Last week, I introduced Presiding Bishop-Elect Sean Rowe to you. While we are enjoying the holiday weekend, here's Bishop Rowe's own introduction to his new role: his sermon at the Closing Eucharist of General Convention. I commend it to you!
In Christ,
Kara
I don’t know how I became a “news junkie,” but I suppose it was the same way that anyone becomes addicted to anything: I got a taste of something that made me feel good and informed and excited (and smugly superior), and so I gradually needed more and more of it to satiate my desire, and before I knew it I would go into withdrawal unless I got my daily dosage.
The problem for many of us who grew up with the seemingly limited selection of only 3 news channels (CBS, ABC, NBC) is the overwhelming choice, the sheer volume of information coming at us, in amounts that our brains may not be designed to absorb. Naval Ravikant, American entrepreneur and investor warns, “The human brain is not designed to absorb all the world’s breaking news, 24/7 emergencies injected straight into your skull with clickbait headline news. If you pay attention to that stuff, even if you’re well-meaning, even if you’re of sound mind and body, it will eventually drive you insane.”
The renowned theologian Karl Barth said that pastors should “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”
I think some of us do quite the opposite and “interpret the Bible from our newspapers.” I wonder what Barth would have made of our endless 24/7 news cycle, clamoring for attention with seductive clickbait. I wonder what he would’ve said about my reaching for my phone and NY Times updates, before I reached for my Book of Common Prayer and before doing my morning prayers. It seems that we (I) have put the cart before the horse.
How can we see Louisiana’s recent law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools through the lens of scripture? What does the Bible have to say about Oklahoma‘s new law requiring the Bible to be taught in public schools? And does the Bible have anything to say about the Presidential debates?
One of the most dangerous phrases in history is “The Bible is clear..” and so I’m certainly not going to proscribe specific biblical passages that speak to our current political landscape.
But what I will invite us to do, is before we gorge ourselves on the non-stop toxic smorgasbord that is the news, we spend some time with scripture and in prayer and meditation.
Our Old Testament lectionary reading this week could be a good start:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
As Episcopalians, we are called, commanded even, every week to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord” and our ecstatic response is “Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!”
With God as our guide, with love as our song, the news of the world is an opportunity for us to serve. And I think then we can heed Barth’s call and actually change the world through a Christocentric lens. And what could that change look like for us? For the world?
As you may well have heard, it is an exciting time for the Trinity Church community as we explore a potential multifaceted campaign to raise funds to strengthen the church, now and in the future. The campaign will be focused on how we Remember all that was, Reflect on all that is, and Renew for all that will be.
The crucial first steps are underway in partnership with a nonprofit consulting firm, The Munshine Group, which is leading one-on-one and group conversations for a Campaign Planning Study. As part of the study, many members of the church family representing various roles have been or will be interviewed to get a broad cross-section of input. Approximately four dozen interviews and a few focus groups are anticipated in what will be a process lasting some three to four months. If you would like to participate in one of the individual interviews or a focus group that is scheduled for July 9th, please reach out directly to Annie Bryson at brysona@trinityprinceton.org.
In addition, we have established a Study Advisory Group to ensure we keep with our role as conscientious stewards of Trinity Church as we do our due diligence each step of the way in discerning next steps. Prior to the start of his sabbatical, Father Paul was instrumental in the conception of the need for a campaign as well as its initial planning phase. And while he is out on sabbatical Father Paul is being updated on a periodic basis. Upon his return, Father Paul will be provided with a full picture regarding how the planning phase has progressed.
We look forward to sharing information along the way, as well as the recommendations that ultimately are formed by this work. If you have any questions or input, please feel free to reach out to David Schneider, Senior Warden at david.c.schneider@outlook.com or at 206.407.8612.
Peace,
David
Dear friends,
On this day, the United States commemorates the end of slavery in this nation. It was on June 19, 1865 that Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War. While our nation has come a long way since then in the struggle to ensure that justice and equality applies to everyone, we will always have work to do in seeking "a more perfect union."
For Christians, we are called to this work not because of secular ideologies but because God has created all of humanity in his image, redeems us equally at the Cross, and adopts us as heirs of the promise equally. As one of my professors said in a class years ago, if we take baptism and the Eucharist seriously, if we are made members of the household of God together and share the same blood of Christ, are we not called to care for each other - and care about the injuries done to each other - as we would members of our own family? I believe that we are.
Today, I invite each one of us, as members of the Trinity Church family, to pray that God will continue to show us what we may be called to do as Christians to work towards a just society.
Almighty God, who hast created us in thine own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 209)
Yours faithfully in Christ,
The Rev. Canon Dr. Kara Slade
Associate Rector
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
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.
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
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