New York financial world requires him to be in the city as 2024 comes to a close. To keep track of all the comings and goings, Terry and I have put together a color-coded calendar. If I read it correctly, everyone will be together for at least a few hours on December 26 – adult children, grandchildren, dogs . . . all in one place filled with happy chaos.

Our third child, Kate, and her husband, Mike, are expecting their first child in April. I haven’t seen Kate in person since her pregnancy began, but the photos she’s sent leave no doubt that she is “with child” as they used to say.

The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent – this week’s Gospel – is the story of not one, but two pregnant women – cousins – meeting. One of the women is Elizabeth, who will give birth to John the Baptist. The other is Mary, whose son, Jesus, will be born in humble circumstances in Bethlehem. I’m grateful that we acknowledge and honor Mary now in The Episcopal Church. It wasn’t the case when I was growing up – probably a resistance to seeming “too Romish.” Restoring her as an important figure during Advent is just right, it seems to me. Birth is inevitably preceded by a time of preparation, and the birth of Jesus is no different.

Just as a “pregnant pause” is a moment of hesitation that creates a sense of anticipation, so does a human pregnancy create a sense of expectation. Such is the case for Mary, who is known by many titles: Madonna, Theotokas (God-bearer), Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven. The simplest and most profound of them is Our Lady – or in French, Notre Dame.

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris recently reopened after the catastrophic fire of 2019. One of the stories that came out of its re-opening was of Thomas Weinbeck, a land and environment manager from Bourgogne. His family had come to Parish to celebrate a friend’s birthday and had made it to the cathedral after visiting the city’s catacombs. “We didn’t even know there would be a Mass!” he said. I was particularly taken with what their friend, Annabell Kasynski, had to say about her experience, “To be honest, I also came to pray a little, even though I don’t really believe in it. There’s always hope that there may be someone up there, and this is not just any place, so maybe in here He’ll hear me.”

I suppose you could interpret her statement in many different ways, but the way I choose to read it is that there may be something waiting to be born in her. “There’s always hope that there may be someone up there. . . “ That hope, however tiny, has the potential to give birth to a full and rich faith.

If you see yourself at all in Annabell Kasynski, then this coming Sunday, with its theme of waiting for someone or something to be born, is especially for you. Please join us as we make our final preparations for the coming of Jesus.

Blessings,
Stephen

Dear Friends,

The season of Advent is always four Sundays long – the four Sundays before Christmas. However, the season’s actual number of days varies depending on which day of the week Christmas falls. This year Advent began on December 1 – one of the shorter observances of the season. Maybe this is why I feel like I’m running out of time. When I dropped some items off this past Wednesday morning at the dry cleaners, the person at the counter asked, “Are you ready for Christmas?” I’m sure he asks every customer the same question, but it stopped me in my tracks. Well. . . . no, I’m not.

An article from a couple of years ago by Tish Harrison Warren had the title: “I’m Not Ready for Christmas. I Need to Take a Minute.” Ms. Warren wrote that she could not force herself to dive into all the festivities and holiday cheer that these December days so often demand of us. “I need a season to notice, reflect on and grieve what we collectively and I individually have walked through this year (and the past few years, really). I need to take stock of where I am and how I got here,” she says. So, she continued, she was particularly glad for the season of Advent – this precious time of spiritual preparation for Christmas.

I am, too. Aren’t you?

Tish Harrison Warren continued, “We recall that we require ransom and rescue. Another year has gone by and we still live in a world in need of mending. We have learned anew through these long years that a virus can suddenly change our lives, that our illusions of control and predictability are fragile and faulty, that lies are often mistaken as truth, that we cannot keep ourselves or those we love from pain, that the wreckage of poverty, injustice and darkness persist. This is the very world of heartbreak, Christians say each year, into which Christ came and will come again.” Christ came and will come again. In between, we wait and watch and hope.

I’m not ready for Christmas. I need a minute. But I will be better prepared if I set aside some time for reflection and prayer. I invite you to join me in preparing during these remaining Advent days, so that when we celebrate Christmas, our celebrations will be rich and full of joy.

