God Gave the Growth

The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook currently serves as the Bishop of the diocese of San Diego. Before she was elected bishop, she was a church planter in the Diocese of Arizona. In 2006, she planted the Church of the Nativity in Scottsdale, and she describes its beginnings this way: 

We began with a group of fourteen people meeting in a living room. Over the next few months, we continued to meet for prayer, Bible study, and visioning about the church we dreamed of planting. The committed core invited others to join our adventure, and our group of fourteen quickly grew to sixty-five enthusiastic members. We spent this visioning period laughing, dreaming, praying, and asking ourselves the three basic questions of ministry: Who are we? Who are our neighbors? Who is God calling us to become? 

We began Sunday morning worship services in September 2006 in an elementary school, making music on an electronic keyboard, teaching Godly Play in a portable classroom, taking all our furniture and equipment home with us each Sunday and bringing it back the following week. The work was hard, but we joyously devoted ourselves to the mission of helping God plant a church. 

The Church of the Nativity is now worshiping in its own building, with an average Sunday attendance of more than 200. 

I’m telling you this story for two reasons. The first is that I think it’s a wonderful example of vitality and new life in the Episcopal Church. And it started with three questions: Who are we? Who are our neighbors? Who is God calling us to become? At Trinity Church, we are reflecting on similar questions this summer, as we discern who God is calling us to become in the years ahead. We can discern this as a congregation, but we can also ask ourselves the same questions as individuals. Who am I - both the best of me and the worst of me? Who are my neighbors and how is God calling me to love them? Who is God calling me to be and how is God calling me to grow? What do I need to leave behind? What do I need to move towards? How do I need to be changed? 

The second reason I’m telling you this story is that Bishop Snook is very clear on who is responsible for Nativity’s success. She is the author of a marvelous book on church planting entitled God Gave the Growth, and the title gives the thesis away. There are things that we can do, both as a parish and as individuals, to create fertile soil for seeds to be planted. But ultimately, God is the one who sows the seeds of faith, and God is the one who gives the growth.

This is the crux of our Gospel passage on Sunday. The fruits of the Kingdom grow in accordance with God’s grace, not as the sole result of our efforts. And rather than take credit for ourselves, we can only stand in wonder at what God as done, and respond in love and praise. 

Want to know more? Join me this Sunday! 

In Christ,

Kara

Welcome Grace and Joseph!

Dear friends,

We are thrilled to introduce you to the two newest members of our Trinity staff team: Grace Francque and Joseph Ferguson. Grace has just started her job in Family Ministries to help our children and young people and their families grow in their life in Christ. Joseph will be joining Dr. Meg Harper in our music department as Associate Director of Music on July 1. As you see Grace and Joseph around the church this summer, please do introduce yourselves and welcome them to our parish. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter in our life together holds.

As Fr. Paul would say, forward in faith!

Kara

Grace: Hi there! My name is Grace Francque (pronounced like Frankie), and I’m super excited to be leading Trinity’s children and family ministries! I graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary this past May; my degree reads “Master’s of Theological Studies with a Specialization in Practical Theology and a Concentration in Education and Formation” (I know, it’s a mouthful). For most of my educational journey, I envisioned myself working in a corporate office after graduating from my master’s program (I actually have a B.A. in business management!), but God had different plans for me!! I have a diverse and extensive background in childcare, education, and adolescent social and emotional health; my background in working for the Church or other faith-based organizations is just as comprehensive. God, time and time again, opened doors to opportunities that required me to exercise the skills and apply the knowledge my aforementioned experience afforded me. One of those opportunities was running Trinity’s nursery. I’m certain that God brought me to Trinity, and I’m certain that God, in God’s divine timing, gave me the honor and privilege of stepping into this leadership role in the Trinity community. I am looking forward to laying a path for our littlest parishioners to know Jesus, and I’m looking forward to providing parents and guardians the resources and support they need to build their home churches. I’m also looking forward to meeting those of you whom I have not met!

All are welcome to swing by my office any time to introduce yourself, ask questions about the future of children and family ministries at Trinity, or recommend your favorite TV show or movie — I’m always looking for new things to watch!!

Joseph: Joseph Ferguson is an organist and pianist from Little Silver, New Jersey. A recent graduate from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, he is especially interested in organ improvisation and the role of music in the liturgy. During his time at Yale, Joseph held the position of Organ Scholar at Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan, New York, where he accompanied the adult choir and choristers, performed service music and voluntaries, and conducted regularly. Previously, he earned degrees in Piano from Rutgers University and McGill University. Joseph is looking forward to joining the team at Trinity, supporting the growth of its music program and further getting to know the members of its community.

Welcome Home

Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;  it is so high that I cannot attain to it. For you yourself created my inmost parts;  you knit me together in my mother's womb. I will thank you because I am marvelously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well. My body was not hidden from you,  while I was being made in secret and woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb; all of them were written in your book; they were fashioned day by day, when as yet there was none of them. How deep I find your thoughts, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand. (Psalm 139)

Matthew Shepard was a gay 21-year-old college student who died 25 years ago, the victim of a vicious anti-gay hate crime. Matthew’s shocking death electrified the gay rights movement, and he remains an icon among the LGBTQIA+ community. For 20 years, his parents Judy and Dennis did not know where to inter his ashes; they wanted him to be somewhere safe where he could not be attacked again. In 2018, Matthew was interred at the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC. At the service, The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in The Episcopal Church, heartbreakingly and beautifully ended his homily with “welcome home.” 

