Letter from the Rector: Staff and Sabbatical Updates

Dear Trinity Church and friends,

Grace and Peace and greetings. I hope this message finds you well as we celebrate your generosity toward last weekend’s Trinity Sunday of Giving. This year’s program spotlighting Trinity Boston Connects remains an important one, and, if you have not already made a gift, I hope you will join me and so many others in supporting their healing mission.

I write to you from Texas with word of a family scare that – thanks be to God – has had a best-case and reassuring conclusion.

Our son suffered a medical emergency while on the west coast. My wife immediately flew to be with him, and I joined them a short time later. After a stay in the ICU and hospital, he was released to continue his recovery nearby. Follow-up visits last Monday declared him fit for travel, but, because of the nature of his injury, he could not fly. Therefore, we made the drive to Texas, where a final set of appointments have now cleared him for a take-it-easy return to his work as a summer-camp counselor outside of San Antonio.

Overwhelmed with gratitude for his recovery, we are also enormously thankful for our parish leaders’ support during these unsettling weeks. While we held this experience close, we were never without the love and care of the Trinity community.

As a consequence of these unexpected events, my Sabbatical will now shift slightly and begin this upcoming Sunday, June 2. God willing, I will look forward to returning on September 12 and joining the parish for the kickoff of our Program Year on Sunday, September 15. In an adjusted plan, I will bookend the summer connected to the Seminary of the Southwest for my continuing study of “God’s will.” I will present from my work at a California conference in early July, before spending a few weeks tinkering on projects. I will then adventure the Southeast and Atlantic seaboard for our daughter’s college tour and enjoy a narrow window with both our children at home.

Please know of my continuing gratitude for this time of renewal. These have been a teeming five years of ministry with you – energizing and exhausting and delighting and demanding, all at once. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I am eager for a fresh season of grace and goodness. Toward that glad outcome, my Sabbatical homework includes identifying strategies for sustainable leadership that continue to grow the congregation, especially as we approach the 150th anniversary of our buildings (in 2027) and, not so much further down the road, the 300th anniversary of the parish (in 2033). Those occasions will find their deepest meaning when greeted by a thriving Beloved Community realizing our forebearers’ – and our own – highest hopes.

During this summer, Trinity will continue to bustle. With our parishioner leaders and professional team keeping limber for another wonderful fall, I can now share word of exciting staff developments:

• Sandy Marxen, who served in Trinity’s offices from 2000-2008, has rejoined our staff as our Manager of Archives and IT. Anticipating that 150th anniversary in February of 2027, Sandy will continue her archival work, and, partnering with Historian, Cynthia Staples, help us tell the fullest story of Trinity. Additionally, Sandy will lend her technology expertise to support everything from digitizing those archives to make them more accessible, improving our WiFi networks to make them more secure, and supporting our Sunday livestreams to ensure the richest “From Home” experiences. Welcome back, Sandy!
• As you will know, Brandon Ashcraft formally began his Trinity ministry this month as our Priest for Outreach. From his place at the threshold of the parish – bringing Trinity’s resources in service of the world, and the world’s needs to the attention of our congregation – he will also take up the meaningful work of moving newcomers in our community from welcome to belonging. Toward this end, he has a full docket set for summer, from introducing himself to those who have most recently found us, to building relationships with current and former leaders in our Outreach and Justice Cohort of the Ministry Council.
• The addition of Brandon’s oars in these waters, allows Kit Lonergan and Paige Fisher to focus their portfolios on the considerable – and increasing – demands of “Parish Care.” Parish Care comprises both our pastoral and hospitality ministries, and this summer Kit and Paige will deepen our “inreach” support, including those celebrating a birth, marriage, or anniversary; experiencing illness or disease; or grieving a death or loss. Likewise, they will be making more sustainable our expanding hospitality ministries, from our well-received “Companions” programming to our treasured Sunday Community Breakfasts. Reflecting these new emphases, Kit’s title is now Priest for Parish Care, and Paige’s is Priest for Hospitality and Care.

To honor my commitments while I am away, I will not be connected to my mobile number and emails received to my email address will not be retained. Even so, our whole team remains at the ready to meet your needs! Please consider Alison Poor, Director of the Rector’s Office, your first point-of-contact; Abi Moon, Senior Associate, to triage programmatic questions and concerns; and Rob Hess, Chief Financial Officer, for meeting administrative needs. Chris Allen, as Senior Warden, and Barbara Dortch-Okara, as Junior Warden, will continue their dedicated, visible leadership, and welcome your outreaches, as well.

 

Summer blessings,

 

The Rev. Morgan S. Allen

Rector