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

Clergy are notorious bibliophiles. We buy books. We are given books as gifts. And we inherit books from older priests or their surviving spouses. We read a lot of the books that we have – or at least parts of them. The rest of the books serve as backdrops in our offices; as we sit in front of them, they make us appear more learned than perhaps we really are. Back in the day, clergy had “studies” where they read and contemplated. One of the gifts my father gave me after I was ordained was a hand-carved wooden sign that reads, “Parson’s Study.” Now, more often than not, we clergy have “offices,” suggesting that what we do is more managerial than it is pastoral. Since words matter, the change in terminology is worth pondering.

Over the last several years, I’ve drastically reduced my library. Part of the reason is that I move every year or two, and books are heavy! Part of the reason is that I no longer kid myself that I’m going to read or refer to most of them. The books I have kept are the ones I go back to again and again.

Every Advent, I take one particular book down from the shelf and read an excerpt from it every day. The book’s title is Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. Just like Advent calendars, Watch for the Light gives me something to open every day – short pieces by some of the great spiritual writers. Some are from the distant past, like St. Bernard of Clairvaux and John Donne, and some are from more recent times, like Kathleen Norris and Madeleine L’Engle.

One of my favorites is by J.B. Phillips called “The Dangers of Advent.” Phillips was an Anglican clergyman and a pioneering Bible translator best known for his The New Testament in Modern English, a translation that had its start during World War II, while he was vicar of the Church of the Good Shepherd in London. He found the young people in his church did not understand the King James Version of the Bible, so he used the time he spent in the bomb shelters during the London Blitz to begin a translation of the New Testament into modern English.

Here’s how “The Dangers of Advent” begins: “By far the most important and significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this season, Advent. The towering miracle of God’s visit to this planet on which we live will be glossed over, brushed aside or rendered impotent by over-familiarity.”

Further on the in article, he continues, “The particular danger which faces us as Christmas approaches is unlikely to be contempt for the sacred season, but nevertheless our familiarity with it may easily produce in us a kind of indifference.”

Indifference due to over-familiarity. I don’t know if that’s a problem for you. I know it sometimes is for me. So I count on J.B. Phillips to remind me every Advent that the coming of Jesus at Christmas is – in his words – a “towering miracle.”

“The Dangers of Advent” is too long a piece for me to include here. So, in addition to the brief snippets I’ve already shared, let me close this Dear Friends letter with the words Phillips uses to close his article. He writes: “. . . behind all our fun and games at Christmastime, we should not try to escape a sense of awe, almost a sense of fright, at what God has done. We must never allow anything to blind us to the true significance of what happened at Bethlehem so long ago. Nothing can alter the fact that we live on a visited planet.”

We live on a visited planet. What an extraordinary thing to realize! I can’t possibly become overly familiar with the idea, or indifferent to it either. How about you?

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

The season of Advent begins this coming Sunday, December 1, with the first of the four Sundays of Advent. The season provides time and space for the coming of Christ as we celebrate his first coming at Christmas and anticipate his second coming at some future unknown date – the time when, as the Nicene Creed says, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”

Read several of Paul’s letters to the churches he founded, and you’ll quickly see how the first Christians were standing, as it were, on tiptoes. They expected Jesus to return at almost any moment and looked forward to that time with joyous anticipation. They saw themselves living in an in-between-time; the awareness of this inspired them to share the Good News with as many people as possible, to serve the world in which they found themselves, and to risk everything since they believed they would be called upon right away to give an account of the gifts God had given them.

Two thousand years, and then some, have passed since the early church waited with eager longing for the return of their Lord and Savior. Quite understandably, people found it harder and harder to wait for Christ’s return. The church settled down for the long haul and created institutions and orders of ministry that could sustain the faithful for a longer journey than they had anticipated. So, with the exception of a few believers, most of us don’t stand on our tiptoes in anticipation of the Second Coming. That’s why, it seems to me, the season of Advent is so valuable. For four weeks out of fifty-two, we recapture some of the joyous anticipation of those first Christians.

I will admit that most of the joyous anticipation this time of the year seems more directed to the celebration of the first coming – Christmas – than to the second coming. But I believe we can anticipate more than one thing at a time – and I hope we’ll try.

What might that look like? Here’s a suggestion. Take some time each day of Advent and remember a time when you waited excitedly for something – perhaps the birth of a child or grandchild, the return of your college student after a semester away, a service member’s homecoming after a deployment, how about the arrival of Trinity’s new rector sometime early in 2025 – you get the idea – and then ask yourself this question, “how would I live my life differently if I was waiting excitedly for God to come into my life?”

