It is so wonderful to finally be here! This has been a long journey to this moment for us all. Ever since The Rev. David Sugeno announced plans to retire, Trinity Marble Falls has had the dual purpose of celebrating where you are and preparing for where you are going.
It was January when I first saw the posting for Trinity Marble Falls, read the profile, and viewed the website. I quickly felt a draw to explore the possibility of what we could do together: in large part to your clear articulation of core values and narrative on what you hoped for in a Rector. I now know that these statements were developed in your Holy Cow Survey work, and were intentionally crafted for use by Trinity. And you should know that I was struck by the word cacophony!!! (Well done Jenny Waldo!!!)
My first task, required of any priest seeking a position in The Diocese of Texas, was to list three reasons why I would be a good fit for this particular call.
I wrote that I have a deep commitment to lectionary preaching, holding in tension the context of the scripture with the experience of our times and in the cherished framework of The Episcopal Church.
I wrote that I am not afraid to engage our complicated and at times troubling history, but I do so within God’s love, and dedicated to going forward towards justice and peace, with compassion. Also a willingness to partner with those seeking what serves the whole community rather than controlling the way that it done and who owns it.
And I wrote that my extensive work in the Diocese and The Episcopal Church gives me both the large view challenges that Episcopal Churches are facing while grounding me in the understanding that 21st century discipleship of Jesus is our great gift to share when freely and graciously given.
You may not know that my responses did not go immediately to the search committee, but to Canon Kellaura Johnson, who works for the Diocese, and then into a stack of responses from other clergy seekers for Bishop Andy to review, and to ultimately choose whether or not to pass them along to the search committee.
I had some correspondence with Canon Kellaura, but it wasn’t until April 4th that I received an email: “Thank you for your patience over the past couple months. I wanted you to know that the good folks in Marble Falls received your paperwork this week.”
It was days later that my phone rang with a TX area code that wasn’t spam: Bernadette was calling to invite me to a Zoom interview.
April 9th was the first time I met everyone: Bernadette and David Ralls taking turns asking me questions and sparking conversation among us all.
A memorable moment: David asked me what I thought of N.T. Wright
(Ironically, this is exactly what David Hinton asked me in Thursday’s Vestry meeting. Please note that I’ve now worked 3 David’s into this sermon.)
As to N.T. Wright, I responded that actually, I’m a Marcus Borg kind of guy. But what I love about them both is their deep respect for each other and recognizing that despite being on perceived different ends of the theological spectrum that they are both faithful, brilliant, Christian people.
Our Zoom time passed quickly: I felt really good about our time spent as Priest and search committee.
It would not be until May 30th that we all finally met in person. Phone texts and conversations happened along the way with Bernadette and David Ralls, who let me know he had immediately picked up the book N.T. Wright and Marcus Borg wrote together, along with Borg’s The Heart of Christianity. (Well done! 😊)
We stayed in touch as we journeyed to that next moment of conversation together. And then it was almost immediately afterwards that Darlene, Sienna and I were invited to come and visit Trinity Marble Falls on June 21st.
I tell you all this because you should know how hard this committee of yours worked!!! This is just what I experienced, and know that they did variations of this for other priests as well. Within the Diocesan procedures that had to be followed, sometimes they were free to act, and sometimes circumstances created delays.
What impressed me was their commitment not only to process, but to prayer. Asking to me what prayers were needed in my own life back in Salt Lake City, not just in how it related to their search. I greatly appreciated this soul attention.
It was clear to all of us during that weekend in June that we wanted this to happen. Everything was set in motion, I met with Greg and Dave Eliis (that’s four) to get the details done, and we all came to agreement.
And then came another hard part: waiting to tell everyone…and then waiting for this moment to arrive.
But, here we are!!! We made it!!! It’s our first Sunday morning together!!!
Now, I realize that I have already used up most of my allotted time for preaching, and I haven’t talked about any of the lectionary readings, and it turns out I’m not going to talk about them at all. I promise that this won’t happen very often.
Instead, I want to talk about the Trinity. Specifically, Trinity’s trinity. Our logo.
Look closely at the depiction of the Trinity on the front cover of our bulletin.
I know the rings are a representation of God: Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Three in one…distinct persons but interlocked and fully dwelling in each other.
The logo also is a depiction specifically of this church here in Marble Falls
The design shows distinct areas…it shows places of shared overlap of some…and of course there is the center where each circle dwells.
Our ministries…our leadership…our outreach…all of this makes up the community here at Trinity. Everyone doesn’t do everything, but we all understand that it all makes up who we are and connects us to this Church community.
And finally, I want you to consider one more way to see this logo.
Notice that our “T” is in one of the circles. In this circle, let us imagine everyone connected in some way to Trinity Episcopal Church, Marble Falls…whether or not they are likely to be here on a Sunday morning. That’s us.
One of the other circles is the Diocese of Texas, who we are a part of and deeply connected to, but has additional identity, difference, resources and perspective.
And the last circle, is everyone in our region who doesn’t consider themselves part of Trinity. Lutherans who we share clergy with, but also Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, non-denominational, LDS, and also other faith traditions, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and of course the NONES: those who claim no religious affiliation. They may not be part of Trinity, but we share much common interest, hopes and dreams for our Highland Lakes region of Texas.
My point in all of this is that there are multiple, compelling lenses to understand our Trinity logo, and all of them are helpfully profound and important ways to consider the identity of Trinity.
Jesus said, in his profound opening words in The Gospel of Mark, that the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is near, it is at hand. It is so close it can be touched and experienced, and yet it is not completely realized. Repent, Jesus says, which in this context means to turn towards, and believe in the Good News.
I am so happy for us to begin. Thanks be to God.
(Text version of sermon given on Sunday September 7th, 2025
Comments
Post a Comment