New Church Sings Swap Gospel

Confusion and fear are among the more prominent after-effects of a swap. Many swapees devoid of direction are turning to an alternative establishment founded by a swapee who goes by the name of Pastor Evelyn Trimble.

Evelyn, a roundish, salt-and-pepper haired lady in her mid-40's was, until earlier this spring, working as a janitor for a chemical company based in Dallas, TX. The man who was born Charles von Erich "Erik" Trimble found himself lying, dressed in rags, outside a church in Mobile, AL.

"I was an alcoholic, a loser, a worthless peon," Trimble explains. "I'd squirrelled away a small fortune for the purpose of gambling, but when I found myself outside of Our Lady of Mercy, I was inspired."

Trimble, who took her swap as a cue to completely reform her life, spent her few thousand dollars on a small chapel outside of Macon, GA where she could gather with fellow swapees.

"I wanted to share with people my revelation," the Pastor explains, "It's about helping people understand what has happened do them, or learn what may happen to those who have not yet been blessed."

The Church of the Holy Redeemer preaches that the swaps are a form of divine intervention. "We are all sinners, and in our ow way, we are all destitute, wanting for a path," Trimble says in one of her sermons. "Whether we understand or not, our holy moment comes to show us a path we ca nfollow, a way we can make ammends."

Trimble says there is not a trace of the old Charles in her. She does not gamble, imbibe alcohol, or "consort with whores" the way Charles von Erich Trimble did. She speaks of him in the third person as though he were a past acquaintence.

"Charles did not know where he belonged," she notes the one picture of her former self in her office. She gave me a tour, dressed in a conservative blue dress-suit, with her hair tightly wrapped in a bun, pale red lipstick on her lips, wearing matching heeled shoes. She is exceedingly matronly in her demeanor, which is surprising compared to the roguish bounder von Erich Trimble's acquaintences describe.

According to one of Trimble's ex-wives, who asked not to be named, when they were married he would often disappear for days at a time. "Sometimes he'd come back after losing a fortune, sometimes he'd try to convince us to all come out for pancakes to celebrate, even though he wouldn't tell us what. I couldn't stand living with the man."

The person who inherited Trimble's body, Faye Reingould, has been living quietly in Mobile, and asked not to be interviewed.

"She's very uplifting," says Donna Frickman, who has attended many sermons with his wife Lew. "We also enjoy the camraderie of our fellow swapees."

The Bureau for International Swap Affairs does not necessarily approve of Trimble's sect. "Though her sermons are often uplifting and healthy, we're very leery of her motives, and the information she spreads is not scientifically-based at all," explains Dr. Arthur Gulf of BISA Maryland.

Sources who knew Trimble explain he often remarked of his desire to start a church, according to one former friend, "Like that L. Ron guy." However, the Pastor insists she has changed her ways.

She tells a congregation of swapees, "The soul is a commodity, like any material in the universe, even like your body. You would recycle a bottle, or a can, or paper, to save these resources, and your souls are no different. The body it was housed in was no good to it, and it had to be recycled. Science cannot explain it, because it is bigger than science. It is redemption within this lifetime of ours, and you must seize this second chance and make it better than your first. Amen."

Thre is no charge to join the church, although donations are welcome. Services are held on Saturday nights and Sunday Mornings.