Apalachicola, Florida

March 1, 2024

“Check out our parish profile we put together for our Dean search”, my friend The Rev. Mike Alford wrote in an email on Monday. He serves as Curate for The Cathedral of Saint Peter in St. Petersburg, FL, and they are beginning a nationwide search for a new Dean (the title for a Rector at an Episcopal cathedral). As I perused the profile, I saw their mission statement: “To know Christ and to make him known.”

Not ten minutes before, I had begun writing this very reflection about our need or desire to know and be known. What would we be without the connections we work so hard to forge? Without relationship, humans just might shrivel up. If you think relationship is overrated or not important, consider how the character Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks in the 2000 movie Cast Away) ended up making friends with a volleyball, desperate as he was for connection in the middle of the South Pacific.

What brought this all about, you may wonder. Recently, I was helping someone seeking assistance in getting back home. They had fallen on very hard times, with tragedy piled upon tragedy. They were sitting alone in a public park hundreds of miles from home as people walked under a blue sky and a light breeze. “There are people all around me, and I feel absolutely like no one sees me. They just look through me as if I don’t exist.” 

But they did exist. This was a person with a story, like each of us. They had people back home, and I suspect they wondered where this person was. They belonged. But more than that, as I listened through the person’s tears, I heard a deeper yearning. Through the soul coughing, they expressed a longing to be: to be appreciated, to be wanted, to be seen. This person was caught in the void of feeling unknown and invisible, trying to return to a space of being known and visible.

There was overwhelming difficulty waiting back home. But they recognized that searching for a solution far away doesn’t get at what ails us. A change in geography or job, a material purchase, clawing for financial stability, or reaching for another drink or hit won’t solve the ills. We know this inherently, yet aren’t these the very low-hanging fruit the world touts as the solution?

Our desire to be known is bound tightly with a fear of being unknown. This also shows up in death: we want our loved ones to be remembered, not forgotten. Do you hear the common theme? We want our lives to matter. We want to be seen. We want to be appreciated. That’s everyone. God wants the exact same thing for us, whether we are a prodigal child who throws everything away or a dutiful one with a life rich in commitment and faith. Our Christian call is to know this and then do something with it, spreading that gospel message as one of love and service to all.

My ministry is to help you know and be known. It is to sit with you in the hunger to repair or strengthen the relationships with family, friends, or even Jesus. It is to be a representative for Christ; to share in your small steps and celebrate in our giant leaps together for the kingdom of God.

Whenever I get the chance, I will remind you of two things: know

you are loved, and love you are known. To quote our bishop,

Russell Kendrick: “God did a mighty fine thing when he made you.” Remember that forever. Do something with it always.

God’s Peace,

Stephen +

Tickets for the 30th Annual Trinity Episcopal Church Historic Apalachicola Home and Garden Tour are available online at apalachicolahometour.org. 

The lineup of homes is stellar, and the silent auction and jumble sale are not to be missed. Please join us May 4 as we celebrate 30 years!

In addition to purchasing a ticket, a free ticket and an invitation to the Appreciation Party is available by:

Becoming a Pillar - Trinity’s Pillar Program is a vital part of the Tour of Homes ministry. Four levels of participation include tickets, and all include recognition in the tour booklet and on special signage. To learn more, visit the tour’s website.

Volunteering - The Tour of Homes could not exist without volunteers. Many committees need help now and on tour day. Contact a committee chair below to sign up!

Hospitality – Kerry Petty

Do you love to cook? Organize and serve dinners? Your assistance is needed May 1-4 for the Evensong Reception and Volunteer Appreciation Party.

Greeters – Bella Rudo

Greet participants during a two-hour shift in one of the featured homes. Sign up online or download a greeter form to get started.

Silent Auction and Jumble Sale – Ginger Lawson, Kathy Rushmore

Auction help is needed before tour day and after for tasks that include everything from cleaning china and glass, polishing silver, organizing clip boards, and preparing tablecloths for next year.

Set-up/Grounds – Chris Presnell, Donna Knutson

Set-up starts a few days before the tour. Needed – a sign coordinator to put up directional signage on May 3 and take down after 4 pm on tour day. 

Tickets – Jo Branch

Tickets seeks smiling friendly faces to help with check-in and sales on tour morning.

More tour leaders include:

Homes and Gardens – Carrie Kienzle

Pillar Program – Karen Kessel

Advertising and Website – Kay Carson

Tour Booklet/Promotion – Tara Carter

Evensong Service – Joy Tracy

Photography – Mandi Singer

Treasurer – Toni McIntosh

Vestry Liaison – Karen Brown 



-- Sabrina Fornes and Tara Carter, 2024 Co-Chairs

Read the February report from your Vestry

A recent foyer dinner hosted by Kathy Rushmore & Butch Fell featured pork tenderloin seasoned with Trinity's "Holy Smoke" Rub, along with delicious sides and desserts. This congenial group included Tara & Jason Carter, Brenda & Charlie Galloway, Rennie & Tom Edwards, and Chris Presnell.

