Trinity News Summer 2012

summer 2012 vol. 59 | no. 1

TrinityNews the magazine of trinity wall street

shame

occupy the tension

Interview with the Rector

Ron Artest vs.

Big-Hearted Metta World Peace Hospitality

summer 2012

TrinityNews vol. 59 | no. 1

the magazine of trinity wall street

DEPARTMENTS FEATURE STORIES

1

Letter from the Rector

2

For the Record

7

The Visitor File

8

Archivist’s Mailbag

30

Counter Culture: Prometheus

31

What Have You Learned?

32

Parish Perspectives

36

Pew and Partner Notes

37

Letter from Lower Manhattan

10

Occupy the Tension

Nathan Brockman interviews Jim Cooper 15 7 Principles for Resolving Church Conflict Ward Richards 16 The Heart of Occupy and the Mind of Christ Micah Bales 18 The Courage to be Struggling Nathan Brockman 20 The Pamphlet Wars

Leah Reddy 23 Big-Hearted Hospitality Regina Jacobs 24

Ron Artest vs. Metta World Peace

26

Sacred Cows: Partnerships for Peace in Burundi

28

Practicing Reconciliation

Mark Bozzuti-Jones

29 Resurrection Among the Ruins in Haiti James Melchiorre

shame: noun: a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior; verb: to make someone feel ashamed.

This issue’s cover was inspired by the persistent attempts to cast shame on Trinity by supporters of Occupy Wall Street. “Shame on you” and “You should be ashamed” are now common refrains for those who feel Trinity was wrong for disallowing an encampment at Duarte Square.

Pictured is a well-known photograph of Trinity Church held by a hypothetical Occupier near Duarte square. Photo by Leah Reddy from a concept by Nathan Brockman and Ty Cumbie.

All photos by Leah Reddy unless otherwise noted.

TRINITY WALL STREET 74 Trinity Place | New York, NY 10006 | Tel: 212.602.0800 Rector | The Rev. Dr. James Herbert Cooper Vicar | The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee Executive Editor | Linda Hanick Editor | Nathan Brockman Managing Editor | Jeremy Sierra Multimedia Producer | Leah Reddy Art Director | Rea Ackerman

For free subscriptions 74 Trinity Place | New York, NY 10006 | 24th floor | New York, NY 10006 news@trinitywallstreet.org | 212.­602.9686 Permission to Reprint: Every article in this issue of Trinity News is available for use, free of charge, in your diocesan paper, parish newsletter, or on your church website. Please credit Trinity News: The Magazine of Trinity Wall Street.

Let us know how you’ve used Trinity News material by emailing news@trinitywallstreet.org or calling 212.602.9686.

letter from the Rector

An Invitation to Radical Christian Life “I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

—Joan Chittister, OSB What do you think the purpose of life is? Just as importantly, what is the purpose of the Church? And while we’re at it, what does it mean to be the Church for today, and tomorrow?

I’m glad to invite you all to take part in the next Trinity Institute, November 9–11. Joan Chittister, the eminent Roman Catholic social justice leader and author, will be our guide as we tackle anew these and other foundational, ancient questions.

The conference is called “Radical Christian Life: Equipping Ourselves for Social Change,” and I am thrilled that so many will be gathered in Trinity’s nave and at partner sites around the U.S. and the world. I can promise you that we’re in for a challenging time, as Sister Joan never fails to agitate, provoke, and inspire. She has also never left Trinity Church without a standing ovation. We are doubly blessed to be joined by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, author, teacher, and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, who will preach at the conference Eucharist.

A host of talented leaders drawn from communities of faith here in New York and around the country will lead the conference workshops.

My personal hope is that all those who take part share the sense that we are creating something new together and cultivating new skills in order to accomplish it. I invite you to participate in what will be a meaningful and useful conference, either in person or through one of the many Trinity Institute partner sites.

“Radical Christian Life: Equipping Ourselves for Social Change” takes place November 9–11, 2012, at Trinity Church in New York City and at partner site locations in the U.S. and internationally. For registration, partner site information, and more, go to trinitywallstreet.org/faith.

Blessings,

The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector

Trinity Choir Dazzles in Carnegie Hall Debut

PAGE 2

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, the Trinity Choir made its Carnegie Hall debut with renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz. The New York Times gave the concert a stellar review. “In music that allowed no margin for error with regard to intonation and rhythm, [the choir’s] work was airtight,” the Times said.

“Singing in acoustics far different from those to which it is accustomed, the ensemble was superb.”

The concert was conducted by Julian Wachner. The program consisted of mostly contemporary works, including Wachner’s Rilke Songs, which showed an “imaginative flair for allusive text setting,” said the Times. “The chorus handled the silken complexities of Mr. Wachner’s close harmonies gracefully.”

Trinity Choir at Carnegie Teach-In on Occupy Issues PAGE 3 South African Fellows 2012 Fellows Announced PAGE 4 New Synagogue in St. Paul’s Chapel Hudson Square PAGE 5 Seekers at Trinity Museum Trinity Preschool Celebrates PAGE 6 Fr. Mark’s New Book Conference Center Closing

Occupy: A May Day Teach-In “The Occupy Movement is a light from above through the people from below,” the Rev. Dr. James Forbes said at Trinity’s “Occupy: A May Day Teach-In.” Dr. Forbes, Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church, was the first of the speakers at the event, which convened a group of intellectuals, writers, priests, and activists in Trinity’s television studio to consider Occupy Wall Street and the moral and political issues that face it.

Speakers included Dr. Robert Jay Lifton, author and psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School; Blanche Wiesen Cook, professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Bryan Parsons, an Occupy activist who works with the homeless; and Dr. Jim Jones, professor at Rutgers. Peader & Pio, an Irish folk duo, performed musical interludes between the speakers. Dr. Charles Strozier, professor at John Jay College, hosted the event.

Author Joyce Carol Oates called on Occupy Wall Street to develop a “deliberate and conscientious agenda that’s not going to exclude.”

The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, reminded the audience that “we will not enjoy deep joy and happiness as long as some experience the injustice of poverty.”

Many of the speakers agreed that economic inequality is a moral issue that the church cannot ignore. “There is no authentic belief in God without consistent attention paid to the poor,” said the Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones, priest at Trinity Wall Street. “Occupy Wall Street reminds each and every one of us exactly how courageous we need to be,” he said.

The Rev. Dr. James Forbes speaks at a May Day Teach-In

Located only a few blocks from Zuccotti Park, Trinity has been involved in Occupy Wall Street from its earliest days.

Diego Ibañez, a member of Occupy Wall Street, reminded the audience that “there’s great things going on outside at Union Square,” where thousands had gathered as part of Occupy Wall Street’s planned May Day protests. “A lot of us have felt what it means to lose yourself in something greater than yourself,” he said.

The Rev. Dr. James Cooper, rector of Trinity Wall Street, spoke frankly about the “appropriately intense” conversations between Occupy Wall Street and Trinity, while emphasizing that the two agree about most things.

“We’re at the point of raising the issue, making it clear that something has gone amuck,” said Dr. Cooper. “Each of us will play a part with the tools that we have been given.”

South African Fellows Rested and Renewed for Ministry

2011 Transformational South African Fellows Tshego Medupe, Anne Meshe, and Nandi Tshaka recount their sabbatical experiences in the Trinity television studio.

The 2011 Transformational South African Fellows spent a week in New York to conclude their year of education, rest, and renewal.

The Trinity Transformational Fellows Program recognizes lay and ordained leaders in New York and around the world who are doing transformational work at the community level. The fellows receive support from Trinity for a oneyear sabbatical.

The fellows, Nandi Tshaka, Ann Meshe, and Tshego Medupe, spent the past year visiting ministries, attending conferences, and taking courses to help them better serve children and families in South Africa, especially those suffering from the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is work they have each been doing for years.

Tshego Medupe is the founder of the Tumelong Youth Development Centre in Pretoria; Nandi Tshaka is coordinator of the Bambanani/ Tshwaranang HIV and AIDS Ministry in the Diocese of Christ the King, Johannesburg; and Ann Meshe is founder of the Boitshoko Community Home Based Care Centre in the Diocese of Johannesburg.

“Their faith communities recognized them and lifted them up for what they are doing,” Canon Benjamin Musoke-Lubega explained.

“The fellowship has shown me that one needs to take time off while doing ministry,” said Medupe, who began her sabbatical with a six-day retreat.

While they were taking time away from their ministries, Trinity provided funds for a temporary staff person for the diocese or nongovernmental organization if necessary.

The fellows stayed busy during their sabbaticals, however. They visited HIV and AIDS ministries in other provinces around South Africa to learn about their practices. Tshaka was especially impressed by the ministry in Cape Town, which has faced some of the same financial and organizational challenges she faces in her own ministry.

They also visited HIV and AIDS ministries in the Diocese of Virginia, the sister diocese of Christ the King in Johannesburg.

Though they have many years of experience, the fellows had little formal training in HIV/ AIDS ministry. They decided to register for a course in HIV and AIDS counseling at the University of South Africa.

“I am now able to counsel the children and refer them to right places,” Medupe said. Before, she had to rely on a social worker who visited her ministry once a week.

The fellows also made a trip to Egypt, where they were impressed by the cultural differences and the low rate of HIV infection, and they attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17).

The New York visit included a variety of sites, including Hour Children, the Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, the St. Mark’s after-school program, and, of course, the Statue of Liberty.

“I’ve really learned a lot,” said Ann Meshe.

“I’m lacking words of gratitude.” The fellows returned to South Africa, where they resumed their work refreshed and with new knowledge and tools for ministry.

2012 Fellows Announced Trinity announced the 2012 Transformational Fellows on May 17 at the Ascension Day Eucharist. Each of the four fellows is from Madagascar, a nation where half the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

The Rt. Rev. Jaona Ranarivelo, the presiding bishop of the Malagasy Episcopal Church, announced the 2012 fellows in a video message. “The Fellows Program is a valuable opportunity for the Malagasy church to support people who are active in social transformation—to broaden their vision and to develop their potential abilities,” he said.

Mamitiana Andriamanaly is a lay worker in the Anglican Social Department of the Diocese of Antananarivo. She has been working with impoverished children and families for over ten years.

Jimmy Fridel is a teacher who opened a school and feeding program to serve disadvantaged children in the city of Toamasina. He has been working without pay.

Felicien Rakotoarisoa, a youth minister in the Diocese of Fianarantsoa, has shown determination to bring change to the community.

The Rev. Jules Gaston Velontsara serves a parish in the Diocese of Mahajanga that has recently built a school to serve the children in that impoverished community.

The fellows are awarded a one-year, selfdirected sabbatical for rest, renewal, and continuing education.

2012 Transformational Fellow Mamitiana Andriamanaly at work in the Diocese of Antananarivo in Madagascar.

Trinity News

3

St. Paul’s Chapel Opens Doors to New Synagogue Earlier this year, Trinity Wall Street announced a new partnership with Tamid: The Downtown Synagogue. Tamid, a new, progressive, Jewish community will observe Shabbat and holy days at St. Paul’s Chapel. “We at Tamid are all so grateful that Trinity is opening its doors so warmly to us,” said Rabbi Darren Levine.

The partnership builds on a relationship between the Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones and Rabbi Levine that began while watching their sons play basketball. While looking for a location to hold services, Rabbi Levine recognized Fr. BozzutiJones on the Trinity website. “I did not realize he was a priest, nor a priest at Trinity,” said Rabbi Levine.

The synagogue held its first Shabbat service at St. Paul’s in May, for more than one hundred

The Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones, Priest for Pastoral Care and Nurture for Trinity Wall Street, with Rabbi Darren Levine, founding rabbi of Tamid.

people, and will begin holding monthly services in September. “Tamid is focused on building community around prayer, learning, and social justice,” Rabbi Levine said.

The partnership continues Trinity’s tradition

of opening its doors to the community. The Rev. Dr. James Cooper, rector of Trinity, said, “On many occasions we have the opportunity to celebrate interfaith relationships. It is part of what we do that makes us who we are.”

Hudson Square Welcomes Food Trucks and New Tenants Trinity Real Estate and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council brought art, music, and food to Hudson Square this summer at LentSpace, located at Duarte Square. Food trucks selling everything from ice-cream sandwiches to Chinese food to pizza served the neighborhood from 11am to 3pm on weekdays, while musical acts, dance groups, and other artists performed.

Income from the food truck leases was donated to Meals on Wheels.

