Digital Memory Wall

Bill & I moved to Charlottesville in 1974 for Bill’s surgical residency at UVA. We couldn’t find a theologically solid church, so we were pleased to hear Dr.Edmund Clowney introduce Skip Ryan, a young Westminster Seminary graduate who was exploring planting a church in Charlottesville. We enthusiastically joined with the first group of members. During our six years in Charlottesville, three of our children were dedicated to the Lord at Trinity. I was introduced to Precept upon Precept Bible studies at Trinity and subsequently taught Precepts. Bill started a missions committee at the church, and Trinity supported us the six years we were missionaries in Haiti. Trinity members: Keith Price (one year), Preston Campbell (two years), Jane Spencer (now Bopp--three months) and Barb Armacost (six months) came to serve with us at Beracah Medical Center. Bruce Robinson, after he graduated from UVA in engineering, also came to Haiti and worked with our mission using the spiritual foundation he gained at Trinity. Besides our friendship with those co-workers, we have been blessed by the lifelong friendships of Skip and Barb Ryan, Dave & Eleanor Mills, Alan & Barbara Jenkins, Jim & Dottie Mann., Dick and Janet Pearson. and many more. Finally and most significantly, we’re thankful for how our worship has been deepened under Skip’s tutelage at Trinity.

— Marcia Piepgrass

I am very grateful for my seven years as TPCs first associate pastor. The growing, happy, and welcoming community that God had used Skip Ryan to build here overcame my vocational doubts and I found myself thriving. It helped enormously that Skip was so willing to have me preach and grow here, sharing the pulpit more than senior pastors often do and adjusting to my desire to try on a range of roles as the years went by. Jeannie and I have friends from our years at Trinity whom we continue to hold dear, some of whom we Zoom with regularly.

The first time I prepared the Lord’s Supper elements was under the watchful eye of Mary Churchill. I thought I had done all things well, but Mary, born and bred in the Church of England, thought otherwise: “Charlie, Jesus turned water into wine, but you have somehow managed to turn wine into water!”

At one memorable presbytery gathering, Skip and I were hosted by a family that put us up in the same room, furnished with a double bed. Wanting to be gracious toward those who were opening their home to us, we said nothing. But as we silently prepared for bed, our heterosexual selves grew increasingly uncomfortable, until, just before he turned out the light, Skip muttered, “Touch me and I’ll kill you.” That somehow broke the ice and enabled us to go to sleep.

(Charlie Drew, Associate Pastor, 1980-1987)

— Charlie Drew

Many years at the early “big tent” of seriously Godwardly reaching/aiming in a heavenly direction. Hours spent in the presence of other stumbling pilgrims. Gifts given, shared, enjoyed, now relished. Trinity-care lavished in prayer, faithfully imploring “Kyrie elison” over and over on our behalf. Harkening back to care for our son, Aaron by Trinity’s folk. Grateful for so very much.

Looking back in recollections of friends now cherished, shared times, faces upturned, mental image of Lot and wife in view somehow. We did so wish to be salt, and light in greater C’ville and the world.

With glistening eyes, recalling profound worship and jubilant praises uttered from rent hearts and hearts running over from “hessid”, steadfast-love. A Skip theme always echoing, echoing, echoing... in me.

Erick Birkett

— Erick Birkett

— Erick Birkett

Photo submission — no written memory included.

— Hunter Chorey

The Sunday evening communion services held at St. Marks Lutheran church are one of my favorite memories of the very early years of Trinity. Worshipping together in that special setting (different from our normal meeting place at Jack Jouett school), and listening to Jordan Churchill read the Ten Commandments out loud as only he could do, made for a very special time of worship and being blessed by God.

— Kathleen Puerner

I’ll never forget walking down the long hall, past the library, into the massive gym, and sitting down at a white folding table to eat pancakes at Student Breakfast. What an intimidating moment for a ninth-grade girl new to Trinity! Yet I was quickly welcomed by my Dgroup leaders — love you, Jennifer! — and as the months passed, I got more and more involved in what God was doing in & through Trinity. I didn’t realize then, eating pancakes as a ninth grader, that my future would involve so much time spent at Trinity: Student Ministry, WITW nursery, Friends for Life, PACEM, ISI Friendship Partners, missions committee, mission trips, Sunday school classes, and so much more. I have been grown, stretched, challenged, and encouraged by the people God has placed at Trinity. We are an imperfect group of humans whom God daily invites into relationship with Him, and I’m thankful that I’ve gotten to “do life with” so many Trinity people over the years!