I look forward to observing Advent joyfully with you again this year. How will you be transformed while you wait?

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

I may hold the record for attending the most school holiday concerts of anyone you know. Our eldest child is 18 years older than our youngest. That means that – starting with elementary school concerts and ending with the last high school concert – we were in school gyms and theaters for a lot of years listening to kids sing or play in an orchestra or band. Not that I am complaining. I enjoyed all of the concerts – with the possible exception of the performances by those young people who were learning to play strings: violin, viola, cello, and bass. Heaven holds special reservations for middle school string teachers.

For seven of the above-mentioned years, we were able to secure tickets for the Granville High School Holiday Concert. These are as hard to come by as the tickets for Hamilton were when the original cast was performing on Broadway. The reason is simple – the music program is terrific, the percentage of the school’s kids participating is astronomical, and the performing arts center simply doesn’t have enough seats to accommodate everyone who wants to attend.

The culmination of every holiday concert was the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Somehow, they were able to get every single kid on the stage – the choirs, members of the orchestra, and concert band members. It took two conductors to pull it off – one for the instrumentalists and one for the choirs!

Perhaps sometime between now and Christmas, you will hear the Hallelujah Chorus sung live – or if not live – on your record player, CD player, or streaming service. It was always a showstopper at the end of the concert at Granville High. I’m guessing you already know the words. The lyrics are quite repetitive – stop and count the number of times “hallelujah” is sung!

But there’s more there than a bunch of hallelujahs – and the more there underscores that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I know you can hear the music as you read these words: And he shall reign for ever and ever. The kingdom of this world/Is become/The kingdom of our Lord/And of His Christ.

It’s unclear how the Hallelujah Chorus became associated with Christmas. It actually appears in Part II of the oratorio – the part that covers the passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus – rather than Part I, the part that draws its texts from the Christmas readings. It’s probably included because it’s a much more exciting way to bring a concert to its climatic conclusion than the chorus with which Part I ends: “His yoke is easy” – great music, but one wouldn’t fill a stage with teenage musicians to sing it!

The Hallelujah Chorus will be going through my head this Sunday – not because Chelsie has the choir singing it – but because the theme of this Sunday – the Last Sunday after Pentecost – is Christ the King (or if you prefer a less-gendered name: the Reign of Christ).

What does it mean to talk about Christ as King? To call him King of Kings and Lord of Lords? And if the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, how come it so often feels as if someone else is ruling or, perhaps equally troubling, no one is ruling over the darkness and the chaos?

I hope you’ll come this Sunday as we celebrate Christ the King and as we pray our way through what it might mean to acknowledge his reign.

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, November 3, we invited people to bring their loose change for a “Day of Change” fundraiser to benefit Breakfast at Trinity. I am happy to announce that it was a rousing success, and we received $3,701.60 in total donations. This amount will continue to bolster and support our rapidly growing signature ministry. Thank you so much. Over the past month we have averaged about 100 people a Sunday, and this past week we served our 2,500th meal. For a ministry that has been in full operation since Easter, I am constantly impressed with its growth – not just in numbers of people, but, more importantly, in the relational aspect that we value the most. Our incredible volunteers, who show up every week and continue to listen to the stories of those present, are an important part of who we are at Trinity.

Before we know it, it will be time to decorate our houses for Advent and Christmas. Trinity, at one point, had a history of making custom ornaments. This is something we are bringing back in the form of another fundraiser for Breakfast at Trinity. Starting this Sunday, November 17, you will be able to purchase custom-designed ornaments for $30 (about what it costs to feed a table of eight people on Sunday). All proceeds will support Breakfast at Trinity. It is getting colder, and as the number of guests on Sunday climbs due to inflation affecting the cost of groceries, your purchase of an ornament will help put us further ahead of our financial goals as we wait to hear whether we will be the recipients of another Episcopal Community Service (ECS) grant for Breakfast at Trinity.