In other news, two major leases were signed at Hudson Square. Havas, a French advertising and communications company, signed a fifteen-year lease for 260,000 square feet of space at 200 and 205 Hudson Street. Havas’ clients include Charles Schwab and Evian. Tory Burch, a fashion designer, signed a ten-year lease for 80,000 square feet at 350 Hudson Square. Founded in 2004, the company is known for luxury women’s apparel, handbags, and accessories. Havas and Tory Burch join an expanding roster of media, creative, and nonprofit companies in Hudson Square, including New York Magazine, Viacom, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Children’s Museum of the Arts, and many others.

4

Trinity News

Community members line up at a food truck at LentSpace in Hudson Square.

Trinity Preschool Celebrates Thirty Years On weekdays, lines of preschoolers can be seen making their way to the Trinity churchyard to play, much as they have since 1982. As the number of children and the size of the strollers have grown over the years, so has Trinity Preschool’s place in the community. The preschool celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in April.

Trinity Preschool opened at 68 Trinity Place on April 5, 1982, under the leadership of Trinity’s rector, Robert Parks. “Bob Parks had a commitment to Christian education and also had a commitment to serving the community,” said the Rev. Canon James G. Callaway, D.D., who was the Deputy for Faith Formation and Education at the time.

Rashele Yarborough, who was enrolled in the program in 1984, is now a medical student at Yale. She remembers her days at the preschool fondly. “I remember going to play in the jumping room, singing songs together, learning Spanish. I think that growing up in such an environment fostered a love for learning that has only grown.”

Today, thirty-six teachers nurture and teach children from six months to five years old. The school has a capacity to teach one hundred twenty-seven students every day, an increase from seventy-five children when it first opened.

A member of the Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York, the school maintains high standards.

“We have a real commitment to the children’s uniqueness,” said Linda Smith, Director of

Left: Preschoolers and their teacher in the 1980s, shortly after the school opened.

Below: Bob Scott, Director of Faith Formation and Education; Matthew Park, Program Coordinator of the Preschool; Leigh Delaney, Assistant Director of the Preschool; Linda Smith, Director of the Preschool; and the Rev. Canon James Callaway, former Deputy for Faith Formation and Education.

the preschool. “We focus not just on cognitive development but also spiritual and emotional development. We really try to develop a curriculum that is responsive to the needs and interests of the children. It requires a lot of creativity on the teacher’s part.”

Teacher Natalie Cruz-Escuted has taught at Trinity Preschool since 1989. “I grew with Trinity

Preschool as a person, a mother, and a teacher,” she said. “When I went through hard times, the children really kept me going. I love my job.”

As more residents have moved to Lower Manhattan, the preschool has become a fixture of the neighborhood. Now almost seventy percent of parents whose children attend the preschool live and work in Lower Manhattan, a significant increase from 1982 when most families lived in other parts of the city.

The preschool continues to welcome a diverse group of children and families from all backgrounds. “We welcome people of all faiths to Trinity,” said Kathy Bozzuti-Jones, the chaplain of the preschool. “Every child is known and loved and nurtured.”

Soul Seekers at Trinity Museum A new exhibit, “Soul Seekers: Interpreting the Icon,” was on view at Trinity Museum in May, June, and July. The exhibit provided an opportunity to reconsider the form, status, and relevance of iconography in our culture. An eclectic and surprising collection of works from the hands and minds of modern-day artists, designers, and producers was presented. The exhibit was sponsored by Trinity Wall Street Music and the Arts and Phenomena Project.

Visitors discuss the artwork at the exhibit opening.

Trinity News

5

Fr. Mark Bozzuti-Jones Reflects on His New Book The Gospel of Barack Hussein Obama According to Mark is Fr. Mark Bozzuti-Jones’ first self-published book, a blend of fiction, Gospel stories, and President Barack Obama’s words.

Not everyone is going to like the book, but many will be inspired and enlightened by it.

“I went through a lot of [Obama’s] life events and the words that he spoke and put them in the form of a story that kind of matches the Gospel,” explained Bozzuti-Jones. “I did that because I believe that if we spent time looking at our own lives, we would recognize that our actions, our words, bring life, bring hope, bring healing.”

It may surprise some to hear that the book is not meant to be political. “I have tremendous respect for all people, no matter which side of the political spectrum they are on,” Bozzuti-Jones explained. “That said, I do believe that President Obama has accomplished the fulfillment of the Declaration of Independence: that all people are created equal, and so more than any other

person in the last decades he has fulfilled the American dream.”

The book comes from Bozzuti-Jones’ incarnational theology. “As Christians and as a world, we don’t give sufficient credit to what it means to be born in the image and likeness of God. If more human beings could see the divine in the other, they could point to the divine in each other.”

How does one read the book? Perhaps it helps to think of it as genre literature, meant to inspire and teach.

“The Gospel is a kind of a genre: it’s poetry, it’s imagery, it’s metaphor at their best.”

Bozzuti-Jones doesn’t equate his book with the four Gospels in the Christian Bible. “But on close examination I think what this book does is give insight into how the original Gospel writers saw Jesus and how they put his words together in a way that made theological sense.”

He hopes everyone can take something from it, even those who might be shocked by the book’s title or contents. “That’s the nature of Gospel: to shock us, to change us, to startle us into thinking about what it would mean if I did this for God, what would it mean if I set about to try to follow God, to try to change the world.”

Trinity Conference Center at West Cornwall Closing Its Doors This is an excerpt of a letter from the Rev. Dr. James Cooper, Rector of Trinity Wall Street. Read the full letter at trinitywallstreet.org.

After extensive study, conversation, and deliberation, the Trinity Vestry decided that the Trinity Conference Center in West Cornwall, Connecticut, will cease operations effective in November. All involved deeply understand how the conference center has touched so many people’s lives, including the people of Trinity parish.

Above: Campers and counselors pose in 1957.

Right: A dedication ceremony held on June 15, 1954.

The Rev. John Heuss, Rector of Trinity, and the Rt. Rev. Walter H. Gray, Bishop of Connecticut, lead the congregation.

Right inset: Campers raise a flag in 1988.

6

Trinity News

In the past ninety-seven years, the camp in West Cornwall underwent many transitions, from a rural farm to a camp for boys and girls to the Trinity Conference Center, where communities came together for rest, spiritual renewal, and community building by the beautiful Housatonic River. For countless vestries, parishioners, grassroots organizations, and nonprofit leaders, the

center was a place where excellence in hospitality and beautiful surroundings inspired reflection, conversation, and the kind of being together that truly brought people into community.

Closing the Trinity Conference Center does not end the relationships that were formed there, nor the ideas formed among the people of good faith and conscience who gathered there.

What do you think grassroots organizations can and should be doing?

I think they’ve got to be making it clear that the fossil fuel industry is a radical rogue industry at this point. That it devotes itself daily to the task of altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere even though scientists have warned us that this is the most dangerous activity that human beings have ever engaged in, and hence it’s the most radical act that one can imagine. All of us play some part in it by burning fossil fuel, but only the fossil fuel industry works night and day and spends its considerable resources to make sure that no government ever interferes with this path.

Bill McKibben Bill McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with The End of Nature in 1989. He is a founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org. Time magazine called him “the planet’s best green journalist.” McKibben visited Trinity on May 22, to participate in Wall Street Dialogues, a series of conversations on the moral and ethical issues raised by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

How did you become an environmental activist?

My first job out of college was writing for The New Yorker, and I wrote a long piece about where everything in my apartment came from.

It impressed on me the physicality of the world in a way I hadn’t understood before. After I quit The New Yorker I moved up to the Adirondacks. That was about the moment that I was reading the early science about climate change and beginning to understand that this wild and beautiful place was not as wild as it seemed.

What does 350.org stand for?

350 is the most important number in the world, though no one knew it until 2008. That’s when Jim Hansen at NASA, our greatest climatologist, and his team published a paper saying that the most carbon we can safely have in the atmosphere is 350 parts per million. At least if we want a planet similar to the one on which civilization evolved and to which life on earth is adapted. It’s very stern language for a scientist. Sterner still when you know that wherever you are, we’re already well past it: whether you’re in Manhattan or Mongolia, the atmospheric concentration of CO2 right now is 393 parts per million and rising two parts per million per year.

What role does faith play in your feelings about the environment?

It doesn’t strike me that the theology is all that complicated. God gave us this sweet planet and his very first instructions were to take care of it, to exercise dominion over it, which to my mind is not the same as saying trash it. When you get to the Gospels, again it doesn’t ever strike me as incredibly complicated. Jesus just keeps saying over and over again, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Thanks to climate change we are managing to drown our neighbors, starve our neighbors, give them a whole wide new variety of interesting diseases, on and on.

What role should the church play in affecting climate change?

I think the church should be playing an absolute leadership role. It’s getting a little better as time goes on, but it’s not, for the most part, playing that leadership role. The Dalai Lama has been a big help in our work at 350. Bartholomew, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church, leader of four hundred million Eastern Christians, said in one of his sermons, “Global warming is a sin and 350 is an act of redemption.” That’s useful talk. Much more useful than the endless position papers that denominations pass.

The problem can be overwhelming. Where does someone concerned about the environment start?

One’s intuition that alone one can do nothing about this is correct. I mean, you should change your lightbulb but you shouldn’t really fool yourself into thinking that that amounts to much. If you’re willing to take part in the biggest fight we’ve ever had, then you need to get involved in the political arena. And that’s why we’ve set up 350.org. It’s very much a grassroots, homemade, but by now pretty effective operation. 350.org works in every country on earth except North Korea. CNN has called it the most widespread political action in the planet’s history.

Do you feel hope about the future?

Truth be told, I try to spend as little time as possible figuring out whether we’re going to win or lose. It seems sufficient to get up every day and do one’s work to try and change the odds of that wager. The science is very dark, and politically we’ve accomplished very little as a society or a civilization so far.

On the other hand we’re finally building this political movement.

If you go to 350.org and just look at the pictures flowing in, you can’t help but be moved, and so that’s enough to keep me going. That and the important consolation that, as people of faith, we’re not compelled to believe that we have to do it all on our own. If we do everything we can, then perhaps forces larger than us will meet us halfway. That’s not faith as an excuse for not doing anything. It’s faith as an excuse for not completely despairing while you do everything you can do.

Trinity News

7

Preserving Porticos and Saving Steeples

In 2011, Trinity Wall Street reviewed the exterior and interior conditions of Trinity Church, St. Paul’s Chapel, and Trinity Church Cemetery and developed a long-term plan for the stabilization and conservation of these historic buildings.

Here, the Archivist’s Mailbag explores two of these fascinating projects.

History Beneath St. Paul’s West Portico It was an unusually warm March day in Lower Manhattan as archeologist Joan Geismar sifted through dirt removed from below the west portico of St. Paul’s Chapel.

“I was hoping to get an 1814 coin or something that would tell us when the portico was put in,” Geismar explained. “But it looks like the portico has been redone several times.”

Though Geismar didn’t find a coin, she did find pieces of an earlier Lower Manhattan mixed into the dirt: an oyster shell and shell fragments, a shard of rim from a glass container, a fragment of animal bone, and a bobby pin.

Geismar is just one of the many folks involved in the preservation and renovation projects currently underway at Trinity Church, St. Paul’s Chapel, and Trinity Church Cemetery.

Trinity Wall Street first hired ICR (Integrated Conservation Resources) to help Trinity develop a long-term plan for the stabilization and conservation of Trinity Wall Street’s historic buildings.

At St. Paul’s Chapel, ICR conducted in-depth surveys of the buildings, researching original construction methods, examining the buildings’ material, delving into the Trinity Church Archives, and using laser scanning to digitally document the chapel.

8

Trinity News

After the survey, work began to stabilize the west portico by making repairs to its foundation. Because St. Paul’s Chapel is an historic landmark, the New York City Landmarks and Preservation Commission required that an archeologist—in this case Geismar—participate in the process. Her job is to make sure that all work is done in a manner amenable to preservation, to document any artifacts found, and to record any new information discovered.

The west portico sits atop the burial vaults of the Ogden and Waddington families. ICR has worked diligently to ensure that the vaults are not opened or compromised in any way during the portico stabilization process.

The vaults’ original owners, Thomas Ogden and Joshua Waddington, were wealthy brothersin-law who were both active in the parish.

Thomas L. Ogden served Trinity Church as vestryman and church warden and represented Trinity as an attorney. A descendant of a family of lawyers, he studied law with Richard Harison and practiced with Alexander Hamilton.

