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Trinity Parish is an historic Episcopal Church at the corner of King and Saint George streets in downtown St. Augustine, Florida. It is the oldest Protestant church in Florida and has some of the oldest and most beautiful stained glass windows in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. ==History== The parish of Trinity, St. Augustine was founded in 1821 soon after Florida became a territory in the United States. Trinity is one of the seven original parishes when the Episcopal Diocese of Florida was received into union with the General Convention in 1838. The first church building was begun in 1830 and services began on June 30, 1831. Constructed of coquina, a local shell stone that was also used to build the Castillo de San Marcos, the original structure was wide by long. Bishop Nathaniel Bowen of South Carolina formally consecrated it on June 5, 1834. Growth was slow but steady in the years following and small additions and improvements were made to the church. Three stained glass windows were added just prior to the American Civil War. Although there was only one major battle in Florida, the war took a terrible toll on the state, the Diocese of Florida and Trinity. The next 50 years saw a slow recovery by St. Augustine and Trinity, with continued work by a committed laity that raised funds to keep the church going through a succession of Rectors. The Rev. C M. Sturges arrived in 1895 and determined that the church building was outmoded, too small and in dire need of repair. That began a six-year effort to obtain plans and funding to enlarge the church structure. Work began in early 1902 and on January 17, 1903 the first services were held in the “new” church, a cruciform structure, neo-gothic in appearance that seated more than 500 parishioners. A new era had begun. The 20th century brought profound changes to St. Augustine including a substantial increase in population and a steady rise in winter visitors – many of whom chose Trinity as their church. The Reverend L. Fitz-James Hindry served as Rector from 1904 until 1936. His tenure saw the formation of many lay organizations - the Altar Guild, Daughters of the king, St. Catherine’s Guild, and others – all devoted to working with the church on a variety of projects. The Rev. Charles Seymour was called to Trinity 1949 and served until 1964. By 1955, a two-story education facility and Parish Hall were added. The Seymour years was a time of significant physical changes to Trinity and marked an upturn in the number of communicants to more than 500 by 1959. In 1960, after a successful stewardship campaign, Trinity Church went from a relatively small church to a full parish complex with a new parish hall, kitchen, classrooms, administrative offices and a nursery. Architecturally, the new facilities and cloistered walkways complemented and continued the neo-gothic features of the historic church building.〔(Trinity Episcopal Parish website: Trinity's History )〕 The Rev. Canon Walter T. Saffran served as rector during the 1980s and into the 1990s and membership continued to increase. St. Monica Chapter of the Daughters of the King was established February 18, 1996. When Father Saffran retired in 1997, he was named Trinity Episcopal Parish Rector Emeritus. The present Rector is the Rev. Dr. David J. Weidner. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Trinity Parish (St. Augustine, Florida)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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