Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the

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 ...

neighborhood of

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 ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of the

Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. History Massachusetts was founded by Puritans who did not accept such aspects of the Church of England as bisho ...

. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 4,000 households, was founded in 1733. Five services are offered each Sunday, and weekday services are offered three times a week from September through June. Within the spectrum of worship styles in the Anglican tradition, Trinity Church has historically been considered a Broad Church parish. In addition to worship, the parish is actively involved in service to the community, pastoral care, programs for children and teenagers, and Christian education for all ages. The church is home to several high-level choirs, including the Trinity Choir, Trinity Schola, Trinity Choristers, and Trinity Chamber Choir. The building, designed by

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

, is currently under study for becoming a

Boston Landmark A Boston Landmark is a designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission for historic buildings and sites throughout the city of Boston based on the grounds that it has historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to New Engla ...

.https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/PETSTATS_June2016_tcm3-53570.pdf

History

After its former site on Summer Street burned in the

Great Boston Fire of 1872 The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston's largest fire, and still ranks as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, 1872, in the basement of a com ...

, the current church complex was erected under the direction of Rector

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 o ...

(1835–1893), one of the best-known and most charismatic preachers of his time. The church and parish house were designed by

and construction took place from 1872 to 1877, when the complex was consecrated. Situated on

Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to i ...

, Trinity Church is the building that established Richardson's reputation. It is the birthplace and archetype of the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanes ...

style, characterized by a clay roof, polychromy, rough stone, heavy arches, and a massive tower. This style was soon adopted for a number of public buildings across the United States. The stone used was Dedham Granite. According to L.C. Norton, the inventor of door checks, the heavy main entrance doors of Trinity Church were the first to be fitted with a quiet and effective means to resist slamming. This led to a patented pneumatic door check that was seen throughout the 1880s to 1910s. Norton's door check device would eventually evolve into the modern door closer with his guidance in both the Norton Door Controls and LCN companies.

Music

Choirs

Each December, the choirs of Trinity offer three iterations of a service of Candlelight Carols. These are a "Boston tradition", and very popular events, drawing nearly 5,000 attendees from as far away as

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

. A traditional scene in Copley Square in December is that of a long line of people waiting to enter the church for the free event. The service is based on the

Nine Lessons and Carols Nine Lessons and Carols, also known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve. The story of the fall of humanity, the ...

model developed at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

from a service at

Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. It ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

. In addition to their primary function of supporting worship, the choirs of Trinity Church are fixtures in the rich musical landscape of Boston. The Trinity Choir has toured extensively, and can be heard on several critically acclaimed recordings. The Trinity Choristers are a group of children who learn music and sing in the tradition of the Royal School of Church Music. The current Director of Music and Organist is Richard Webster. The Trinity Choir and Trinity Choristers tour

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

every three years, serving as choirs-in-residence at major houses of worship such as

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The present ...

, Chichester Cathedral, and

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

(summer 2016).

Organs

*1876: The original organ at Trinity was built by Hilborne L. Roosevelt in 1876, his Opus 29. It had mechanical action, assisted by Barker levers on all divisions and an electrically controlled Echo division, but its location in the chancel proved unsatisfactory, and the organ was moved to the gallery. *1903: Hutchings-Votey built a new instrument for the chancel and made both organs playable from a single console. *1924:

Ernest M. Skinner Ernest Martin Skinner (January 15, 1866 – November 26/27, 1960) was an American pipe organ builder. His electro-pneumatic switching systems advanced the technology of organ building in the first part of the 20th century. Biography Skinner ...

undertook a rebuilding project, Opus 479, involving changes to both the Roosevelt and Hutchings-Votey instruments, but by 1926 it had expanded to Opus 573 as a virtually new organ in the gallery, as well as a new chancel console. *1956:

Aeolian-Skinner Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866–1 ...