The most recent burial was in 1942, when Fanny Ogden, granddaughter of Thomas Ogden, passed away at the age of ninety-three. The New York Herald Tribune ran a story headlined “Fanny Ogden Buried in Vault of Ancestors: St. Paul’s Chapel Graveyard Crypt, 128 Years Old, is opened for Last of Line.” The story described her burial:

“To open the crypt to receive Miss Ogden’s casket, workmen had to dig up three feet of earth just west of the porch of the church, New York’s oldest public building. They reached two slate slabs which, when removed, gave access to the narrow stone steps leading down to the crypt under the porch. There is no inscription on the outside of the crypt, but a small arch at the foot of the stairs is marked—Ogden vault, 1814.

“Miss Ogden’s coffin was placed beside that of her grandfather, Thomas Ludlow Ogden, a distinguished New York lawyer, who died on Dec. 20, 1844; her parents, her brother and other members of the family. The family lived in lower Manhattan when it was a rural area.

When St. Paul’s Chapel was built in 1766 it was the center of community life.”

Top left: Archeologist Joan Geismar at St. Paul’s. Below, top to bottom: The vault marker with Thomas Ogden’s name beneath the portico. St. Paul’s Chapel with scaffolding above the portico.

To reach the portico’s foundation and the vaults, workers first built a protective shed around the portico. Columns, stucco, and mortar were removed, and, a winch lifted the heavy stones of the portico floor.

The tops of both vaults were uncovered.

Geismar and colleagues sifted through samples of the dirt, hunting for artifacts.

The dirt used in the portico foundation was likely “redeposited fill”—essentially dirt mixed with trash from an unknown location. The oyster shell, piece of animal bone, and glass shard were all tossed out into a garbage heap that was later used to fill in the foundation of St. Paul’s portico.

In the end, Geismar pronounced the area under the portico explored and documented to date, free of any artifacts that would prevent the portico renovation project from going forward.

Why Is There Scaffolding Around Trinity Church?

The spire of Trinity Church rises to a height of 280 feet, 5 inches, and was once the tallest structure in New York, a beacon to ships entering the harbor. Now surrounded by skyscrapers, it remains an important landmark for both tourists and those who live and work in Lower Manhattan.

Visitors to Lower Manhattan this summer will find scaffolding rising around the church’s historical spire. Survey and repair work will begin once the scaffolding is complete in early July.

Repairs will include “tooling,” work on the mortar joints, and “spaulding,” removing and sometimes patching the flaking outer layers of sandstone.

The masonry will be cleaned once the repair work is complete. Specifically, the green moss that currently grows on the stones will be removed.

A structural engineer will evaluate the spire.

This is not the first time the spire has been repaired. In 1935 the comptroller of Trinity Parish hired Hobart Upjohn, grandson of Trinity’s architect Richard Upjohn, to “study the extent to which the spire and tower are out of plumb.” Upjohn’s study, conducted with contractor Ralph Chambers, revealed that the spire “inclines at its topmost point about 22 ½ inches from the vertical,” toward the east. After reading Upjohn’s report, the Vestry approved funds for structural underpinning of the spire.

Throughout most of the twentieth century, the edifice of Trinity Church was black—a “somber” and “brooding” presence at the head of Wall Street. The color was the result of a supposedly protective paraffin coating applied to the stone in the early 1900s. The coating attracted the city’s ubiquitous coal dust, eventually obscuring the church’s true sandstone color. The paraffin also wound up exacerbating the deterioration of the stone.

In 1987, amidst a slew of Lower Manhattan restoration projects, the parish created a plan to remove the paraffin coating and clean the church. The work was expedited and expanded after a piece of stonework fell from the church.

The 1992 Christmas issue of Trinity News explained the work that followed: “A stone conservationist was brought in, and combined chemical-and-steam cleaning process was decided upon, and work began ... Up to fifteen crew members worked to clean and repair the church, alternating between chemicals during the day, and steam at night. … Little by little, as work progressed, the somber blackness began to give way, surprisingly, to a light brown color, tinged with an unmistakable pink hue. The lighter color brought out the details of the stone carving on the exterior of the church, and expert carvers went to work to recapture the precise details of the superb masonry.”

Top: Workmen atop the Trinity spire circa 1900.

Bottom: Workmen on roof of Trinity Church in the mid-twentieth century.

In addition to the work on St. Paul’s west portico and the Trinity Church spire, the Audubon Terrace and walkways, roadways, and driveways at the Trinity Church Cemetery were repaired and restored. Upcoming projects include repairs to the roof of Trinity Church, the retaining wall along Trinity Place, the east portico of St. Paul’s Chapel, and restoration of the Trinity Church Cemetery gates and Caretaker’s Cottage.

Trinity News

9

occupy

An Interview with Jim Cooper

At the end of last summer, as Trinity Wall Street welcomed Lower Manhattan’s residents and visitors to observances of the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, the Rev. Dr. James Cooper had just been told that his Vestry wanted him gone.

the tension O r at least that’s what he thought was true, while he preached in a very public pulpit and led an iconic parish at an important moment in the life of its city. Usually, internal arguments are precisely that; but later that year and into the next, disagreements over the leadership and direction of Trinity, a parish born before the country, spilled into the pages and pixels of a number of New York City’s widely-read newspapers and online news sources.

In another jet stream of conflict in what would become a challenging storm for Dr. Cooper, members of Occupy Wall Street identified with and influenced by its counterpart, Occupy Faith, were pressuring Trinity for use of its Duarte Square site, a mile north of Trinity Church, as a post-Zucotti Park encampment. On December 17, 2011, after Trinity, the bishop of New York, and the presiding bishop had clearly stated the property was not for the seizing, protesters staged a rally at the site and, armed with a

wooden ladder and bolt cutters, and led by retired Episcopal bishop George Packard, claimed victory in the name of Occupy. Although the district attorney offered noncriminal dispositions, a small number of the protesters forced a trial, in which Dr. Cooper testified, and were convicted. The sentence for the majority was four days of community service; the sentence for one who used bolt cutters to open the Duarte fence was forty-five days imprisonment.

Dr. Cooper was in his seventh year as Trinity’s rector when these very public conflicts began.

He is still rector and has no plans to retire early. A new Vestry is in place after a number of resignations.

As a new summer began, Cooper, the seventeenth rector of Trinity Church, sat down to answer some questions about Occupy, Duarte Square, the Trinity Vestry, and more.

The interview is lightly edited for clarity and length. Online, find the full version, which contains explanatory links and video clips.

Go to trinitywallstreet.org. —Nathan Brockman

Nathan Brockman: If I look at my inbox since last December, a lot of the emails say “shame on you.” Do you feel shame about anything around Occupy Wall Street?

Jim Cooper: I don’t feel ashamed of anything.

But I certainly reflect on the course we have taken, and I think we’ve taken the right course.

NB: Do you think Trinity as a whole should be ashamed of anything?

JC: No, it should be reflective and responsive to criticism.

NB: I took a look at some comment boards on the topic and found three questions that people had asked. So here we go: 1. What could Trinity have done to avoid the trial that resulted in the convictions?

JC: We tried to provide alternatives inside our buildings downtown. Use of Duarte Square was never an option. Once that decision was made, those who chose to not accept the decision set the course for the way that would go.

Trinity News

11

NB: 2. Was Trinity acting out of stubbornness in cooperating with the district attorney?

JC: Trinity responded to the DA as opposed to cooperating. I think the DA cooperated with us when we asked for no jail sentences and no fines and to be sure that people had the opportunity to be released without going to court.

NB: 3. This is from George Packard in his sentencing statement. He said to the courtroom, “Is Trinity a corporation worried about fiduciary interest or a portion of the Body of Christ?”

JC: George knows the answer to that. We’re interested in the Body of Christ. We’re Christians— I think he still considers me that, and vice-versa, of course. The issue was on what serves humanity and what was safe. An encampment at that site was not safe. We, as neighbors to the encampment at Zucotti Park, saw it deteriorate. It ended up with people there who felt threatened who looked for space here [at Trinity] for counseling, particularly women. It was unsanitary. It was not supportive of the larger neighborhood. Those were the kind of things we wished to avoid in our neighborhood around Hudson Square.

Dr. Cooper speaks with the Rt. Rev. George Packard.

“ We’re interested in the Body of Christ.

We’re Christians” NB: Do you feel Trinity was clear about that position?

JC: Certainly—constant and clear that [Duarte Square]was not a site for an encampment.

NB: Not that your memory needs refreshing, but this is a picture of Duarte Square on December 17 (see page 14): people crowded against a fence with police officers on either side, and the fence appears about to break down. You watched that first hand.

JC: I had not intended to be there to watch it,

although circumstance ended up [with] me being there when that occurred. Watching it was frightening because the property had already been occupied by a few [who] came over the fence. One occupier had been arrested and was seated under that fence, and had the other protesters on the outside pushed the fence over it would have crushed the person. It was very dangerous. You know, again, that kind of gathering has potential for very hazardous consequences.

And luckily the police officers pulled that person away and the fence did not go over.

NB: The buck stops [with you] in terms of the stewardship of that land, that property, and in a sense that situation. How did it feel to you to be watching that?

JC: I wanted the safety of all concerned.

NB: Something else Bishop Packard had 12

Trinity News

said in his defense was that he believed you would change your mind on Duarte Square, and he cited you and your wife, Tay, meeting with the hunger strikers late at night. Why did you do that?

JC: I met with the hunger strikers because one of their mothers had contacted me in the hopes that I would, so I honored that request. Bishop Packard indicated that if I would just meet with them, they would break their hunger strike.

That turned out not to be true, and maybe he was confused about what he was asking me— that by meeting with me they would convince me [to permit the use of Duarte Square].

In either case, neither he nor they convinced me.

The large number of Trinity advisors and folks that I looked to for counsel on this decision were more persuasive [on the need] to protect human life, have a safe environment, and to have a healthy neighborhood at Duarte Square.

NB: Can you explain your sense of someone like Earl Kooperkamp [rector of St. Mary’s, Manhattanville], who is a longtime Trinity partner and has received a significant amount of funding over the years for his wonderful ministry in Harlem. And now he is a vocal critic, or at least around Occupy is a vocal critic, and participated in some actions against Trinity.

JC: I think he would consider me a vocal critic of his ministry on that occasion. And yet we’re able to differentiate and celebrate the numerous

other things we have done together as partners.

In fact, I had dinner with him and his wife shortly after the occupation.

NB: Do you have a concern that there might be long-term reputation damage to Trinity in some circles of the Church?

JC: I think there’s both those who feel that Trinity did very much the right thing, and that reputation will also continue; but there are those who feel that we did the wrong thing.

NB: You have received threats against your safety, against your life. Do you take them seriously?

JC: I take them as another way of trying to intimidate me and Trinity to take a different course.

NB: Have you felt supported by clergy colleagues?

JC: I certainly have, from those who have chosen to call up or those I see in a social setting.

I think many of them are cautious about having their property seized and taken away from them and their ministry and their use.

NB: In hindsight, is there anything you would have done differently with regard to Occupy Wall Street?

JC: Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless, grassroots movement and it goes where the wind blows it, so I don’t know what there would have been to counter that.

NB: Switching gears now, the way the story was told in the press, you were at one point last summer encouraged to retire by members of the Vestry—members who later resigned. Can you describe your decision to remain as rector?

JC: Well, I was presented with the opportunity to resign based upon no information. And so as I began to go through the twenty-two members of the Vestry, I found that there were those who greatly supported the ministries and direction of Trinity and were somewhat baffled by those who had approached me without having had a full discussion of issues that may have led some to ask me to consider retiring.

NB: And how do you explain the sudden departure of those Vestry members?

JC: The nominating committee has the responsibility of nominating twenty-two Vestry members every year. They review each person individually and then look for a team that will fit. And in the previous year, four members of the Vestry were not renominated, and so that’s why they did not return: they weren’t nominated. And then four who felt [the others] should have been renominated resigned.

NB: Do you, at this point, have a clear sense of what the disagreement was, what people were either disappointed by, or angry about?

JC: I know some of the things.

NB: Okay. Can you share them here?

JC: The direction of what use we would have for 68/74 Trinity Place (the adjoined buildings directly behind Trinity Church that hold the Trinity Preschool, a neighborhood center, and offices of programming staff). I think there were some misconceptions that…it was [to be a new] grand building as a monument to me, which clearly it’s not intended to be. There was some concern that I was giving too much power to the congregation by some. And there was equal concern by others who thought I was not giving enough authority to the congregation. Trinity has walked the fine line on that for a century or so.

NB: Some might not be aware that Trinity has a Vestry and a Congregational Council as its leadership bodies. Does that structure work?

