In these past weeks and months I've been relishing this season of looking back over my eighteen years at Trinity. There is much to be grateful for and so many accomplishments that we as a parish have achieved together during my two "terms"--1993 to 2011 and 2011 to 2017.

I've delighted in so much that the Spirit has led us into in these years--the blossoming of our grace-filled worship and music life, including our young choristers; the deepening of our spiritual life through Bible studies, retreats, special teachings such as the "Year of the Bible" forums, and pilgrimages; the flourishing of our children's ministries programs; the deepening conviction that the journey of stewardship is at its heart a spiritual journey. But I would say that among the achievements for which I am most grateful has been the emergence of the Trinity Boston Foundation into a creative, innovative force for "changing the odds" for the children of our city.

Ministry in the city is nothing new to Trinity, where outreach ministries reach back to colonial times. But a new chapter opened in the 1990s when I was able to lure William Barnwell to Boston to become our Associate for Outreach. William's passion for social justice and his gift for growing programs and recruiting participants were extraordinary. The two programs he launched, the Trinity Education for Excellence Program (widely known as TEEP), and the Trinity Boston Counseling Center, grew steadily under William's leadership. The TEEP model offered low-income middle school students an intensive 5-week summer program, combining academics, a values-based curriculum, and leadership training. As the first class of students reached high school, a Leadership Development Program offered year-round training and support. It became clear that TEEP was offering a community that could change young peoples' lives.

The Trinity Counseling Center opened with a dual mission of providing counseling that fully integrates spirituality and expands access to underserved communities. The hallmark of both programs was an eagerness to experiment, to explore new strategies, and to bring in the most gifted staff members they could find from a broad range of backgrounds. 

A major turning point in Trinity's outreach program occurred when Louise Packard, having led Trinity to the successful completion of our first capital campaign, agreed to lead a small foundation Trinity had established to raise money for our building and to widen its focus to support Trinity's ministries in the city. Soon TEEP and the Counseling Center had been brought together under Louise's devoted and creative leadership.

Since then TBF has been steadily growing and learning--trying new strategies and asking themselves hard questions. One wise tack has been to take seriously their role as collaborators and catalysts. Much of TBF's funding comes from secular sources--individuals and foundations. The board is a mix of Trinity members and people from across the city, united by the Foundation's focus on the challenges faced by young people of color from low-income families in Boston.

In 2009 TBF opened a third major endeavor--Sole Train: Boston Runs Together--to enhance the emotional well-being of our city's youth. It's an ingenious program that uses running to help young people discover the joy of setting seemingly impossible goals and achieving them. The program, which is expanding rapidly, builds a supportive community of adults and peers who encourage each other along the way. 

One of the high points of life in the Trinity offices in the Old Rectory takes place on Wednesdays when the TBF staff gathers for an array of meetings that include training, reflection, and community building. You can feel the energy and passion of this largely young staff, most of them people of color. They bring within our building the Boston beyond Copley Square, wonderfully diverse and facing seemingly intractable systemic challenges in their work. I often feel a sense of pride in my colleagues, and frequently reflect on how impoverished Trinity's life would be without them.

In fact, I don't believe Trinity Church could be Trinity Church in the City of Boston without the Trinity Boston Foundation. Our Foundation colleagues are creating community, encouraging young people and inspiring change every day. And Trinity parishioners, under the leadership of Rainey Dankel, are joining in and working side by side with them. This is indeed what it means to be a church for the city.

Thanks be to God, for all the ways God leads us into the city and especially for the life and work of Trinity Boston Foundation, as we celebrate its 10th anniversary.

In Christ,