provided a new console in 1956 and, in 1960, installed a new chancel organ. *1962: The gallery organ was extensively rebuilt, and major tonal modifications were made by Jason McKown, who maintained the organs for many years. *1987: Jack Steinkampf' installed a rank of horizontal trumpet pipes under the west gallery window. This festival trumpet is given in memory of Paul Albert Merrill. *Late 1990s: In conjunction with the parish's building campaign, a plan was set out with Foley-Baker, Inc., for the cleaning and refurbishment of both organs and their joint console. *Late 2010s: Since 2012, the Church has slowly acquired a stockpile of Skinner and Aeolian-Skinner pipes from the general period of Trinity’s organ. The pipes were installed and the organ reworked in an attempt to recapture the original Skinner sound. This work was a collaboration of Trinity’s former and current organ curators: Foley-Baker Inc., of Tolland, Connecticut (who renovated the nave organ in 1999-2001, and the chancel organ in 2007), and Jonathan Ambrosino, who also maintains the organs at Old South Church and Church of the Advent. In 2018 a new four-manual organ console was built by Richard Houghten of Milan, Michigan, and J. Zamberlan & Co., in Wintersville, Ohio. The nave and chancel organs feature 121 stops, 113 ranks, and 6898 pipes.

Worship

Trinity Church offers five services on Sundays, including a now rarely heard modified version of Rite I

Morning Prayer Morning Prayer may refer to: Religion * Prayers in various traditions said during the morning * Morning Prayer (Anglican), one of the two main Daily Offices in the churches of the Anglican Communion * In Roman Catholicism: ** Morning offering of ...

including a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. ...

and extra

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

, as well as a service of sung

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English ...

in the late evening. Weekday services include Wednesday

Evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

and Thursday Holy Eucharist with Prayers for Healing. Trinity has played host to many special services over the years, due mainly to its central location in Boston, large seating capacity, and reputation as a parish willing to open its doors and be "Boston's church." These services have included interfaith (

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

) services immediately following the

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

attacks, a similar service following the July 2005 London bombings, and many prominent funerals, consecrations of bishops, and the like.

Community service

The parish supports many forms of community outreach and social justice ministry. These include partnerships with

Rosie's Place Rosie’s Place is a sanctuary for poor and homeless women located in Boston, Massachusetts. History It was founded in 1974 by Kip Tiernan as the first shelter specifically for homeless women in the United States. It has evolved from providin ...

, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Pine Street Inn,

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...

, Community Servings, the

Walk for Hunger Project Bread's Walk for Hunger is the oldest continual pledge walk in the United States and the largest annual one-day fundraiser to alleviate local hunger in Massachusetts. Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger Project Bread is an antihunger orga ...

, the Rodman Ride for Kids, and others. The Trinity Boston Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to support the social and emotional well-being and development of young people. Formed in 2007, it grew out of several of Trinity Church's outreach ministries, and now functions as a separately incorporated subsidiary organization that directly serves approximately 500 young people in the Boston community. The Trinity Boston Foundation's programs honor and respect people of all faith traditions, including those with no faith tradition.

Rectors

In the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

, the Rector is the priest elected to head a self-supporting parish. Because of the importance of Trinity Church in the life of the city of Boston, the Rectors had great influence in the political and social sphere, especially in the early years of the church through the mid-1900s.

, who was Rector from 1869-1891 has been memorialized in the official calendar of the Episcopal Church. His feast day in the calendar according to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is January 23. His statue is located on the left exterior of the church. The following are the Rectors of Trinity Church from its founding to the present day:

Art and architecture

The building's plan is a modified

Greek Cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

with four arms extending outwards from the central tower, which stands 64 m (211 ft) tall. The church is situated in

, in the shadow of the John Hancock Tower. Having been built in Boston's

, which was originally a mud flat, Trinity rests on some 4,500 wooden piles, each driven through 30 feet of gravel fill,

