Staffing Announcements & Welcoming Author Sarah M. Broom in September

Dear Trinity Church and friends, 

 

Grace and Peace and August – August! – greetings. This strangest of summers has rocketed (Zoomed?) by, and I hope this message finds you and yours continuing to take care and stay well. 

 

I write today with two hot topics: first, announcing that we as a parish will read 2019 National Book Award winner, The Yellow House, in anticipation of our hosting its author, Sarah M. Broom, for a Zoom reading and Q&A on Sunday, September 20; and, second, sharing the happy news that Karen Coleman and Paige Fisher have both agreed to our removing the “Interim” from their respective titles and continuing their service at Trinity Church. Thanks be to God for all of the above! 

 

The Yellow House and “A Home For Faith” 

The Trinity virtual offices buzz with excitement for our approaching “Program Year,” which runs from the first Sunday after Labor Day, through early June (on or around Memorial Day weekend). Our launching theme – to be shared more in-depth in next Tuesday’s eBlast – will be “A Home For Faith,” teasing off of Sarah M. Broom’s, The Yellow House. Broom’s memoir tells the story of her family in New Orleans East, with Hurricane Katrina a looming inevitability.  This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of that terrible storm, and we are honored to host Ms. Broom for a Zoom reading and follow-up Q&A on Sunday, September 20. 

 

To ready for that event, we will host an intergenerational discussion of the text on the evening of September 13, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. This will launch the return of our weekly Sunday-evening adult formation programming. In the week that follows – Monday, September 14 - Saturday, September 19 – we will host as many as 25 smaller-cohort book discussions. Some of these discussions will occur in extant groups, from the Investment Committee or our Bible Studies.  Staff members will host other small-groups (of 8ish people) organized around different “affinity-readings” (eg, race, the environment, parenthood, place, etc.), as well as broader, more general approaches to the text. 

 

Importantly, we hope that our parish will approach The Yellow House as companions of one another and of Broom’s story, and not as either literary or topical “experts.” That is, we intend to build community with this book. With this as our aim, realize that Broom’s powerful recollection will encounter all of us differently: for some, her experience as a Black woman enduring racism will be deeply personal – even painful. For others, the settings of New Orleans and the Deep South will seem a world away, its unfamiliar map keeping us at arms’ length from her experiences. 

 

As we share this diversity of readings and hear from the author herself, let us make generous, loving room for one another. I pray that all of us will find connection – with Broom, with God, and with each other – as we meaningfully engage this moving story. To buy the book, Ms. Broom’s publisher asked that we commend the parish here to support small/independent bookstores. 

 

 

The Rev. Paige Fisher, Associate Priest for Community Life & 

The Rev. Dr. Karen Coleman, Assisting Priest  

These two faithful priests have been great gifts to our parish, before and since the pandemic’s arrival. As announced last September, Karen and Paige committed to “Interim” assignments for the 2019-2020 Program Year – little could they have imagined what they signed up to share with us! Yet, how they have met these twelve months’ opportunities and challenges. With thanks to God and their goodwill, they have now agreed to continue in their respective roles for the year to come – and I hope for many more after that. 

 

Partnering with Patrick in his role as Senior Associate for Program, Paige’s ministry will continue to include approximately three Sundays each month, with two half-days “in the office” each week. She will serve as an advocate, encourager, and leader of Christian community in all we do, as well as a vital contributor to the idea incubator of our Program Staff. 

 

Partnering with Bill in his role as Vicar, Karen’s ministry will include approximately two Sunday each month. Keeping her eye and heart for the 6 p.m. congregation – even in these stay-at-home days when we are worshiping as one – she will serve as a regular part of our adult Formation, as well as an important member of our clergy team. 

 

Please read below a short word from Karen, and then from Paige, and please join me in sharing enthusiasm for their continuing ministry among us. 

 

Godspeed, 

 

The Rev. Morgan S. Allen, 

Rector 

 

 

From Karen: 

 

Greetings Trinity! 

 

It has been a new and exciting way of being church over the past couple of months. For me, it has been wonderful to meet new people in online forums, community time, coffee gatherings, and, most recently, at Camp Trinity. During camp I had my husband take a picture of me outside our home wearing my Camp Trinity t-shirt. A friend of mine remarked about my giant smile when I posted the picture on Facebook, saying "wow, where was the camp?"  

 

I was recently at the church to pick up my Prayer Book, and I was taken in by that Trinity Church smell of the wood and imagined all of you in the pews, the choir in the choir stalls, helping the altar guild set up (my inner church nerd is pleased), the lay eucharistic ministers, the ushers in the narthex and my fellow clergy.  I am looking forward to our continuing to be together both online and when it is safe in person. 

 

 

From Paige: 

 

Greetings Trinity!   

 

It has been a whirlwind year being back at Trinity with my time looking quite different than the position Morgan and I discussed last September. In the course of one week I hung up my apron from the breakfast gatherings and began to hone my non-existent Zoom skills. I feel so lucky to have been in the midst of this vibrant community as we have all sought to support and love one another through these incredibly difficult few months. From donning a favorite hat for Compline to being swept away by a perfectly threaded anthem across multiple screens, the humor and abiding faith of Trinity in this virtual era has been an inspiration. Whether we are gathered in the hallowed walls of Trinity Church on Copley Square or greeting one another across our respective Zoom squares, I can’t think of a church I am more excited to serve. I look forward to our continued ministry together in the days ahead.