“My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer.”          Mark 11.17

These words adorn the grand arch that towers over Trinity’s altar and are for many people the first thing they notice when they enter the church. We take this sentence pretty seriously.

Trinity Church in Watertown was founded in 1828. Since that time, tens of thousands of people have walked with us at every conceivable stage in their faith journey. We are a member of the Episcopal Church (more on that later). But at our heart we consider ourselves to be nothing more (or less) than a Christian community of the New Testament. While it may be difficult to compare Trinity’s physical structure to an ancient house church in Palestine, our members believe that the most important things for worship are really quite simple: Bible, table, bread, wine, song and community.

The center of our common life together is our weekly celebration of Holy Communion. We believe that our ability to be Jesus’ presence in the world is nourished by our sharing together this holy meal. For our early risers, our first celebration begins at 8 o’clock. Without the fanfare of our choir, this service finds its beauty in simplicity. While many of our families attend the later service, we recently responded to the growing number of children whose parents prefer the early hour by organizing a full crew of acolytes.

Our 10 o’clock service is our main family service. Sunday School and nursery care are offered at this time. The Chancel Choir, under the leadership of Kyle P. Ramey, Director of Music Ministries, is known throughout the area for its musical excellence. Check out the music pages of this Web site to learn more about this program.

Nourished by Word and Sacrament on Sundays, we turn our hearts to mission for the rest of the week. Our Rector has challenged the congregation to have and maintain a three-fold missionary focus: projects that address needs at the local, national and international communities. One local project that stands out is Trinity’s commitment to the Watertown Urban Mission (we really believe in the Urban Mission!), especially its Dollar Dinner program. Trinity’s kitchen serves up hundreds of meals each month during the winter to our community’s neediest folks.  National and international mission projects include support for the on-going rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and support of the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund.

Trinity Church is a proud member of the Episcopal Church of the United States. A lot of information about the Episcopal Church and its beliefs, structures and activities can be found at www.episcopalchurch.org. The Episcopal Church is part of the 70 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, a group of 33 international churches that all share their heritage from the Church of England.

The history of the Episcopal Church really is the history of the United States. We trace our roots back to the Jamestown settlement and have been an important part of our national identity for more than 400 years. At times we have been influential (more U.S. presidents have been Episcopalians than any other denomination) while at other times we have paid the price for being known as a church that challenges the status quo on a large number of controversial issues.

A lot of Episcopal churches have been in the news recently stating their inability to accept (among a number of things) the desire of our national leadership to recognize as holy the concept of same-sex unions. Maybe it’s the word “all” in the Scripture verse quoted at the top of this page, but we at Trinity have always recognized that people at every end of the spectrum need a place to belong. Trinity is a place where conservative and liberal Christians can worship along side each other in safety and integrity. Luckily we’re not looking to create cookie-cutter Christians. It has been our experience that belonging to a group of entirely like-minded people is ultimately…well…boring. We’re definitely not boring.

This Episcopal Church not only welcomes you, we invite you. We invite you to bring your questions, your gifts, your joy and pain. But beware, hearts and minds are changed in this place. In short, be prepared to find a little of what you are looking for, and a lot of what you never knew you needed.