Trinity Stories

All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy: I will open my mouth and tell stories; I will bring out into the open things hidden since the world's first day.
Matthew 13:34-35 – The Message

RECTOR’S BLOG

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Applegate

A Humble Offering

A Humble Offering

Dear Friends,

Today is the first issue of Topics since we learned of our new Rector’s name. It’s the first Friday we get to celebrate an answer to our search for Trinity’s next rector together. We have a direction; a name; a date. We can see it now- the light at the end of the tunnel.

We have great ideas of what we’ll do when Jon and Michael arrive. What shows they need to see, what color his office will be painted, and which of the fabulous Toledo restaurants are absolutely necessary for a good Toledo introduction (Sidon, Tandoor, Tony Packo’s…) just to name a few.

And yet, there is a vast amount of space and time between now and the next. We know that our work is not done. From a mountaintop, we stand looking at our next valley.

So what do we do now?

Now we have the chance to walk together in the shoes we’ve worked so hard to repair. To keep our breakfast food and community warm through these difficult winter months. To prepare a new home and landing space for our incoming rector, and to keep our beautiful, vibrant, progressive, inclusive, creative community full of love and light. To continue to be a beacon for those wishing to find a home… just like we were, when we first walked through Trinity’s doors. Let’s keep being the home we want to be. Who we are called to be in the place we love so dearly.

And how awesome that we get to do this together. And this staff? We’ve got your back.

With a humble heart, I share with you a prayer I wrote for the next leg of our transition.

Dearest God, who knows our hearts better than we could ever imagine, who holds us in the palm of your hand; thank you for your never-ending love and the promises you’ve made to us through our baptismal covenant. Remind us of the peace only your love can instill. And even though we walk again through a valley of transition, let us rest in the knowledge that change is your love language; for you are always redeeming, as our God of the resurrection. Guide our work through the next two months; that your kin-dom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May we work to usher in the change you wish to see. In our brother Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

With a whole bucket of love,
Chelsie Cree, Director of Music and the Arts

read more
From strength to strength

From strength to strength

Dear Friends,

This coming Sunday, January 12, will be my last one as your Interim Rector.

When I was a kid, the Mickey Mouse Club was one of the few programs we were able to get through our rooftop antenna. The original run featured a regular but ever-changing cast of mostly teen performers. ABC broadcast reruns weekday afternoons during the 1958–1959 season, airing right after Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Each Mickey Mouse Club show ended the same way, with the song that began, “Now it’s time to say good-bye to all our company . . .”

Siblings in Christ, now it’s time for me to say goodbye to all of you after fifteen plus months at Trinity Toledo. Thank you for the opportunity to serve Trinity during this time of transition! It has been a privilege and a joy. I will cherish this season of ministry and rejoice always in the people with whom I’ve had the privilege of working.

I am grateful to have been part of a team whose combined efforts have helped strengthen the parish in preparation for your next rector – Bishop Anne Jolly, Canon Jessie Dodson and the Diocese of Ohio; your Wardens, Donna Steppe and Jeffrey Albright, and those who now serve and have served on the Vestry; the people who lead the various ministries of the parish; those who make Trinity’s extraordinary worship possible – especially the Choir and the Altar Guild; and, of course, the staff whose gifts and dedication will continue to support and bless you as you await the arrival of your next rector. Until then, Father Robert and Deacon Meribah will provide spiritual leadership and pastoral care.

Above all, I am grateful for the Holy Spirit whose gracious presence has sustained us through this time of transition. I’ve ben reminded again and again that God’s power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:21, 22)

I look forward to watching from a distance as Trinity Toledo goes “from strength to strength,” and I will keep you in my prayers. As is always the case when I leave an interim assignment, I will miss the relationships formed and the friendships made most of all.

After leading five congregations in a row through their transitions, I’m moving on to a sixth – St. Paul’s, Cleveland Heights. Because I’ll still be serving in the Diocese of Ohio, I’m sure I’ll see some of you at the Winter Convocation at the end of the month and at other diocesan gatherings.

Please continue to show up, to say your prayers, and to support your next rector. The people of Downtown Toledo need a progressive, inclusive, creative Episcopal Church – one that welcomes everyone – no exceptions! Trinity is that very special place. But then, you knew that already . . . .

Blessings,
Stephen Applegate

read more
Star of Wonder

Star of Wonder

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

read more
The Twelve Smart Days of Christmas

The Twelve Smart Days of Christmas

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

read more

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

George Benson

A Word for Sunday

A Word for Sunday

Excerpt from "Another Nautical" found in Amanda Gorman’s book, Call Us What We Carry:   Hope is the soft bird We send across the sea To see if this earth is still home.  We ask you honestly: Is it?   For those not in the know, Priest Lisa gave us this book in an...

read more
The Light and the Dark

The Light and the Dark

The above quote comes from the “Cosmic Order” section of the Song of Creation from the Episcopal Church’s Common Book of Prayer and it is something that I find personally comforting. For so long the church has used the word dark or darkness as synonymous with bad or...

read more
We Came. We Prided. We Conquered

We Came. We Prided. We Conquered

Y’all. Pride was such a good time. Thank you so, so much to everyone who came, donated water, time, candy, WHATEVER. This is the type of radical welcoming that Trinity has been known for, for decades and you help make continue to make it happen. Rest well knowing that...

read more
The Plan For This Weekend

The Plan For This Weekend

Y'ALL WE ARE HERE FOR PRIDE! THIS IS WHAT IS UP: FRIDAY NIGHT:We will be assembling in My Brother’s Place, volunteers, if you are able to get here at 3pm to help set up that would be great! Other than that, it starts at 4 and rolls through until 7pm. We’ll have...

read more

MUSIC & THE ARTS

Chelsie Cree

The one who sings prays twice. (St. Augustine)

The one who sings prays twice. (St. Augustine)

Hello, friends! It is my pleasure to share with you this lovely note from Yvonne Dubielak. Chelsie Some of the most spiritual moments in my life have been while singing: Leading 30 imprisoned men in singing “Silent Night” in a federal correctional facility during a...

read more
Ashley Espinosa on Music

Ashley Espinosa on Music

Hello my Friends!  As promised, this week I have another wonderful music reflection to share with you. This week, it comes from choir member Ashley Espinoza. I hope this note inspires you, too, to think about music; what place it holds in your life, how you use it,...

read more
Relationship to Music – by Hugh Grefe

Relationship to Music – by Hugh Grefe

My friends: For the next couple weeks, I am delighted to share with you writings from our beloved choir. Each of these stories will share something about them and their relationship with music. Today, please read this letter from Hugh Grefe. <3 Chelsie   My life’s...

read more
Pride!

Pride!

Well here we are: We’ve made it to TOLEDO PRIDE WEEKEND!  This weekend we have a fantastic array of great activities here at Trinity that are meant to compliment the fantastic pride event being provided by Toledo Pride. Friday Night, we’ll have a family friendly...

read more