The Board of Directors sent the following message to members of The Mother Church and friends today.
Dear Fellow Members and Friends,
After 11 years of dedicated and immensely productive service as a member of the Christian Science Board of Directors, Mary (Trinka) Trammell, CSB, has asked to resign from the Board. Trinka’s fellow workers at The Mother Church in Boston, as well as church members worldwide who have met her on her tireless travels and through her many articles in the Christian Science periodicals, will join us in a chorus of gratitude for all she has contributed to the forward movement of this Church. Our thanks extend to her husband, Talbot, and their whole family for their faithful support of her work.
Trinka left a university teaching career for the full-time practice of Christian Science healing, following in the footsteps of both her parents. She became a teacher of Christian Science in 1991, and went on to serve The Mother Church in many capacities, including Editor of the Christian Science periodicals, before joining the Board in 2001. In all her forms of service—practitioner, teacher, lecturer, author, administrator—Trinka’s humility, spirituality, and love have won the respect and affection of her colleagues. She has been a shining example of how a quiet voice carries a powerful message. Most recently she taught the 2012 Normal Class of the Board of Education. Of her experience with this class Trinka says, "What a privilege it was to be with that extraordinary group of devoted Christian Scientists, representing 12 countries on five continents!"
We’re grateful Trinka will continue in the role of teacher on the Board of Education, and of course in her primary work as a Christian Science practitioner and teacher in the Boston area.
And it’s a joy to welcome the newest member of the Board, Robin Hoagland, CSB, of Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA. No doubt many of you already know Robin through her writing and lecturing, and if not, click here to enjoy a Daily Lift about Christmas that Robin recently recorded.
Robin grew up in Minnesota in a deeply Christian home—one parent actively involved in the Christian Science church and the other in another local church—and was blessed by a broad exposure to faith traditions in her community. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Williams College with a BA in English literature and as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. During college, she spent two summers working as an intern at The Mother Church, first in Security and then at the Monitor. After college she worked in publishing, public radio, and freelance writing while raising two children, and soon committed full-time to sharing this Science with others.
In 1999 Robin began advertising as a practitioner in The Christian Science Journal, and in 2006 became a teacher of Christian Science. In addition to actively serving her community as a member of her local Christian Science church, she has also served in interfaith and ecumenical activities including at the local, state and national levels of Church Women United, coached her children’s soccer teams, visited shut-ins in her community, volunteered her time to post-Hurricane Katrina clean-up efforts, and helped with outdoor worship services for the homeless. Robin and her husband, John, are delighted to be returning to Boston, and look forward to connecting even more closely with their worldwide church family.
With gratitude for the many contributions of Trinka and Talbot, and Robin and John,
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