Finally, as has been announced in a previous issue of Topics and on Sunday in church, we received a gift from a long time Trinity member to provide meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our Thanksgiving meal will be served 11:30 am-12:30 pm on Thanksgiving Day. Most of the food we need has already been purchased. However, if you are interested in volunteering and want to bring something as well, please feel free to do so! We are asking for volunteers to arrive by 10:30 am to help set up and to review some brief training about serving the meal. We expect 100 guests to come and eat, so we could use all the help we can get! Please sign up to help by clicking here.

This is the stuff that matters in the times we are in. Shine bright my friends.

Grace and peace,

George Benson
Director of Community Engagement

Dear Friends,

The deadline each week for Trinity Topics, our weekly e-newsletter, is Wednesday at 5:00 pm. This means that I am writing my “Dear Friends” letter on the day after the election.

I’ve had little time to process my own feelings, much less reflect on the meaning of all the election results. Although I follow politics and economics closely, I don’t have formal training in either. My training is in scripture, church history, and theology. So, rather than opine about what the election might portend in terms of the political or economic implications of one-party rule at the level of the federal government, I’ll write about what I know.

First, scripture contains story after story of the ways human beings have thwarted God’s hopes and dreams for the world. The list is long. I know that some who call themselves Christians believe with all their hearts that the election results match God’s hopes for the world. I respectfully disagree. What scripture also says is that God can take the ways we have thwarted God’s hopes and dreams and redeem them. Exhibit A: We crucified Jesus of Nazareth. And God raised Jesus on the third day. What this means, in part, is that everything Jesus stood for – and stands for – ultimately wins: love, joy, compassion, kindness, life. . . .

Second, church history, which begins with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to a tiny community in Jerusalem, tells how that community – and every faithful community of Christians ever since – has kept hope alive, stood with the marginalized, and actively resisted evil. Sometimes, as a result, members of the Jesus Movement have given their lives rather than capitulate to “the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.” What this means is that, come what may, we must hold fast to the Baptismal Covenant: persevering in resisting evil, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, and striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being. Trinity Toledo is linked by its witness to faithful Christian communities throughout history and to faithful Christian communities that exist now in the country and around the world. The work continues.

Third, theology, which is, in part, trying to discern what God is up to. Years ago, one of my clergy colleagues, Jim Hanisian, decided that he would ask his parish to focus on a single question: “Where do you find God in this?” The question completely transformed the Church of the Redeemer in Cincinnati. Every time something happened in that congregation, whether it was tragic or joyous, the question, “where do you find God in this?” caused people to look for where God was at work. I will be honest: I don’t know where God is at work in this, but I know it’s the question I need to be asking today, tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future.

We gather again this Sunday, as the Trinity community does every Sunday, to remember who we are and whose we are, and to ask ourselves and each other where we find God. I hope to see you.

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

I’ve been thinking about my sermon. This is something I do every week I’m preaching, of course, but so much is going on this Sunday that I’m having trouble narrowing the focus. And since the professor of my advance preaching class in seminary told us students not to start writing a sermon until we could complete the statement, “what I want this congregation to do is . . .” I find that I’m paralyzed. Here are the strands I’m supposed to weave into a coherent sermon:

• The Day of Change – two things to remember – the first is to set your clocks back one hour – “fall back.” If you don’t you’ll be an hour early for church! Related to the time change is our request for you to bring in your loose change (Day of Change – get it?) Every quarter, dime, nickel, and penny will go to support our Community Breakfast program – a program that welcomes more and more of our neighbors every week.
• Ingathering Sunday – Thanks to everyone who has already turned in their pledge card for the 2025 Annual Pledge Drive. The tally of pledges is encouraging: Trinity hopes to receive $215,000 in pledge commitments from 80 households. As of this writing, we have $142,704 from 38 households. Thirty-two additional households pledged $63,708 for this fiscal year. If those households renewed their pledges, we’d only be $8,588 shy of our goal. Let’s do this!!
• All Saints’ Sunday – one of my favorite church holy days. We’ll remember the giants of the faith – apostles, prophets, and martyrs – and we’ll also remember loved ones whom we hold dear in our hearts. Those you want to have remembered in the parish’s prayers will be chanted by the choir as we begin the service. Please email their names to heather@trinitytoledo.org no later than today at 5:00 pm
• Baptisms – two adults will be baptized during this Sunday’s service, and we’ll all have the opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant. Congratulations to Taylor Marshall and Alyssa Thomas as they take this step in faith!
• Garage Black Out – as if Halloween weren’t scary enough, the lights will be out in the Four Seagate garage this Sunday as the building undergoes necessary maintenance. You may want to bring a flashlight or have your cell phone handy to find your way to one of the two entrances from the garage to Trinity.
• Election Day on Tuesday – a consequential day under normal conditions, this Election Day on November 5 feels particularly significant. Remember that there will be a prayer vigil at St. Andrew’s, 2770 West Central Ave, across from FoodTown, on Monday, November 4, at 7:00 pm. Trinity will have its usual noon celebration of the Holy Eucharist on Wednesday, November 6 – the day after the election – in St. Mark’s Chapel.