— Molly M

We moved from Richmond to Charlottesville in August, 1985. Our daughter Deb was a 4th year at UVA and our daughter Julie was a 6th grader at Henley. We immediately joined Trinity. I served as an elder for 20 years. My major area of service was the Mission Committee.

— William Jones

In January, 1987, I started working as an administrative assistant at Trinity. As secretary to Skip Ryan and later John Hall, my duties included typing sermons, preparing agendas for the Session, handling Membership paperwork, and serving as a secretary to the Missions Committee. I enjoyed playing handbells. After 17 years, I retired in April, 2004.

— Delma Jones

Favorite chorus: SING TO THE MOUNTAINS at the annual picnic at the Richardson’s farm followed by a communion service and the annual initiation of “There is a bear over there, southern style.”

— Holly Quarles

I’ll never forget my first visit in 1976 to what would become Trinity Presbyterian church... Although I had made a confession of faith when I was a teen-ager, I had long since walked away after years of college where I abandoned church attendance and married an unbeliever. My parents had moved to a house on our farm and were looking for a place to attend church. Someone told them about a group who had just started meeting at the Baptist Student Center. Mom and Dad attended and later challenged me to go as well, Mom was impressed with the lively crowd and the young man, Skip Ryan, who was preaching and looking to plant a church in Charlottesville. Charlottesville was then a place grossly lacking in evangelical Christianity. I reluctantly agreed to go one time (and then could get her “off my back”). I attended and heard Skip preach and was Immediately hooked. His sermon was in Philippians. It wasn’t even the powerful part of Philippians, just some of the introductory verses of the book, but the Spirit worked in my heart. I don’t think I ever missed a Sunday meeting again, and I showed up any time the doors were open. I ultimately became a founding member of the church, and almost fifty years later and after one 14-year detour to another church, I am still here. I have served at Trinity as Sunday School teacher, flute player on the worship team, historian, planner and teacher of spiritual gifts, teacher of an intergenerational Origins class on Genesis, member of two search committees, and one who assisted in bringing Precept classes to the area. My love for the Word of God and my years of teaching the Word are part of the story. I sometimes wonder where I would be spiritually if I hadn’t responded to my mother’s prodding. The Lord didn’t stop with me. My Father was one of the first group of elders. My husband became a believer and an elder at Trinity.

— Sheila Richardson

1. Going to a meeting with Daryl Richman on the day of my law school graduation to meet a young seminary student, Skip Ryan, who was thinking of starting a church in Charlottesville. 2. Complaining to Pat Harrison that “no girls at Trinity like to dance.” She said Denise Heinzman had just made the same complaint about “the boys at Trinity.” Denise and I danced that night and have been dancing ever since. 3. Having Skip open services with “and now, in the presence of angels and archangels...” I felt like I could see them on the ceiling. 4. Singing “All thy works shall praise thy name...” in a service and thinking “Law is a creation of God. It should praise his name.” I’ve been wrestling with that one ever since. 5. Teaching Romans and I Corinthians in adult Sunday School with Rich Dean. 6. Arriving late to hear Francis Shaffer and being ushered in to sit at his feet--see picture. (I’m the one with the moustache.)

— Robert Cochran

— Carol McCormick

Janice and I were incredibly blessed to begin our marriage and spiritual journey at Trinity 48 years ago, including our three children’s covenant baptisms. We could not be more grateful for the foundation laid to be sent off for kingdom ministry, even to come back full circle as interim pastor in 2021. Thank the Lord for the faithful ministry of Skip, Charlie, Ed, Tom, and many others. Jesus’ stunning mercy!

— Mike Sharrett

Photo submission — no written memory included.

— Janice Sharrett

— Janice Sharrett

— Janice Sharrett

I came to faith as a student at UVA, through God at work in RUF and Trinity. Many Trinity members, and most especially Carlton and Beth Dixon, took me under their wings, welcomed me into their homes, fed me Bodo’s and caffeinated me at Shen Joe’s, bought me my first study bible, stood by me when I was baptized during my last year in college, made a home for me during my year as a Trinity fellow, and loved me long before and long after I ever believed the same things they did. God used so many at Trinity to bring me to himself. Trinity was where I discerned God’s call on my life to serve his church in vocational ministry. I am eternally grateful for the long and rich season of my life lived amongst this church. May the Lord bless and keep this church for the next 50 years to come.

