"To keep close to Jesus Christ and draw others closer!"
Trinity is an evangelically minded church that is rooted in historic Christianity. We are catholic, but not Roman Catholic. We are reformed, but not disconnected from the early church. Scripture is our highest authority, but we read it in community with the earliest Christians and most influential teachers of the faith throughout history. We don't "worship Mary or statues", but we do hold Mary in the highest esteem as the mother of our Lord. We are Anglicans and follow the Via Media (Middle Way), not as a way between the two, but to be as comprehensive as possible in light of scripture.
Our focus is healing and uplifting the soul. Through the Deep Recovery Course we bring healing to those who struggle with addiction, anxiety, and despair. The course is ground-breaking and transformative! We are focused on solid Christian formation, providing solid theological and spiritual education that will guard and sanctify the soul. More than anything else, we try to be a church that walks with Jesus, is filled with the Holy Spirit, and meets the world with the healing love of God.
Our focus is healing and uplifting the soul. Through the Deep Recovery Course we bring healing to those who struggle with addiction, anxiety, and despair. The course is ground-breaking and transformative! We are focused on solid Christian formation, providing solid theological and spiritual education that will guard and sanctify the soul. More than anything else, we try to be a church that walks with Jesus, is filled with the Holy Spirit, and meets the world with the healing love of God.
FAQs
Your worship has elements that look Catholic, like candles, and altar and robes. Are you Catholic?
- When people think "Catholic" they usually mean Roman Catholic, as opposed to Protestant. Catholic is a term used to describe what has been universally believed and practiced throughout ancient Christianity. So we are catholic, but not Roman Catholic. Anglicanism enjoyed a liturgical and theological renewal in the Oxford Movement of the 19th century, which led to the term Anglo-catholic. So, some Anglicans are referred to by that name. Anglicans are Catholic and Reformed.
- No. Our roots are in the Church of England, which embraced that Protestant Reformation. We hold Mary in high esteem, as the early, undivided church did, regarding her as the "theotokos" (God-bearer).
- Anglicans neither forbid or insist on this practice. From the earliest days of Christendom, when the first persecutions broke out under Nero in the New Testament period, martyrs were held in the highest esteem as examples of faith. Christians of the time believed they were glorified and stood before God and by virtue of their martyrdom, and thereby enjoyed special intercessory authority. The martyrs, together with the apostles and prophets, made up "the great cloud of witnesses" Peter describes. Because of this, the early Christians routinely asked for their intercessions. When we pray, we are not praying to saints, but asking for their intercession, just as we would ask the intercession of any other believer. This is established New Testament period practice, and though it has been abused in history, Anglicans neither insist on it or forbid it outright, provided it does not lead to superstitious practice.
- Yes! Absolutely! The Bible we read in English is based on the work of the Church of England (the King James Bible) and their commitment to make scripture available to their people. Our prayer book, which structures our private and public worship, is infused with scripture from beginning to end. In fact, the average person will hear more scripture in a typical Anglican Sunday service than in any other church. Baptist or otherwise! We believe the Holy Bible is the Word of God and take it seriously!
- Because it is Biblical! The word for "worship" in the New Testament literally means, "to bow or make obeisance," so it is Biblical to bow and reverence God. We wear special robes and garments and offer incense because it most closely resembles the heavenly worship described in the book of Revelation (chpt 4 and 7). We are literally worshiping according to the culture of heaven! Many of the prayers and acclamations we repeat are taken directly from scripture.
- Jesus was using hyperbole to make the point that people should not regard rabbis more highly than they ought. He uses the same sort of speech when he says, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off!" I have yet to meet a single, one-handed Baptist! Using the term "father" stresses the familial aspect of the church as the family of God. We often use "father" and "pastor" interchangeably.
- We don't provide modern music because we have learned it orients the worshipper around emotional needs and wants. Traditional worship reorients the worshipper away from self and towards God in ways that are not immediately apparent, but are seen over time. This results in a deeper and more stable spirituality.
- We are traditional because we do not believe our modern society is grounded in ways of being that are healthy for humans. In this sense we are skeptics of modernity and emphasize the first five centuries of Christianity as particularly authoritative.
- We realize that there is a a gulf between our worship and modern culture. We think that is good, as it provokes a genuine process of conversion that goes deeper than mere emotional excitement.
What is an "Anglican Church?"
As Anglicans we stand at the cross roads of the Protestant Reformation. We call it the Via Media - the Middle Way. At the time of the Reformation, the English Reformers instituted many reforms advocated by Martin Luther and John Calvin, chiefly, the primacy of the Holy Scriptures. But instead of taking the more radical approach of the continental reformers, they retained elements of worship, organization and doctrine they knew to be present from the beginning of the church.
The result of the English Reformation is a pattern of worship and organization, originally expressed in the 1549 Prayer Book (as opposed to the confessional statements of the Reformed or Lutheran Churches). So, they created the Book of Common Prayer from scripture - literally taking lines and passages from the Bible and incorporating them into the prayers and ritual of worship. A worshipper will probably hear more scripture read in an Anglican church than in almost any other.
Our pattern of worship is meant to look like the heavenly worship described in Revelation chapter 4, rather that being pattered after our own culture. In this way we worship according to scripture and the culture of heaven, not man.
Want to learn more about Anglicanism? Click the link below.
The result of the English Reformation is a pattern of worship and organization, originally expressed in the 1549 Prayer Book (as opposed to the confessional statements of the Reformed or Lutheran Churches). So, they created the Book of Common Prayer from scripture - literally taking lines and passages from the Bible and incorporating them into the prayers and ritual of worship. A worshipper will probably hear more scripture read in an Anglican church than in almost any other.
Our pattern of worship is meant to look like the heavenly worship described in Revelation chapter 4, rather that being pattered after our own culture. In this way we worship according to scripture and the culture of heaven, not man.
Want to learn more about Anglicanism? Click the link below.
We're Anglican
We're Anglican
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What we Believe
What We Believe
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Parish History
Our History
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Our affiliation
Founded in 1988, the first members of Trinity came from Redeemer Episcopal Church to retain essential elements of the Faith as they had received it. Today, Trinity Anglican Church continues as a vibrant witness in Rochester and the Seacoast area. We are a member parish of the Anglican Church in America, in the Diocese of the Northeast.
The Anglican Church in America, together with the Anglican Catholic Church, the Anglican Province of America, together represent those Anglican Churches which continue the traditional heritage and faith of the Anglican tradition.
The Anglican Church in America, together with the Anglican Catholic Church, the Anglican Province of America, together represent those Anglican Churches which continue the traditional heritage and faith of the Anglican tradition.
Helpful Links
The Anglican Church in America,
Diocese of the Northeast
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