You can see where my problem lies. What do I want this congregation to do? All the things I’ve listed above! And if you have trouble remembering them, most – if not all – of these will be repeated below.

See you this Sunday. And if you want to volunteer to preach, let me know. I’d be grateful for the help 🙂

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

Election Day is November 5, a week from Tuesday. I suppose a few people are unaware of this, but one would have to wonder under what rock they’ve been hiding.

Hyperbolic declarations of catastrophe around presidential elections are nothing new. The first bitterly contested election in US history was between John Adams – then Vice President – representing the Federalist Party and Thomas Jefferson – then Secretary of State – of what was called the Republican Party. The campaign quickly descended into mudslinging between the candidates’ supporters.

On October 1796, a mysterious editorial appeared in the Gazette of the United States, a popular Federalist newspaper in Philadelphia. The editorial said, in terms understood by most readers, that presidential candidate Jefferson was having an affair with one of his female slaves. Not to be outdone, Jefferson’s folks had been using their own strong campaign tactics in the fight against Adams. Adams was accused of wanting to be a king and starting a dynasty by having his son succeed him as President. He was also accused of being overweight and given the nickname “His Rotundity.”

So, if you are disturbed by the cataclysmic prospect that your candidate won’t be the one elected, or that one or the other candidate’s election means calamity for the United States, you have plenty of good company throughout the history of our republic. None of what I have written excuses you from voting, however (assuming you haven’t already cast your ballot). Our votes – every single one of them a privilege – represent our hopes and dreams for America.

Even though our votes are important – why else would candidates and parties spend so much money trying to garner them? – Americans are inconsistent voters. Only 37% of citizens 18 years and older voted in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Why the percentage is that low mystifies me.

The country’s votes are not the only ballots being cast this time of year. Trinity is also holding an election in early November – an election called the Annual Stewardship Drive – with pledge cards serving as ballots. Our pledges represent our hopes and dreams for this parish church. How we vote in the stewardship drive “election” determines the reach of our ministries in the coming year.

Ingathering Sunday is November 3. Please join me in making a generous pledge for 2025 – yes, I’ve pledged for 2025 in support of Trinity’s bright future under the leadership of your next rector. So many have worked tirelessly to strengthen the parish during the past year. Now it’s time to ensure that you all have the resources you need to continue the ministries to which God has called Trinity. Vote by returning your pledge by November 3 as we “prepare the way.”

Blessings,

Stephen Applegate

Trinity is asking for a pledge.
How does my pledge help “prepare the way”?

When this year’s Annual Stewardship Drive began, Trinity was a little bit more than a year into its transition from one rector to the next. Since last October, the Search Committee has been working steadily and faithfully to accomplish the tasks needed to find the right priest to join us as we share Christ’s light in downtown Toledo and beyond.

The Committee of eight parishioners – Karen Keune (Chair), Gail Abood, Mary Beroske, Angie Carriker, Mark Dubielak, LaVonda Jossett, Allen Santiago, and Sue Smitley – have put in more time, energy, and prayer into “preparing the way” than anyone else here at Trinity. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a part to play. Every Sunday (and, hopefully, throughout the week) we pray for the transition – for God to send us a faithful priest who will love us and joyfully serve here. An increasing number of people have accepted a ministry beyond attending church services regularly. Folks are teaching Sunday School, planting the Plaza gardens, serving our neighbors at our weekly Community Breakfast, singing in the Choir, handling Altar Guild duties, planning Adult Formation, welcoming visitors, overseeing our buildings and grounds – the list goes on and on. Trinity is alive, active, and growing!

