Trinity Church History
1845 Mobile's second Episcopal Church began as a "free pew" church
Trinity Episcopal Church was established in 1845 as the second Episcopal congregation in Mobile, Alabama. The congregation worshiped for its first eight years in rented space. The Rt. Rev. Nicholas H. Cobbs, Bishop of Alabama, called The Rev. James A. Massey to be Rector in 1848.
From its foundation in 1845, the congregation has attempted to live according to the thoughts of Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, the first Bishop of Alabama – a maverick Virginian with desires to transform his new missionary diocese along high-church ideas of the Oxford Movement. Along with similar plants in Huntsville and Montgomery, the parish families were called together to expand God’s vineyard by building a neo-Gothic structure based upon designs coming out of the New York Ecclesiastical Society with the first free-pew church offering worship in Mobile. Over the next century, the parishioners often led the City politically and liturgically.
1853 Trinity built downtown at corner of St. Anthony and Jackson Streets
The cornerstone for the building was placed on April 8, 1853 at the original location at the corner of St. Anthony and Jackson Streets. It was the first large Gothic Revival church built in Alabama. The design was by architects Frank Wills and Henry Dudley. A yellow fever outbreak swept through the city in that year and the church's register shows that the Rector, Dr. Joshua Albert Massy, conducted 49 funerals in September 1853, four in one day on September 26th. This appears to have delayed construction, but the building was finally completed in 1857. Trinity's first organ was installed in 1856. It was built by Henry Erben, one of the most distinguished organ builders in America during that period. Placed in the gallery, it had one manual with six stops and 17 pull downs for pedals. This was the first of four pipe organs that have lived in Trinity.
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1880s Sacristy, spire and porch constructed
1890s Stained-glass windows installed While the beautiful stained glass window above the altar, and at least one of the windows in the nave, date to the church's original construction and from the 1870s, many of the church stained glass windows were installed during the 1890s, including the Rose Window, installed on June 27, 1896, as a gift from the Sunday School. Trinity Episcopal Church's Gothic Revival design, in a Middle Pointed style, was inspired by 14th century English architecture. The church is built in brick and is an aisled nave-and-chancel structure with a monumental bell tower. The design of Trinity reflected the ideals of the high church Oxford Movement - emphasizing our catholic heritage: sacraments, creeds, practices, and ordered liturgy. This church served to inspire the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Huntsville to hire Frank Wills to design a sanctuary for his congregation. The designs for both churches are very similar. 1929 Parish voted to move westward At the height of the Great Depression in 1929, the membership courageously voted to move the historic sanctuary “brick by brick” to meet the demographic expansion of the port-city from downtown westward. |
1945 Church moved "brick by brick" to present 1900 Dauphin Street location
In 1945 the church was dismantled and rebuilt in precise detail, using the original bricks and hand-hewn oak, at the present location on Dauphin Street. Trinity had been conducting a Sunday School and a chapel at the Dauphin Street property since 1932. Once settled, the congregation grew into the largest Episcopal population in the state/diocese of Alabama with a beautiful worship space surrounded by expansive church grounds and parish buildings.
The Parish House containing the Irving Parish Hall, Sunday School classrooms, Children’s Center and administrative offices, was built in 1961. The Schroeter Memorial Chapel in the Parish House is a tribute to Trinity's eleventh Rector. The Memory Garden, between the Church and Parish House, is a memorial to the women of the parish.
1972 New Wicks organ installed
By 1971 a new organ was needed. The existing 1900 Pilcher had been repaired and enlarged several times, yet was in poor condition. In December of 1971 the Church Vestry Committee hired the Wicks Organ Company to build a 60-rank organ consisting of five manual divisions and two pedal divisions. Seven additional ranks were added through the generosity of anonymous donors. The new organ was installed in August of 1972.
1979 Church repaired after Hurricane Frederick
On September 12, 1979, Hurricane Frederic struck Mobile. The damage to the city of Mobile was massive, with property damage estimated at $1 billion. Trinity Church was no exception. The damage included a large hole in the front, western side of the church roof, the dormer windows were blown out, the columns supporting the roof separated from the apex of the roof, and the ribs of the church spire were twisted and broken leaving the spire in need of replacement.
2008 Rose Window restored
By 2008, Trinity's beloved Rose Window was in desperate need of repair. Willet-Hauser was hired to handle the restoration work. Work officially began in October with the removal of the gallery organ pipes in order to allow access to the window. In January of 2009 the window was removed and shipped away for the actual restoration. The window was installed back in its home in June of 2009.
