On August 31 and Sept. 7, Trinity Episcopal Church will welcome as priest and celebrant the Rev. Dr. Edward W. Rodman. For the last 22 years he has served Trinity as a member of its team of clergy during the summer season. The church is located in Oak Bluffs across the street from the Steamship Authority Wharf. Services begin at 9 a.m.

Following his graduation from the Episcopal Divinity School in 1967, Canon Rodman was ordained a deacon by Bishop Stokes in the Diocese of Massachusetts and was called to a position as assistant minister at Saint Paul’s Church in New Haven, Conn. While there, in 1968, he was ordained to the priesthood. In addition to his duties at St. Paul’s Church, he served as an adjunct professor at Yale Graduate School of Art and Architecture. He participated in the formation of the Union of Black Clergy and Laity which became the Union of Black Episcopalians. He became a much sought-after lecturer on black history and a leadership trainer and consultant for community-based organizations and church groups.

In May of 1971 he began his long tenure of work in the Diocese of Massachusetts. For 29 years he was a member of the staff at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston. He served under Bishops Burgess, Coburn, Johnson and Shaw. His work included his duties as a priest as well as work in the broader community. He became active in the official structures of the national church, a lecturer on black history and urban mission throughout the church, consultant to the Urban Bishops Coalition and was one of the staff who worked on the Episcopal Urban Caucus. He also served on the board of trustees of the Berkeley Divinity School. Presently he is a professor at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge.

After the morning service, in an informal will be held reception on the church lawn.