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Dear Friends,
Spring training began this past week as baseball teams reported to Florida – the Grapefruit League – or Arizona – the Cactus League. Pitchers and catchers always show up first. Then the position players arrive, some of them grizzled veterans, some of them rookies hoping to be in the lineup come Opening Day.
I’ve loved baseball since I was a boy. My grandfather Applegate was a huge baseball fan. He spent summers living with us for several years, and he parked himself in front of the TV set in the living room so he could see and hear the games. Although he wasn’t totally blind or deaf, his eyesight and hearing had suffered considerable decline in his old age. One didn’t need to be in the living room to know what was going on with the Yankees. Mel Allen, Red Barber, and Phil Rizzuto’s voices on WPIX could be heard throughout the house.
These days, I rely on the MLB app on my phone, or watch one of the games on MLB.TV to get my baseball fix. A recent email reminded me that I needed to update my credit card so my subscription will renew without interruption.
Here’s a story about spring training and Lent that’s circulated for a long time: Many years ago, a popular Roman Catholic priest was invited to celebrate Mass for a men’s club as they were entering the season of Lent. Like most people, the men thought of the 40-day period as just a time for increased prayer and fasting. The priest changed the thinking of the men that evening as he presented a talk on “Lent, a time of spring training for people of faith.”
“Lent is like spring training in baseball,” the priest said. “We get out of spring training what we put into it. We need to do this yearly to be on God’s team.”
You may not be a baseball fan, or even pay any attention to the sport, but it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see how much eye-hand coordination it takes to hit a sphere that’s only 9-9.25” in circumference traveling at you from 60’ 6” away at 100 mph.
Instead of seeing Lent as a dreary season when we give up things we like for reasons we don’t understand, I’d like to offer another view of Lent – a view from our National Pastime. Lent is the time to ensure that our spiritual life is in top-notch coordination. But in the case of our spiritual lives, it’s not eye-hand coordination; it’s mind, heart and hand coordination.
In place of taking batting practice and fielding ground balls as players do during baseball’s spring training, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the essentials of spiritual spring training. They result in the coordination of mind, heart and hand.
Opening Day will be here before you know it, and so will Easter. Will you be ready when the umpire says, “Play ball”?
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Your spiritual “desk”
Dear Friends,
Late last Saturday afternoon, I drove from Columbus to Toledo following the Ordination & Consecration of the 10th Bishop of Southern Ohio. After two very full days – one of them converting the Short North Ballroom of the Greater Columbus Convention Center into a church, the other serving as the Minister of Ceremonies for the service – I was grateful for time alone in the car. If I answered one question during the time I was in Columbus, I answered a hundred. So, I thoroughly enjoyed what the old hymn calls, “blessed quietness, holy quietness.” No radio, no CDs, no Spotify.
When I arrived at my office early the next morning, I found my desk covered with papers, files, books, and empty coffee cups. What a mess! I don’t claim to be the neatest person when it comes to my office, but I’d clearly let things get out of control in the days before the consecration. I’m still clearing the clutter as a write this – still digging out of the pile.
Albert Einstein famously pointed out that “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” Thomas Edison, who had a famously messy desk, must have agreed. And Steve Jobs. While our cluttered desks may not prove we are brilliant, they do show that we might be geniuses. . . or that the desks need some attention!!
Lent is the season of the church year to clear off our desks, to do some holy housekeeping – some spring cleaning – to open the windows of our souls enough for the strong breeze of God’s Holy Spirit to clear out the clutter that’s piled up over the winter. Our resentments, our uncharitable thoughts about others, and our sins all keep piling up on the flat surfaces of our lives.
Repentance is the word traditionally used to describe what Christians need to do to clear off those surfaces – to create enough space for there to be room for God. The famous preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor, writes that repentance “calls individuals to take responsibility for what is wrong with the world – beginning with what is wrong with them – and to join with other people who are dedicated to turning things around.”
