2026 Annual Giving Letter from the Rector
Dear People of Trinity,
The first time I included snapdragons in my front porch planter boxes, I felt delighted: by the clusters of blossoms resembling tiny dragon heads; by the variety and intensity of the colors; by the way the flower’s petals opened and closed with a gentle snap when gently squeezed. The following spring, delight morphed into gratitude. I’d been less than diligent in my fall cleanup, and the snapdragons went to seed. Those seeds scattered, then sprouted, and new flowers appeared in quantities and in places where I didn’t imagine flowers could grow, randomly appearing in driveway cracks and gaps in the sidewalk, all without my intervention. A whole lot of something coming from seemingly nothing: nature’s gift economy on vivid display.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, in her book, The Serviceberry, advocates for the lessons of the natural world as a model for how humanity can not only survive but thrive. She writes analogically, using what she knows of the qualities of the serviceberry plant to draw a connection from the serviceberry’s abundance to our sense of gratitude when we receive its fruit, to the relationships we foster when we share what we’ve received—all of it leading to our collective well-being. Kimmerer writes, “In a gift economy, wealth is understood as having enough to share, and the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away. The currency in a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude, as interdependence and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. A gift economy nurtures the community bonds that enhance mutual well-being; the economic unit is “we” rather than “I,” as all flourishing is mutual. That same kind of abundance, sharing, connection, and reciprocity is on vivid display at Trinity. I’m delighted and grateful to witness so many seeds of relationship, service and generosity being sown within and outside of our church walls. We flourish as a faith community when we work together to make Trinity a place of safety and belonging, where all people can come to know they are beloved of God, and then are invited to share that message of expansive, inclusive love and hope to a fractured and hurting world. Included in this packet is information about Trinity’s projected operational budget for 2026, which funds all of our ministries, including worship, music, justice, education, hospitality, children and youth, along with all the staff, building, and operational infrastructure that support these ministries.
As we begin our annual giving season, I invite you to review the pledge materials, and consider what financial commitment you can make for your 2026 pledge in support of and with gratitude for belonging to this faith community that provides so many opportunities to make God’s abundance, justice, and love real and tangible in our own lives and in the world. God made us to be for each other, and I’m delighted and grateful to belong to this place that knows that to be true.
Visit: trinitysb.org/make-a-pledge-2026
We are all in this together,
Elizabeth+