Wednesday Compline. If you love the Order for Compline from our Book of Common Prayer but want to participate from the comfort of your home, you are in luck! On Wednesdays at 8 pm Eastern, Trinity is pleased to host an online Compline via Facebook Live. Each week, Father Stephen will welcome a different guest as a co-officiant or reader from around our diocese and The Episcopal Church. And if you need in-person worship during the week, don’t forget that we have Morning Prayer on Wednesdays at 8:15 am.

Formation Groups and Classes. Jason Carter is continuing the chronological study of the Gospels on Sundays at 9:15 am in the Parish Conference Room. All are welcome. Monday School is on a short hiatus but will start up again very soon. Thursday School is occurring every Thursday at 3:30 pm during Lent. We are using the book Will You? A Lenten Study of Baptismal Promises by Amanda Perkins McGriff as our guide.

Martha Harris snapped this photo of Clark Klinkenberg's 5th grade ELA (English/language arts) class at Franklin County School, showing off the pots they made when she read a story to them about a slave potter. Anne Eason provided the clay. then fired and glazed them for the kids. The book is: Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave.

Martha is one of 15 volunteers who read to 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade classrooms at FCS.

To join this rewarding ministry, contact Penny Marler.

Travis Pecot, Denise Butler, and Stephen Pecot at the 53rd

annual diocesan convention in Daphne, AL February 23-24, 2024.

Last week Father Stephen traveled with our two delegates, Travis Pecot and Denise Butler, to the 53rd annual diocesan convention at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Daphne, AL. The theme for the convention was “Be Transformed”. Representatives from all 62 churches were present, and everyone’s ears should have been burning in Apalachicola the whole time, because your clergy and delegates could not stop talking about all we have going on at Trinity.

The keynote speakers were The Rev. Dr. Tricia Lyons and Dr. Lisa Kimball, both from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. Dr. Lyons focuses on Evangelism, and Dr. Kimball Christian Formation; Fr. Stephen took several classes from this dynamic duo while at seminary and was able to catch up with them.

Dr. Tricia Lyons, Dr. Lisa Kimball, and Fr. Stephen at the diocesan convention.

These highly regarded theologians brought the heat to our diocese by exhorting those present to not give up when times are hard.

They reminded us that change always happens before transformation. And most of all, they taught us that evangelism is living out your baptismal covenant in a way that makes people take notice of who you are, not what you say.

You’ll be pleased to know that Bishop Russell specifically gave Trinity some kudos during his Bishop’s Address, saying that we are an example of working and growing together.



Fr. Stephen caught up with one of his mentors, The Rev. Albert Kennington (retired). Fr. Albert is the longest serving priest in our diocese (and was the very first postulant sent to seminary by our diocese!), having served under all four bishops. He currently serves as the Historiographer for the diocese.

Diocesan Cycle of Prayer. For churches and ministries: on March 3, pray for Church of the Epiphany (Enterprise, AL) and Chaplains to Retired Clergy and Spouses; and on March 10 pray for Holy Cross (Pensacola, FL) and the Commission on Cursillo. For prisons: on March 3, pray for the prisoners, families, and staff of the Calhoun Correctional Institution (Blountstown, FL), and on March 10 pray for the prisoners, families, and staff of the Century Correctional Institution (Century, FL).

Cursillo Weekends Are Back! Cursillo is a three-day retreat offered to persons who wish to deepen their faith and walk with Christ. Cursillo #170 will be held March 7-10, 2024 at Beckwith Camp & Conference Center in Fairhope, AL. Please pray for our Trinity pilgrims Chris Presnell and Mandi Singer along with staff members Stephen and Travis Pecot. To learn about Cursillo, the diocese has a great website, or you could talk to someone who has been. A second Cursillo is being offered September 12-15. Who wouldn’t want to be loved on and pampered for three days? You deserve it! De Colores!

Readings for March 3, 2024, the Third Sunday in Lent

Readings for March 10, 2024, the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Your Bay View: Trinity's bi-weekly e-newsletter, the Bay View, reaches members and friends every other Friday, sharing news and inspiration for and about our parish. Please send information and announcements, as well as photographs, to info@trinityapalachicola.org or call the church office at 850-653-9550. The deadline for submission is noon on Wednesday of each publication week. (next deadline is March 13)

-- Kay Carson, Editor

Worship Service at 10:30 am Sunday

Morning Prayer at 8:15 am Wednesday

Church address: 79 6th Street, Apalachicola, Florida 32320

Office address: 76 5th Street, Apalachicola, Florida 32320

Mailing address: PO Box 667, Apalachicola, Florida 32329

Phone number: (850) 653-9550

Email: info@trinityapalachicola.org