What does the top of your spiritual “desk” look like? Take a few moments now to see the clutter that is crowding God out, ask God’s help to clear some space, and then join with others who are dedicated to turning things around. The invitation to a Holy Lent awaits your RSVP.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
We’re just getting started…
Dear Friends,
One of the images for the season of Lent is wilderness. It’s easy to see why. According to the Gospels, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness after his baptism by John in the Jordan River. The people of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. Although we, who live in North America, often think of wilderness areas as being heavily forested, the wildernesses of the Middle East are deserts – dry, desolate places with little to sustain life.
Many years ago, a priest friend gave me a book of sermons by H.A. Williams entitled The True Wilderness. The title comes from one of the sermons – the one Williams preached on Ash Wednesday in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge. Here’s how he began the sermon: “It is a pity that we think of Lent as a time to make ourselves uncomfortable in some fiddling but irritating way. And it’s more than a pity, it’s a tragic disaster, that we also think of it as a time to indulge in the secret and destructive pleasure of doing a good orthodox grovel to a pseudo-Lord, the pharisee in each of us we call God and who despises the rest of what we are.”
Ouch! I remember thinking, is this what I’ve been doing all these years I’ve been giving things up – like alcohol or chocolate – for Lent? Was I just making myself “uncomfortable in some fiddling but irritating way”?
H.A. Williams went on to say that what Lent should be about is entering the true wilderness that’s inside each of us – a wilderness that isn’t so much about our wickedness (although some people are indeed wicked) but is rather about how incapable we are of establishing communion with each other and, therefore, how alone and isolated we are.
This past Christmas Eve, USA Today published an article about how loneliness has become epidemic in the United States. Dr. Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General, gives this definition of loneliness: he says loneliness occurs when the connections a person needs in life are greater than the connections they have.
If loneliness is not your wilderness, you are blessed. If the connections you have are greater than the connections you need in life, give thanks. But if loneliness is your wilderness, Lent offers forty days to reestablish communion with others and with God.
Here are ways we offer “holy communion” – ways to connect – at Trinity during Lent: the 10 o’clock Sunday service (in-person or online), the Wednesday service of Holy Eucharist at noon or the three Wednesday evening offerings: Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm., supper with others at 6:15 pm, and the class I’m teaching at 7:00 pm about St. Mark’s account of Holy Week.
Celebrity doctor Daniel Amen recommends minimizing screen time while maximizing in-person interactions to combat loneliness. He especially recommends church. “So it’s back to church,” he says. “Go back to church. Get involved. Get involved with groups. We have to go back. And really, no better place to solve [loneliness] than the church.”
The good news is that the Biblical accounts about wilderness end with stories of new beginnings, of new life, of new connections. The season of Lent ends this way, too, on Easter morning . . . . But for now, we’re just getting started.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
A Special Sunday
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, February 11, promises to be a special one at Trinity. First, the Reverend Anna Sutterisch, Canon for Formation for the Diocese of Ohio, will be our guest preacher. Anna and her husband, Noah (who was recently instituted as Rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Parma) are the proud parents of the adorable 15-month-old Martin. Her role on the diocesan staff includes thinking a lot about how the church – ‘big C’ institutional church and ‘little c’ faith community church – can best teach and shape Christians amidst the brokenness of the world. She asks, “How can we form communities of courage and hope, when it’s easier to just disappear into apathy and Instagram, putting trust in no one because everyone is a disappointment?” Anna loves to cook, grow and eat plants, and run!
Following the 10:00 am service, all are invited upstairs to My Brother’s Place on the second floor of the Parish House for a Mardi Gras/Shrove Sunday party. We’ll combine the best of the English tradition of Shrove Tuesday – think pancakes! – and the best of the Latin tradition of Mardi Gras (which means Fat Tuesday) and Carnival (which means Farewell to Meat) – both ways to mark the shift to the 40-day penitential season of Lent that begins on Ash Wednesday, February 14. Below are all Trinity’s offerings to help you observe an intentional and holy Lent. – from worship opportunities, to classes and gatherings, to practices you can undertake at home on your own schedule.
