June 4, 2008

Dear People of Trinity Church:

Through the years, Trinity has been respected in the city and the wider church as a training parish for new clergy. Each time a newly ordained priest or deacon joins the ministry staff of this faithful congregation exciting things happen, innovation is experienced, and the Gospel is proclaimed in diverse ways. This summer Trinity will welcome two newly ordained people who join you and me in our common work.

Bishop Tom Breidenthal, visiting with us this coming Sunday, will announce his appointments of the Rev. M. Alton Plummer to serve as assistant rector here and (the soon-to-be Rev. Deacon) Deniray Mueller to serve her first year of diaconal ministry with us.

In the case of Alton, Trinity will welcome a newly ordained priest who served a year as deacon at Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield, Ohio. He is a graduate of both the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (M.Div. 2002) and Bexley Hall Seminary in Columbus (Certificate of Anglican Studies 2006), and served as a Licensed Local Pastor at Danville United Methodist Church in Danville, Ohio. Before seminary Alton was a journeyman cabinetmaker and carpenter in Ohio and his native Upstate New York. His work with us will be closely tied to a multi-faceted outreach called Future Trinity – stay tuned: you will come to know more about this through the summer! Our common life will be stronger with Alton and his wife Kate as part of our community.

For Deniray, coming to Trinity is really a type of homecoming. This past year she has been Deacon School Student at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Athens where she has been engaged in campus ministry and wider service. Several years ago, Trinity sponsored her for the Deacon School, and last year recommended her on the path toward ordination as a deacon in the Episcopal Church. On Saturday, June 14 she and nine others will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. The liturgy begins at 11 a.m., and we hope many from Trinity can attend. I’m sure we all will share with Deniray and her partner Karen in the joy of a day that comes after a long and faithful pilgrimage.

I look forward to creative ministries with these two new colleagues who, in July, will join me, the Rev. Deacon Joan Grant, and our talented Parish House ministry staff, who work with you to help make Trinity Church the kind of place that welcomes, inspires, advocates and serves all people in Christ’s name.

Yours Faithfully,

Richard A. Burnett
Rector