Trinity Sunday begins the second half of the church year. The first half of the church year beginning with Advent and ending with Pentecost focused on the life of Christ. We call this second half ordinary time but there is nothing ordinary about it. It is an extraordinary time of the year when we focus on the church's life and mission. Some have called Trinity Sunday the "great hinge" of the church year. Others have called it the "great pain"! Why? Because as the only Sunday of the church year that focuses on a doctrine instead of a historical event or person, it seems so abstract, complicated, and downright boring.

     

I vividly remember an event from my childhood. My father, who was also a pastor, was often visited in the summer by one of his boyhood friends, Harold, from St. Lo…