We say goodbye to the word, “Alleluia” this Sunday – “fasting” from the celebrations it represents in order to prepare for the great celebration of Easter on March 31 this year when we we’ll sing “Alleluia” joyfully!
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Breakfast is nigh!
Dear Friends,
Breakfast is nigh!
On February 25th at 8:30am we will be opening our doors to members of our outside community for our first soft breakfast opening. Between now and then, there is a lot to do, but nothing that we can’t get done by carrying the load together. As Stephen said in his announcement of this “reboot”, this is going to be Trinity’s signature ministry that is outward oriented.
With food as the catalyst to deeper relationships with our neighbors and friends, we will be enriching our lives in ways known and unknown. But first- we must prepare the way! This Sunday after service we will be meeting in the room known as My Brother’s Place for two reasons:
1. Inventorying what we currently have so we can build an efficient list of needs.
2. Cleaning the kitchen with a good scrub.
If we can have 22 volunteers, 11 on cleaning and 11 on inventory, this will be done quickly. Knowing how well Trinity shows up when the ask is on the line, I am confident in our ability to get this done. Please click here for our signup genius for this event, and I will look forward to seeing you Sunday with some refreshments, a smile, and all-around good time.
Never forget, by rebooting this ministry we are becoming the hands and feet of God in a tangible way within our small corner of the Kin-dom.
Grace and peace my friends.
George (he/him)
Trinity’s History
Dear Friends,
Deep in the bowels of Trinity are a number of rooms that are and have been used for different purposes: the room where AA meets every weekday at noon, the wood-paneled room complete with fireplace that was once the youth room, and the large space where Trinity’s Next-to-New resale shop was housed until the COVID pandemic changed everything.
Heather Meyer, Trinity’s Director of Operations, gave me a guided tour the afternoon of the day I met with the Vestry about serving as your Interim Rector. Since my memory of the space was blurred, I ventured back to the lower level of the church this week to remind myself.
In the Next-to-New space, Lynzi Miller, who served as manager, had posted a timeline of key events in the life of Trinity. Interspersed on the timeline were national events that provide context, for example, the assassination of President Kennedy. I’m told that one Sunday, after mining the parish archives, Lynzi hosted a coffee hour where people could view the timeline along with a photo album she’d created that contained decades of images.
In interim work, we call an event like Lynzi hosted a “heritage event.” Search Committees need to know the parish’s heritage so they can share it with candidates for rector.
What do I mean when I talk about heritage? It’s reviewing how the congregation has been shaped and formed. The congregation’s heritage, both corporate and individual, is the foundation upon which the present rests. Paying attention to heritage means encouraging and hearing all of the stories about the congregation’s past, and embracing the rich variety that makes up this particular congregation. The Annual Meeting this Sunday following the 10:00 am service will be Trinity 181st Annual Meeting. That’s a lot of heritage!
Soon the Search Committee will be scheduling “listening sessions” to hear your stories about your time at Trinity. In March a specific “heritage event” is being scheduled to help us all know about the ways Trinity has been molded.
What do you know about Trinity’s history? Whether you’ve been attending for thirty years or thirty minutes, I hope you have a hunger to learn more about our heritage as we move through this time of transition. And, if you ever want to take a field trip to the “bowels” of Trinity to see the timeline, I’d be happy to be your guide.
See you this Sunday at church and at the Annual Meeting following.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Steer your ship
Dear Friends,
Trinity will be holding a couple of very important meetings after the 10:00 am service during the next two Sundays.
The first – this coming Sunday, January 21 – is the annual presentation about church finances. Margaret Baehren, the parish’s Treasurer, will lead the presentation along with other members of the Finance Committee. Together, we’ll review the financial report for 2023 – our income and expenses, and whether we ended the year in the “red” or in the “black” – and then go over the vestry-approved 2024 Budget.
