Trinity Anglican Church

About Us

When was Trinity founded?

Trinity Anglican Church was founded by a group of traditional Anglicans in 1988. At first the church held services at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Nutter Boulevard. In 1992, however, parishioner William Champlin donated a parcel of land on Rochester Hill, and by Christmas, 1993, the church had moved to its new home on this site.

What is an Anglican church?

Trinity is part of the Anglican Church in America. The word 'Anglican' refers to our spiritual heritage and roots in the Church of England. Members of the Church of England came to America in the 16th and 17th centuries. In many of the original colonies, the Church of England was the 'established' or official Church. After the Revolution American Anglicans established an independent branch of the church, which became known as the Episcopal Church. During the last 25 or so years, that body has taken a path different from that of traditional historic Anglican faith and practice. It is this tradition that many former Episcopalians and other faithful Anglicans are seeking to preserve.

Isn’t Trinity an Episcopal Church?

Yes and no. We are an episcopal church not associated with the Episcopal Church of the United States . Our worship and practice use all the traditional episcopal, or Anglican, texts. Our worship is found in the traditional (1928) Book of Common Prayer, the traditional episcopal hymnal (1940), and the King James Bible, also called the Authorized Version (1611). If you were familiar with Episcopal Church before 1979 you will recognize Trinity’s form of worship. It is identical.

Why was Trinity formed?

Beginning in the 1960’s the Episcopal Church began to make significant changes in its doctrine. Most notably it began to ordain women, and it substantially changed the Book of Common Prayer, the foundation of the Anglican Communion. It also ceased using the King James Bible and the traditional hymnal. These and other developments caused many tradition-minded Episcopalians to form their own church and to begin calling themselves Anglicans, the traditional term. Anglicans have been worshiping in America since the landing at Jamestown in 1607. The name of the American Anglican Church was changed to the Episcopal Church at the time of the American Revolution. We have restored that name to show that our worship is the traditional faith of our forefathers. What is the Book of Common Prayer? Our faith and worship are set forth in the Book of Common Prayer of 1928. It was evolved to meet the popular need for aid to devotion in English, rather than Latin, in church services. First compiled by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1549, it contains the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer, the Psalms, prayers, and the forms for rites such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals. This treasure of English language, scriptural spirituality, and traditional episcopal worship has shaped the lives of countless faithful Christians through the centuries and is the basis of our services of worship. This book, relatively unchanged between 1549 and 1928, is not only a great work of devotion, but is generally considered one of the greatest works of English literature.

What are Trinity’s services like?

The center of our Sunday worship is the Holy Eucharist. At other times we may have Morning or Evening Prayer. In all cases we use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the Hymnal 1940, and the King James Bible. The order for the service is printed in the bulletin. It shows which page to turn to in the Prayer Book or Hymnal. We kneel to pray, stand to praise God, and sit for instruction. If you have any questions, please ask one of our ushers or our priest, who will be happy to help you.

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