I recently announced my intention to start (or restart) a special interest group here at Trinity for members and friends who identify as LGBTQIA+ and I was surprised by the response. Yes, there were quite a few people who identify as LGBTQIA+ who reached out to me, but the main interest came from folks who are grandparents or parents or siblings or uncles and aunts of LGBTQIA+ loved ones. And it moved me to tears. With all the hatred and despair that threatens our humanity, and our seeming indifference and inability to see the image of God and to seek and serve Christ in all persons, your responses were a balm in Gilead. 

Oasis, our new Trinity LGBTQIA+ group will officially start in the Fall, and it wonderfully seems like we will need a separate group for allies and supporters. What a blessing!  Princeton Pride 2024 is June 22, and I would like to invite all of Trinity to be a part of our parish’s pride celebration. I’m thinking of it as our first Oasis official unofficial meeting before the Fall. In the coming weeks, we will let you know how you can help with planning. It will be a party!

Friends, today’s political and social climate threatens to reverse many of the gains made by marginalized groups over the last 60 years. The Episcopal Church stands firm in its commitment to justice and equality. In June 2023, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry issued a message of encouragement to “all of my LGBTQ+ family members,” noting, “I believe deep in my soul that God is always seeking to create a world and a society where all are loved, where justice is done, and where the God-given equality of us all is honored in our relationships, in our social arrangements, and in law.”

The good Good News is this: You are seen, you are loved, you are made in the very image of God.

The Apostle Paul said: “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

Welcome Home

Trinity Sunday

I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity…

Trinity Sunday is the feast day that has launched a thousand jokes. You know the ones: Trinity Sunday, otherwise known as International Make the Curate Preach Day. Trinity Sunday: The only feast day devoted to a doctrine. Trinity Sunday: the day on which you’re most likely to hear a heresy. 

I love to preach on Trinity Sunday. This day of the Church year gets right to the heart of what we’re here to do. Trinity Sunday asks us to get clear about what we mean when we say “God.” Unfortunately, far too many people think that what we celebrate today has nothing to do with their lives. 

The doctrine of the Trinity – the reality of God as Trinity - is relevant to your life and mine. It tells us why Jesus’ life, example, and teachings are authoritative for us as Christians. It tells us why his death and resurrection has turned the world upside down and called us to live as witnesses to that reality. It tells us that the person of Jesus (or who Jesus is) interprets his work and his words (what Jesus does). And who Jesus is, is none other the son of God. 

What do we mean when we say ‘God’? Every time we begin the Eucharist, we say what we mean: “Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” When we say “God,” we don’t refer to a God of ultimate vagueness, of “faith” in general, or “religion” in general. Instead, we are talking about a God who has acted and continues to act in particular ways. When we say “God,” we mean precisely “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”  We talk about a God who acts in the world for us and for our salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the sending of the Holy Spirit. We talk about a God whom we know in Jesus - and who does not change. 

Wesley Hill writes that the doctrine of the Trinity ‘is meant, among other things, to offer assurance to wavering consciences. If we ever wonder whether the grace and new beginning we have experienced through Jesus’s love and the Spirit’s presence among us is merely the momentary kindness of an otherwise unpredictable God, Trinitarian theology says, “No, this is how God fundamentally is — all the way back into eternity, and all the way into the coming kingdom.”’ 

Join me this Sunday as we worship the Triune God together. 

Yours in Christ,

Kara

Come, Holy Spirit

Dear friends,

As we approach the feast of Pentecost this Sunday, I’m reminded of one of my favorite vignettes in Anglican history, the 1739 conversations between Bishop Joseph Butler and a young priest named John Wesley. Wesley, with his revivalist outdoor preaching, was accused of spreading “enthusiasm” among the people. Bishop Butler told Wesley, “Sir, the pretending to extraordinary revelations and gifts of the Holy Ghost is a horrid thing, a very horrid thing.” Wesley responded, “I pretend to no extraordinary revelations, or gifts of the Holy Ghost: none but what every Christian may receive, and ought to expect and pray for.”

Having attended a Methodist seminary, I confess that I have a soft spot in my heart for John Wesley. In a time when the predominant strain of Anglicanism was heady and philosophical, Wesley called the church to be attentive to the real, powerful work of the Holy Spirit today, not just in history. He reminds Anglicans, and indeed all Christians, that the Holy Spirit is alive and active, changing hearts and transforming minds.

Edgardo Colon-Emeric, Duke’s current Dean of the Divinity School, writes,

When John Wesley first stepped out of the walls of the church in order to reach people working in fields, mines and markets, he preached from the passage from Jesus’ inaugural sermon: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). This textual choice was not free from controversy. The 18th century dismissed those who talked about the ongoing work of the Spirit as ignorant and irresponsible. 