Numbers aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the finances of a parish aren’t just about numbers. They’re about ministry and mission and our priorities when it comes to the work we’ve been called to do – that is, God’s work. Trinity has certainly been blessed by the generosity of our forebears, who left substantial legacies that support our excellent programs in music and the arts, allow us to experiment with new ministry initiatives, and preserve our buildings. But Trinity also receives significant support from today’s members. The stewardship of our financial resources is ultimately the responsibility of the Wardens & Vestry, but it isn’t only their responsibility. So, plan to get a cup of coffee at the end of the service and take a seat in the front of the church. You’ll gain important insight into the dollars and cents (not to mention the sense) it takes to do ministry in and from Trinity.
The second important meeting – on Sunday, January 28 – is the Annual Meeting of Trinity Episcopal Church of Toledo, Ohio (the official name of our church.) Having covered the finances of the parish the week before, we’ll turn our attention to celebrating the year just completed and elect three people to serve terms on the Vestry. The Annual Meeting of an Episcopal parish is a business meeting to be sure, but it’s also a time to look back with gratitude for all the ways the Holy Spirit has moved in and through us as well as to look ahead to the coming year. Given that Trinity is in the midst of a rector transition, your leadership will review the steps the parish will be taking to identify and call a priest as your next rector.
Some find it difficult to think of a church as a “business.” For many of us, our parish is our spiritual home, where we are renewed each week by Word and Sacrament. And we ask, why should I come to meetings that are mostly about parish administration. The answer is that administration is holy work, too.
In his First Letter to the Corinthians Paul cites “administrators” as one of God’s gifts to the Christian community (1 Corinthians 12:28). The word translated administrating in 1 Corinthians is κυβέρνησις, which means “to steer a ship.” That seems like just the right image for a progressive, inclusive, creative community of faith located in downtown Toledo – one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes! So, please steer your ship to church the next two Sundays and, then, to the meetings that will follow worship.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Truth-telling
Dear Friends,
This coming Monday, January 15, the nation will observe the birthday of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He would have been 95 this year. He was only 39 when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. It’s difficult to think of how young he was when he died.
Many churches, including Trinity, will mark Dr. King’s birthday a day earlier – on Sunday – with prayers, readings, and music that reflect his values and ideals: among them, the principle of non-violent resistance to racist oppression and the dream of Beloved Community.
The Episcopal Church, inspired by our own Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, is guided by the long-term commitment to Becoming Beloved Community in its work toward racial reconciliation, healing and justice. Our ministries are organized around four things:
- Truth-telling: Telling the Truth about Our Churches and Race
- Proclamation: Proclaiming the Dream of Beloved Community
- Formation: Practicing Jesus’ Way of Healing Love
- Justice: Repairing the Breach in Society and Institutions
None of these is easy. Just take the first – Truth-telling – and think about all the ways many people, including some political leaders, try to deny the truth about Black history in America and attempt to rewrite that history by requiring teachers to give – or stay away from – certain lessons, on penalty of possibly losing their jobs. In July, The Washington Post reported that “A 2022 law [in Florida] mandates students may not be made to ‘feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress’ because they were forced to reflect on bad acts committed in the past by members of their race. And now, according to curriculum standards released last week, Florida students must learn that enslaved people ‘developed skills’ that ‘could be applied for their personal benefit.. . . ‘”
Trinity’s own recent unwelcome visit from an avowed white supremacist, who took issue with our Black Lives Matter banner, was a stark reminder of the persistence of racism in our society.
A dozen years ago, a parishioner in the parish where I was rector wanted to find a way to observe the King holiday that would involve the community. He had been part of the King Center in Atlanta in its early days, and had worked with Coretta Scott King, Dr. King’s widow. His goal was to make the holiday more than a day off. He decided to help the local food pantry network by organizing a food drive that would gather a ton of food on Dr. King’s birthday.
Since he was a marketing guy, he called it Feed the Dream. Feed the Dream’s slogan, “One Day, One Ton,” captured the simple idea – and the slogan became the URL for the drive’s website: onedayoneton.org. The idea caught on, and has subsequently received volunteer support from the local public schools, Denison University, service clubs, the local IGA grocery store, and others.
