Church of the Holy Trinity is an Episcopal

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Rittenhouse Square Rittenhouse Square is a neighborhood, including a public park, in Center City Philadelphia. The park is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas Holme during the late 17th century. The neighborho ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The first service in the church building, designed by Scottish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Notman John Notman (22 July 18103 March 1865) was a Scottish-born American architect, who settled in Philadelphia. He is remembered for his churches, and for popularizing the Italianate style and the use of brownstone. Career Notman was born on 22 Jul ...

, was held on March 27, 1859. The corner tower was added in 1867 and was designed by George W. Hewitt of the firm of Fraser, Furness & Hewitt. It is designed in the simpler " low church" style, rather than the fancier "high church" or

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

style of Notman's nearby St. Marks Episcopal Church. The church's

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

from 1862 to 1869 was

Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, "O Little Town of ...

, who was also the author of the

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...

to the familiar

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

O Little Town of Bethlehem "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a Christmas carol. Based on an 1868 text written by Phillips Brooks, the carol is popular on both sides of the Atlantic, but to different tunes: in The United States, to "St. Louis" by Brooks' collaborator, Lewis ...

". Renowned (and sometimes reviled) for his ebullient homilies and his staunch opposition to slavery, Brooks delivered a eulogy to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

in the church on April 23, 1865, following the

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

's assassination on April 14. This sermon was reprinted and widely read. After the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Brooks took a sabbatical from the church to travel to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. His visit to

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

inspired him to write a poem for his Sunday School students, and for the church's 1868 Christmas season he had church organist Louis Redner set the poem to music. The result was “O Little Town of Bethlehem." In 1869, Brooks became rector of

Trinity Church, Boston Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 4,000 households, was founded in 17 ...

, where he oversaw the design, decoration and construction of Trinity's new

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

facility from 1872 to 1877 following the original church's destruction in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's Great Fire of 1872. The church's rector from 1899 to his death in 1932 was rev. Floyd W. Tomkins. Philadelphia's Church of the Holy Trinity is also known for its numerous

stained-glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows, including five by

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

and one by

Luc-Olivier Merson Luc-Olivier Merson (21 May 1846 – 13 November 1920) was a French academic painter and illustrator also known for his postage stamp and currency designs. Biography Born Nicolas Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris, France, he grew up in an artist ...

The church was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1973. Today, the Church of the Holy Trinity's mission is, "In the name of Christ to deepen our faith, to enlarge our community and to act on our beliefs." Sunday services are at 8:30 and 11 am; with a special service for children and families called "Joyful Noise" at 9:45 on the first Sunday of the month. CHT is a welcoming and affirming community where all are welcome.

Leadership

Vestry

The current

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

is composed of 12 members of the congregation.

Rectors

* Alexander Hamilton Vinton (1858-1861) *

(1862-1869) * Thomas Augustus Jaggar (1870-1875) *

William Neilson McVickar William Neilson McVickar (October 19, 1843 - June 28, 1910) was the sixth Bishop of Rhode Island in The Episcopal Church. Biography McVickar was born in New York city, on October 19, 1843, the son of Dr John A. McVickar and Charlotte Neilson. He ...

(1876-1898) * Floyd Williams Tomkins (1899-1932) *Howard Robert Weir (1933-1937) *Edgar Frank Salmon (1938-1951) *Harry S. Longley (1951-1961) *Cuthbert Pratt (1961-1979) *Norman S. Kerr (1980-1983) *John Arthur Smart (-1996) *Terence Chaus Roper (1999-) *Alan James Robert Neale (2004-2015) *John Gardner and Rachel Gardner (co-rectors)

References

External links

* *
Annual Reports of the Parish Association/Parochial Committee of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square (1863-1888)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Trinity, Church of the, Philadelphia Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia Episcopal churches in Pennsylvania Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Churches in Philadelphia Churches completed in 1857 Romanesque Revival church buildings in Pennsylvania Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania 1859 establishments in Pennsylvania