My new Beloved friends,
It is hard to find the perfect words to accurately share my profound gratitude, deep joy and enormous excitement as we begin this journey together! In a few short days our mutual season of “waiting” will be over and we will meet for the first time to worship and give thanks for a love that has no end. So perhaps the best way to begin is simply to say, “thank you.” Thank you for all you have done that has led us to this moment- a time that will no doubt still hold challenges as we begin this next chapter of ministry together, but will also hold unexpected joy and life-giving moments that we might never have discovered alone.
This Friday (9/8 at 1:00pm), I will, on our collective behalf be participating in the “Over the Edge” Challenge to support the work of the Victory Center. I learned of this effort last month and thought this would be a wonderful way to both honor the memory of Trinity’s beloved Susan Lowry, who I will forever be sad not to have met, as well as give us some “exposure” as a radically welcoming and fun community in Toledo. So if you are available and want to see your new priest on Friday, come over to the Edison building; this may be your only opportunity to see me attempt to “leap tall buildings in a single bounce…” Below is the statement I have submitted to be read while rappelling. I thought I would share it with you as well in hopes of conveying who and how I want us to live into God’s amazing love with each new day before us. Come home on Sunday so that we can meet and eat at the Table set for us; a feast of bread and wine to nourish our souls and send us out into the world to do and be good for God!
Lisa Tucker-Gray is the new priest at Toledo Trinity Episcopal Church. Trinity Episcopal is “progressive, inclusive, creative and downtown” – in fact right around the corner on Adams and North St. Clair. When asked why she was doing this Lisa said, “I knew I should have read the fine print in my new job description – but hey- what better way to show support for my new church, Toledo, and those living with the challenges of cancer than jumping off a 16-story building? Makes perfect sense to me!” Lisa’s passionate approach to life brings people in a community together to be more than we could ever be alone. She is challenging the church every day to break down barriers, become more radically welcoming and outrageously generous with ourselves and others. Whether it’s jumping off a building to support the work of the Victory Center or becoming a new leader in the Toledo community, Lisa is committed to doing it with her whole self- and is grateful for a good helmet, strong rope and good friends- especially those she hasn’t met yet!
With heart overflowing with joy!
Lisa