Against the theological currents of his day, John Wesley refused to limit the Spirit’s presence and power to the age of the apostles or the institutions of the church. The rise of Methodism was for him proof that the power of Pentecost was still at work in the world. The Spirit was still active in history, particularly among the marginalized.

According to Scripture, the love of God is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 5:5). For Wesley, the social dimension of this love is made visible through works of mercy. Pentecost’s power is at work when we feed the hungry, visit the sick and welcome the stranger. It is also at work when we call sinners to repentance and encourage Christians in the way to holiness.

As we look to Pentecost this Sunday, I invite you to pray with me that perilously life-giving prayer: Come, Holy Spirit. I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to enliven and empower our parish for ministry, and set us on fire with love for the God who has given us this Good News to proclaim. 

Yours in Christ,

Let it Shine

Two weeks ago I attended The Metropolitan Opera premiere of ‘El Niño,” by the contemporary American composer John Adams. The opera is a retelling of the Nativity story through the eyes of the Virgin Mary. It is a mighty work, and worthy of its own reflection, but today I want to focus on one of the stars of the production, bass-baritone Davóne Tines.

Tines is a Juilliard graduate and is one of the most exciting, singular artists on the classical music scene today. He can interpret a Bach aria and match the mighty work with equal aplomb. Tines and his band Davóne Tines & The Truth just released their first recording, ‘Let it Shine,’ and I have been listening to it nonstop for the past week.

‘Let it Shine’ is a reimagining of the familiar spiritual ‘This Little Light of Mine,’ and the way it builds on a simple motif is powerful and overwhelming. The structure brings to mind Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ and the layering techniques of Phillip Glass. Tines also filters his artistry through his very personal lens of Blackness and queerness, resulting in an output that is quite unique.

I invite you to listen to the recording, several times at full volume (link here), and explore with me — as well as your friends and family and community — the following questions:

Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:1). What does it mean for Christians to let our lives shine before others? In which ways are we doing or not doing this in our daily lives? And how can we apply it more fully in our lives?

Davóne Tines’s rendition almost bursts at the seams with exuberance, but the musical structure is scrupulously maintained. How do we exist within God’s structure (protection might be a better word here) and still “let it shine?”

Albert Camus wrote, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion,” and the Apostle Paul declares,“For freedom Christ has set us free!” (Galatians 5:1). How is letting your light at its fullest and brightest revolutionary? What are the things of this world that try to limit the brightness and freedom of children of God living into their most authentic selves? How do we as Christians lift others to freedom?

Sabbatical

IN GRATITUDE: REMEMBER, REFLECT, AND RENEW

Journeying Through the Seasons of Life with Christ and One Another

Sustain us, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.
Give us inquiring and discerning hearts,

 the courage to will and to persevere,

 a spirit to know and to love you,

and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. 

Amen.

Dear Good People of Trinity,

Tomorrow, I will drive to Kentucky and spend a few days with my mother before heading to the Abbey of Gethsemane for a week-long silent retreat.  Upon my return, there will be a couple of days to prepare before my family and I embark on our exciting adventure to Kenya.  

I am deeply grateful for the gift of this time away. I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who worked so hard to prepare the grant proposal and the subsequent planning and preparation that made this opportunity possible. 

I was profoundly moved on Sunday by your kind words and gestures, sending forth me and my family with great love and support. What a blessing it is to serve as your rector! 

With gratitude and love,

God Speaks in the Silences

Last week, I had the pleasure of going with a group of folks from Trinity Church to Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, NY, for two and a half days of prayer and renewal. On the second day, our Trinity group gathered for Bible study to discuss this passage:

1 Kings 19:4-16
[Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.* When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.

*In other translations, this is “a still, small voice.”

I chose this text because of the important role that silence plays in the life of the community at Holy Cross. The monks (and their guests) observe the Great Silence each night from about 8 PM to 8 AM, when no talking is allowed at all. At noonday prayer, 10 minutes of silent prayer are included in the liturgy – something I struggled with mightily! The most striking experience for me, however, was singing the Psalms at each service. 

As someone who prays the Daily Office every day, the Psalms are a significant part of my prayer life. If you look at the Prayer Book, or at the bulletin next Sunday, you’ll see an asterisk at the halfway point of each verse. In monastic communities, it’s a common practice to pause at the asterisk for around 3 to 5 seconds before continuing to the next part of the verse. Every time we paused at the asterisk, something anxious within me wanted to leap forward, to continue speaking, to fill the silence with words. But as we read in 1 Kings, God speaks to us in the silences, in the pauses, in the times in-between. 

We live in a time of anxiety, when our culture surrounds us with noise 24/7. But beyond that, it’s hard to stay silent - to listen for the still, small voice - when stillness means being present to our own thoughts as well as to God. The temptation to flee towards distraction is always there. This summer, as we pause to remember, reflect, renew, and dream a future for Trinity Church, I pray that we will always be ready to hear God’s voice, speaking to us in the silences of our lives. 

Yours faithfully in Christ,

The Rev. Canon Dr. Kara Slade

Associate Rector 

PS We have another retreat scheduled for November 22-24 (the weekend before Thanksgiving). Mark your calendars and join us if you can!