Trinity Bay View

Apalachicola, Florida

March 4, 2022

Pray, Fast, Give… For Your Soul and

the Well-being of our Brothers and Sisters

Dear Friends in Christ,

Here we are at the beginning of Lent. Last year we were just reopening after a second wave of COVID-19. Now we find ourselves still in a pandemic and a war has broken out between Russia and Ukraine. Last Saturday and Sunday I was heartened to see the number of parishioners who were hoping and praying for peace in Ukraine. This is a good time to pray! Every time you tune into the news, let your hearts and minds go those who are suffering the effects of this horrible war. Rend your hearts and not your garments as you mourn the needless losses attributed to this conflict; but, better still, perhaps we can do something tangible about this situation in Europe.

I am hopeful that Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) will update its webpage shortly so that we may know how the Church is going to assist those who are fleeing the war-torn democracy of Ukraine. During Lent we are called to prepare our hearts for Easter by prayer, fasting, and giving. I always fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and at times throughout the Holy season of Lent. This year I will be giving up one meal a day, so that the money I save may be sent to EMM or Episcopal Relief and Development to aid those in the greatest need in the world.

According to EMM, 82.4 million people are displaced throughout the world, 26.4 million are refugees and 4.1 million are asylum seekers. Of course, this does not include the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians that have fled in the last week. I am asking all of you who are physically able, to join with me in giving up either one meal, one side dish, or one dessert and saving that money to give to refugees throughout the world.

When the United States left Afghanistan, your gifts of almost $5,100 provided food, clothing, shelter, and educational materials to help Afghans get a fresh start here and around the world. At that time, it was the season after Pentecost. Now, during this Holy Season of Lent, strive to pray, fast, and give. Like the many countries and organizations that came to our aid after September 11, 2001, it is time for Episcopalians to demonstrate their love of our fellow human beings in their greatest time of need. So, please join me in fasting and giving the money you save to Trinity or to Episcopal Migration Ministries or the charity of your choice to assist these Ukrainians.This is what Lent is all about…Pray, Fast, Give… for your soul and the well-being of our brothers and sisters.

Wishing the beginning of a Holy Lent. Pray, fast, give.

Eric+

Readings for March 6, 2022, the First Sunday in Lent

Readings for March 13, 2022, the Second Sunday in Lent

AROUND THE CHURCH

Lenten Booklet Features Meditations

by Trinity Members & Friends

Trinity's Lenten Booklet, featuring reflections and meditations written by our own members and friends, is now available. If you haven't already picked yours up, you can do so this Sunday. For you convenience, you can open and read, or print out, the booklet. In addition, here is a listing of the readings for each day.

Bring Your Friends & Enjoy The Historic Apalachicola Tour of Homes on May 7

Preparations for the 2022 Tour of Homes are well underway. This year, seven homes will be featured, along with four gardens, including the City Square Community Garden. Watch for posters (above) in downtown shops & restaurants; tell your friends; send in your Pillars contribution; sign up to be a greeter; get ready to shop the silent auction; and, purchase your tickets now at www.apalachicolahometour.org.

Sneak Peak of Auction Committee Offerings

Here are a few of the beautiful decorative items that the Tour of Homes Auction Committee is offering during the Silent Auction on the Church grounds on Tour Day. Something for everyone!

A Lenten Reflection on the Very Brief Tenure of

John Breck Oven: A Beginning

By Penny Long Marler

Randy Mims lovingly cleaned and repaired Trinity’s Advent wreath this past year and discovered a small brass plaque in memory of John B. Oven. I wanted to know more about him. So, I scoured Trinity’s earliest Parish Register and Vestry minutes as well as our Sesquicentennial History to find out more. The story I uncovered is one worthy of the Lenten season: a story of decline, struggle and death but also sacrifice, love and new life.

In 1870, W.T. Saunders, the sixth minister of Trinity Church, resigned after 2 decades of ministry. He shepherded a small congregation into maturity. He kept vigil through the upheaval of the Civil War to the demise of the cotton export industry. It was clear in his reports to Diocesan Councils that the church was in trouble: “The Parish is greatly declined from its former state of prosperity. The war effects are severely felt, with trade much diminished” (May 8, 1867); “Sudden diversion of cotton trade has produced disastrous effects upon the Community, which has affected Trinity Parish” (May 27, 1868); and “Less to report, for it’s a day of adversity with us. Decline of the City, and removal of a large portion of the population has weakened the Parish, rendering attendance small in comparison with former years” (February 25, 1869).

The record is silent until the firm and confident hand of John B. Oven appears at the bottom of an otherwise blank page in the Parish Register. He wrote that Trinity was without a minister from January 1, 1871 until April 21, 1872 when he assumed charge of both Trinity, Apalachicola and St. Luke’s, Marianna. He recorded that he was born in Orange, New Jersey in 1847, studied at Foote Institute in Orange and graduated from Columbia College, New York in 1869; that he studied for 2 years at General Seminary in New York and was ordained to the diaconate in Newark, New Jersey in 1871.

Deacon Oven’s first Vestry meeting at Trinity on April 29, 1872 was a landmark gathering. Among 10 vestrymen elected that day was Frank Cook, the first—and as far as I could discover, the only—African-American to serve in that role at Trinity. What is more, the Parish Register records reveal that a slave named Frank (surname of his owner, Nourse) was baptized at Trinity in 1846 along with his wife, Charlotte (the slave of Trinity member, Louisa Myers), and their four children. In 1866, Frank and Charlotte “Cook” (married name, after Emancipation) were both confirmed here. During Reconstruction, the same Frank Cook (notation in the register, “colored”) served as Sexton, a vestryman for 8 years, and both he and his wife were buried in the Old Cemetery.

The Vestry minutes did not single out Frank Cook, nor comment on the role of their brand-new minister in the proceedings. But theretofore, the Vestry had numbered 9, and now there were 10. It would not be surprising that Oven, born in 1847 and raised and educated in New Jersey and New York, was supportive of the higher aims of Reconstruction. Moreover, this move would not be out of character for Trinity. The history of Frank Cook and his family is a witness to Trinity’s inclusion of slaves in its early history, albeit in relatively small numbers and in segregated contexts such as separate Sunday School.

Watch for the next edition of the Bay View for the rest of this

Lenten story that intimately involves the Raney family of

Trinity Church and Apalachicola.

Pirates of Oyster City hit the Streets as

Barkus Parade Returns to Apalachicola

Trinity people participating in the "Pirates of Oyster City" Barkus Mardi Gras Parade in support of the animals of Franklin County included Brooks Jones playing his banjo, Barry & Ginger Lawson with Callie, and Karen Kessel & Tara Carter on The Frenchies float.