These are good things, because when a priest and parish come together, it’s the result of mutual discernment. The members of the Search Committee aren’t the only ones evaluating; candidates are also evaluating Trinity, asking questions like: how strong and active is the lay leadership? Are the buildings and grounds well-cared for, what’s the worship like? And does Trinity have the resources to do the ministry God is calling them to do?

It’s the answer to this last question that connects your pledge to the theme of this year’s pledge drive: “prepare the way.” A prospective rector wants to know if they’ll have to scratch hard to find the money to pay for ministry. A robust response to the 2025 pledge drive will let them know that the parish will have the resources needed in the new year. So, just as you have helped prepare the way by all that you are already doing, take one more step and make a pledge for 2025. When you do, you’ll do so knowing that the next rector is paying attention and will see that Trinity’s donors have “prepared the way” for an exciting new beginning.

Trinity is asking for a pledge.
What are some ways to satisfy my pledge?

Pledge, how do I satisfy thee? Let me count the ways (with apologies to the Bard of Avon):

Some of the typical ways

1. Write a check and put it in the offering plate when you attend a Sunday service. For some people, the traditional approach is deeply satisfying and has lots of history behind it.
2. Write a check, put it in a stamped envelope and send it to Trinity Episcopal Church, 316 Adams Street, Toledo, OH 43604. If you can’t get to church or will be away on vacation, let the US Postal Service take care of delivering your gift.

   Some slightly less typical ways
   

3. Set up an automatic transfer from your a) bank account (ACH transfer), b) credit card, c) debit card, d) PayPal. Call the parish office (419) 243-1231 or email heather@trinitytoledo.org if you need help.
4. Go to the kiosk in the rear of the church & enter the information about how much you want to give and from what source
5. Click on the QR code that appears in each Sunday service leaflet
6. Text to give – (419) OMG-GIVE

Some unusual, but tax-advantaged ways

1. Take a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) for your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). (Important disclaimer: talk to your financial advisor or accountant before deciding to give this way! And remember, the gift must be transferred directly from your account to Trinity or other charity.)
   • Your QCD counts towards satisfying your RMD once you reach RMD age.
   • Up to a maximum of $105,000 of your RMD can be donated to a qualified charity.
   • If you have the RMD service, be sure to factor in these donations to avoid distributing more than your annual RMD.
   • Qualified charitable distributions are counted for the tax year in which they’re taken.
   • You may be able to avoid taxes on otherwise taxable distributions if you’re drawing from a traditional IRA.
2. Transfer appreciated stock to Trinity. Here are four reasons:
   • You can give more. By donating stock that has appreciated for more than a year, you are actually giving 20 percent more than if you sold the stock and then made a cash donation.
   • You can potentially reduce future capital gains. Any appreciation of the value of a stock that you love and want to hold for the long term confirms your belief in it, but it can also set the stage for substantial gains when you sell.
   • You can give your portfolio a health check. Any investment portfolio can get out of balance. If a review of your investments’ gains and losses shows that it’s time to rebalance your portfolio to maximize its performance and optimize for risk, donating stock can give your portfolio the health check it needs.
   • You can donate stocks without headaches. Some people think it will require a lot of paperwork and phone calls to donate stock, or that their chosen charity may not be able to easily accept a stock donation. Trinity can help make such a transfer simple and easy. Just contact the parish office for more information.

At Trinity, we are grateful for every donation and have developed a number of convenient ways to give in support of God’s mission and ministry. We hope one of the ways listed above helps you give regularly and generously.

How much should I commit to give for 2025?

The first – and most important – answer to the question is to consider prayerfully what you are able to give. No one knows your personal circumstances better than you do, nor does anyone comprehend what your relationship is with Jesus and his church. We also want to acknowledge that people often have other important philanthropic interests. Every household has some idea what their total giving to charity could be on an annual basis – to the church, their alma mater, Heart Association, Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, NPR.

Having said this, some people find it helpful to think of their pledge as a percentage of their income. (And if you wonder whether we mean your net or your gross income – you get to choose!) The fact is that everyone who gives money to the church already gives a proportion of their income – they just aren’t aware of it. We think it’s better to know the percentage so you can actively think in such terms.

