Historic Trinity

Overview

Trinity Church on the Green has been an important part of the history of New Haven, Connecticut, and America for over 300 years. There has been an official Episcopal presence in New Haven ever since Anglican missionary priests first ministered to the region beginning in 1705. In 1723 a parish in New Haven was organized by Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson.Under Dr. Johnson’s guidance, the Colonial wooden First Church was built in 1752-3, just before the beginning of the French and Indian War in the American Colonies.

Trinity’s Gothic-Style Church, the first of its kind in North America, sits on the public Green in New Haven. The Gothic “Trap Rock” Second Church was built in the midst of the War of 1812 in 1814-1816. Since then there have been many enhancements to the historic church, which stands at the corner of the town’s famous Green in the center of the town, a cornerstone of New Haven’s vibrant religious, artistic, and community life.

Trinity and New Haven have historical associations with not only the Church of England, but clergy from the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of Ireland, Puritan refugees from Holland, and with French Huguenots. With the installation of Dr. Luk De Volder in 2011, Trinity Church and the New Haven community have reconnected with the history and languages of its ancestors.