For whatever reason, the King holiday always seems to fall on the coldest day of the year. This year, January 15 is predicted to have temperatures down in the single digits. While we are all trying to stay warm, may I suggest we find a way to make this year’s King holiday more than a day off. I plan to attend the celebration at Glenwood Lutheran Church, 2545 Monroe St., this Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm and then contribute to The Toledo NW Ohio Food Bank. I invite you to join me, or to find another way to help Dr. King’s dream of Beloved Community become a reality.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Breakfast at Trinity
Dear Friends,
This Sunday after the 10am service we will be meeting on the second floor in the room known as My Brother’s Place about the launch of our new ministry “Breakfast at Trinity.” As quite a few of you remember, we had a weekly breakfast program before the pandemic that served members of Trinity as well as the unhoused living in and around downtown Toledo. Due to the pandemic, it went away, and we’ve spent the past year working on bringing it back. In September, Karen Keune submitted a grant to the Diocese of Ohio for $5,000 in funding, while including that we’d try and match the grant through our own funding. While we still have not heard about the grant, I can tell you we’ve received a $5,000 anonymous donation for funding Breakfast at Trinity.
To be sure, there is still a need for a Sunday morning meal downtown for those on the margins which is why we are relaunching this breakfast. But providing a meal is only meant to be a catalyst for relationship building.
Welcoming home new friends and family members who don’t know what they’ve missed is who Trinity is, and this breakfast will provide a great opportunity to expand on that. That said, there are a few logistics that we’ll be going over in more detail at this Sunday’s meeting that I will touch on here:
1. This will be a weekly ministry.
2. Breakfast will be served café style from 8:45-9:15am.
3. We will be asking for six (6) volunteers every week to help make this happen.
We’re not simply relaunching the breakfast program; we are creating a new ministry that honors the spirit of what was in order to make way for what can be. There will be some carryover from the previous iteration of our community breakfast, however. For example, it’ll still be an incredibly fun time where we meet new friends and forge deep bonds. Also, our Director of Music and the Arts, Chelsie Cree, has a few fun things up her sleeves that are going to make this unlike any other breakfast you may have been to. Here are some save the dates to put on your calendars now. We’ll go over them again Sunday:
1. Sign-up Genius going live on 2/1
2. Deep clean of the kitchen on 2/4 after service
3. Volunteer training on 2/18 after service
4. Soft launch on 2/25
I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday after church!
Grace and peace.
George M. Benson (he/him)
Director of Community Engagement
New Year’s Resolutions
Dear Friends,
Have you made your New Year’s resolutions yet? You know the ones I’m talking about – the ones about getting more exercise, spending less time on social media, or finally getting organized. You haven’t? Me neither. It’s not because I have nothing to work on (the list is long!) It’s because I would be setting myself up to fail at keeping any of my resolutions past Groundhog Day.
The practice of making New Year’s resolutions is an ancient one. Archeologists believe that the first recorded people to make them were the Babylonians some 4,000 years ago. For them, the New Year began in March when crops were planted. Kings were crowned during the festival, or subjects renewed their loyalty to the reigning king. Commitments were made to pay any debts owed to the gods, and promises were made to returned anything that had been borrowed. Keeping promises meant that the gods would bestow favor on you. Failing to keep promises. . . well, that was no something one dared do in the ancient world where the gods could be capricious and the consequences dire.
The early Christians picked up on the religious aspect of making resolutions, and the first day of the year became a time when one thought about past mistakes and committed to doing better in the future. John Wesley, the Anglican priest (and co-founder of the Methodist Church) pioneered what we now know as “watch night” services. He intended the services to be an alternative to the boisterous celebrations. It was, he thought, much better to be singing hymns and reading scripture than to have people partake of the alcohol-soaked parties common at the time (and, of course, afterwards.)
Resolution-making these days is mostly a secular thing, with people making promises to themselves rather than to a deity. And what we typically resolve involves some kind of self-improvement. If we are honest, it’s hard for most of us to change patterns and habits even when we want to.