Let’s say that you earned $50,000 in 2024 and gave $1,000 to Trinity. Your pledge would be 2% of your income. Let’s take it a step further and say you received a healthy $10,000 raise, so your income for 2025 will be $60,000. If you sustained your giving at 2% of your income, your pledge will be $1,200. Of course, if your income decreases, proportional giving means that your pledge will decrease.

Here’s a handy chart that provides the information you need to determine what percentage of your income you are now pledging to Trinity. Can you sustain your gift at the same proportional level in 2025 – or, consider increasing your pledge by 1% of your income. Just find your income, and the block of your weekly gift, and move one block to the right!

Dear Friends,

I don’t like being inconvenienced. As you know, I live across the river from downtown. I specifically chose the Marina Lofts apartments because my commute to Trinity would be all of four minutes long. In the last parish, my commute was 35 miles long and a soul-crushing 45 minutes long in heavy traffic. A four-minute commute? Piece of cake. Only, they (whoever “they” are) have chosen this time to work on the Cherry Street bridge AND tear up N. Summit Street to boot. I have been inconvenienced. My commute time has now doubled – to 8 whole minutes. Okay, so it’s a little hard to complain about an 8-minute commute. However, I still don’t like being inconvenienced.

This week, parishioners and guests wanting to worship at Trinity on Sunday morning can expect to be inconvenienced for two reasons:

The first is that the Susan G. Komen Northwest Ohio Race for the Cure will be held this Sunday, September 29. Several streets will be closed as the race route completely surrounds Trinity that morning. Our primary goals are to hold our normal Sunday service at 10:00 am and to support the race and the safety of those involved. The second is that the owners of Four Seagate garage will be doing maintenance work that necessitates shutting down power to the garage. You will still be able to enter and exit the garage without any problem. However you may want to bring flashlight – or have the flashlight on your cell phone ready – to be able to find your way to and from your car.

• As for the Komen Race for the Cure, here are the instructions to make it easier for you to come to church:
  No matter what direction you are coming from, find your way to a point on Adams St. west of N. Michigan St. Once there, proceed east on Adams toward the church.
• Plan to be at Trinity no later than 9:30 am! (The race begins at 9:30, and we cannot promise that people driving to Trinity will be allowed access once the race has started.)
• You will encounter a police barricade at Adams and Erie. As long as you arrive at the barricade by 9:30 am, you will be allowed through.
• You will encounter another checkpoint at Adams and N. Huron (part of the racecourse). Again, as long as you are through the intersection by 9:30 am, you will be allowed through.
• Once you have crossed both Erie and Huron, you will be able to continue to drive east on Adams, make a left turn on N. St. Clair, and access either parking on N. St. Clair or the entrance to the Four Seagate Garage between Adams and Jackson.
• To help identify Trinity parishioners, we have created a pass that can be presented to police or race staff. If you want a copy of the pass to download, please email trinity@trinitytoledo.org
• Since morning activities at Trinity typically end by 11:30 am, we don’t think parishioners will have a problem leaving downtown after church.We’re grateful to Komen Northwest Ohio for graciously offering Trinity parishioners a way to serve the Community Breakfast for our neighbors and to attend the celebration of Holy Eucharist in our sanctuary.

More than being grateful to Komen Northwest Ohio for providing access to Trinity this Sunday, I am personally grateful to the Susan B. Komen organization for the work they’ve done supporting breast cancer research, patient support services, and advocacy.

You see, my wife, Terry, is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2001 at the age of 41. Having breast cancer is categorically not an inconvenience. For Terry and our family, it was a life-changing event. Terry underwent surgery, had chemotherapy treatments, and then radiation. The aggressive treatment approach worked; she’s remained cancer free ever since. She benefitted from the efforts of the Susan B. Komen organization and other similar organizations who all help the 1 out of every 8 women who will develop breast cancer sometime in their lives.

So, as I cross the Cherry Street bridge this Sunday and drive far enough west to reach a point on Adams Street where I can turn around and head east toward the church, I won’t complain about either the construction or the race. I hope you won’t complain either and that the information above will help you be less inconvenienced when you come to Trinity this Sunday. (Notice I said “when” not if!)

Blessings,

Stephen Applegate

Dear Friends,

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I don’t know how many times that phrase has been repeated to children who have been on the receiving end of verbal bullying. I know my mother frequently recited it to me as a reminder that I couldn’t be hurt by unpleasant things that were said to me. A quick Google search yields the information that the saying was used as early as 1862. I’m guessing it was in circulation long before then.