JC: Yes, I think it does work well. The Vestry is at the highest level of policy setting and continuing the patrimony to enhance and support the ministries of the church as the primary agency of governance, and has delegated a portion of their responsibility to the Congregational Council to oversee the work of the congregation.

NB: How’s it going with the current Vestry?

JC: Excellent. A very dynamic group, engaged with each other and with me. Excited about the vision before us in the years ahead.

NB: Did you give any advice to the newer members of the Vestry?

JC: Both I and others informed the newer

members of the Vestry of the difficult year we have had. So they came into that year with an understanding and eyes open. Once elected, they had the usual orientation, but two very significant briefings on the Trinity Conference Center, 68/74, the big issues that they were stepping

into—big opportunities and issues. And then one full afternoon of presentations, questions, answers, on the dynamics of the Vestry and rector relationships in the past year.

NB: Did the Vestry, last December when Occupy was reaching its peak, have any disagreement over the decisions around Duarte Square?

NB: When you were coming into the job after thirty-two years at Christ Church in Ponte Vedra, Florida, you talked about a moment of quiet clarity that you had in Trinity around your decision about whether or not to be Trinity’s rector.

This has been a challenging few months, and I was curious if you’ve had any other moments of quiet clarity around the issues that have faced you.

JC: No.

JC: I think the clarity occurs when you look back. You step forward by faith, you take a path, don’t try to hurt anybody in the process. You try to listen, but then you take a leadership path and people are gathered around that issue or that direction, and there’s a sense of fulfillment when things begin to work out.

NB: Earlier you talked about a sort of fine line in the structure of Trinity. Whose church is it?

Is it the congregation’s church, real estate’s church, the clergy’s, staff?

NB: You’re known for talking about Trinity as a vision of one parish. Can you tell me about one-parish thinking?

JC: It’s a theme for the church for a long, long time. And for Trinity, the rector (George) Butler had a “One Peppercorn” plan. And then that was followed by the “One Body” strategic plan, under Dan Matthews. And with me, it’s “One Parish”— always working to see how there can be a unity without absolute conformity. How there can be a unity with diversity.

NB: During times of conflict, is it tempting to think about revising that, to think that maybe you could have a foundation, a real estate operation, and a church with more distinct boundaries between them?

JC: Well, I think there actually are distinct boundaries. But they complement each other

“ You step forward by faith, you take a path, don’t try to hurt anybody in the process. You try to listen.”

JC: It’s the body of Christ; it’s the Lord’s church.

And we’re all called to be servants in that and part of the body.

NB: Is there any criticism you or Trinity received of late that you think is legitimate, that has given you pause?

JC: [For me to] see more people, be more

interactive, listen more broadly, communicate more directly.

NB: You have CEO in your title. What does this title mean to you, as a clergyman?

JC: Well, there are those who know the churchy language, and they know that rector is the liturgical, or the ecclesiastical, word for the chief executive officer, chairman of the board, of the Vestry. But when we interact in the real estate community, people don’t know that term. They know CEO. And either way, it is the head of the parish, on the one hand, or the corporation, on the other. And we’re both a corporation and a parish.

and serve each other. And really the church is the primary reason for all of it. But it wouldn’t exist in its current form, and ministries, without the real estate, finance, and information systems and media to help the entire mission be heard and promoted.

NB: Can you say some more about your perception of what Trinity does for New York City?

JC: Well, Trinity, certainly in the lower part of Manhattan, is a place of respite and spiritual renewal. Music, art, concerts, those kinds of things, feed that. And it’s a place of community life that not many offer. Trinity does. But in addition to that, a profound caring daily for homeless and the hungry, on the streets and in person.

NB: Does Trinity pay taxes?

JC: Trinity pays real estate taxes on all the holdings except for the churches themselves and those pieces of ministry that are direct ministry.

Trinity does not pay, like other not-for-profits, federal [or state] income tax.

NB: The Vestry members who resigned, I’m sure, would characterize their actions as an honest protest undertaken with the best interest of Trinity in mind. How do you reconcile?

NB: Do you see anything wrong with the fundamental model of what Trinity is—a church that is funded with stewardship, but mostly by a real estate portfolio?

JC: Well, slowly. I would recognize that that is, in fact, the case for those who resigned. And I have had some continuing relationships with some. And hope to with all, at some point.

JC: Well, whether it’s a real estate portfolio or a more traditional endowment, there are not many city churches that are able to have a vi-

Trinity News

13

brant ministry based upon solely the gifts of the living, the people in the pews. We’re in historic buildings. They’re wonderful buildings but are very, very expensive—would exceed the ability of any worshiping congregation to maintain.

So endowments, whether it’s the real estate portfolio or the more traditional one, are necessary for most churches.

NB: Some people crave publicity, whether it’s good or bad, right? You’ve never struck me as one of those people. But both the Occupy and Vestry disagreements became personal and very public, and I wonder if you could just describe what it’s like to go through that.

JC: Well, it keeps you on your toes. Again, it strengthens your resolve, but also strengthens the need to connect and look for advice and counsel as you wrestle with difficult things, both personally and corporately. I think it’s interesting that in the latter time of each of those issues, it moved mostly to personal, and there’s very little conversation about the issues. In fact, one of the

folks who was against 68/74 being torn down and having a new building has changed his mind and told me, no, that’s the direction he thinks it should go. So you’re in contact with people, you discuss, you massage, you look for the best solution. And then pursue it.

NB: Are there any elements of those New York Post stories, for instance, that you would want to take the opportunity to correct the record on?

JC: Well, only my children believe that I earn $1.3 million a year (laughs) and have asked for their fair share. [The published figure was] obviously inflated, based upon an assessment of what the housing I live in offers. So it’s way, way inflated. And I think sensible people know that that was not accurate.

NB: What do folks in Florida think of what’s going on?

JC: In the court, the defending attorney asked me, “What is the purpose of the Church?” And for some reason, the DA thought that had nothing to do with the trial, so I didn’t get to answer it there.

But the primary purpose of the Church is to help people come into relationship with God and each other, and then based upon that, to do good things in the world. So there are those who would ask the Church to simply be a social agency. But I think that’s the second step. The first step is to be a spiritual entity that engages and attracts and complements those in other traditions, both Christian and other faiths as well, to develop the spiritual nature of their community and the individuals in it. That’s first and primary. Once that occurs, and as soon as that occurs, or maybe even simultaneously, they move to good works in the world.

JC: They know me well, and they know I don’t earn that kind of income. They know that I’m not building edifices to my own glorification.

And none of the ones in Florida have my name on it, and they’ve built lots of things there. So they get the picture.

NB: So imagine 25 years from now, Trinity’s archivist is writing up his or her summary of your tenure. What do you think it will say?

NB: A criticism from the Occupy Faith side is that the Church as a whole has to change its ways because it’s losing relevance, it’s dying.

Do you think the Church is losing its relevance and dying?

NB: Anything else that I didn’t touch on that you would feel called to address now?

14

Trinity News

JC: Ah, tumultuous times, that Trinity fared well

through. And they always have been [tumultuous times].

JC: If you turn the camera off and give me a minute to think.

Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images News/Getty Images

“ Maybe it’s the same thing for myself, it’s the same thing for the Church, that you really begin with the spiritual part. And everything else gets added on to that. “

NB: We can do that.

(Pause) JC: You know, there were certain times when there were issues at stake. Those were sort of easier to deal with. And then there were the times where there seemed to be in addition to that, the personal attacks. And those I responded to by prayer, meditation, reflection, and keeping my spiritual base, and asking some folks around me to help me with that. Not solving the issues, but helping me keep the spiritual center in my life. So that by faith, I could proceed to deal with the issues. And those are always dealt with, not by certainty, but carefully by faith and not saying, well, God has told me to do this or God has told me to do that. But to have a spiritual base in which you then step forward in faith to try to accomplish something. And then along the way you adjust that and readjust it. But it goes back, maybe it’s the same thing for myself, it’s the same thing for the Church, that you really begin with the spiritual part. And everything else gets added on to that.

Nathan Brockman is Trinity Wall Street’s Communications Director and Editor of Trinity News.

7

Principles for resolving Church Conflict

by Ward Richards

Our culture tends toward a positional bargaining approach for resolving differences: one person takes a position and another counters with a different position. Parties are viewed as adversaries. The goal is victory. This approach can create distrust and lead to the deterioration of relationships. By remaining respectful and attentive to the people issues, relationships can be strengthened even while distinct differences exist on substance. This method of principled negotiation is based on seven practical principles:

4.

Options. Try to generate as many options as possible. Options are the full range of possibilities upon which agreement may be reached. Separate the development of options from evaluating and deciding. Begin a brainstorming session with a reading or meditation on God’s spirit of abundance. Afterward, star the most promising ideas, invent improvements, and set up time to evaluate ideas and decide.

1.

5.

6.

2.

7.

Relationship. Disentangle interpersonal relationships from the substance of the disagreement. Establish clear ground rules on civility and enforce them. List them on a flip chart or white board in full view: “1. Be Courteous; 2. No Interruptions; 3. Acknowledge Others’ Perspectives.” Discuss each other’s perceptions without blame and use empathy. Acknowledge all emotions as legitimate. The importance of prayer, meditation, and reflection cannot be overstated.

Communication. Engage in dialogue (where one listens to understand) rather than debate (where one listens to formulate a counter argument in support of the listener’s originally held position). After the speaker finishes, acknowledge what was said. When it becomes your turn to speak, do so with a purpose. Be mindful of Paul’s counsel to “speak the truth in love.”

3.

Interests. Focus on interests, not positions. Positions are assertions, demands, and offers that attempt to satisfy underlying interests.

Interests, on the other hand, are what a person really cares about.

Ask about future “Needs, Wants, Hopes, Fears, and Concerns.” Remember to consider, “What are God’s interests for us?” Then be quiet and wait.

Someone will be sure to respond.

Legitimacy. Use objective criteria that will add legitimacy to decision making. Legitimacy can be obtained by using standards, practices, precedents, or other objective criteria that persuade those involved that what is being proposed is fair.

Alternatives. Keep the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) in mind. The BATNA is the alternative, or fallback, that exists if an agreement cannot be reached. Sometimes the only alternative to reaching agreement is doing nothing, at least for the time being. Be mindful of the risk of avoiding the conflict altogether by indefinitely postponing decision, which may create long-term underlying issues.

Commitment. When an agreement is reached, commit to it.

Similar to the practice in the business world, write it down.

Be specific about exactly what will be done, who will do it, and when.

For the full version of this article, including examples and links to resources, visit trinitywallstreet.org Ward Richards is a Federal Mediator with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He has served in a diverse range of leadership roles for church organizations including: the Episcopal Church Foundation, Episcopal Church Pension Fund, Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, and his local church.

This process is based upon the international bestseller Getting to Yes, in which the authors suggest a problem-solving approach developed by the Harvard Negotiation Workshop.

Trinity News

15

Š Bettmann/Corbis

the heart of occupy

16

Trinity News

and the Mind of Christ

BY MICAH BALES

A

s a Christian in the Quaker tradition, I was heartened to see the consensus model emerge as a core value of the Occupy movement. For more than three centuries, Quakers have been using a decision-making process that is similar in many respects. Rooted in our faith that the Holy Spirit is present to guide us, Friends have never had a hierarchical model of church governance; instead, we have relied upon the entire community to take part in discernment.

The emergence of the consensus model in Occupy is a reminder for me that community-based ways of making decisions are possible in a variety of contexts.

During my involvement in Occupy—first in New York, and later as one of the organizers of Occupy DC – I observed differences, both superficial and important, between the Occupy consensus process and the Quaker discipline of corporate discernment. Quakers generally have just one facilitator, while Occupiers often have several. Occupiers have developed an elaborate system of hand signals to express themselves during meetings, while Quakers abstain from gestures while others speak. The Occupy process has a formal set of steps for reaching consensus, while much of the Quaker model is implicit. All of these distinctions shape the character of our assemblies. Yet, the most important difference I encountered had less to do with outward forms and more with inward assumptions.

At the most fundamental level, the two processes have different objectives. For the Occupy style of consensus, the ultimate goal is to produce a decision that incorporates the opinions of all participants. Ideally, the consensus process should result in a decision that is a vibrant synthesis of all the perspectives that are present. Occupy-style consensus is understood as a profound expression of human wisdom and cooperation—grassroots democracy in action.

The purpose of the Quaker decision-making model is different. Rather than seeking human consensus, Quakers seek what we refer to as “the sense of the Meeting,” that is, the gathered community’s discernment of what God is calling us to. Because of our faith that the Holy Spirit is present to guide us, individuals are encouraged

to lay aside opinions. Rather than pushing for our personal views to be incorporated into the final decision, we seek the deepest, truest answer: an answer that the Lord himself provides.

