Holy Trinity Episcopal Church is the result of the merger of two historic congregations, St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Minneapolis and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of St. Paul, Minnesota. The discernment process which began under Bishop James L. Jelinek in 2005 was completed on May 1, 2010 with the legal dissolution of both entities. The actual plan of merger was presented to the Bishop Jelinek in 2007, approved by both congregations on January 27, 2008. On May 5, 2008 permission to merge was approved and de-consecration of both church buildings completed by August 8, 2008. Between 2008 and 2016 the combined congregations shared worship space with Epiphany Episcopal Church located at 1636 W. Van Buren Avenue, Saint Paul. The merged congregations assumed the name of Holy Trinity on February 5, 2012 and proceeded to purchase the edifice in which they were worshiping from Epiphany on August 9, 2017.
Rev. Dr. James N. Wilson II is presently serving as Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.
Historical Background
The presence of Black pioneers in Minnesota predates its territorial founding in 1840. At the time of its recognition of statehood in 1858, fledging Black communities existed in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. During and following the Civil War’s end in 1865 Minnesota experienced a sizeable population growth. Many of the Black communities of faith trace their origins to that period between 1863 and 1890.
Saint Paul
In Saint Paul the first Black faith community of record was Pilgrim Baptist Church, founded as a mission outreach of First Baptist Church in 1863. The second was St. Mark’s Episcopal Church led by the Reverend T. H. N. Gerry in 1867/68. With the death of Reverend Gerry in 1871 the congregation disbanded. In 1888 former members of the church under the leadership of Mrs. Elizabeth Tibbs, originally from Boston, petitioned the Bishop for mission status. The petition was initially denied but later approved May 5, 1894 (The Feast of St. Philip). St. Philip’s Mission was organized by Archdeacon Appleby. In January 1901 a converted factory building on the corner of Aurora and Mackubin streets was purchased for the mission. On Epiphany Sunday, 1901, St. Philip’s Church was dedicated and Eucharist celebrated.
The congregation worshiped in that building until it was razed, permitting the construction of a new house of worship in 1955. During the period of construction the congregation worshipped at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center on Aurora Avenue.
Minneapolis
Records of the earliest settlement of Blacks in Minneapolis date back to 1857 in the village of St. Anthony, later incorporated into the city of Minneapolis. The first Black church was St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church, formally organized in 1863. In contrast, the first and only Black Episcopal church community in Minneapolis, St. Thomas Episcopal Church, was organized by Black parishioners attending Gethsemane Episcopal Church in 1899. Ostensibly not pleased with their worship experience at Gethsemane, they petitioned Bishop Whipple for their own parish. Against the remonstrations of various white churches that colored people were welcome, the Bishop granted permission and mission status in 1901.They held their first organized service on Palm Sunday, March of 1899 in a store located at 614 6th Avenue South. The congregation was recognized as an unorganized mission on June 21, 1900, incorporated in 1903, and consecrated February 13, 1910. In 1912 lots were purchased at 5th Avenue near 27th street, where an undercroft was constructed. A permanent structure was never built and the congregation languished. In the fall of 1929 the site was sold and another structure formerly owned by the Christian Union, at 5th Avenue near Lake Street, was purchased for use and remodeled. Later a new edifice was built in 1960 located at 4400 4th Avenue South.
Leadership
Central to the early survival and spiritual/physical growth of both congregations was leadership provided by four extraordinary priests. Fr. Alfred H. Lealtad became the rector of St. Philip’s in 1905. From Chicago’s St. Thomas Episcopal Church, he was considered one of the leading Black cleric in the nation. In addition to attending to the needs of St. Philip’s he also celebrated the Eucharist each Sunday a 4:00 p.m. at St. Thomas. Upon his retirement in 1934, Fr. Edward James, Fr. Victor E. Holly, and Fr. Llewellyn Williams of St. Philip’s continued the tradition of spiritual leadership of both congregations through the depression era and World War II.
Following World War II both congregations were nurtured by two gifted priests, Reverend Cannon Louis W. Johnson of St. Thomas and Reverend Denzil Angus Carty of St. Philip’s. Fr. Johnson began his service in 1947 and retired after 28 years in 1975. Fr. Carty came to St. Philip’s in 1950 and served until his death in 1975. Both were leaders in their respective communities, ardent civil rights activists, and scholars/teachers. Under each, new church buildings were constructed and congregations grew in number and flourished. In particular, St. Philip’s became known nationally for being progressive in the national Anglican church. It was among the first churches to accept women as priest. The Reverend Dr. Jeanette Piccard, one of the “Philadelphia Eleven” women to be ordained, was sponsored by and served St. Philip’s for a number of years. Additionally, St. Philip’s was one of the earliest parishes in the nation to conduct “jazz masses”, incorporating instrumental and vocal jazz into worship services. St. Philip’s also sponsored the development of an urban low income housing project in St. Paul called St. Philip’s Gardens. Denzil Carty Park in St. Paul’s Summit University Area is named after the pioneering priest/activist. Recently, Fr. Denzil Carty’s name was entered into the Book of Holy Men and Holy Woman for the outstanding work he did for human rights, spiritual leadership in the community and affordable housing for low-income members of the community.
For more than 100 years these two congregations bore witness to their humble origins and fraternal ties. Annually, usually in July/August a joint picnic was held at Minnehaha Park. Connected by shared histories, partnerships, marriages and family ties these parishes annually celebrated there individual and collective experiences.
Over the intervening years both congregations were blessed with the leadership of the following priests:
St. Philip’s
Reverend Alfred Lealtad 1905-1934
Reverend Edward James 1935-1938
Reverend Victor Holly 1938-1944
Reverend Llewellyn Williams 1944-1950
Reverend Denzil Carty 1950-1975
Reverend Chester Talton 1976-1981
Reverend Thomas W. S. Logan 1983-1987
Reverend Melvin Turner 1990-2000
Reverend James Wilson 2002-2005, 2007-
St. Thomas
Reverend Irving Johnson 1901-1904
Reverend Edward W. Daniels
Reverend George H. Hills 1904-1905
Reverend George Thomas 1905-1906
Reverend Alfred Lealtad 1905-1934
Reverend Edward James 1935-1936
Reverend J. Howard Thompson1936-1941
Reverend Melbourne Hogarth 1941-1945
Reverend Robert Wright 1945-1947
Reverend W. Louis Johnson 1947-1975
Reverend Charles Granger, Jr.1976-1980
Reverend Jay Hanson 1980-1982
Reverend Ira Johnson 1982-1985
Reverend Orlando Guertin 1986-1993
Reverend LeBaron Taylor 1997-2001
Reverend Paul Allick 2002-2007
Reverend James N Wilson II 2007-2008
Central to the success of these two congregations has been the role and involvement of lay leadership. Too numerous to mention, and for fear of inadvertent omission they cannot all be recognized. However, it is understood that without their financial support and physical presence, these congregations could not have survived and thrived.
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