— Lane Cowin

I graduated from UVA in 1974, so I never got to attend Trinity as a student. Nevertheless I still benefitted from her. In 1985 the PCA sent me to Chapel Hill to start a new congregation. How does one go about such a task? I drove to Charlottesville to find out. Thank you Skip and Trinity for such a wonderful model! To God be the glory.

— David Bowen

I met my wife, Kathy, in 1977, when Trinity worshiped at Saint Ann’s School. With God’s grace and Trinity’s loving support, we married in 1984. Our children were raised in Trinity, where we were baptized together. After Kathy’s passing in 2014, Trinity’s faithful family continues to bless my life.

— Gary Thomas

Over the years, Trinity has worked closely with ministry partner International Students Inc. to extend hospitality and friendship to internationals from across the globe. Between 2003 to 2019, Trinity families and individual volunteers shared a Thanksgiving meal with hundreds of international students and scholars at the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for Internationals.

— Endrina Tay

I’m grateful to John Hall and Greg Thompson for their Kingdom focus and loving care. Serving on staff & leading Abundant Life Ministries was an honor. Thanks to those who invested their time & talents there. I’m so grateful, too, for my many friends from Trinity!

— Amy Sherman

We were about to move from Lubbock TX in 1988 to Charlottesville Virginia. By God’s providence a Texas Tech University student attending the same Baptist church had a friend attending UVA who recommended Trinity Presbyterian Church. Trinity has helped me work through my legalistic background to a freedom of grace and mercy. Thanks be to God. John 1:16 “From the fulness of his grace, we have all received one blessing after another.”

— Joline Jackson

(This was remembering our 2000 Spring Fling. This was written 2 years ago!) Trinity will be celebrating “Spring Fling 2000” on April 25. This event will mark the 23rd time the Trinity Family has met at the mountain farm of Don and Sheila Richardson for an afternoon of fellowship and worship… a Trinity tradition well established.

Sheila reminisces about the first “fling,” held April 17, 1977. “At that time, the Trinity Church staff consisted of one- and one-half people: Skip Ryan and Carol McCormick (part-time assistant). So, when Skip suggested ‘Let’s have a party. We’ll grill hotdogs and hamburgers’ I found myself holding the ball. I remember driving all over town in my pickup truck, collecting grills from the various church attenders, purchasing food and paper products, preparing the house for the hordes of people who would be coming through, planning bulletin announcements and making paper name tags, and the multitude of other needs. As far as the planning and logistics, it was a one-girl show those first years.

“I remember the endless lines waiting to enter the house for food and drinks and other necessities. (No one thought of a tent or ‘porta-pots’ until 1991.) I remember Chauncey Hutter, who for the first years engineered the cooking of hotdogs and hamburgers and who labored the entire time at that task. I remember Skip’s silly Young Life skits. I remember how it took a week for the farm to recover: sticky lemonade and crumbs on the floor, flies by the thousands because of the open doors, broken fence rails, bathrooms with clogged up toilets, styrofoam cups (used for tadpole catching) deposited along stream beds and forest trails. One year someone even left me a sink full of tadpoles.

“But it was a wonderful time. We had so much to celebrate. The first group of charter members had joined the church the previous Sunday. They included present members Mary Churchill, Betsy Hardeen, Yvonne Leveque, Terry (Maguire) Elzinga, Jane (Spencer) Bopp, Dave and Eleanor Mills, John Owen, Sue Ann Simpson and Sheila Richardson. On that Spring Fling Sunday, Rev. Tim Keller and Rev. Kennedy Smart, representing the PCA, came to officially organize our congregation as a ‘particular church.’ We were filled with the joy of the Lord, and the beautiful spring day and beautiful creation of God only increased our joy and sense of wonder at what God was doing among us. The highlight of that first Fling and most since has been worship on a high hill, with the mountains spread before us. The words of Isaiah 55:12 were on our lips: ‘For you will go out with joy, And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

Spring Fling trivia (Questions you never thought to ask:)

§ Numbers: 177 people attended the first event in 1977. 300 attended in 1978, and since then the crowds have averaged 300-600. Lately the numbers have become too great to count accurately.

