Trinity Church, in
Midtown Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
[There are separate boundaries for the Midtown Super Neighborhood and the Midtown Management District. See City of Houston maps]
Midtown Super Neighborhood
!--Total Super Neighborhood map here: https://www.houstontx.gov/superneighborhoods/snmapsbyzip.pdf--> an
Management district map
Retrieved on June 4, 2019. - Also see
2006 Midtown Management District Land Use Map
and
SERVICE AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND ASSESSMENT PLAN FOR FISCAL YEARS 2015-2024
" Midtown Houston Management District. Retrieved on April 4, 2009. Map on page 25/25 of the PDF. is a
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
church in the
Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
History
Trinity was founded in 1893 as a mission from
Christ Church in a part of Houston then called the "Fairground Addition", now known as
Midtown. It is the second-oldest Episcopal parish in Houston. Trinity was, at one time, one of the largest parishes in the Episcopal Church. Such notables as
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...
and
Denton Cooley
Denton Arthur Cooley (August 22, 1920 – November 18, 2016) was an American cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart. Cooley was also the founder and surgeon in-chief of The Texas Hear ...
have been members of the parish. Its membership declined sharply as its parishioners moved to the
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
s in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 2000s membership has grown steadily.
Five
rectors of Trinity have gone on to be
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
s in the Episcopal Church. Another has served as
dean of a
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
.
The Reverend
Hannah E. Atkins became Trinity's fifteenth rector in September 2007.
In 1990, Trinity founded the
Lord of the Streets Mission, a mission of the Diocese of Texas to the homeless of Houston. Although no longer under the auspices of Trinity Church, Lord of the Streets' services are held at Trinity.
The church building
The current church building, which dates from 1919, is a
neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...
structure, designed by the noted
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
firm,
Cram
Cram may refer to:
* Cram (surname), a surname, and list of notable persons having the surname
* Cram.com, a website for creating and sharing flashcards
* ''Cram'' (Australian game show), a television show
* ''Cram'' (game show), a TV game show ...
and Ferguson, whose Houston work also includes several buildings at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres.
Rice University comp ...
and the
Julia Ideson Building
The Julia Ideson Building is a Houston Public Library facility in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It is named for Julia Bedford Ideson, who served as the system's first head librarian for 40 years.
The Spanish Renaissance-style build ...
of
Houston Public Library
Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States.
History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library
The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in ...
. The church's Morrow Chapel was renovated in 2002 and features world-class
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
, artwork, and liturgical furnishings by such artists as Kim Clark Renteria,
Kermit Oliver, Troy Woods,
Shazia Sikander, and Selven O’Keef Jarmon.
The church also houses a 1918 Pilcher
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
, which was recently restored.
At the church
At Trinity, there are ministries for all ages, varied opportunities for spiritual growth, and many programs in which to reach out to others in the community. In addition, special events often take place at Trinity, including the annual Animal Blessing, in the autumn, and Jazz Festival, in the winter. There are also occasional Sunday-evening concerts and special services such as Choral Evensong and sung
Compline
Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times.
The English wor ...
presented by the Trinity Choir, as well as worship in the
Taizé tradition.
See also
*
Christianity in Houston
References
Further reading
*Davies-Cooley, Gayle. ''Pillar of faith: Trinity Church at 100'', Trinity Episcopal Church, Houston. (Houston, 1992).
External links
Trinity Episcopal Church
{{coord, 29.7396, N, 95.3779, W, region:US-TX_type:landmark, display=title
Episcopal churches in Texas
Churches in Houston
National Register of Historic Places in Houston
Churches completed in 1919
Ralph Adams Cram church buildings
1919 establishments in Texas
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
Gothic Revival church buildings in Texas
Midtown, Houston