Over the centuries, Quakers have discovered ways to prepare ourselves to better hear and respond to God’s Word in our midst. To begin with, we find it helpful to consciously acknowledge that we are seeking Christ’s guidance.

Beginning our meetings with silent waiting and prayer, Friends seek to orient ourselves to the One who has the answers we seek. As we move into our business agenda, we seek to stay in this heightened state of awareness, acknowledging the Spirit’s presence and seeking divine guidance for our community.

We have found it helpful to have a single individual serve as facilitator for the group. This person’s job is to help set the agenda, call on those who wish to speak to an item of business, and generally help to keep us on track and grounded in the Spirit. It is also the facilitator’s role to craft minutes. When the facilitator believes that the group has come to unity around a decision, she drafts a minute expressing that decision. This minute puts the “sense of the Meeting” into a concise and precise written form. The group can approve, amend, or reject this minute. Having the minute approved at the time the decision is made allows for greater accountability. If there are questions later about what decision was in fact reached, the minutes of the meeting provide the answer. We typically close the meeting for business with a period of thanksgiving and worship.

These time-tested practices help guide us in our decision making, but whether using the Occupy or Quaker method of decision making, the fundamental question is always: are we seeking our own answers, or will we allow ourselves to be brought into a deeper unity that comes from God? In my experience, it is possible to arrive at Spirit-led decisions in a variety of circumstances, and I have seen it happen in both Quaker and Occupy gatherings. While certain procedures and forms can be helpful, nothing can replace the gathering of humble hearts in sincere seeking after God’s truth.

As Christians, we are called to be witnesses to Christ’s living presence and teaching. How do we invite the Holy Spirit to move in our midst and direct our way together? How does our way of making decisions as a Church reflect this reality? Do we live in the same life and power as the early Church? When we come to unity on a decision, can we say with the Apostles, “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us?”

Do we seek the mind of Christ?

Micah Bales was one of the organizers of Occupy DC and continues to be active within the movement, particularly through his work with Occupy Our Homes DC. Micah and his wife Faith are active in planting Capitol Hill Friends, a new Quaker congregation in Washington, D.C. In April he participated in a panel discussion about Occupy Wall Street with the Rev. Dr. James Cooper, Rector of Trinity, and the Rt. Rev. George Packard at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Trinity News

17

the courage to be struggling

18

Trinity News

t

by nathan brockman

he other day I heard singer Neko Case speak about the difficulty she was having bringing a new record to life.

She was very candid, even sounding a little sad about how uncertain the creative process was for her this time around.

I began wondering, if an artist can admit her struggle, why can’t an institution? Or, for that matter, a church?

If you’re reading this magazine, or if you read the New York Post, Virtue Online, DNA info, Faith in Public Life, the Village Voice, Episcopal Café, or New York lately, you have probably gleaned Trinity is struggling a bit right now. While what vexes has nothing to do with traditional scandal — neither sex, nor drugs, nor financial malfeasance have soiled this sacred ground — it’s something much more complicated and, honestly, harder to talk about.

I would characterize it as a struggle with internal coherence and external relevance, and how all the parts of parish life fit together meaningfully.

The parish is in the midst of an identity crisis playing out over time in a Christian context and on a public stage.

So, shouldn’t my job be to say over and again, everything is okay? That’s what communications folks do, right? Well, I’m not so sure that’s the best way forward anymore.

We live in a world that values transparency over a polished finished product. We also live in a world in which institutions are mistrusted.

When you put the two together, I think it makes less and less sense to pretend that everything is okay, or that we’ve got everything figured out.

First of all, we don’t. Second, because, after allowing for variances of scale and particular context, I think all churches in some way struggle as Trinity has struggled of late.

Within these old institutional walls there are different opinions on mission direction, on where the bulk of funding should be placed, on whether to take on debt, on whether we focus too much on growing the congregation and not enough on feeding the one we’ve got, on whether the achievements of the past should dictate priorities of the future. There are as many different ideas of who we are, or should be, as there are days in the week. In this context, the stories of the past are becoming malleable.

For some, Trinity’s funding of Desmond Tutu’s ministry, going back to the late 1970s, is the defining work of the parish. For others, it was a good thing for the parish to do, but certainly not our defining moment. For some, the homeless ministry at John Heuss House was the vital spark of parish life. For others, Heuss House had little to no congregational involvement, and was rightly closed in order to pursue other avenues of engagement.

Trinity, because of its history, resources, and locale, has the privilege of having its laundry cleaned in pixels and print in a way that other churches do not. That said, you know our conflicts because you likely have lived them in some form or another.

And so I find myself putting forth what is anathema in the field of communications: I want to share the experience of the struggle, so that others might benefit from our experience, so that others might offer a helping hand, and so we might appear as what we are—more human than institution. There’s not much point in pretending nothing is the matter.

We’ve had positive and negative dealings with Occupy Wall Street and its attendant religious group, Occupy Faith. We’ve had Vestry resignations and accusations of ineffective leadership.

Guess what? This is all true, and there is nothing to hide. And in this day and age, in which everything is public content—the email you intended to be private, the conversation you had with a friend you asked to remain confidential, rough drafts, white papers, brainstorming sessions—it takes far more energy to engineer opacity than it is worth.

Trinity creates a kind of religious cognitive dissonance in many people: church and money are incompatible, right? Some allege Trinity is only a corporation — how could it be a church?

They ignore Trinity’s liturgical life, mission trips and philanthropy, its hospitality and pastoral care, and all the ways Trinity is more like St. Gregory’s by the Sea than Goldman Sachs. Some see Trinity only as a church—one with deep pockets, sure, but that real estate stuff shouldn’t really have any bearing on the life of the parish.

There is a third option: Trinity is a faithful church that funds its good works with a real estate portfolio. It is a community holding those tensions together in a complex age. The good news is that progress within the system happens, often when it is hardest and least expected.

I trust Neko will succeed in her search for a new record. I trust Trinity will struggle and will indeed find the joy in rediscovering grace all over again.

Nathan Brockman is Trinity Wall Street’s Communications Director and Editor of Trinity News.

Diego Ibañez, a member and organizer of Occupy Wall Street, speaks at Trinity’s Occupy: A May Day Teach-In, which gathered priests, professors, and activists to consider Occupy Wall Street and the moral and political issues that face the movement.

Ibanez went on a hunger strike in December, 2011 to pressure Trinity to allow Occupy Wall Street to camp in Duarte Square.

Trinity News

19

the pamphlet wars

By Leah Reddy

O

n September 8, 1800, the Rev. John Henry Hobart, just twenty-four years old, accepted the call to become an assistant

minister of Trinity Church. On January 12, 1801, the Rev. Cave Jones, thirty-two years old, accepted the call to become an assistant minister of Trinity Church. By 1811, one would be a bishop; the other,

dismissed in disgrace.

The battle between Hobart and Jones was notorious in the church and on the streets, a confluence of doctrinal differences and personal animosity that ended in the New York State Supreme Court.

The conflict would shape the church in New York for years to come.

Young Hobart was a go-getter from the start.

A native of Philadelphia, he was ordained at twenty-two and promptly married the daughter of a prominent colonial clergyman. He had been in his sleepy parish for only a few months when he was called to Trinity Church.

Jones graduated from Columbia University in May of 1794 with a Master of Arts. Following graduation, Jones served in St. George’s Parish in Accomack, Virginia. He joined Trinity several months after Hobart, and was therefore subordinate to Hobart, despite their age difference. Hobart and Jones joined the Rev. Abraham Beach, who had served Trinity since 1784, as assistant ministers. To the outside world, Hobart and Jones appeared to get along.

The Episcopal Church was on an upswing during those years. The post-Revolutionary years had been rough. The church had been part of the English state religion. Loyal clergy and laity fled to Canada in the Revolution’s aftermath, decimating American churches. And there was the issue of Anglican doctrine and American ethos. The church—which emphasized clerical control and apostolic succession—struggled to define itself in a culture bent on individual conscience and republican ideals. Bishops, in particular, reminded the new Americans of tyrant kings. Was the Anglican system of church hierarchy flat out “antithetical to American freedom?”

Slowly, the Episcopal Church recreated itself as an American organization, formally

separating from the Church of England in 1789.

The practical matters were settled, but the battle for the soul of the Episcopal Church was just getting started. Would the Episcopal Church follow a “high church” style of Anglicanism, or would it join the throng of “low church” American Protestant denominations?

Hobart was an early “high churchman,” though the term didn’t exist during his era.

The church was paramount in his theology — he explained this guiding principle in his earliest pamphlet: “We are saved from the guilt and dominion of sin by the divine merits and sacrifice of a crucified Redeemer and that the merits and grace of this Redeemer are applied to the soul of the receiver by devout and humble participation in the ordinances of the church, administered by a priesthood.”

To Hobart, the hierarchical order of the Anglican Church was instituted by God; break from that and “the dust and powder of individuality” would wreck havoc on society.

And Hobart—a popular preacher who excelled at navigating the tight-knit political world of Episcopal clergy—had a cadre of well-placed allies who shared his views.

It’s not surprising, then, that Hobart could be intolerant of those who broke—or bent—the rules of the church and those who followed their own consciences rather than move in lockstep with church hierarchy. Hobart sought the ouster of clergy with whom he disagreed, on the

grounds of their failure to adhere to high church doctrine. He sought censure of the Rev. Richard C. Moore, a close friend of Jones, for “use of extempore prayer” after lectures and for participating in Bible societies. He went after the Rev. Feltus, another friend of Jones, for preaching “in other places than in one of the Churches … and by not using the liturgy before his sermons and lectures.”

Jones, in contrast, was a low churchman, writing, “In matters which are not provided for by these standing rules and orders [of the church], I do not feel right to set myself up as judge,” and, “I can never believe that the censures of the Church are to steel the heart against the feelings of humanity.”

Hobart and Jones sought mediation from mutual friends at several points during the time they worked together, but their disagreements remained out of the public eye until 1811.

In February of that year, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore, rector of Trinity Parish and bishop of New York, suffered an “attack of paralysis” (likely a stroke) that left him unable to fulfill his duties.

Abraham Beach was appointed assistant rector.

At Moore’s urging, a special convention to elect an assistant bishop was planned for mid-May. It was clear that Hobart would be elected.

On May 1, 1811, Cave Jones published A Solemn Appeal to the Church, a 104-page pamphlet attacking Hobart’s “tyranny and intolerance, utterly incompatible with the state of things in this country.” (In those days, cheap pamphlets

Trinity News

21

and broadsheets were the only way to disseminate one’s opinion. Think of them as the blogs of old New York. Pamphlets were available in bookshops around the city and advertised in newspapers.) Jones details the cases of his friends Moore and Feltus, among others.

Jones hoped that the pamphlet would reveal Hobart as an autocratic, selfish cleric, unfit to serve as bishop.

But for all of Jones’ noble republicanism, some of the pamphlet reads like a hysterical seventh-grade slam book. He details slights going back almost a decade and accuses Hobart of leading a conspiracy to turn seminarians against him.

Jones offers as an example of Hobart’s terrible behavior a petty argument over the preaching schedule that occurred during the funeral procession of an unlucky Mr. Walton. It began “just as we were taking our stations before the corpse” and “last[ed] without intermission from the door of Mr. Walton in the upper end of Pearl Street, till we arrived at the door of Trinity Church.” Both men admitted this argument happened, though they disagreed on its significance. Neither seemed concerned about the impropriety of arguing in the presence of a corpse.

Despite the pamphlet, Hobart was elected assistant bishop on May 15, 1811, and on August 17, he published a pamphlet of response titled Letter to the Vestry of Trinity Church. Hobart refuted Jones’ accusations and offered letters from fellow priests attesting that he had never spoken disparagingly of Jones and testifying that Jones had often spoken ill of Hobart. “Was it ambition, was it self-exaltation,” Hobart wrote, parodying Jones’ words, “Was it violence, was it a spirit of overbearing persecution which I almost daily heard others express themselves of Mr. Jones as a man of contracted selfish, self-important, envious temper?”

Hobart explained his persecution of certain clergy in doctrinal terms: “Pointed opposition to irregularity … [is the] only security which the Church possesses for the preservation of her principles, her order, and her laws.”

In September the Vestry decided to seek removal of Jones from his role in Trinity Parish.

22

Trinity News

On November 5, a clerical court headed by Bishop Moore agreed to Jones’ ouster and ordered that the Vestry pay Jones the balance of his salary and an additional one thousand pounds.