Here’s my alternative proposal – and quelle surprise, it is a throwback to the time when people’s resolutions were religious in nature:
Set a pattern of when you will attend church in person and follow it. (Note that I didn’t say, attend church more often – although I could get on board with that. No, what I am saying is set a pattern and stick with it.
When I was a first-year seminarian my advisor, Dick Norris, gathered his new advisees and told us to create a matrix of when we would attend services in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. If I remember correctly, there were 19 services each week while school was in session (it was seminary after all, where clergy are formed for their lives of prayer.) Dr. Norris said, pick the ones you will attend and then go to those services whether you feel like it or not. Don’t go to the services that aren’t on your matrix even if you feel like it. Sounds strange, I suspect.
His point was our prayer lives should not be dependent on our feelings – that we ought to pray because God wants to be in relationship with us no matter what’s going on with us or how we are feeling – good days and bad days, happy times and sad times, times when we weren’t “feeling it” and times when we were. The point wasn’t our feelings. The point was responding to God’s deep desire to connect with us.
You may not be preparing for ordination, but Dick Norris’ counsel still pertains. At Trinity, we don’t have 19 services a week, we have (mostly) 8 each month. Pick some and show up.
How many should I pick, you ask? To give you a baseline, the Pew Research Center reports that 62% of Christians attend church once or twice a month. You know your current pattern. Maybe you want to continue it in 2024. If you attend Trinity once a month – to put it in percentages – if you attend one service a month, you are here for 12.5% of the services offered. No matter how many services you commit to attending in a month, stick with it.
By the way, what I’ve been talking about is not some kind of self-improvement program. The resolution is about you, to be sure, but it’s about your relationship with God through Jesus Christ and your relationship with your fellow members here at Trinity.
A lot will happen at Trinity in the next twelve months, and you get to decide how much you want to be part of it – anywhere from 0% to 100%. Have fun thinking and praying about it. Whatever you decide, Happy New Year!
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Dear Friends,
In the early 1980’s. I served on the staff of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo, NY. Priests who serve at cathedrals are called Canons, so I was known as Canon Applegate. (And yes, there were a lot of jokes made about my being a “big gun.”)
The cathedral in Buffalo had a long-standing tradition of musical excellence based on the English model of having a choir of men and boys and a separate girls choir. Both choirs toured regularly in England and the United States. In return, choirs on tour frequently made a stop at the cathedral.
One Advent, St. Paul’s hosted the famous choir of King’s College, Cambridge, the choir known for the annual broadcast of the Service of Nine Lessons & Carols. Needless to say, the event drew a huge crowd; the church was packed.
Toward the end of their program, the choristers and gentlemen of the choir sang seasonal favorites – many of them carols well-known to aficionados of the English choral tradition. As many times as I had listened to recordings or tuned in to the Service of Lessons and Carols on Christmas Day, nothing prepared me for hearing the choir sing live in a beautiful space with wonderful acoustics.
The last piece Kings College choir sang was “O Little Town of Bethlehem” to the English tune Forest Green rather than the tune that’s more familiar to Americans, St. Louis. The words to the hymn were written by Phillips Brooks, who served as rector of another Trinity Episcopal Church – this one in Boston. The last stanza of the hymn is a prayer, and it is my prayer for all of us here at Trinity Toledo as we celebrate Christmas 2023:
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Merry Christmas on behalf of the Wardens & Vestry and Staff of Trinity!
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Happy 32nd anniversary, A.A.
Dear Friends,
Today, the Alcoholic Anonymous group that meets at Trinity celebrates its thirty-second anniversary of gathering here. This church, like many other churches, has opened its doors to A.A., recognizing that the way A.A. helps alcoholics recover – built on the simple idea of one alcoholic sharing with another – has made it possible for thousands of people to gain and maintain sobriety.
The A.A. group at Trinity meets Monday – Friday at noon. Like every other A.A. group, the one that meets here welcomes anyone who has a desire to stop drinking, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income or profession. Participation is free.
