St. Luke’s & Trinity Reconciliation Project

Members of St. Luke’s & Trinity at our 2023 Commemoration of Juneteenth.

Mission

The mission of the St. Luke’s & Trinity Reconciliation Project is for our churches to work cooperatively to foster healing, reconciliation, and community building in the city of New Haven. Through study, discussion, and consistent engagement, we are working to understand our interconnected history of racial segregation and move through it toward God’s kingdom of justice and love.

 

Background

In 1841, Trinity’s all-white vestry voted to designate a certain number of pews for Black people worshipping at Trinity. This vote was a watershed moment, leading Black Episcopalians to leave Trinity and form their own church, St. Luke’s, in 1844. This snapshot of history is only a small window into the racism that has long shaped and divided our communities. Today, we acknowledge this interconnected history, work together to understand it, and build new relationships centered around hope and healing. The most recent iteration of the St. Luke’s/Trinity relationship began in 2018 when members of our respective churches began meeting as part of the St. Luke’s & Trinity Steering Committee. This small group of parishioners from our parishes meets regularly to plan events and opportunities open to the broader community.

Past Events & Activities

  • St. Luke’s & Trinity Book Group - For the past three years we have organized a joint discussion of a book related to our common interests: The Church Cracked Open, by the Rev. Stephanie Spellers (2026), Equal Justice Under Law: An Autobiography of Constance Baker Motley (2025), Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (2024).

  • Service of Healing & Lamentation (Sunday, March 9 at 5pm), commemorating the 200th anniversary of the emancipation of Lucy & Lois Tritton, the last two enslaved people to be sold on the New Haven Green. Lucy & Lois are connected to Trinity & St. Luke’s as members / founding members. Watch the service online here>>

  • Juneteenth Commemorations

    • June 2024 - Faith-Full Juneteenth Festival, featuring the St. Luke’s Steel Band and the St. PJ’s Jazz Collective

    • June 2023 - Prayer Service

    • June 2022 - Prayer Service

  • Lenten Observance: Bible Study and Stations of the Cross at St. Luke’s (2022-present)

  • Guided Tour of the exhibit at the New Haven Museum, Shining Light on Truth: New Haven, Yale, and Slavery (2024)

  • Training: The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (January 2021)

 

The Church Cracked Open: St. Luke’s & Trinity Book Group

Part I: Saturday, February 7

1-3pm, Trinity Undercroft (lunch included)

Part II: Saturday, February 21

1-3pm, St. Luke’s Parish House (lunch included)

with author the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers

Get your copy of the book now! Contact Rev. Heidi (hthorsen@trinitynewhaven.org)

We invite everyone in our St. Luke’s & Trinity communities to read The Church Cracked Open, by the Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers. Beginning with the image of the woman who breaks open a jar to anoint Jesus with oil (Mark 14:3), Spellers explores how the church itself has been broken open by current events, and can be remade anew. Our communities will come together to discuss this book in two sessions, one with the author as special guest. Copies of the book are free, with an optional donation of $15.

Event organized by the St. Luke’s & Trinity Reconciliation Project, with support from YDS’s Reimagining Church initiative.