By 2008, Trinity's beloved Rose Window was in desperate need of repair. Willet-Hauser was hired to handle the restoration work. Work officially began in October with the removal of the gallery organ pipes in order to allow access to the window. In January of 2009 the window was removed and shipped away for the actual restoration. The window was installed back in its home in June of 2009.
2010 Moving Forward . . .
Trinity Church is a beautiful, historic church, but by 2008 it was in terrible condition. Since the infamous move “brick by brick” in 1945, the exterior walls had never been sealed to keep moisture from seeping in causing the mortar to literally fall out and the interior walls’ plaster and paint to flake and balloon with water spots. Not so ironically, the prized organ paid for by roof insurance money had a huge blue tarp over it to protect it from the cascading waters that came through the roof when it rained. (Mobile can quite truthfully claim more rainfall than any other city in the country.) These were necessities that must be fixed, not patched as had been done for previous decades.
In January 2010, we began our Feasibility Study. Over the next eleven weeks, we conducted nine Focus Group Meetings in parishioners’ homes and one at the church itself. These meetings were done to facilitate discussion and discern the will of the parish to support a capital campaign. After these meetings, 93% of the congregation supported the concepts moving forward and an amazingly 98% contributed to the “Preparing a Place” Capital Campaign, raising just at $1.1 million.
As of December 2010, the exterior was completed with masonry work re-pointed and bricks sealed; a new slate roof to replace the 66 year old roof with an added four inches of insulation with R-19 value where there had been none at all; and the clerestory windows removed and restored. The 1970s chorister walkway entrance was replaced to enhance the building’s structural integrity with an architectural/artistic design of a medieval lych-gate. Between now and 12 June 2011, we are on schedule to complete the interior Master-Plan with the addition of new floors, restored pews, exquisite historic paint-colors, and the balcony extension to house the organ and choir for acoustical and musical excellence, by our grand reopening with the Bishop’s Visitation on Pentecost Sunday. The last 30-months have been about a partnership to save the historic sacred space and bring forward the Church’s liturgy into modern times with a free standing altar demonstrating the welcome for all at our Lord’s Table.
At the present day, the rector writes, "I envision a Church that proclaims Jesus Christ is alive and is the model for all human living. My prayer is that our ministry will help draw people into deeper discipleship, greater spiritual maturity, more service and new ministries. With a passion for the social gospel, I hope we inspire people to see their own fundamental good and their duty to reach out to others as part of the Good News of Jesus."
Trinity Church is a beautiful, historic church, but by 2008 it was in terrible condition. Since the infamous move “brick by brick” in 1945, the exterior walls had never been sealed to keep moisture from seeping in causing the mortar to literally fall out and the interior walls’ plaster and paint to flake and balloon with water spots. Not so ironically, the prized organ paid for by roof insurance money had a huge blue tarp over it to protect it from the cascading waters that came through the roof when it rained. (Mobile can quite truthfully claim more rainfall than any other city in the country.) These were necessities that must be fixed, not patched as had been done for previous decades.
In January 2010, we began our Feasibility Study. Over the next eleven weeks, we conducted nine Focus Group Meetings in parishioners’ homes and one at the church itself. These meetings were done to facilitate discussion and discern the will of the parish to support a capital campaign. After these meetings, 93% of the congregation supported the concepts moving forward and an amazingly 98% contributed to the “Preparing a Place” Capital Campaign, raising just at $1.1 million.
As of December 2010, the exterior was completed with masonry work re-pointed and bricks sealed; a new slate roof to replace the 66 year old roof with an added four inches of insulation with R-19 value where there had been none at all; and the clerestory windows removed and restored. The 1970s chorister walkway entrance was replaced to enhance the building’s structural integrity with an architectural/artistic design of a medieval lych-gate. Between now and 12 June 2011, we are on schedule to complete the interior Master-Plan with the addition of new floors, restored pews, exquisite historic paint-colors, and the balcony extension to house the organ and choir for acoustical and musical excellence, by our grand reopening with the Bishop’s Visitation on Pentecost Sunday. The last 30-months have been about a partnership to save the historic sacred space and bring forward the Church’s liturgy into modern times with a free standing altar demonstrating the welcome for all at our Lord’s Table.
At the present day, the rector writes, "I envision a Church that proclaims Jesus Christ is alive and is the model for all human living. My prayer is that our ministry will help draw people into deeper discipleship, greater spiritual maturity, more service and new ministries. With a passion for the social gospel, I hope we inspire people to see their own fundamental good and their duty to reach out to others as part of the Good News of Jesus."
2011 A Sacred Space
On Pentecost Sunday, 12 June, the congregation and guests of Trinity Church celebrated the re-entry into the church building after more than a year of restoration work. The service included four baptisms, eleven confirmations, two receptions and three re-affirmations.