16 Jun June 19: Trinity Sunday

Dr. Paul R. Fetters

In the Western Christian liturgical calendar, Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity–the mystery of the Triune Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As United Brethren in Christ, we say in our Confession of Faith:

“In the name of God, we declare and confess before men that we believe in the only true God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: that these three are one—the Father in the Son, the Son in Father, and the Holy Ghost equal in essence or being with both; that this Triune God created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is, visible as well as invisible, and furthermore sustains, governs, protects, and supports the same.”

Immanent Trinity. In Scripture, each person of the Trinity is found in eternal equality of essence and being. In Scripture, each Person of the Trinity is found in loving relationship and intimate communion. This intrinsic Being has been referred to by an early Church Father, Gregory of Nanzianzus, as a perichoresis. In the Greek, peri means “around” and choresis “choreography (dancing).”

One hymn, The Dance of the Trinity, captures the mystery of the Three-in-One or the One-in-Three:

The play of the God head, the Trinity’s dance,
Embraces the earth in sacred romance:
With God the Creator, and Christ the true Son,
Entwined with the Spirit, a web daily spun
in spangles of mystery the great Three-in-One.
–The Play of the God Head

Economic Trinity. In Scripture, each Person of the Trinity is involved in every aspect of creating, sustaining, governing, protecting, redeeming, and sanctifying. Also, Scripture emphasizes the identification of the predominant work of each Person of the Trinity–God the Father, the Creator; God the Son, the Redeemer; and God the Spirit, the Sanctifier.

Let not the glorious mystery of the Holy Trinity hinder our Church of the United Brethren in Christ in its proclamation of this fundamental Christian doctrine.