He Who Began a Good Work

Trinity Anglican Fellowship began when one person placed an Internet ad and just one other person replied, but that one person knew of at least one other, and the gatherings then began in October of 2008 in a living room with four people holding informal conversations. Terri Lynn Hagen, one of the original members, has stated, "When we began meeting, just the four of us for a while, we agreed that it was only through prayer, knowledge of God's Word, and discerning God's will that we would find the answer." This led to contact and meetings with representatives from the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh who encouraged them to continue in prayer for God's guidance. After several weeks and months, there became an increasing awareness within their small group that it was being drawn toward the movements that eventually became the new Province.

After the holidays, people in the group began contacting others who either had already left the Episcopal Church or had voiced their intention to do so. These good people were presented with an option: everyone can go their separate ways and occasionally bump into each other in the store and exchange pleasantries, or they can remain a family. In Lent, the meetings took on a new focus: church planting. The group had grown at that point to nine. While there were several discussions as to what church planting would mean, one matter stayed in the forefront: if this group does plant a church, it will be a church-planting church itself.

They looked at the question, "Why do churches die?"

 Lead by William Shontz (M.Div., Gordon-Conwell), and studied the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation and Christ's message to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. In the text they saw the recurring themes--reinforced by other passages of the New Testament--that embracing and even tolerating false teaching, immoral behavior, and lukewarmness can and will kill a church. The only way this new Fellowship can keep from having its own lampstand removed (cf. Rev. 2:5) is by guarding its heart and mind and submitting to the authoritative and formative role of God's Word in its life.

In July, the group decided to vote on a name for itself. They settled on Trinity Anglican Fellowship. While there were other options, it was the youth vote that carried the outcome.

The teens felt that 'Trinity' sounded more clearly orthodox. For a new church to call itself 'Trinity,' it must be serious about teaching the truth. The adults in the group were surprised and pleased that such things mattered to their youth. July also saw the beginning of Sunday morning worship. When a living room became too small to hold their service, they decided to rent a sanctuary in the city that suddenly became available (found to be for rent by one of their members, Jean Bomboy, just walking down the street). Trinity Anglican Fellowship has been worshiping weekly since August. As they near their first Advent together (2009), attendance and interest has more than tripled from that core group of the Lenten Nine.

There are two striking features of the new Fellowship. The first is that actual families have been brought together. People who, though living in the same household in some cases, were not worshiping together one, two, even five years ago and more, now are--including several who had been unchurched for years. The second feature is that nearly a third of their Fellowship does not come from an Anglican/Episcopal background, and they are simply not interested in those controversies. This has helped the Fellowship move beyond them.

There is also a significant amount of giftedness and skill within the Fellowship. Shonlee Shontz, with an Associate's Degree in Christian Education, is effective teaching the young children during Children's Church. Jack Tolin (M.Div., Nazarene Theological Seminary) is an accomplished musician who leads congregational singing and shares some of his own compositions. His wife, Janice, is the Fellowship's iconographer, providing visual worship aids, blending traditional iconography with her own style. Terri Lynn, among her many gifts, hand-made the Fellowship's paraments and altar frontals, while her husband, Mark, crafted their altar cross. Mark once wondered, in contemplating church planting, about how many great oak trees began because a squirrel forgot where he buried his nut. It was an image that lingered with a few people, and Mark's red oak altar cross comes with its own acorn. Others bring their experience and training serving at the altar, while everyone does the major work of bringing visitors to church, as well as articulating to the "beloved critics" in their lives why they felt compelled to start a new church plant. People are building relationships with those who have come to Trinity and may have been strangers just a short time ago.  

In the fall, Bishop Doc Loomis of the Anglican Mission in the Americas found The Lake Erie Confessing Anglican on the Internet and made contact with William. Trinity was blessed with a visit from Bishop Loomis at the end of October in which he preached and celebrated the Sacrament. After worship, there was a luncheon with conversation on how the AMiA--which he saw as "a Church-Planting Order" in the new Province--could minister with their Fellowship. In November, Trinity Anglican Fellowship voted to accept Bishop Loomis's kind offer to come under his ecclesiastical oversight.

The people of Trinity were particularly moved by the AMiA's drive, diligence, and focus with regard to fulfilling the Great Commission. They were persuaded that they could learn from Bishop Loomis's experience in church planting, and were struck by his own availability to them even as he oversaw such a large geographical area. Finally, as he said, "There are no such things as independent Anglicans," and they were persuaded that their attempts to be faithful and obedient to God were authenticated by his interest in their activities and his kind words of grace over the fruit they have born so far.

As within their Fellowship there were emotional and familial ties with the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, through whom the strange journey of church planting began, they also, the day they voted, expressed their desire to walk alongside the Diocese of Pittsburgh by, for instance, continuing to send their youth to the Happening events, attending, whenever possible, functions offered by the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Trinity School for Ministry, and keeping them, as they are neighbors, in their prayers, specifically by including Pittsburgh's Diocesan Calendar of Prayer in their own Prayers for the Church in their liturgy.

In its worship, Trinity Anglican Fellowship has been using the historic Sunday lectionary Anglicans have read for centuries. On the day of the vote to affiliate with the AMiA, the epistle lesson was from Philippians: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus" (1:6, ESV). In his sermon, William mentioned how some translations prefer to read the passage as "He who began a good work among you." His point was that, regardless of Paul's emphasis, the two go together. If God is going to begin a good work in someone, it ought to spill out among the community of faith. When God does a good work among the people, the individuals involved are changed as well. What is important is that Paul reminded the Philippians of his assurance that God would complete his good work, and Trinity should rest in God's faithfulness.

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