§ Weather. God has almost always provided us with beautiful days. We had to take advantage of the “rain-date” postponement three times over the years. Only once in 24 years were we forced to cancel (1989). Only once, in 1995, was the weather cool and unpleasant, causing us to leave early and to forgo the worship time on the mountain.

§ Helpers. Fortunately, Sheila didn’t have to be the “one woman show” for long. The increasingly gigantic challenge of organizing the fling was undertaken by Sheila Porter in 1985, followed by Ruby Garnett , Linda Swallow, Angela Stokes (who actually served two years), Sherry McNaught. Some years the responsibility was carried by a Teaching Fellowship. Last year’s Fling was ably run by Liz Kimberlin, Joy Hancock, Mark Baker, Mark Barr.

§ Food over the Years. For the first 8 years the menu was hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. In 1985 Sheila Porter wisely suggested fried chicken, which reigned until 1999, when barbecue took the lead. Who knows what the future will hold!

§ Activities over the Years. From the beginning, vespers on the mountainside was the highlight of the event. Other activities included tadpole and critter catching, horse rides, farm tours (One year a cow delivered her baby calf for the admiring audience), pickup basketball, fishing, hiking, softball, volleyball, kite flying, and serious relaxation. More organized attention to games, relays and volleyball tournaments began in 1996. 1999 outdid all years, as activities included much-expanded children’s

— Sheila A Richardson

Remembrances of Trinity Presbyterian Church at Fifty: by Ken Elzinga Happy Birthday Trinity Presbyterian Church. I can remember a time day when this church was called “Skip’s church” – until the elders realized they needed to get ahead of this and come up with something different than the first name of the founding pastor, Skip Ryan. The name “Trinity Presbyterian Church” has proved to be a proper name: our congregation has been theologically Trinitarian to the core and we have remained Presbyterian in polity. The name “Skip” was itself notable in the life of our church. Skip Ryan was to teenagers, to UVA students, and to older members of the congregation: simply “Skip.” I cannot recall our founding pastor ever being addressed as “Pastor Skip” or “Reverand Ryan.” Memories of the early days? I have so many that I must be selective. I remember the singing: from the get-go, our congregation did not mumble the words of a hymn. We sang with fervor. Actually, we had no choice. If we were not singing with gusto, Claire Brittain Kimmel (our song leader back in the day) would stop us, chide us, exhort us, and then start the music again. I remember the nature of the worship. Trinity church was where I – and many others - learned how to worship (as opposed to “going to church” or “evaluating the sermon”). Early on, Skip encouraged us, as we left Sunday worship, to ask ourselves: “how did I do in worshipping the Lord today?” (as opposed to the propensity I had to evaluate “how good the sermon was”). I remember Skip preaching about the “character of God” – terminology with which I was not familiar. I remember taking the new members’ class and being surprised at how the content was more about the theology than it was about the various programs the church had. The membership class was a tutorial in the Christian faith. I took the class a second time, not because I flunked the first time around, but because I found Skip’s teaching to be so educational and edifying. I remember being asked to consider being an elder. I hesitated because my involvement in ministry to students along with the demands of teaching and research at UVA meant long hours. Skip told me not to worry: being an elder would simply be an extension of my current involvement with students. I interpreted this to mean being on the Session would not take that much time. In this regard, I was mistaken. As various Session meetings went on well into the evening, I found myself wondering: “how is this simply an extension of my involvement with students?” I remember, nonetheless, that it was an honor to be on the Session as a ruling elder (I am now Emeritus) because it gave me an appreciation for the church as the body of Christ and I observed first-hand how diligently the elders and deacons served the congregation, often in ways Trinity Church attenders would never observe, and did so often without thanks. I remember the death of my first wife, Barbara. Before we joined Trinity Church, Barbara had given her life to Jesus at a Billy Graham film. But Trinity was the first church where she was “all in” as a member. She loved this church, even though her time as a member was cut short. Barbara was the first member of Trinity to die (at age 33), and her memorial service was the first that Skip conducted as the pastor. I remember how Skip ministered to my first wife during her illness. Even with little personal experience in this arena of pastoring, he was loving and thoughtful “beyond his years.” I remember my present wife, Terry, becoming friends with Barbara through Trinity Church. Terry has the “honor” of being in the first membership class at Trinity (I believe my wife Barbara and I were in the second). She also was baptized as part of that initial membership class. By my recollection, Terry was the second person Skip baptized on the day the first membership class was received into the life of the church. The day Terry joined and was baptized was the day Trinity Presbyterian Church had “official” members for the first time. I remember certain practices in the life of the church that proved to be important in shaping the DNA of what Trinity Church is like today. I shall mention two. No doubt others of my vintage would single out more. I remember going to the farm of Don and Sheila Richardson for church-wide picnics on special Sunday evenings. Attenders would take a short hike into woods, through a pasture and gather for food and a message in what seemed like a “piece of heaven.” No doubt that experience contributed to the centrality of fellowship – outside of the worship experience itself – that still marks part of the life of our church. I remember, before Trinity had its own facility, our congregation at times would have a Sunday evening communion service at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – distinct from the Sunday morning worship service that day. For some of us, this was our first experience taking communion by going reverently to the front of the worship area – and the first time being in a worship environment where this sacrament was “front and center” – literally and figuratively. No doubt that experience contributed to the centrality of communion in our weekly worship at Trinity Church, a liturgical practice not the norm in PCA congregations. I remember the move from being a transient congregation to “our own building.” After that move had taken place, many people started worshipping at Trinity Church who had not visited before. I was puzzled (still am) at how many people reckoned Trinity Church was “a real church now” because we had our own building. I remember being on the building committee for our facility with David Turner (my former student and now good friend) and Terry Maguire (an architect, single at the time, and now Terry Elzinga). Our committee had marching orders to construct a large building on a small budget. We were at that time a sizable congregation with a small number of “paying customers” = because so many of those attending were UVA students. Their contribution to the life of the church was important, but their contribution to the life of the church budget was negligible. The building committee met the challenge of being economical: by forgoing an expensive stained-glass window (not recognizing at the time how most everyone would love the plain glass windows); by forgoing pews and substituting much less expensive chairs; and by forgoing a pipe organ and substituting a less costly a piano. I remember a little-known fact about the history of our facility: during construction, the main worship area was in danger of collapsing. David Turner, as chair of the building committee and someone with a history in the construction industry, deserves a medal in heaven for correcting that problem and leaving Trinity Presbyterian Church with a building that – with numerous subsequent additions – has served the congregation for decades. And in closing (“finally,” you may be thinking) I remember how often the Bible tells us to remember what happened in the past – because it is good and wise to do so. So, let us remember God’s goodness in calling Skip Ryan, single and fresh out of seminary, to Charlottesville to “plant” what came to be called Trinity Presbyterian Church. Let us also remember the blessing that Trinity Presbyterian church was, not only to those who were there at the start, but also to the many who became part of the congregation over the years, and now into the present. As we remember, may we look to our heavenly Father with anticipation as to what He has in store for Trinity Presbyterian Church as we wait the return of our Lord Jesus.

