We are in Portland, OR for the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians regional conference and today is Trinity Sunday. Where else would we spend Trinity Sunday but at Trinity Cathedral (Episcopal) here in Portland? And it just wouldn’t be Trinity Sunday without the “St. Anne,” Bach’s monumental Prelude and Fugue in E-flat, which organist Michael Kleinschmidt played masterfully — the Prelude before the service and the Fugue as the postlude.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Cathedral absolutely packed for this service — that’s not the case with many Episcopal parishes these days. Of course, the service opened with “Holy, holy, holy” (NICAEA) and other Trinity hymns included “I bind unto myself today” (ST. PATRICK’S BREASTPLATE) and “Gracious spirit give your servants” (ABBOT’S LEIGH). Bishop Michael Hanley gave the homily. Both Carl and I thought how ironic it was that Bishop’s name was Hanley, the same name as our best man, John Hanley (but probably not related), who moved to Portland from Maui. You can review my post by clicking here.

After the service, they had an ice cream social in the Parish Hall. I couldn’t bring myself to take any, because it’s 57° F. — cold and rainy here in Portland and I’m freezing! Unfortunately we forgot to bring our umbrellas, so we’re hoping the rain lets up, especially since tonight we’re going on a cruise with the ALCM conference.