Both Hobart and Jones had factions of supporters, though Hobart’s were undoubtedly more powerful and played a role in the court’s ruling. Seething, Jones recruited Bishop Provoost—who had resigned from the episcopate some years before—to declare the court invalid

In October 1813, the court upheld the legality of Jones’ dismissal but ruled that Trinity’s vestry pay Jones 7500 pounds, a significantly higher sum than the clerical court had awarded. Jones was required to release his claims on Trinity, which he did.

Concurrently, Jones and his supporters developed a new strategy to gain power in the church: have all Episcopalians in New York vote in the next Trinity Vestry election and oust the proHobart Vestry. The legal name of Trinity at the time was The Rector and Inhabitants of the said city of New York, in communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church—seemingly including all Episcopalians in the city.

In 1813, at Trinity’s behest, the state legislature passed a bill that changed the church’s legal name to The Rector, Churchwardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity Church in the City of New York, which stopped Jones—and effectively ended the claims of the wider Episcopal community to Trinity’s land grants.

Though Jones and Hobart could never see eye to eye on some things, they seem to have made peace. In 1816, they jointly endorsed a proposal for an American system of scientific nomenclature.

on the grounds that he was still technically the bishop of New York. The ploy failed. Later that month, Jones sued Trinity in the Supreme Court of Judicature of the People of the State of New York to recover “his salary and compensation.”

Both parties agreed to enter civil arbitration.

It took nearly two years for arbiters to rule on Jones’ case. During that time, Jones supporters busily convened public meetings on the case and wrote dramatically titled pamphlets like Dr. Hobart’s System of Intolerance and Prelatical Usurpation Exposed. In total, eighteen pamphlets on the conflict were published.

Jones went on to a long and successful career as a military chaplain. He was active in early prison ministry and supported the founding of Liberia. Hobart served as bishop of New York from Moore’s death in 1816 until his own death in 1830.

He was active in the founding of General Theological Seminary and continued to strengthen the high church movement in the church. Though Jones and Hobart could never see eye to eye on some things, they seem to have made peace.

In 1816, they jointly endorsed a proposal for an American system of scientific nomenclature.

Leah Reddy is Multimedia Producer for Trinity Wall Street.

Big-Hearted Hospitality BY regina jacobs

There was a time when hospitality was effortless for me.

Growing up on the Canal Zone in Panama, my parents’ friends frequently visited our home, sometimes arriving just as we ate dinner. My mom graciously set more plates for our guests while my siblings and I shimmied over to make room for them at our oval-shaped dinner table. We took our lead from our dad, who gestured for our guests to be served first. Our meals were always plentiful; extending hospitality to accommodate impromptu guests was easy.

Much later, I had more opportunities to extend that same kind of big-hearted hospitality. At Trinity, millions of visitors worldwide enter our doors. They marvel at the beauty of the altar and architecture; they sit for a few quiet moments to reflect and pray; they snap a gazillion pictures to take back home; they wander around the churchyard; they leave their handprint by signing our visitors’ guest book. Although diverse in culture and experience, their comments are similar as they reveal personal thoughts about our hospitality. (We get high marks!)

Last fall we began a new ministry in hospitality—coffee in the narthex—to welcome visitors and parishioners who do not have the leisure time, or are too shy, to go to our traditional parish hall coffee hour. A caring team of volunteers welcomes everyone who stops by. This proactive exchange of hospitality prompts our visitors to share fascinating stories about their lives and journeys to New York City and to Trinity. One visitor challenged me afterwards by asking “will you remember me?” Of course, I would; we had just experienced each other meaningfully.

Our ushers also practice hospitality until it feels soul-good deep down, making hospitality a distinctive presence that is tangible, wonderful, and consistent.

But life does not always offer easy, happy moments. Being ambassadors of hospitality also exposes us to the difficult side of invitation and welcome. What to do when we feel uncomfortable or reluctant?

Recent experiences forced me to examine my heart more closely. Oddly, these darker moments of hospitality also spurred my spiritual growth, awakening me to Scripture that I would not have understood otherwise and stretching my heart to make room for those who discomfort or threaten me.

Twice I traveled to Burundi in Africa as a Trinity Faith-in-Action volunteer. One of my most memorable experiences is the hospitality we received from the clergy and staff of the Diocese of Matana, who took meticulous care to ensure our daily comfort. At each site visit, the Burundian people welcomed us joyously. They treated us foreign-language strangers as longlost friends. Nonetheless, an uncomfortable sensitivity seeped into me because I was not used to being the recipient of abundant hospitality in light of poverty. I was in conflict internally, and it grew more uncomfortable when we visited a widow who had taken orphans into her home.

We arrived during a torrential downpour.

As we entered her home, I noticed its barrenness: no furniture, tables, appliances, or curtains.

Nothing. Her grandson fetched three-legged stools from her neighbor across the road. She sat on the floor on a tattered straw mat with her adult daughter and teenage grandsons. Through our translator, we learned about her past hardships and daily survival. I was keenly aware of our positions: she, lower on the floor; me, higher on the stool. I suddenly felt undeserving and tears stung my eyes.

While her story surely touched me, her generous hospitality welcoming strangers who questioned her about her life reduced me to shame. I kept thinking “how dare I!” Would I really open my home to strangers who ask me endless questions about my life? My internal conflict had triggered my discomfort with her

hospitality. When I search my heart periodically, I think that I would open my door to strangers. This Burundian widow became a role model who extended the hardest, kindest hospitality to me.

Twice I traveled to Jerusalem, as one of two co-leaders for our Holy Land pilgrimage. Our Israeligovernment tour guide arranged for us to stay at Kibbutz Lavi where meals are eaten communal style. The buffet tables throughout the dining room served heaping tasty dishes, including salad greens and fixings for breakfast. Although I was no stranger to eating in a cafeteria, I was equally not used to eating at the same table with strangers whom I had met only the day before at the Tel Aviv airport. I remember that first morning looking around to stake out where I could sit. My heart thudded as I approached a table with pilgrims who appeared the least threatening; they knew each other and were chatting morosely about their sleepless night and excitedly about the sites we were to see later that day. I smiled at the group as I pulled out my chair; they stopped talking, looked at me, then said, “Good morning.” I responded in kind and sat down.

There was a lull in conversation, the kind that makes one wonder, “Were they talking about me?” Of course, they were not, but I felt as though they did not want to say, “Welcome to our table.” Neither could they say, “You are not welcome at our table.” I wondered if reluctant hospitality had sparked a subtle external conflict.

Communal eating forces radical welcome and widens our circle.

As I mature spiritually, I find that persevering through uncomfortable or reluctant hospitality is transformative, igniting that warm generous feeling slowly and steadily even in moments of conflict. The reward of persisting faithfully is finding Christ—in our life together in community, ministry, and activity. As 1 John 4:21 states, “The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” Hospitality, like love, is the hardest, kindest act.

As a parishioner at Trinity Church for more than twenty years, Regina Jacobs has served as a lay liturgical minister, Hospitality Standing Committee Chairperson, Faith in Action volunteer, and pilgrimage co-leader.

Illustration: Ty Cumbie

Trinity News

23

Ron Artest vs.

Metta World Peace

By Mark Bozzuti-Jones

A

Jewish friend of mine likes to remind me that Christians like perfect heroes, whereas all Jewish heroes have serious flaws and sins. One of my favorite Jewish heroes is Jacob, who wrestled with God and

received a name change. Because of his struggles and fights with God

(and most of Jacob’s life was an ongoing conflict with God), God changed his name to Israel. Israel means many things, but the main thing is the ‘one who struggles with God,’ the one who argues, fights, debates, mixes things up — the one who is in conflict with God. Nothing changes us more than our conflicts; which is why the name change from Jacob to Israel is my favorite name change of all time— well, until there was Metta World Peace. Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers (formerly known as Ron Artest) is the modern day Jacob/ Israel/Every Person. And we are more like Jacob/ Israel and Ron Artest/Metta World Peace than we are willing to admit.

Metta World Peace has been in the NBA since 1999, drafted as the nineteenth pick by the Chicago Bulls. His rookie year revealed what kind of character the world would get to know.

Ron Artest, as he was known then, was fined for missing a mandatory rookie orientation session.

While playing in Chicago, Artest signed up to work at Circuit City so he could get employee discounts. Then there was a fight in Chicago and suspension and many scuffles and on-court antics. Later he was benched by the Indiana Pacers because he wanted time off to promote his music career.

It was in 2000 that his bad behavior reached its most shocking: playing in Detroit, Artest brawled with fellow NBA players and then with fans. This conflict led to a seventy-three-game suspension, the longest in NBA history.

Life, for him, seemed to settle down after this suspension. He behaved more like a normal player who simply struggled and argued with the decisions made by his coaches and referees.

In 2010 he helped the Lakers win a title. In an interview afterwards, he thanked the Lakers for giving him a second chance and also made mention of reaching for help from his psychiatrist to deal with his inner conflicts.

After helping the Lakers win, most people were convinced that Artest had conquered his demons, had been transformed from Jacob to Israel, and had completed the conversion into model citizen. He even won the NBA’s Citizen of the Year Award. In 2011 he legally changed his name to Metta World Peace.

One of the lessons from Alcoholic Anonymous comes from the requirement that everyone in recovery embrace the identity of alcoholic. Recovery is every moment and for the rest of one’s life; one is always in recovery. When a person in recovery speaks at an AA meeting, he or she must identify himself or herself as an alcoholic, even if the person has not had a drink for fifty years. For members of AA, there is wisdom in accepting that there is always an inner conflict, and that without supervision and support one can easily slip into old patterns of behavior.

This reminds me of the invitation in the Baptismal Rite: whenever you fall into sin, repent.

You see, the Church in its wisdom realizes that it is not a question of “if”; it is a matter of “when.”

In the final week of the regular season, Metta World Peace did something that was quite shocking and most disappointing to those who thought he had become a new person. Metta World Peace, after scoring a basket, elbowed James Harden in the head. Harden fell to the floor in pain, suffered a concussion, and missed two games. What was most troubling about the incident was that it was unprovoked. Metta World Peace had actually made an excellent play and scored a basket. Did he snap? Was the emotion too much? Suddenly, before a packed Staples Center and millions of viewers, there was evidence that Metta World Peace had lost the battle with his former violent self.

Suspended for seven games, he came back and played against the very man he had injured.

Harden’s team eventually beat Metta World Peace’s team. Maybe the Lakers losing and the seven game suspension were sufficient penance.

Personally, I still root for Metta World Peace.

I hope that he wins his own battle of good and evil. I know the struggle is never easy. I know that conflict never ends within us. I believe that God understands us and forgives us repeatedly. Jacob to Israel, Ron Artest to Metta World

Peace, sinner to saint, weakness to strength, from wrongdoing to doing what is right, from addiction to freedom, from sin to righteousness and from death to life—these are human and divine conflicts.

To live means we experience conflict with God, others, and ourselves.

There is no conflict that touches the human heart and experience that does not involve God. • What conflicts define your life?

How do you invite God into your personal conflicts?

• Does your name fit your personality?

Would you ever change your name?

• What do you do to lessen the conflict

in your life?

• What are the highs and lows of

your personal conflicts? Do you know someone who struggles and experiences defeat and victories in his or her personal conflicts?

• What does it mean that we will always

have light and shadow within us?

How do you experience guardian angels and demons in conflict in your heart, mind, and soul?

• Have you experienced success in leaving

a certain habit behind? Do you seek support and help to prevent yourself from falling into former bad habits?

• How do we judge ourselves when we

lose the conflict between good and evil?

How do we judge others when they lose?

The Rev. Mark Bozzuti-Jones is Priest for Pastoral Care and Nurture for Trinity Wall Street.

Illustration using a silhouette of Metta World Peace, engraving of Jacob wrestling the Angel by Gustave Doré, and news headlines about M.W.P., by Ty Cumbie

Trinity News

25

Partnerships for Peace in Burundi Trinity Wall Street aids communities emerging

from conflict around the world. This work is done through grant-making and, recently, through mission and service trips. In 2007, Trinity Wall Street made a grant to the Anglican Province of Burundi, which includes six dioceses, for the purchase of ninety cows. Each cow was given to two families from different ethnic groups. The families learned to care for their cow together. They used some of the milk and sold the rest, improving their diet and economic situation.

Female calves were given to another family. The grant period ended in 2009, but the cows are still improving the lives of Burundians. A group of parishioners and staff members went on a mission and service trip to Burundi in 2012 where they learned more about the country and visited the Trinity cows.

