The Cornerstone

Volume 1, Issue 4

Quarter 4, 2019

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The Cornerstone—Looking Back and Looking Forward

Looking back to May 2019, the Foundation launched The Cornerstone to inform Trinity members about the Foundation, its newly energized Legacy Builders Planned Giving program, and its impact on Trinity ministries. The first four issues featured: (1) lists of current legacy builders and stories about Trinity’s impact on their lives. (2) stories about the impact of bequests of deceased Legacy builders on Trinity Ministries. (3) educational articles and information about programs and ministries supported by Foundation funds. (4) acknowledgements and thanks to donors who gave memorials and other gifts to the Foundation. The feedback received indicated the content was both interesting and helpful.

Looking forward to 2020, the same type of content will be featured in The Cornerstone . Each issue will published within two weeks after the previous quarter. Note that this issue covers the fourth quarter of 2019. The Memorials, Honoraria and special gifts will be published in a separate document. We welcome your suggestions for new content and stories for The Cornerstone. Also please note the invitation on page 4 of this issue encouraging you to join us at our Third Annual Foundation Celebration for an evening of delightful musical entertainment, fellowship, heavy hors d’oeuvres and wine, and a short program featuring an outstanding guest speaker!

Did You Know?

Trinity Foundation assets totaled $8,105,901 as of December 31, 2019. The Foundation worked closely with the Vestry this year to provide Trinity with a $250,000 contribution to its Operating Fund for Working Capital. The 2019 Foundation support to Trinity Ministries was $628,591 including 18 ministries in these categories: Christian Formation/Education, Mission and Outreach, Building and Maintenance, and Working Capital. The Vestry approved three new Foundation Funds: Music Endowment Fund, Friends of Music Fund (Non-Endowed), and Seminarian Fund.

Legacy Builder's Bequest - Betty Varian Crews Brandon

Betty Brandon (1921 - 2018) was born in Columbia, and later graduated from Columbia High School. After two years of college at Mary Baldwin College, she returned to Columbia and graduated from the University of South Carolina. Betty received the highest honor awarded to South Carolina alumni—the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award for excellence of character and service to humanity. Betty’s family said: “Following her college years, she studied handcrafts in New York to help rehabilitate those returning from World War II. She ran the Teenage Canteen at the memorial Youth Center, led the Canterbury Cub at Trinity, and volunteered backstage at Town Theatre. Betty took pride in helping to give students a welcoming place to congregate during their college years and one of her greatest joys was when one of ‘her students’ continued on to seminary.”   Garrett Ayers, the first recipient of a grant from the Brandon Seminary bequest, said: ”I’m extraordinarily thankful for the support Mrs. Brandon's bequest has provided. Not only has it enabled me to attend my first diocesan conference, but it has been a huge help academically for this semester .” Garrett is a first year seminarian at Virginia Theological Seminary. Before that, he spent a year in Scotland at the University of St. Andrews studying theology and art, and the role of doubt for believers.

Betty married U.S. Navy Commander Walter Bethune Brandon at Trinity in 1954. After moving from duty station to duty station, she and her husband and three children—Varian, Skip, and John moved back to Columbia. Her children shared some wonderful memories with us about their Mom: “She chaired the Needlework Booth at the Trinity Bazaar, and our house was filled with wonders made of fabric.” “As president of the DHC, she faced her very real ‘mic fright’ that year as she moderated the meetings. She had heartfelt pride in what the Daughters could do. As a family, our place most Sundays was with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the glorious St. Luke in the south Transept.” The Brandon family was very happy that their Mom’s bequests to—the Daughters of the Holy Cross, the Seminarian Fund, and the Building fund—were parts of Trinity’s mission that touched their mother and for them to remember her. Betty’s generosity is already helping Trinity to carry on the ministries to which it is so deeply committed. Betty would be very pleased with the refurbished Daughters’ Room—a beautiful, warm and friendly place for casual conversations and a very comfortable meeting place. 

Legacy Builders - Kirby and Llewellyn Shealy

“The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house. ” 1 Corinthians 16:19 NKJV   So, you don’t know Aquila and Priscilla? Perhaps you do know Llewellyn and Kirby Shealy. Actually, the two couples, though centuries apart, have a couple of things in common: their faith in God and their service to their church. Sometimes recognized as one of the first missionary couples in the first century, Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned by Paul several times in the New Testament. There is evidence that he lived with them for a time, making tents for a living, and that the couple helped in growing the early Church. They are almost always mentioned together and their marriage sometimes is held up as a biblical example of what a good marriage should look like. Llewellyn and Kirby, likewise, are doing their part to grow the present day Church, especially their own home parish. The two met at Trinity, Llewellyn a cradle Episcopalian and Kirby a Lutheran whose family transferred to Trinity when he was a young boy. They, essentially, grew up together at church and learned the importance of having a church “home.” Kirby attended diocesan youth events, making life-long friends from all across the state; Llewellyn served as an acolyte; and both had roles in Trinity’s own production of Our Town – not surprisingly as Emily and George. The Shealys were married at Trinity Cathedral and encouraged their own children, Emma and David, to participate in the life of the parish. The choir program was especially important to both of them. Emma, in fact, is doing an English project on the composer of one of the songs that the choir sings. Llewellyn and Kirby served as youth advisers together, taught Sunday School, served as co-chairs of the Trinity Forward Campaign, and individually have served on the Vestry, the Altar Guild, and the Trinity Foundation Board. Having given so much of themselves and their time to their church family, it is humbling to hear the Shealys say that they have “leaned on this place so many times.” The Trinity Foundation is most grateful to Llewellyn and Kirby for once again leading the way at Trinity by being among the younger members of the parish to name Trinity in their wills. When asked what moved them to make this commitment, Kirby responded: “It doesn’t take a whole lot of thought. It’s just a continuation of giving.” Priscilla and Aquila may not have had the legal mechanism to allow them to help secure the future of their church, but the Shealys and fellow parishioners do.

Trinity Foundation Request

If you have Trinity in your estate planning, please let us know so that we can list you in our records as a Trinity Legacy Builder. If you prefer that your name not be published, you may elect to be listed anonymously.