The new vice moderator of the 220th General Assembly said he “shares a passion for sacramental unity” with the moderator, the Rev. Neal D. Presa.
The Rev. Tom Trinidad, pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., was confirmed and installed as vice moderator Wednesday evening, July 4, following the resignation of his predecessor, the Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe, earlier in the day.
McCabe stepped down after controversy surrounding her recent signing of a same-gender wedding license in Washington, D.C.
Trinidad, a commissioner from Pueblo Presbytery, said he’s known Presa since the two served together on the Sacraments Study Group, convened in 2003 by the Office of Theology and Worship.
“The most important thing” about agreeing to stand for vice moderator, Trinidad said, “is Neal’s leadership. His integrity will help us through the important business we have ahead of us.”
Trinidad earned an undergraduate degree in music and religion from Colorado College, a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in liturgical theology from the University of Notre Dame.
He has served as a college chaplain in Iowa, on the staff of Des Moines Presbytery and three congregations as an interim pastor. He began work as pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in June 2008.
He and his wife, Kyndra, have two small children.
“While I miss my family terribly,” he said in a statement before his installation, “if given the opportunity to serve our denomination as vice moderator, I will welcome it as a two-year extension of this incredible week.”