Left, top-to-bottom: The Rev. Benjamin Musoke-Lubega, Priest & Deputy for Anglican Partnerships for Trinity, meets one of the Trinity cows.

Sister Promise Atelon helps a Burundian woman weave.

Mission and Service Trip participants Justine Wiley and Maggy Charles working with children in Burundi.

26

Trinity News

Burundi Facts: Language Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili Population 10.6 million Ethnicity Hutu 85%, Tutsi 14%, Twa 1% Economy 90% of the population is employed in agriculture. Primary exports are coffee and tea.

Background on Burundi: The country was engulfed in conflict between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority after its first democratically elected president was assassinated in 1993.

300,000 people were killed in the fifteen years of continuous civil war that followed.

Most of the rebel groups agreed to a ceasefire in 2001, and the last rebel group signed the peace agreement in 2008. The Anglican Church in Burundi is heavily involved in rebuilding the country after its many years of civil war. Trinity has a long relationship with the church in Burundi, giving over one million dollars in grants since 2001 for everything from microcredit initiatives and agricultural supplies to telecommunications support and training.

Sarah Grapentine, Grant Maker & Senior Program Officer, Anglican Partnerships, Trinity Wall Street: The Province of Burundi came up with this idea. Providing a calf to a Hutu family and a Tutsi family to care for together would provide an opportunity for them to be in a working relationship and break down some of the barriers and stereotypes.

The Most Rev. Bernard Ntahoturi, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Burundi: Traditionally, the gift of a cow is an expression of authentic relationship between individuals or families. The project of a shared cow between a Hutu family and a Tutsi family is particularly significant. It was part of a broader program of peace and reconciliation for communities divided and wounded by decades of ethnic conflicts. It has become a sign of hope that such communities are now beginning to live together, harmoniously and peacefully.

Justine Willey, Head Preschool Teacher: I heard people use phrases such as, “Right now we have a fragile peace.”

Different groups were working together for a common goal, building a church, raising cattle together, working in church community programs together. Sometimes you could tell there was tension just under the surface, but at the same time I saw a lot of teamwork and a lot of camaraderie.

Lynnda Lockhart, Executive Assistant to Trinity Wall Street CFO: I was walking along with one of the clergy—the head of the Bible institute—a very young nice man, married with a family.

He was talking about himself, and he all of the sudden very proudly announced that he owns a cow.

It’s important in this period of healing and reconciliation that something so significant is given.

The Rev. Canon Benjamin Musoke-Lubega, Priest, Grant Maker & Deputy for Anglican Partnerships: One hundred percent of our funding proposals come from our partners. Sitting in New York City, we’d never know what happens in Burundi or Bujumbura in terms of what they go through and how can they work together to resolve conflicts.

Ndayisenga Lycie, Burundian, recipient of a cow. Statement from final grant report: I never thought that I would have a cow.

I get more agricultural production due to the manure, and I also get money from the milk.

I have ingredients for the food, palm oil, salt abundantly, and we drink milk in our family. We have access to health facilities, access to school for the children, and I am so happy to build relationship with other people from different origins.

Trinity News

27

Practicing Reconciliation

By Susan L. Ward

During my year as President of the Congregational Council, we had many opportunities to practice reconciliation since we had lots of conflict. The year started out with internal disagreements among council members about how the council should best function, it continued with stresses in the vestry about leadership that echoed into the congregation and council, and included the Occupy Wall Street movement, which, while not part of Trinity per se, was physically close to us in Zuccotti Park.

As a congregational leader during this tumultuous period, I felt that one of the most important things I could do was create an atmosphere of honest dialogue. I was supported in this by my Vice President, Mildred Chandler. One of our core beliefs is that we Christians represent the body of Christ, composed of different parts working together for Christ’s common purpose.

According to our Baptismal liturgy, each new Christian is anointed with oil and marked as

Christ’s own for ever, therefore our connection with each other is eternal rather than transitory.

This suggests to me that it’s okay to do things in a way that uses one’s individual talents as long as it’s for the good of Christ’s whole body, and that we’re all in this together forever so we better figure out how to get along.

A central part of my approach was to try to listen truthfully to the different positions and help each group clearly present what they thought to others. I believed it was essential to present my own middle-of-the-road position in exactly the same way to everyone, and that each person who asked for confidentiality could feel comfortable that they received it. As I spoke to one person I would ask myself how I would feel if what I said were repeated to someone with an opposing position. If I felt okay about it then I felt like I was doing my job. I also tried to put a sock in my natural tendencies to cheerfully gossip and to say clever, hurtful things when feeling

annoyed, since I believed that kind of behavior would only inflame an already heated situation.

I am not sure that my way of leading the council in reconciliation necessarily fixed things, but I didn’t sense that things were materially worse at the end of my term. Fortunately for our parish, council leadership is for a limited duration and now there is a new President and Vice President of the council who are using their unique gifts to lead. As for me, I have just returned from a most refreshing pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with my husband David and other Trinity members, during which I experienced, once again, the joys and difficulties of community.

Susan Ward is former President of the Congregational Council, and currently serves as a Congregational Representative to the Vestry’s Faith Formation Committee.

She is Head of the History of Art and Visual Culture Department at Rhode Island School of Design.

A Prayer of Reconciliation We acknowledge the presence of Christ amongst us who reconciles the world.

We struggled against one another: now we are reconciled to struggle for one another.

We believed it was right to withstand one another: now we are reconciled to understand one another.

We endured the power of violence:now we are reconciled to the power of tolerance.

We built irreconcilable barriers between us: now we seek to build a society of reconciliation.

We suffered a separateness that did not work: now we are reconciled to make togetherness work.

We believed we alone held the truth: now we are reconciled to the knowledge that truth holds us.

An excerpt from South Africa, National Service of Thanksgiving, May 8, 1994, reprinted in An African Prayer Book, D. Tutu, ed. (Doubleday, 1995)

stories Resurrection Amid the Ruins in Haiti James Melchiorre

Less than twenty-four hours before the consecration of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti’s new bishop, we watched as craftsmen laid tile in the center aisle and applied cement to the base of the stage.

These last-minute preparations took place under a temporary roof of corrugated aluminum in the ruins of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, destroyed by the earthquake of January 2010.

By early Tuesday morning, May 22, the tile was set, the cement was dry, and Haiti’s Holy Trinity Philharmonic Orchestra played Pachelbel’s Canon while a thousand people filled the seats.

A symbol of destruction had been transformed into one of resurrection.

With bishops from around the world surrounding them in a show of support, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori consecrated the Rt. Rev. Ogé Beauvoir as Haiti’s first-ever suffragan bishop.

This would be, in the words of the Rev. Dr. James Cooper, who preached the sermon that morning, “a great day in Haiti for the church and the world.”

Trinity has strong connections to the newlyconsecrated bishop. Beauvoir served as Program Associate in Trinity Grants from 1999 to 2004 and the parish supported him in the intervening years when he was dean of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Haiti’s capital.

Following the earthquake, Beauvoir led an effort throughout the Anglican Communion to gather financial support to reopen Haiti’s Episcopal schools, which educate eighty thousand students. Many U.S. parishes responded with aid; Trinity’s assistance proved critical to St. Paul’s in Montrouis, a community on the Caribbean coast north of the capital.

Bishop Beauvoir is a native son, born in Gros-Morne, in Haiti’s north. Like thousands of his contemporaries, he became part of Haiti’s diaspora, living for years in Canada, where he was ordained a priest, and in the United States.

Speaking of his decision to return to ministry in Haiti, Beauvoir has said he “felt compelled” because of his long association with the Episcopal Church—his father’s twenty-eight years of service as a warden, his youthful experience as an acolyte, and the influence of the sisters of the Society of Saint Margaret. At a dinner he hosted the week of his consecration, Beauvoir, who was born in 1956, acknowledged U.S.-born Sister Marjorie Raphael SSM, whose service in Haiti dates from 1955, joking that she had arrived in his homeland before he did.

As suffragan bishop, Beauvoir will report to the Rt. Rev. Jean Zaché Duracin, who has led the Episcopal Diocese as bishop since 1993. Bishop Beauvoir and his wife Serette will serve in CapHaitien, Haiti’s second largest city, which some predict can become a cornerstone of economic and community development.

Our brief visit in May for the consecration was my third since the earthquake, and it’s risky to draw conclusions or even offer observations.

Relatively speaking, conditions appear to have improved. We noticed fewer “tent cities” in municipal parks, although tens of thousands still live in those vulnerable communities, almost two-and-a-half years after the catastrophe.

We spoke with at least a few Haitians who are cautiously hopeful about a perceived commitment, especially among young professionals in government, to education and other public institutions.

And, in a country nicknamed “Nation of NGOs,” there seem to be small steps toward a new paradigm. I shared some mosquito repellent in a hotel lobby with a representative of The Clinton Foundation, the organization founded by the former U.S. president, which sponsors a program to encourage Haitian artisans to sell their products to international buyers as a way of creating an economy that depends less on aid from the outside and more on the creativity and enterprise of the Haitian people.

Nobody should underestimate the challenges ahead if, as many hope, the earthquake is to be a turning point toward a better day in Haiti. Yet we might also consider the words of physician Joia Mukherjee, Medical Director of Partners In Health: “Haiti’s history of unrelenting struggle for justice is its greatest resource.”

Haiti remains the only place where a colony of slaves became an independent nation of citizens.

That nation then assisted Simón Bolívar in his campaign to liberate the people of the European colonies of the Americas. In the nineteenth century, its writers produced more books per capita than any other country in Latin America.

Over just the past two years, Haitians battled a devastating earthquake and an epidemic of cholera likely imported into their country by U.N. troops.

So whether or not you consider it a “resource,” struggle in Haiti is nothing new. And it would seem that, along with the assistance from their neighbors around the world, including the Anglican Communion, Haitians deserve renewed respect for that struggle and a new commitment to their autonomy.

James Melchiorre is Senior Video Producer for Trinity Wall Street.

Trinity News

29

Co u n t e r C u lt u r e :

Prometheus

By JeremY Sierra

Every summer while I was growing up I’d go to church camp for a week in the Texas hill country.

We’d lie in the grass and a camp counselor would talk about Jesus, and I’d ignore him and look up at the stars through branches of the mesquite trees. I felt small, like I could fall off the Earth into space and be lost. I couldn’t help thinking about God and where God was, and wondering if somewhere little green aliens were at alien summer camp.

A trip into the stars, whether imagined or real, will raise questions of faith in anyone. I have a friend who is an atheist and never talks about God, except when someone mentions aliens.

“There can’t be both God and aliens,” he insists.

“There just can’t be. Don’t you think?”

Well, no, I don’t. Between the sixth grade and graduating from high school, I’d watch Star Trek and The X-Files on weeknights and read Orson Scott Card between homework and activities at the church where my father was the rector.

I loved the pure possibility of science fiction, that anything could happen, and I relied on my faith to make sense of life, which was often exceedingly confusing. The spiritual realm and science fiction are both steeped in mystery.

Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s newest installment in the gruesome and occasionally thrilling Alien franchise, continues in this long tradition of asking theological questions in space. “Just stare up into the stars at night,” Scott told Esquire magazine, “and you’ll have those corny thoughts like we all do.”

The movie begins with an alien suicide and ends with a giant horseshoe-shaped ship rising into the sky. The main character, Elizabeth Shaw, played by Noomi Rapace, wears a cross around her neck, indicating in Hollywood shorthand that she is a person of faith. She is traveling with a crew of seventeen, following an ancient starmap, seeking the aliens that she believes may Only Shaw and David, played by Michael have engineered human life. How does she know Fassbender, make it out alive. Well, David is a this? “It’s what I choose to believe,” she says.

It turns out she’s right, but these alien creators robot and so not exactly alive. Also, by this point his head has been disconnected from his body now want to destroy the human race. Proand put in a duffle bag (if you’ve seen enough metheus, you may remember, was the Titan who of these movies, you know that there must be at brought fire to humankind and was punished least one beheaded robot before the end credits). for it. Here, these aliens, who turn out to be tall, David, who possesses a cruel curiosity about pale, bald men, are as distant, unpredictable, the world, is the nihilistic counterpoint to Shaw. and vindictive as Greek gods. It’s a bit of an Old Testament/mythological/alien mash-up. Instead “It must feel like your God has abandoned you,” of covering the Earth in a flood of water, though, he says to her at one point, in a moment that would cause me to roll my eyes if Fassbender they want to send black sludge. The sludge turns weren’t such a superb actor, playing David with earthworms into hideous snake creatures and icy precision. human beings into spider-like killers. It’s not Prometheus is ultimately more spectacle than hard to imagine how it would end human life theodicy, with more fireworks than intelligence. and make Earth just really gross.

