A Letter from Father Phil: Our Trinity Community, 25 Years After 9/11

On that blue-sky day when the Twin Towers fell, Trinity Church began a new chapter in our history. As the ash and debris fell, we opened the doors of St. Paul’s Chapel to first responders beginning the unimaginable task of sorting what remained. The historic chapel — miraculously standing in the aftermath — became a site of respite, response, and recovery.

“What I remember is that the church was here to meet the needs of the community before we even knew what the needs were,” says Marc Tremetiere, an art director at Trinity who was rushing from the subway stop under the World Trade Center to Trinity’s offices just as the planes hit. “There was such a need for ministry, such a need for people to have a place to volunteer and express themselves with love in response to the hate that had been visited on us.”  

Over the next nine months, thousands of first responders searched for survivors, cleared the wreckage, and stood with our neighborhood in its time of need. At St. Paul’s, those workers found an oasis from the devastation of the collapsed towers — clean clothes, warm meals, a place to rest, and clergy who led daily worship and counseling.

I believe that the lessons we learned in those days and weeks inform our work at Trinity to this day. 9/11 happened to our neighborhood. 9/11 happened to our church. And 9/11 helped us understand that the answer to what God asks of us is simple: We are here to give all we can give.  

That kind of giving isn’t always simple, and sometimes it’s messy. But we are always, always the better for it. We invite hundreds of high school students into Trinity Commons for Afterschool and relish the joy and energy they bring as they make themselves at home. We bring thousands of neighbors in need into our spaces and give them the food, and clothing, and diapers, and support that helps them get through the day, and we are humbled by the knowledge that we can make someone’s life a little better, even for a moment. We teach children to sing and play instruments and gain a whole new understanding of what it means to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

We are a people who understand that death is not the end of things, and that God is with us no matter what evils we experience, no matter what trials we face. And here at Trinity Church, God has given us the opportunity not only to hold each other, but also to hold our wonderous community — literally risen from the ashes, pulsing with new life, new neighbors, and new opportunities to love one another. I am so grateful to be here with all of you.