Remarks shared by Beth Cooper during worship services at Trinity Cathedral on Sunday, October 25, 2026.
Good morning! Some of you may recognize me as a frequent greeter, typically for the 9:00 a.m. service. I really enjoy serving in this role, which might seem strange, because I’m an introverted engineer who is not good at small talk. But there’s a reason I chose this ministry, and it’s part of my Trinity story.
I came to Trinity more than twenty years ago when the congregation of my previous church was viciously fighting over whether to be welcoming to gay and lesbian people. I knew I had to find a different church, and several people told me, “You should go to Trinity Cathedral. You’d really like it there.” And so, on the Sunday after Labor Day 2005, I visited Trinity for the first time, and it’s been my church home ever since.
After singing in the choir for three years, I served on the search committee for a new Director of Music, who significantly elevated Trinity’s music program. He was excited to learn that I was an acoustical engineer, so he asked me to begin making video recordings of the Brownbag concerts and, eventually, Evensong and Solemn Sung Eucharist services.
When we began to program concerts that featured the Flentrop organ, I developed a system that projected video from the organ loft onto a screen in the nave. This made it possible for the audience to watch the organist’s hands and feet up close instead of looking up at the outside of the organ case.
Since this was almost twenty years ago, developing these capabilities for Trinity required equipment and technical skills that I knew I could provide. It was immensely satisfying to be able to make valuable contributions that challenged my technical abilities yet were still within my comfort zone.
More recently, just prior to the establishment of our livestreaming capability, I helped produce a weekly Evensong podcast that publicly shared this beautiful traditional Anglican service.
I’m recounting these examples of my ministry at Trinity to illustrate that there are many opportunities to share your unique skills in support of Trinity’s mission. Many of them are not the obvious roles that come to mind when you think about getting involved in the life of the church.
So how did I come to be a greeter? After singing in the choir and volunteering mostly behind the scenes for fifteen years, I found that I no longer knew many parishioners. I thought that being a greeter would allow me to meet people across the spectrum of Trinity worshippers in a context that was comfortable. It still surprises me how much I’ve come to enjoy this role, especially seeing people smile when I greet them. I look forward to seeing you come through the door sometime soon, and I hope you’ll say hello.