Trinity is known for its service in the community and the world. The Faith in Action Committee works to coordinate the many external missions of our parish. One of the committee’s main goals is to raise our congregation’s awareness about the wide range of opportunities to serve others in the community and in the world.
Questions about Faith in Action? Contact our Canon Pastor, Jimmy Hartley.
Our Why
Why Faith in Action? Because we are called — in fact, commanded — to love and serve a broken world. The Faith in Action Committee provides focused attention for structure, organization, accountability, and synergy to coordinate the efforts of the full parish.
Our Mission
Our committee’s charge is to help identify and interpret our community’s needs, concerns, and hopes, and to crystallize and inspire opportunities to address them.
Our Vision
The fulfillment of our charge as the body of Christ will lead to a bridge over which Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is bringing the Church to the world and the world to the Church.
Our Approach
We intend to operate from a mindset of faith and favor over fear and fault, believing in each other and God as we build his kingdom. We do not sit on the committee. We serve on the committee.
Our Resolve
Almighty and everliving God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the precious body and blood of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ; and assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your Son, and heirs of your eternal kingdom. And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Our Work
- Decide and promote outreach activities and partnerships to carry out our mission.
- Strategize and maximize the use of our facilities.
- Make funding recommendations to the Vestry to support our work.
- Acquire and steward resources and relationships that support our work.
- Oversee, explore, promote, and prioritize Trinity’s various outreach ministries, as fully authorized and delegated to act by the Vestry of the Cathedral.
Our Causes
Sunday Morning Breakfast
Trinity Cathedral serves breakfast each week to people experiencing homelessness or economic instability in downtown Columbia. Dedicated volunteers from Trinity and other area churches come to prepare a full meal of sausage, eggs, grits, biscuits, coffee, fruit and milk, gathering together 52 Sundays per year at 6:00 a.m. Our doors on Senate Street open at 7:00 a.m. for our breakfast guests. Our guests also receive a bag lunch. Teams of cooks and servers assist each week, and more members are always needed to assist in preparation, serving and cleanup. We actively recruit older youth and families to participate in this wonderful ministry.
W.A. Perry Middle School
Begun in 2003, our partnership with W. A. Perry Middle School allows Trinity to support future generations of the community where our very own St. Lawrence Place is located. The partnership provides enrichment activities and opportunities to students enrolled in the after-school program. The program seeks to develop relationships that encourage academic success. Relationships are fostered through art, golf, tennis, cooking, drama, sewing and other activities, as well as tutoring assistance. In 2013, Trinity helped W.A. Perry begin a weekend backpack program to provide students with food for meals over the weekend. Also in 2013, the South Carolina Department of Education awarded W.A. Perry a Gold Award for improvement.
Camp Bob
Camp Bob is a summer camp held for children who would otherwise be financially unable to attend summer camp. It is held at Kanuga Camp and conference center in Hendersonville, NC. Each June, through the generosity of Trinity parishioners, Trinity members sponsor a trip to Camp Bob with a busload of Columbia children ages 8 to 17. Members of Trinity and others in the community serve as volunteer counselors.
Cooperative Ministry
In 1982, Trinity joined four other downtown churches to establish The Cooperative Ministry, in order to verify need and coordinate assistance for those who came to our doors seeking help. TCM has evolved into an exceptional program serving those experiencing housing insecurity. Volunteers and staff provide rent, utility, prescription assistance, and budget counseling, as well as providing links to other agencies that support those in need.
Weekend of Hope
A spiritual retreat sponsored by His Hands Ministries for individuals experiencing homelessness. It is a chance for them to renew their faith, experience God’s love, and commit themselves to becoming a blessing to others.
MORE Justice
A growing network of faith-based congregations that are culturally, economically, racially, geographically and religiously diverse – coming together to fulfill our scriptural mandate to “do justice” and make the Central Midlands area a more just place to live for all people.
JUMPSTART Prison Ministry
Serves people currently or previously incarcerated, and assists them as they reintegrate to their community. With the help of community partners, Jumpstart addresses their spiritual, educational, employment, healthcare, housing, and family relationship needs.
Haiti/Morne Michel
For more than 30 years, the Diocese of Upper South Carolina has been in partnership with the people of Cange, Haiti. Trinity Parishioners have been deeply committed to our friends there as we work together to improve life in this land of great poverty and deprivation. The ministry has evolved over a period of years and now has a major focus on education, health, clean water, sanitation, agriculture, and vocational skills. In the early 2000s, Trinity adopted the remote village of Morne Michel, a three-hour hike from Cange. We provided the resources to build a nine-room school there. The new school opened in 2012, and Trinity remains committed to our effort to provide clean water to the village and operational funding for the school. No roads lead to Morne Michel, and everything – sand, iron, cinderblocks, fresh water – must be carried by hand or donkey up and down the steep mountain trails. Trinity sends regular mission trips to Haiti.
St. Lawrence Place
Founded by the people of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Trinity Housing Corporation operates St. Lawrence Place, a transitional housing community. Thirty units provide housing to families who are experiencing homelessness. An active professional staff presents programs for family enrichment, educational instruction, job training, and interpersonal skills. Volunteers from the Cathedral are involved in after-school programs and tutoring, maintenance, and enrichment programming.
Seeds of Hope Farmers Market
Small farmers face many impediments to economic success. “Seeds of Hope” offers them the opportunity to sell directly to consumers by bringing their produce to area residents. The Cathedral and many other area churches and synagogues support this program, which was started in 1986 by a group of churches and is sponsored by the S.C. Christian Action Council. For more than 15 years, Greeleyville farmer Louis Reid has sold his produce in the Cathedral parking lot every Sunday during the summer months. Two Trinity volunteers help each Sunday, weighing and bagging the produce and collecting the money.
The Soup Cellar
The Soup Cellar Ministry is a partnership of many area churches dating back to 1979. Trinity is one of the original partners and makes and serves lunch to 175-250 hungry people on Thursdays of each week (except Thanksgiving). Our team is divided into those who prepare the lunch, and those who serve the lunch. Each shift is about an hour and a half. Many deep friendships have been forged over the years and new members are very much welcomed.
Education=Hope
Education Equals Hope (E=H) supports the education of those living in desperate and difficult situations in Ecuador and around the world. E=H started in Quito, Ecuador, where Cameron Graham Vivanco and her husband and three children serve as missionaries. It has grown from helping one 15-year-old girl finish third grade to serving more than 2,000 students in five countries (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Haiti, Rwanda and Kenya).