Church History
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
was founded in the summer of 1951 when a group of active
members of St. John’s parish gathered to organize
a new church. Within a year, the group acquired a site in
the historic Haymount area and broke ground for the new
sanctuary. The first service was held on December 19, 1952.
The early years focused on the development of a Christian
Education program as well as outreach. From the very beginning,
Holy Trinity played an important role in the life of the
Diocese. As Fayetteville grew rapidly, the parish also grew
while it became an important community resource.
We attracted many young
families, as we still do, with our NAEYC accredited preschool
program and our emphasis on youth. The increasing stability
of the military community has meant that Holy Trinity attracted
more military families who remained long enough to enrich
the parish life and add talents and energy to parish activities.
More recently we have focused
on expanding the parish’s attention to families, children
and youth. We have also encouraged attention to financial
stability through year-round stewardship and planned giving.
Finally, we have greatly increased our outreach efforts
through programs as diverse as Adopt-A-Family, serving more
than 25 families from Thanksgiving through Easter; AA; a
food pantry; and participation in Episcopalians for Habitat,
Operation Inasmuch, Fayetteville Urban Ministries, the Women’s
Center, and the Care Clinic, among many others. We have
also been active in programs in the Diocese of East Carolina,
including the Farm Workers’ Ministry at Newton Grove,
and internationally with missions to Puerto Rico, Central
America, and Haiti.
As we have grown over the
years, so has our need for additional space. In 1998 we
completed the Johnston Wing, a 3300 square foot addition
with a kitchenette, restrooms and a large divided meeting
room to allow our youth their own space on Sundays and throughout
the week. In 2001, we completed a new patio area adjacent
to the Johnston Wing, and in 2002, we completed our playground
area with the purchase of tens of thousands of dollars of
new equipment, which is both safe and fun for the children
of the preschool and the other children of the parish.
In 2004, we completed
a capital funds drive in support of our new church building.
Construction on the new building
began in January 2006, following the expansion of our parish
hall for use as a temporary worship area and the subsequent
demolition of the old church building. We held our first services in the new building on Advent III 2006 and Bishop Daniel dedicated and consecrated the new building with us on January 17, 2007.
As we move from a
small program sized parish to a larger program church, we
will undoubtedly face new challenges in providing adequate
space for our growing needs. This problem is a healthy one
and we thank God for the blessing.
