Trinity Stories

Dear Friends,

Last week I had my first visit to the Plaza! I’d seen it through the windows before, but I hadn’t had a chance to wander around outside. At last, though, a Property Committee meeting sent me up there. It’s certainly a brilliant space, and seeing it in this phase before the Spring planting and growing is beautiful and moving in a very specific way.

I remember learning in school about kinetic energy and potential energy. The plaza is bursting with potential energy. Even now, as I write this, it’s raining up there and feeding the earth and the plants are readying for a new creation.

This phase of Lent, along with our phase of life here at Trinity, are both filled with energy. From the outside, both Lent and Trinity may seem like the abundance of kinetic energy leaves room for nothing else. But living in this energy reveals that it’s really so much more. The kinetic energy here at Trinity is very real, but what it really drives us toward is the potential energy that’s buzzing just under the surface.

And that’s where we are in Lent, too. The potential energy is fed by the promise of resurrection. At Easter, it is released in all its kinetic glory.

My prayer is that we live into that Easter promise. May it guide us as we grow together.

Blessings,
Jon+

Dear friends,

Our trans siblings have always existed, and will always exist no matter what any political or religious entity says. According to the Williams Institute, 0.6% of Americans identify as Transgender, yet, our siblings have been attacked time and again. As we look to celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility on the 31st, we will also celebrate it on Sunday morning. As a church that recognizes the image of God in all peoples, we look forward to raising up our Trans siblings not just this weekend, but throughout the whole year.

Trinity drew its line in the sand in 2023 when we adopted “Protect Trans Kids” as our theme for Pride, and we still proudly stand with our trans siblings. We are still committed to calling our representatives and working to steer them to protect our trans siblings in any way possible, and we always will be.

May we remember always that trans rights are human rights, and all human rights are worth protecting.

Grace and peace,
George Benson (he/him)

Dear Friends,

I am still basking in the glow of our first Sunday together. I hope you are, too.

I know that big transitions (in any aspect of our lives – church is just one) can feel like an unsettling time. The nature of the experience is change. And change often means we won’t know what to expect.

Our transition at Trinity is still ongoing – it didn’t just end because I’ve arrived. Now we’re into the part of the transition that involves us learning more deeply about each other. What change will we bring to each other’s lives and to each other’s experience of the practice of faith? The reality is, we will change each other. That’s why we’ve been called together – not to stagnate together, but to grow together.

If we’re wise, we’ll look at this season of transition as more than a season. If we’re wise, we’ll embrace this time as a road map for embracing the truth that we are being called to grow together – to always be in transition together.

I know inertia can be a powerful force, but community inertia only has as much power as we give it. I pray that we will resist it. I pray that we will commit to growing together. I pray that we will live in transition – not for a season, but as a central element of our vocation.

I look forward to discovering the ways that I will grow through you and with you.

Blessings,
Jon+

Dear Friends,

In this week’s lectionary readings, we find a conversation and ritual between God and Abram. This is a passage for which I have a deep love. We read the details: God promising Abram not just an offspring but the land of the Canaanites. What we really see is something even better. Abram, who has long arranged sacrifices in a specific way, FALLS ASLEEP waiting on God to seal the covenant between the two.

Why is that a big deal?

In the Ancient Near East, animals were slaughtered as a way to seal an oath. Two people would walk down this bloody path, and if one of them broke the oath, a curse was accepted along the lines of, “if I am to break this oath, may I become like the slaughtered animals.” Abram, waiting to walk down this path, falls asleep, and CAN’T MAKE THE PROMISE. So instead of leaving Abram and his offspring cursed and solely responsible for the future, God does the unexpected. God appears like a smoking pot and pillar of fire (two incarnations we see God as in the exodus) and goes down the path by Themself and takes responsibility for the future. This is why I love this passage. So often we read parts like this in the Old Testament and skip over the incredible history and imagery behind it. It’s a perfect example of the beauty and mystery in the poetic nature of God.

Friends, we have been on a long journey to get to where we are this week, and at times, in the silence, some of us may have felt like Abram. Accidentally falling asleep waiting for God to show up and do what God said God would, afraid of the repercussions of choosing or doing the wrong thing. And what happens when Abram falls asleep? God shows up, and God takes responsibility for Abram’s future. Even here, this is our God of hope and promise.

Trinity in two years has had three priests, and we have not ceased praying for this community because we believe in hope. We have not stopped the momentum over the past two years of what God is opening our hearts to do in this community because we believe in promise. And my friends, the Spirit has brought us home to this Sunday. We did not have a smoking pot or pillar of flames, instead, a search committee and a vestry, guided by the Spirit to this weekend. And for that, we, like Abram, give thanks to the Lord.

Grace and peace,
George