Joan Francis
A Cord of Three Strands
It was one of the great joys of my life to establish the Tom Francis Memorial Endowment for scholarships for students to come to Trinity from the Global South. This brought together three strands of my life that are extremely important to me.
The first strand, of course, is 50 years of marriage to a wonderfully successful, humble man, my husband Tom, who died in April 2006 of lung and liver cancer and emphysema. He gave me three terrific children, each married to delightful spouses, and seven refreshingly unique and gifted grandchildren. We had many happy years of travel and fun together, and this is a truly “fruitful” way to thank him for his hard work and commitment to his business goals, our marriage, and the years we enjoyed together.
The next strand is my long love for Trinity. I’ve been coming to conferences, Jan Terms, meetings and classes of all sorts for many years. I’ve served on the Board for 13 years, since mid-way through the Deanship of Bishop Bill Frey, with whom I had worked when he was the bishop of Colorado. I have also served on boards and projects on the national scene with Peter Moore and Paul Zahl, who were board members at the time – all of these things ultimately drew me to serve on Trinity’s Board. One Sunday Bp. Frey and Bp. Hathaway just happened to ask me why I wasn’t on the Trinity Board...and wouldn’t I like to be? I don’t think I was ever properly or thoroughly “vetted,” but I said Yes, and have happily served ever since!
The final strand is that I have a deep love for Africa, its people, and the passion so many exhibit of love for Jesus. Tom and I have taken our families to Kenya three times, and I have done a SOMA mission to South Africa, as well as a couple of safaris. The deep faith so many of the Africans live and preach is what we all need to hear again and again, till it seeps into our very beings, and we will preach and live it ourselves. I expanded my original plan so that the scholarships would also include students from the Global South, which at this time is offering support for the faithful in this part of the Anglican Communion. I want to thank them for their support. Our church has lost much of the passion and the heart for the Lord which I admire in them.
Trinity is a powerful and faithful training ground for leaders in the future growth of the Lord’s Kingdom. I truly believe there are many adequate safeguards built into the system (i.e. Board and faculty selection, and our Statement of Faith) so that Trinity can continue to stand firmly and strongly for the Gospel and the Lordship of Jesus Christ well into the future. Its strength goes far beyond the individuals who are present now. Alf Stanway’s vision is with us still, and the Holy Spirit who guided the founding of this School is still in charge. Praise be to God!
The gift comes with much love and deep prayer that many will be trained here to preach powerfully the whole Word of God. May our beloved Lord Jesus be blessed by it.
