THOMAS HARDY

Father Chris M. Rodriguez is Rector of the Trinity Church and fixture in the community since he arrived here in 2002. “I love Florida,” says Father Rodriguez. “I love Vero Beach. I’m never leaving. I am humbled and privileged to be the shepherd of the Trinity Church of Vero Beach. I mean that very sincerely.”

Rodriguez came to Vero after serving the Trinity Church in Red Bank, New Jersey. Since arriving, the congregation has grown 30 percent. An impressive number to be sure, but even more so when you consider his accomplishments in Red Bank, where the congregation grew from 90 to 175 and the average age went from 65 to 37.

He definitely knows how to connect with people. Rodriguez is a role model who doesn’t like to focus on himself. “I like to serve. My goals are to be a good Father, priest, leader and shepherd of this church and to reach out into the community. I would be honored to serve out my life shepherding this community of God.”

He was well prepared to serve. Growing up in Pennsylvania, Rodriguez is a second generation Basque on his father’s side, his grandfather having emigrated to the U.S. during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor’s then a master’s degree in industrial psychology. He worked as a senior systems engineer for a large international company, but then put that aside in favor of his faith, enrolling full time as a student at Trinity Seminary in Pittsburgh.

Rodriguez’s commitment to serve is expressed in many ways. He has reconnected with St. Edward’s School, a natural connection since St. Ed’s is an independent Episcopal school. Rodriguez serves on the Board of Directors and together with Father Jason Murbarger, the Assistant priest at Trinity Church, they visit the school daily to teach and lead school chapel.

He has also developed a men’s breakfast, women’s Bible study group, a Trinity Lecture Series, which resumes in October and a program to bring prayer shawls to people going into nursing homes. “It is to offer peace and spiritual nourishment to those taking that significant step.”

Father Rodriguez is most passionate about his preaching.   He spends 12 or more hours of each week preparing for his sermons. He prepares them by following the Lectionary Reading of the Episcopal Church, a table of scripture readings for specific days that had its origin in the fourth century and continues to this day. The advantage of the lectionaries, he said, is that over the lectionary’s three-year cycle, “it requires you to teach and address 90 percent of Bible. By reading the scripture for that day, I find a concept that jumps out at me and that becomes the basis of my sermon, always relevant to present day conditions.”

When asked if there are any political or social issues about which he is concerned, Rodriguez said, “in terms of politics I will not go there, but I do believe we need to address societal issues, particularly during these times.”

In a recent sermon. he said: “if we do not have struggles, we cannot grow; and how the old and new testaments teach us that suffering refines character.”   “However, when we are suffering it is understandable we are skeptical of our faith in God.”

Rodriguez had his own crisis of faith in his early 20s, questioning Christianity. He overcame that and his faith is as strong as ever. He is especially excited about the first speaker in the Trinity Lecture Series, Douglas Ell, a former atheist, who in his recent book, Counting to God said: “I’ve spent more than 30 years reconciling science and God, because I needed scientific evidence to believe in God.”

Rodriguez feels Mr. Ell will be a motivational speaker to those who may share these same feelings.

As to his love of Florida, it started early in life. While growing up in Pennsylvania he frequently visited his grandfather in Pensacola Beach. .   “My grandfather and I were very close and we loved to fish, go to the beach and eat oysters.

“Now I’m back,” he says, emphasizing how much he loves Vero Beach. He and his wife Kathy have three daughters and he enjoys devoting himself to them, meeting people, running, being with friends and playing the guitar. He is a reader and has primarily read history and theology, but is lately moving to novels based around historical events.

After two years as the Trinity Church Rector, having a string of accomplishments serving the Lord, Rodriguez said: We’re just getting started.”