Father Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians
January 2016
Loss, Redemption, and Life at Trinity
A couple of months ago, we got an email from an Episcopal
priest in Mississippi: “Are you missing a silver paten? I found one offered for sale on e-Bay that
has the inscription ‘Trinity Church Ashland Oregon 1952’ on its back.” A paten is the small plate on which the
Eucharistic bread is consecrated and often served. We were not missing one, but given the
detailed inscription, we started asking.
It turns out back in the 1970s, when Father Bob Ellis was rector
at Trinity, Trinity opened the church twenty-four hours a day seven days a
week, and the nave served as a place where the homeless could get in out of the
weather and sleep. Fr. Ellis had a
shower and toilet installed in the back of the sacristy to help support those
seeking shelter in the Church. Reaching out and supporting at-risk
populations, however, does on occasion have its costs. In this case, someone took advantage of the
quiet un-monitored wee small hours to break into the sacristy cabinets, drink
the wine stored there waiting to be consecrated, and made off with the silver,
including the paten and the chalice.
The parish was canvassed and asked to provide silverware and jewelry to provide
raw materials to recast new sacred vessels.
The chalice we now use at Trinity was the fruit of this effort. A separate new paten was purchased with the
money raised in the canvas. As to the
stolen paten, it apparently was fenced and made its way into an estate sale in
Portland in the mid-1990s where the e-bay seller had purchased it.
We shared the results of our research with our angel in
Mississippi, who purchased the paten to make sure it didn’t disappear
again. He then sent it to us and we reimbursed him
for his costs. Thus, after 50 years in
the wilderness, the silver paten stolen in the 1970s returned to its home at
Trinity and just before Advent we began using it again in our Eucharists.
The story of the stolen paten returning home made three deep
impressions on me. 1) No matter how
hopeless or lost things might look, we regularly see them turned upside down
and hope returned. This is the story of
the Resurrection. It is the story of the
Exodus. 2) Reaching out and serving
others has its costs and risks, which you can minimize through planning and
smart implementation. But helping people
means dealing with people in need, and sometimes that can be messy and
costly. But we are called to reach out
to them all the same. This is the story
of the Good Samaritan. 3) Trinity
Church has an identity that has been stable through the decades: warm, supporting close relationships within
the parish, and bold and at times risky reaching out to support those in need
outside the parish. This is the story of
our parish.
When we use these vessels in Holy Communion—the paten stolen
by a person we helped and then recovered after a half century through the
kindness of a stranger, and the chalice made with the melted down silverware
and jewelry of the parishioners—I am reminded of the stories of risk, service,
loss, and hope that are the stories of our parish and our faith.
Grace and Peace,
Fr. Tony+
Speaking of things long gone returning, I had the pleasure of assisting my colleague, Jo Haemer with the enamel work for this chalice. It was a wonderful thing & we relished creating this art for Father Bob Ellis & the congregation. It is gratifying to see it after 40 some years! Thanks for the post.
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