A.A.’s program begins with the first step: “We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable” and continues through the twelfth step – the Twelve Steps, as they are known. Combined with the Twelve Traditions, they provide a path to personal recovery and the basis for the organization of the group.
Bill W. and Dr. Bob are recognized as A.A.’s founders. Both had initially been members of the Oxford Group, a non-denominational movement modeled after first-century Christianity. The tenets and practices of an American Oxford Group greatly influenced the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
An Episcopal priest also had a significant role in A.A.’s founding. Sam Shoemaker was rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in New York City which was the United States headquarters of the Oxford Group. Bill W. attended Oxford Group meetings there and became close friends with Shoemaker. Shoemaker helped start other Oxford Group chapters including one in Akron, Ohio, where Dr. Bob, a surgeon, became involved. Bill W. met Dr. Bob during a business trip to Akron. He worked with Dr. Bob, who had been unable to stay sober, for 30 days – one alcoholic helping another – the model that has continued throughout the organization’s history. Dr. Bob drank his last drink on June 10, 1935, marked by A.A. as the date of its founding.
How significant was Shoemaker in A.A.’s founding? Bill W. once wrote that “Sam Shoemaker was one of A.A.’s indispensables. Had it not been for his ministry to us in our early time, our Fellowship would not be in existence today.” In another place, he wrote: “The early A.A. got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Groups and directly from Sam Shoemaker, their former leader in America, and from nowhere else.”
For people who have a problem with alcohol, A.A. has a simple program that works. How blessed Trinity is to have them as one of our building partners! Happy 32nd anniversary.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Advent Collection
Collecting Personal Care Items: An Advent Request
This coming Sunday, December 17 – is the last Sunday to contribute items that clients at Team Recovery are in need of receiving.
A collection box is placed near the entrance to the church. Please consider donating:
Shampoo, Bath towels, Conditioner, Toilet paper, Body wash/bar soap, Dish Soap, Deodorant, All-purpose cleaner, Lotion, Toothbrushes, Razors, Toothpaste, Shaving cream
As Jesus said to his followers when he spoke to them about caring for those who were hungry, thirsty, sick, in prison, or naked: “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
What are we preparing for?
Dear Friends,
Since 2003, the Applegates have lived in Granville, Ohio – a quaint college town (Denison University) that is a New England village transplanted in Central Ohio in 1805. Granville has maintained its ties to the past, preserving a historic district that boasts over 100 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. It shares with Lake Woebegon the idea that it is a town “that time forgot and decades cannot improve.”
Each year, the Chamber of Commerce sponsors a Christmas Candlelight Walk on the first Saturday in December featuring musical performances of various kinds, businesses sponsoring open houses, horse drawn carriage rides, and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
In preparation for the event, fresh cut fir trees are set up along Broadway. Children from the elementary school make ornaments and walk to the village center to decorate the trees with them – each class accepting responsibility for a tree. My wife, Terry, is in her 20th year teaching first grade in the school, and annually leads her students to take part in the tradition. This year, for the first time anyone can remember, one of the trees went missing. It was the tree her class had decorated. As the local newspaper asked, “Who in the name of Whoville would do such a thing?” Didn’t they know that little children had made the decorations?
The mystery was solved quickly when Granville police officers found the tree in the Denison University dorm of two young men, who, as the police chief put it, “imbibed a little too much and made a silly mistake while in a really good mood.” The tree was returned, the students apologized, and the matter resolved. Such is life in a quaint college town.
Unlike the Grinch, the students were not trying to stop Christmas from coming. Nor did their hearts need to grow several sizes. But we all know people whose hearts need to grow, and we certainly know from reading other news stories that Christmas won’t come this year for many people in war torn places around the world – certainly not the bucolic, pastoral Christmas so often bathed in nostalgic longing for an idyllic holiday.
