Dear Friends,

Happy Pride Season! 🌈

My name is Michael Kidney, and I’m thrilled to introduce myself as this year’s Pride Chair at Trinity. It’s such an honor to step into this role within a community that lives and breathes love, inclusion, and celebration—not just during Pride, but all year long. As Jon reminded us in last week’s sermon, Pride at Trinity is more than a season—it’s a year-round expression of who we are. That’s something truly special, and not every community can say the same. We are so lucky to have each other.

You may start noticing some exciting changes happening around the building in the lead-up to our full-swing Pride celebrations this summer! The beautiful banners from Gun Violence Sunday and Pentecost? Those are just small pieces of a much larger project we’ve been working on. We’re building momentum for something meaningful—and colorful!

Speaking of colorful, we’re so excited to roll out this year’s new Trinity Pride t-shirts! This time around, we’re keeping it simple: a clean white shirt with the Trinity logo and our descriptor words. But here’s the fun part—we’ll be tie-dyeing them together at our Big Love event on July 31st! Join us for an evening of art, advocacy, and joyful community on The Plaza. More details will be coming your way soon.

To kick off Pride weekend in August, we’re bringing back our beloved Friday Night Picnic—also on The Plaza! We’re expanding this into a wider community Pride event, with family-friendly fun for everyone. Expect a Drag Queen and King story hour, a clothing swap to support our non-binary and trans siblings (thanks to the creativity of Erin Brooks!), and so much more. Erin has amazing plans in motion and will absolutely need volunteers to help make it all happen—so stay tuned!

This year, we’re also joining forces with Better Together, marching alongside other faith communities in the Toledo Pride Parade. In a time when division is too common, we want to embody unity. What better way to show the world that God’s love reaches everyone than to walk proudly, side by side, with fellow people of faith?

And don’t worry—we’ll still have plenty of ways to show off our Trinity Pride! We’ll be spending time at the Episcopal Church booth at the Promenade, alongside our Episcopal friends and neighbors. Whether you’re marching, tabling, or just waving your rainbow flag from the crowd, there’s a place for you.

If you’re unable to attend our Pride events in person but still want to get involved, we’ll be sharing opportunities to volunteer or donate supplies. Keep an eye out for sign-ups and calls for help—every bit of support makes a difference.

Have ideas? Questions? Excitement to share? I’d love to hear from you! Catch me around the building or join us at our next Pride planning meeting—this Sunday after church—if you’d like your thoughts and ideas heard or if you just want to hear firsthand what we have planned. Let’s make this the best Pride Trinity has ever seen—together.

With joy and love,
Michael Kidney
Pride Chair, Trinity Episcopal Church