Trinity Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal congregation and church, designed by Toledo, Ohio architect Charles Crosby Miller and constructed ca. 1865 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The congregation was organized in 1839 as Christ Church and the name changed in 1844 to Trinity Church. The first church was built on the southeast corner of Berry and Harrison Streets in 1848.Fort Wayne churches It is an example of Gothic Revival architecture. Note: This includes , , and Accompanying photographs
The church reported 354 members in 2015 and 471 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. Plate and pledge income reported for the congregation in 2024 was $420,451. Average Sunday attendance (ASA) in 2024 was 160 persons.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
History
The Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper, Bishop of the Northwest, visited Fort Wayne for the first time in 1837 in an effort to organize a church. Two years later, he set the Rev. Benjamin Hutchins, formerly of Philadelphia, to organize a church, and Christ Episcopal Church was formally established on May 26, 1839. The congregation languished when Hutchins departed soon after, and in 1844, Peter P. Bailey, a businessman from New York City, began offering lay readings from the Book of Common Prayer. Bishop Kemper sent another missionary, the Rev. Benjamin Halsted, and on May 25, 1844, Trinity Episcopal Church was formally organized. After meeting initially in the Allen County Courthouse, the church raised funds for a wood framed chapel at the southeast corner of Berry and Harrison. (The present historical marker is inaccurate about its location).
In 1863, the vestry called the Rev. Joseph S. Large to lead an effort to build a new Gothic Revival Church under a design by Charles Crosby Miller of Toledo, Ohio. After many delays and financial shortfalls, the building was completed in the fall of 1866 and consecrated two years later by the Rt. Rev. Joseph C. Talbot, Bishop Coadjutor of Indiana.
Trinity Church has had the following rectors: Rev. Benjamin Halsted, 1844–1846 Rev. Joseph S. Large, 1848–1854 Rev. Caleb Alexander Bruce, 1854–1855 Rev. Eugene Charles Pattison, 1856–1858 Rev. Stephen Henry Battin, 1858–1863 Rev. Joseph S. Large, 1863–1872 Rev. Colin Campbell Tate, 1872–1879 Rev. William Naylor Webbe, 1879–1888 Rev. Alexander Washington Seabrease, 1888–1904 Rev. Edward Wilson Averill, 1904–1923 Rev. Louis Niccola Rocca, 1923–1930 Rev. Charles Noyes Tyndell, 1931–1932 Rev. James McNeal Wheatley, 1932–1947 Rev. George Bartlett Wood, 1947–1971 Rev. Chandler Corydon Randall, 1971–1988 Rev. Frank Hazlett Moss III, 1990–1999 Rev. Rebecca Ferrell Nickel, 2001–2004 Rev. Thomas Parker Hansen, 2006–2016 Rev. T. J. Freeman, 2017–2025
In 1955–1956, a large classroom building was added to the church to serve the needs of the growing parish. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
References
Further reading John D. Beatty Beyond These Stones: a History of Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana Edition: Sesquicentennial ed. Binding: Hardcover Publisher: Trinity Episcopal, Fort Wayne, IN Date published: 1994
External Links Website Trinity Church History, archived website