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

, and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

, and constantly wetted by the water table of the Back Bay as they will rot if exposed to air. "David's Charge to Solomon" (1882), a stained-glass window by Edward_Burne-Jones_and_William_Morris,_in_Trinity_Church..html" ;"title="William_Morris.html" ;"title="Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris">Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, in Trinity Church.">William_Morris.html" ;"title="Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris">Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, in Trinity Church. Its interior murals, which cover over were completed entirely by American artists. Richardson and Brooks decided that a richly colored interior was essential and turned to John La Farge (1835–1910) for help. La Farge had never performed a commission on this scale, but realized its importance and asked only for his costs to be covered. The results established La Farge's reputation. The church's windows were originally clear glass at consecration in 1877, with one exception, but soon major windows were added. Four windows were designed by

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

and executed by the studio of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

. Another four windows were exceptional commissions by John La Farge, and revolutionized window glass with their layering of opalescent glass. The suter window was painted by Charles Mills. Trinitychurchboston2

Trinity Church is the only church in the United States and the only building in Boston that has been honored as one of the "Ten Most Significant Buildings in the United States" by the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

(AIA). In 1885, architects voted Trinity Church as the most important building in the U.S.; Trinity Church is the only building from the original 1885 list still included in the AIA's current top ten list. The building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

on December 30, 1970. The church also houses sculptures by

Daniel Chester French Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture '' The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monum ...

and

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he tra ...

In popular culture

The Trinity Church was featured in the opening scene of the second television episode portraying novelist Robert B. Parker’s character— Boston’s preeminent detective, Spenser— in Spenser for Hire: No Room at the Inn. Interior scenes from the thriller ''

The Boondock Saints ''The Boondock Saints'' is a 1999 American Vigilante film, vigilante Action film#Action-thriller, action thriller film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as fraternal twin brothers Connor and ...

'' were filmed within Trinity Church. The church was featured in the 2015 video game ''

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for PlayStation 4, ...

''. The Trinity Church was prominently shown in Reba McEntire's 1986 music video for "

Whoever's in New England ''Whoever's in New England'' is the tenth studio album of American country music artist Reba McEntire released on February 10, 1986, through MCA Nashville. It is her first #1 album on the Billboard country albums chart, producing two singles th ...

Gallery

File:Trinity Church Boston during construction ca1875.jpg, Trinity Church construction, Boston, ca.1875 File:19th century idealized illustration of Copley Square, Boston.jpg, An 1896 illustration of the church File:Detroit Photographic Company (0370).jpg, A circa 1900 photograph of the church File:Copley Square from old John Hancock Building, 1950s.jpg, View over the church and Copley Square 1950s File:Copley Square with Trinity Church and Hancock Tower.jpg, Trinity Church and adjacent John Hancock Tower File:Boston Trinity Church 04.jpg,

and

's Stained glass windows "Nativity of Jesus" 1882 File:USA Massachusetts Boston Trinity Nativity-window.jpg, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris's ''The Worship of the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius t ...

'' window, 1882 File:USA Massachusetts Boston Trinity-Nativity-detail-2.jpg, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris's ''The Worship of the Shepherds'' window, 1882 File:USA Massachusetts Boston Trinity Nativity-detail-1.jpg, Detail from Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris's ''The Worship of the Shepherds'' window, 1882 File:Boston Trinity Church 07.jpg, Portal of the Boston Trinity Church

References

External links

Trinity Church in the City of Boston

Flickr
Boston Public Library. Images of Trinity Church, Boston
Trinity Boston Preservation TrustPhotos of the interior of Trinity Church BostonSermons of Spencer Morgan Rice
{{Authority control 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches completed in 1877 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Episcopal church buildings in Massachusetts Episcopal churches in Boston Henry Hobson Richardson church buildings Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts Landmarks in Copley Square National Historic Landmarks in Boston National Register of Historic Places in Boston Religious organizations established in the 1730s Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts Romanesque Revival church buildings in Massachusetts Towers in Massachusetts