Still, at times it embodies that thrill of discovWhy do these aliens want to do this to us? ery and brings to life questions lurking in our We’ll have to watch the sequel to find out.

30

Trinity News

imagination, making them tangible. Can a robot have a soul? What if we were created by aliens?

What is it like to be in space, and what will we find there? What will we learn about ourselves if we don’t like what we find?

“I’m still searching,” Shaw says, as she pilots the ship into space (and presumably into the sequel). Faith is an orientation. It is, in part, a choice to remain open to the mystery of God, the questions beneath the questions, as we stare up into the stars or kneel on ancient pews amidst incense and stained glass.

Lots of people die in Prometheus, and we are subjected to much alien goo and gore. Don’t bring the kids or squeamish adults.

Jeremy Sierra is Managing Editor for Trinity Wall Street.

learned?

What Have You

The Holy Spirit can always be the third strand in our cord of relationships (Ecclesiastes 4:2), interceding for us with “sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

The most important thing to know about being on the Trinity Vestry is that we are called to this position by a power greater than ourselves, and this service is a privilege that calls us to have a humble heart.

Therefore, our work must be done prayerfully, carefully, and lovingly.

I was drawn to Trinity Church when I discovered that the doors were open seven days a week, beginning at 7 am through the evening. There are not many sacred spaces in the city of New York that are so open and welcoming for worship, prayer, consolation, and interesting programs.

As a preacher’s kid, one thing I figured out early on is that when possible I should make my work an extension of my philosophy of life.

You know you’re growing spiritually when you are able to go into that still, quiet place, take a deep breath, hold your ear close to your heart, and begin to listen.

You know you are ready to help others in their spiritual journeys when others begin to come to you unexpectedly to ask if you would accompany them as a spiritual friend or companion.

If someone is not sure about joining Trinity’s Commitment to Discipleship class, or any course for spiritual renewal, I quote Jesus’ words to the disciples of John, “Come and you will see” (John 1:39).

What most impresses me about Jackie Robinson is that his many accomplishments after he retired from baseball almost surpass his accomplishments on the field. He was not only a baseball player; he was a businessman, entrepreneur, and vocal champion for African American athletes and civil rights. His legacy continues to serve as an inspiration to me that there is life after one’s “first” retirement.

Westina Matthews Shatteen, Ph.D., is a parishioner and member of the Trinity Vestry, retired Wall Street executive, spiritual director, and new Chief Program Officer at the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

One thing I learned as a child that has held true is that we need to honor our elders. They are filled with wisdom and grace because they have lived through many seasons of triumphs, tragedies, illnesses, disappointments, deaths, births, and rebirths.

Church community has the power to practice, demonstrate, and initiate the true meaning of radical hospitality — serving as convener, thought leader, innovator, and when necessary, agitator.

Trinity News

31

pa r is h

perspectives

Clockwise from Top Left: The congregation processes down Broadway on Palm Sunday. Seminarian Joseph Matthews distributes ashes to pedestrians outside the church on Ash Wednesday. A Transformational Fellow visits with the congregation after the Ascension Day Service. Kathy Bozzuti-Jones reads to the children at the Good Friday Children’s Service. The Rev. Daniel Simons kindles the fire at the Easter Vigil.

32

Trinity News

Clockwise from Top Left: Graduates from the Education for Ministry course. Members of the Youth Chorus and Choir of Trinity Wall Street perform a composition by Nico Muhly, commissioned by the River to River Festival, in St. Paul’s Chapel. Debbie Liong-Leach, a preschool teacher at Trinity, plays Uno with students from the girls school in Panama City on the Mission and Service Trip.

Trinity News

33

Clockwise from Top Left: The Leadership and Public High School choir sings at Educator Appreciation Day. The Rev. Deacon Robert Zito serves as deacon to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori during Andrew M. L. Dietsche’s consecration as bishop coadjutor. Participants in All Our Children Book Buddies.

34

Trinity News

Clockwise from Top Left: Children blowing bubbles during the garden party in the Trinity churchyard. The Rt. Rev. Andrew Dietsche with the Commitment to Discipleship class and leaders on Pentecost. Trinity staff member Dean Wiltshire explains an art project to a class of first and second graders at a public school. The project concluded the All Our Children Read Aloud program for the school year.

Trinity News

35

News from Trinity’s partners and friends, near and far.

Dashon Burton Dashon Burton, baritone in the Trinity Choir, won first prize in the prestigious Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition on April 14. Burton is an alumnus of Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, one of the few graduate programs in the country that focuses on early music. He joined the Trinity Choir in 2011. Burton has been a featured soloist in several Trinity concerts, including the performance of Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Center in December for which he was praised by The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. As the recipient of The Ruth Lopin Nash Award for First Place, Burton was awarded a $7,000 prize.

what she has learned in her work at Trinity. In recent years she has guided Trinity’s work with public schools and developed and implemented a strategy for Trinity’s volunteer efforts. And as if working and studying weren’t enough, Chan also had a baby.

Tony Furnivall Under the tutelage of Tony Furnivall, students from Leadership and Community Service High School learned the basics of ringing Trinity’s change-ringing bells. Ringing the bells, which weigh between six and twenty-four hundred pounds, is a team effort that requires skill, training, and coordination. After months of practice, students were able to ring at the school’s graduation in June for parents, teachers, and friends.

The course is part of Trinity’s All Our Children program, which partners churches with local public schools.

Julian Wachner In addition to directing Trinity’s music program, Julian Wachner has been the music director of the Washington Chorus since 2008. On May 20, Bob Scott he led the Washington Chorus in a performance On May 16, Bob Scott, Director of Faith Forat the Kennedy Center. The program, entitled mation and Education for Trinity Wall Street, received his Master of Arts degree at the General “The Essential Wagner,” included excerpts from some of Wagner’s operas, including Tristan and Seminary commencement. He has been working Isolde and Die Walkuere. The Washington Post on his thesis while working full time at Trincalled the choice to perform the difficult mateity. “I began the program as my own continuing rial “risky,” then went on to praise the perforeducation, and I found it deeply enriching,” said Scott. He graduated cum laude and received the J. mance. “It’s to Wachner’s credit that it was … a rollicking good time.”

Wilson Sutton Prize for the top thesis submitted by a graduating M.A. or M.Div. His master’s theCharlotte’s Place sis, entitled “What We Talk about When We Talk Thanks to a collaboration between Trinity about Atonement,” was about the contemporary parishioners and staff, Charlotte’s Place now implications of the doctrine of atonement. has a Yamaha U1 upright piano. Deborah Hope of the Congregational Arts Committee worked Choir Members Run a Half Marathon with Jenn Chinn, Program Manager of CharOn May 19, four Trinity Choir members particilotte’s Place, and Trinity’s Music and the Arts pated in the 2012 NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon. Melissa Attebury, Eric Dudley, Christopher department to purchase the piano at a greatly discounted price from choir member Geoffrey Herbert, and Steven Hrycelak joined more than Silver. Silver was moving and wanted the piano 14,000 runners on a course that stretched from to go to an organization he cared about. The the Brooklyn Museum to the Coney Island piano will be unveiled at an event in July and boardwalk. Three of the choir members have will be played at community events and concerts done half marathons in the past, and all three held in Charlotte’s Place. improved their time significantly. “Running a race with friends is a fantastic motivator,” said Roz Hall Melissa Attebury. They plan to do another half Roz Hall led members of congregation and staff marathon in September. members to Hudson Link’s college graduation ceremonies at Sing Sing maximum security prisAnita Chan on on June 7. Twenty participants in Sing Sing’s Anita Chan received her Master’s degree in college program graduated while more than Business Administration at Fordham University three hundred family members, friends, and in May. She pursued the degree while working prison officials cheered them on. In partnership full time at Trinity as the Associate Director of Faith In Action. Though she’s glad to be done, with Mercy College, Hudson Link for Higher Education supports degree programs within the experience has been invaluable. “The skills four New York correctional facilities for two and knowledge I received getting an MBA really hundred and fifty students annually. The Trinity added to the work I am doing,” she said. She enGrants Program helped seed the program in the joyed working with her classmates and applying

36

Trinity News

late 1990s after Pell Grants were eliminated for those in prison. Hudson Link also provides lifeskills training and re-entry support to incarcerated men and women. The recidivism rate for New York State is forty percent, while none of the eighty one graduates from the Hudson Link program have been convicted of a crime.

Education for Ministry Delores Reiner, Cynthia Moten, Pearl Chin, Ula Barak, Han Huang, and Jacqueline SanchezShabazz graduated from the University of the South’s Education for Ministry (EfM) course.

They gathered with about sixty friends and family members to celebrate the completion of their program in the Trinity Parish Hall on June 25.

EfM is a four-year program in which participants meet once a week to study the Bible, theology, and church history and engage in theological reflection and discussion. Trinity offers two classes a week as well as an online course.

Jeremy Sierra Jeremy Sierra joined Trinity’s Communications and Marketing staff in April as Managing Editor of Trinity News. Sierra took over for Nicole Seiferth, who accepted a position as Managing Editor of Forward Movement Publications in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has an MFA in creative writing from The New School and is a contributor to the Episcopal Church Foundation’s website, Vital Practices, and the Huffington Post.

Gabriel Bonadie On Pentecost, Gabriel Bonadie generously donated a set of beautiful vestments to Trinity.

The green vestments will be used during the church season called Ordinary Time, the period between Pentecost and Advent.

Citi On April 20, Citi honored Trinity Wall Street with a Teammates in the Community award for service to the New York community. The Jackie Robinson Foundation nominated Trinity for the award. The Rev. Matthew Heyd represented Trinity, along with Carla Richards and Al DiRaffaele, leaders in the Brown Bag Lunch program.

Citi presented Fr. Heyd with a personalized jersey at Citi Field before the Mets game in recognition of Trinity’s programs, including the Brown Bag Lunch, Totes for Teachers, Charlotte’s Place, and the Trinity Knitters.

Spread the Word Do you have news to share with the rest of the Trinity community?

Email your news, milestones, and updates to news@trinitywallstreet.org or call 212.602.9686.

letter from lower

manhattan As with so many other things, conflict can be either good or bad. What makes the difference? One determinant is trust. “Good” conflict can actually lead to a greater degree of trust in a relationship.

I once had a couple come to me for premarital counseling. The bride proudly stated that the two of them had not had a single fight during their three-year relationship. Her fiancé nodded in agreement. I tucked this away in the back of my mind. Who was possibly giving up too much of herself or himself for the sake of peace? Was there fear that they would not survive were they to differ on something (important or even unimportant)? Did they lack trust in their commitment to the other?

In a later session, I asked them to do an exercise that surfaced differing needs around one aspect of their life together. Clearly, they were uncomfortable. Gently, I guided them through a conversation in which each listened to the other without responding and then repeated what had been heard. With the differing needs out in full hearing, I let them sit silently for a moment. They started to giggle.

I asked what was happening. They excitedly talked about how relieved they were they could differ about something without everything blowing up. They felt respected, and listened to, and knew that they could trust each other more than they had. They hadn’t realized how much they were holding back.

In the case of this couple, an experience of conflict led to a stronger relationship of trust. The more they ventured along this path, the stronger would be their trust, and the more adept and trusting they would be at the time when, inevitably, they faced a significant conflict.

The same thing is true in work relationships. The prolific business management author Patrick Lencioni identifies trust as the foundation for effective leadership and group functioning. Just as with the couple, healthy conflict should be encouraged, writes Lencioni, because it leads to greater trust within the team. The ability to address conflict leads to greater commitment, which allows for a high level of accountability and, finally, to successful attention to aspired results (The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, Jossey-Bass).

One would hope that trust could come naturally within the church. After all, we do have the most trustworthy foundation of all. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1). Differences, even conflict, are inevitable among people. How we handle these situations, whether they be about carpet color or theology, can actually strengthen the community.

Blessings,

The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee Vicar, Trinity Wall Street

Leo Sorel

TrinityNews

NON PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 151 cheshire, CT

Trinity Wall Street 74 Trinity Place New York, NY 10006-2088

Joan Chittister

Richard Rohr

Joan Chittister, OSB, will return to Trinity Institute for a local and webcast conference that will offer tools for making the vital connection between contemplation and social action. She will be supported by workshop leaders including theologians, spiritual directors, and activists. Fr. Richard Rohr will preach the closing Eucharist.

To register to attend in New York or apply to be a Partner Site visit: trinitywallstreet.org/institute or call 1.800.457.0224