Farewell Gathering for Adam Spencer

Saturday, Sept. 15 6-8:30 p.m.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
-from “The Fellowship of the Ring” by JRR Tolkien

Enjoy an evening with Adam Spencer and wish he and his wife, Rose, bon voyage as they prepare to move to Chicago. His last day with Trinity is Sunday, Sept. 16. A Browns-themed, tailgate farewell potluck will be held at Trinity on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 6-8:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Burgers, brats and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. Bring a side dish or a dessert as well as your favorite beer (if you like) and wear your Cleveland Browns gear if you’ve got it!

Adam joined Trinity as “Cathedral intern” in August of 2008 after graduating from Baldwin-Wallace College with a degree in religious studies. He worked as assistant to the Dean and youth minister before taking on his current duties as adult education coordinator and program director of the Urban Service Corps.
As youth minister, he encouraged Trinity’s deeper involvement with diocesan youth programming and events. Adam transformed the traditional Middle School Pilgrimage into an overnight retreat for the middle-school-aged youth of the Diocese of Ohio. He also co-organized Trinity’s first ever youth mission trip to Dungannon, Va. and the two subsequent trips to Franklin, Pa. with a group of parishes from around the diocese including St. Paul’s, Medina; and St. Andrew’s, Elyria. “Working with Trinity’s youth, I’ve had the honor and pleasure of teaching and befriending some truly remarkable young Episcopalians,” he says, “and playing some pretty epic games of kick the can at lock-ins.” With Trinity’s volunteer youth leaders, he began looking at and teaching new curriculum for the Trinity youth program as well and will forever be grateful for the (sometimes truly above and beyond!) service of volunteer youth leaders Kim DeNero Ackroyd, Cammy Hiaasen, Emily Hatch and his good friends Ben Borns and Bryan Schwegler.

Towards the end of his tenure as youth minister, Adam created Trinity’s Episcopal Service Corps program and wrote the planning grant request to Trinity Church Wall Street for funding to explore and develop the program with the ever-crucial support and advice of a volunteer Advisory Board. He served as program director for the first program year of the Trinity Cathedral Urban Service Corps – overseeing logistics and planning and teaching curriculum in spirituality, social justice and vocational discernment for an intentional community of six post-collegiate young adults.

As adult education coordinator, Adam has worked with the Trinity Adult Education Team and the Dean to plan more than two seasons’ worth of educational programming – from major speakers and seasonal retreats to weekly classes and Dean’s Forums. He has served in worship as acolyte, lector and lay eucharistic minister and has preached multiple times at Wednesday Evensong, told the story of Noah at a few Easter Vigils and taught a handful of Sunday and Wednesday evening adult-ed classes. (His personal favorite being the class he taught with John Gordon on “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” – his favorite play.) He has helped to put forward two classes of youth for Confirmation and assisted in the development and facilitation of Trinity’s Culture of Call program. Creating a rather large pile of Sunday and special occasion worship bulletins is the one task Adam says he will certainly NOT miss doing.

But his favorite Trinity memory involves standing in the Cathedral crossing just over one year ago and marrying his beautiful wife, Rose. “I am beyond grateful for the generous outpouring of love, support, mentorship and care of the Trinity Cathedral congregation and staff in these four incredibly meaningful and formative years,” he says.

The couple is moving to Chicago, where Adam will pursue a master’s degree at the University of Chicago in religious studies and “hopefully,” eventually a PhD with an emphasis on mythology and sacred narrative.

Keeping with the Trinity custom, we’ll send Adam off with a purse toward his theological education. To contribute, send a check made payable to Trinity Cathedral by Wednesday, Sept. 12. Please write “Spencer Purse” in the memo line, and either put your check in the offering plate or mail it to Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115, Attn: Spencer Purse.