As we move through the season of Advent – this season of preparation – what are we preparing for? I certainly hope it’s more than Currier & Ives – sleigh bells and tinsel – holly and ivy. I hope we are preparing for the coming of God’s light and love once again in Jesus – light that shines in the darkness and love that always wins.
Blessings,
Stephen Applegate
Poinsettia Orders
Christmas Memorial Poinsettia Sale
It is that time of year again! Christmas Memorial Poinsettias are on sale – you can order your poinsettia by filling out our online form or you can find order forms at the Welcome Station in the back of the Sanctuary.
When filling out your form, please be sure to include your first and last name, phone number and quantity. If you are requesting a plant in honor or memory of a loved one, please include their first and last name(s) which we will list in our Christmas Eve bulletin.
The poinsettias will be 6 1/2″ with multiple blooms, for $12.00 each. Flowers can be taken home after our 11pm Trinity@316 Christmas Eve service.
Orders are due by Monday, December 18th!
Not Like Other Churches
Dear Friends,
One year ago today my family and I were welcomed with open arms into Trinity Episcopal Church. December 1st was my first day on staff, and being here has felt like the culmination of a lifetime of struggle and hard work. Having gone from full time ministry to the private sector and back, I have worked a lot of terrible jobs, and it didn’t take long before I had a bad day. When people asked how at Trinity has been for me for most of this year, I’d respond with, “this is the most consecutive good days I’ve ever had,” and that still remains true. I didn’t really have a horrible day until July 11th when Priest Lisa announced to the staff that she was leaving.
To share some of my history, this was the fourth time in my professional ministry career a lead pastor/priest resigned within/just after a year into my coming onboard. Of those four churches, two have since then closed their doors.
But Trinity is not like other churches, and I think it is easy for us to forget that at times. When the extraordinary becomes the status quo, it can be hard to see how truly special you all are. I had my “come to Jesus” moment and became a Christian when I was 18 years old. Since then I had joined many other churches, looking and longing for a denominational home. I thought I had found it a few times, but when we joined Trinity it was clear God was saving the answer to my search for the Episcopal Church. It has been such an honor to become an Episcopalian, to have our son baptized here, to be a part of this wonderful family, and to be welcomed home by you all.
While this year hasn’t turned out as expected, I would like to share some incredible numbers with everyone. So far in 2023 we have fed over 800 people through our Food for Thought community partnership, almost 200 people have received NARCAN training since we have partnered with the Health Department’s safe syringe exchange program, and of those trained 17 of them have reversed an overdose with NARCAN, saving lives. We have seen our community grow and change in so many ways. I am honored and excited to see what God has in store for 2024.
Grace and peace.
George Benson (he/him)
Wednesday Noon Worship
Starting Wednesday, December 6 at 12:00 noon worship will begin in the chapel. First and Third Wednesdays will be Holy Eucharist, Second and Fourth will be noonday prayers and intercessions. This pattern will continue through Easter with occasional exceptions. All are welcome!
Blue Christmas Service
A Blue Christmas (and it’s not about Elvis!)
Holding a Service of Healing & Hope during the Holidays
Trinity will hold a special Blue Christmas service in the newly restored St. Mark’s Chapel on Wednesday, December 20, at 7:00 pm.
For many people, Christmas can be a difficult and heavy time because they are suffering some kind of loss – whether the loss is of a person, a dream, finances, stability, health, or something else. Such services are typically held on or near the longest night of the year and the shortest day – symbolic of the darker times of our lives when we find ourselves grieving, lonely, or longing for something better. So we’ll hold the service the day before the Winter Solstice.
During a time that’s noisy with celebrations, we’ll carve out space for peaceful pastoral care and compassionate community for those who are struggling. Perhaps you are the one who is feeling emotional pain or shedding tears as you anticipate the holidays, or perhaps someone you know is in this situation. If so, we hope you’ll come to the Blue Christmas service to be comforted by God’s presence and embraced by the love of Jesus.
No, the Blue Christmas service has nothing to do with Elvis, but it does have to do with missing someone or something – and it will offer a time of peace and healing..