Turns out, it’s not true. Words can and do hurt people. A bully doesn’t have to punch you in the nose to bruise you. Too many tragic stories of young people taking their own lives because of in-person or cyberbullying let us know that words can wound, sometimes fatally. Our spiritual ancestors knew this. Just this past Sunday, we heard the author of the Epistle of James say:

“How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. . . . With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.”

Here in Ohio, we’ve seen Springfield set on fire by hate-filled words and made-up stories about the community of Haitian migrants who have moved to the community for work. The spread of blatantly racist lies has resulted in bomb threats that have closed government offices and businesses and kept children home from school. Former President Trump amplified the falsehoods during the recent debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, and his running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance refused to step back or apologize what had been said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, both Republicans, have noted the impact of lying words. Mayor Rue said, “Any political leader who takes the national stage and has the national spotlight needs to understand the gravity of the words that they have for cities like ours, and what they say impacts our city.” And Governor DeWine sent Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on Tuesday to protect the students of the Springfield City School District.

“Words will never hurt me” is not true. They have hurt, and they are hurting the people of Springfield – members of the Haitian community, to be sure, but, truthfully, all the residents.

One of my closest clergy friends was rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield for over a decade, and her husband was a philosophy professor at Wittenberg. They have deep roots in the community and are distraught over what’s happened. If you are interested in helping, they recommend a contribution to the Haitian Community Help & Support Center. You can learn more about them and make a donation here.

You may also be interested in reading a blog post by the Bishop of Southern Ohio, the Rt. Rev. Kristin Uffelman White. The piece is called “Our Words Matter: Standing Up Against Hate in Springfield.” You can find the article at this link.

Words have power – power to bless and to curse. As followers of Jesus, let us use our words to bless.

Blessings,

Stephen Applegate

Dear friends,

It is finally here! Trinity Kid’s, our 1st – 5th grade ministry launches this Sunday during service. We are so excited; we can hardly contain ourselves. Here is a little run down on how this will work starting September 15:

1. Families arrive at Trinity and sit in the sanctuary waiting for service to begin.

2. Around 10:05 after the first hymn, Father Applegate will announce that kids may be released by parents to the Trinity Kid’s volunteer teachers. They will be in the sanctuary holding a sign for kids to follow. They will then be walked upstairs to the TK Clubhouse (formerly known as the Grace Room or upstairs Rector office).

3. While upstairs, the kids will have a Bible story, some games, and an activity.

4. During the passing of the peace, the teachers will walk the kids down and be released back to their parents for the remainder of the service.

This would not be happening if it wasn’t for our incredible volunteers who will be spending one Sunday every seven weeks teaching. We will also be commissioning them this Sunday, so if you see them give them a high five!

Registration forms went out this week for parents interested in having their kids be a part of our program, and more will be available this week. If you have them ready to turn in, please hand them to myself, or Heather Meyer, our Director of Operations.

We are looking forward to this Sunday’s launch!

Grace and peace,

George Benson, Director of Community Engagement

Dear Friends,

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins one week from this Sunday. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. To get an early start, Trinity will look south of the border for inspiration this Sunday, September 8, as we celebrate Welcome Back! Sunday.

We’ll feature a terrific mariachi band from Detroit, Mariachi Mexico 2020. The band will play during the 10:00 am service and will provide entertainment in My Brother’s Place at the fiesta that will follow the service. We’ll have a walking taco bar, a multigenerational art project, and activities for kids. The forecast is for partly cloudy skies with a high temperature of 71 – perfect for enjoying our elevated Plaza.

Trinity’s talented choir will be back as well leading our music and bringing their infectious joy to our worship together.

I hope you’ll join us as we start a new church program year. We’ll share information about the church school program for children in grades 1-5 and preview this fall’s adult formation offering. Remember, too, that you are welcome at our free Community Breakfast starting at 8:45 am on the second floor of the parish house.

Church attendance was up this summer, so we added chairs this past week to ensure that everyone has a spot. And if you’ve been thinking about inviting a friend or neighbor to join you for worship, Welcome Back! Sunday would be the perfect time to say, “Come and see!”

Hasta el domingo! (See you on Sunday!)

Blessings,

Stephen Applegate