— Kenneth Elzinga

Upon returning to Trinity in 2012 after serving as one of its supported missionaries in China, I was delighted to find a rich and deep community of brothers and sisters involved in the Mandarin Bible study, then led by Wright and Dori Doyle. Over red bean rice snacks and the word of God, we would gather in the 10:00 Sunday school hour to learn about Christ and share our lives --some of us Westerners still fumbling throug the language, but always graciously included! This group became a beautiful picture of the welcome of Christ as people of varied ages and callings, from longtime Trinity members to UVA international students or medical researchers from the East, gathered to grow in their faith or ask earnest questions about Christianity. Many came from atheistic home cultures and had never explored the Bible’s claims. The Chinese men and women God used to shepherd and increasingly lead this group were humble and servant-hearted brothers and sisters that helped our Trinity family reflect the global body of Christ more fully. We also had a lot of fun, too - enjoying events like Easter feasts and egg hunts and even a memorable night of Chinese New Year karaoke at the church with folks of all ages!

— Sarah Ward

One of our favorite memories was the Sunday that Charlie Drew, scheduled to preach that day, was painfully late to the service. As the service progressed, and it was finally time for a pulpit appearance, we all had to pause. Where was Charlie? Not to worry, in a few moments the sanctuary door flew open wide and there was Charlie. He was smiling and holding his muddy boots over his head. “I just did a wedding in the Boar’s Head hot air balloon! The winds took us to away and I was delayed.” We all cheered as Charlie assumed his position in the pulpit and preached another extraordinary sermon, as if all of this was part of the plan.

— Mark Baginski