Faith in Action | Welcome to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

Join us for our services and observances during Lent, Holy Week and Easter Sunday.

The Faith in Action Committee works to coordinate the many external missions of our parish, and to raise our congregation’s awareness of opportunities to serve others in the community and in the world.

Our Why
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 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 Causes

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, and 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).

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 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 and provided the resources to build a nine-room school there. Today, Trinity remains committed to provide clean water to the village and operational funding for the school.

Jumpstart Prison Ministry

Jumpstart 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.

Keepin' It Real Ministries

Keepin' It Real Ministries is dedicated to assisting the homeless and less fortunate on their individual journeys toward recovery, through the stabilizing and life changing power of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Literacy SC

Literacy SC teaches adults and families practical skills in reading, writing and math to build confidence in daily life. Literacy SC offers private tutoring, workshops and group classes at sites throughout the Columbia area.

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.

St. Lawrence Place

Founded by the people of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Trinity Housing Corporation—now called Homeless No More—operates St. Lawrence Place, a transitional housing community for 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.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Trinity Cathedral serves breakfast each Sunday at 7:00 a.m. 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. Our guests also receive a bag lunch. Teams of cooks and servers assist each week, and we welcome older youth and families to participate in this wonderful ministry.

The Soup Cellar

The Soup Cellar at Washington Street United Methodist Church is a partnership of many area churches dating back to 1979. Trinity is one of the original partners and provides a regular team of volunteers to prepare and serve the meals.

Vivanco Family

Originally from North Carolina, Cameron Graham Vivanco and her husband Roberto are EDUSC missionaries, and live and serve in Quito, Ecuador with their three children. Cameron is the director of Education=Hope, and also runs Hope on the Ground, a short-term team’s mission program which supports E=H students, their families and communities in Ecuador. Roberto is a pastor at English Fellowship Church, and serves as the legal representative, an elder and a board member. EFC is an English-speaking international congregation that serves over 300 families.

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.

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. Trinity volunteers support the weekend retreats twice a year.

Questions about Faith in Action? Contact our Canon Pastor, Jimmy Hartley.

Putting our faith into action