Today was my first Sunday as Interim at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence, Kansas. The Rev. Canon Mary Siegmund, Canon to Bishop Dean E. Wolfe, and Ellen Tracy, Senior Warden, introduced me to the congregation during both morning services.
In addition to the usual parish duties of a rector, an interim is trained to help the congregation clarify its history, discover its present identity, equip its leadership, strengthen its ties to the wider church, and prepare to make a commitment to a new day in mission when the next rector is called. There will be numerous opportunities for members to tell their stories and I've already heard several remarkable ones. People have told me about how they were invited to be a part of Trinity sixty years ago, how they came to be married here, how they raised their family here, how they provided leadership after the edifice was destroyed by fire, and how the congregation shepherded them through a difficult time.
And, speaking of stories, our organist and friend in Galveston, Ron Wyatt, is a remarkable musician. But his musicianship is exceeded by his senses of humor and irony. We've visited about this assignment numerous times over the past couple of months. Yet he never told me that his childhood piano teacher in Victoria, Texas is the longtime organist here, Elizabeth Stephens. Nor did he tell me that her husband, William J. Stephens, who is deceased, was his first organ teacher. I learned about that this morning. That rascall! He knows how to pull off a big surprise better than just about anybody I've ever known. He sat on that piece of information for over two months and enjoyed a big laugh when I called to tell him all about it this afternoon.
Members of the parish and staff have given us a very generous welcome. Trinity is fortunate to have several priests who are engaged in other work but affiliated with the parish. Four of them vested and shared with me in the celebration this morning. Deacons, the curate, members of the vestry and others came on Wednesday to help us move into our new apartment. We are grateful for the hospitality!
There will be a lot of work to do during this year of transition. In light of that, I've appointed a group of people to be in charge of fun. They will remind us from time to time that the Christian life is characterized by joy and help us avoid taking ourselves too seriously.
The top priority of my ministry here is to provide leadership that will help Trinity and their next rector to have a fruitful ministry together. We are off to a very good start. Please keep us all in your prayers and check in from time to time to see what kind of epiphanies God is giving us as our eyes are opened to behold his hand at work among this faithful flock.