Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Hertford, NC

Parish Profile 2016

Holy Trinity is a welcoming faith community growing in the Holy Spirit, sharing our faith, loving the Lord, caring for each other, and reaching out to the community and the world.

Welcome!

Greetings to the Rector Candidate for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church!

We are eager to welcome you into our church, our homes, and our hearts. We greet you

with a shared resolve to work with you to bring our church further into the light of Christ in order to fulfill His mission for us.

This profile will help give you an idea of our beautiful historic church, its wonderful people, our ministries serving our parish, and our local community located on the beautiful Perquimans River.

Our vision for "Holy Trinity is to be a vibrant place of worship that attracts congregants, provides an environment of acceptance and fellowship, and is a loving, caring, and growing Christian community. It will be an exemplary parish in the Diocese of East Carolina through leadership in meaningful worship, growth in membership, stewardship, and generous, disciplined outreach. Through God's grace we will serve and be the foundation of our community." We seek your guidance, experience, and love of our church to help us make this vision a reality.

We are seeking a mature priest with energy, enthusiasm and a genuine desire to nurture our congregation as together we fulfill Holy Trinity's mission. Our next Rector will find a loving body of Christ in our active but aging congregation to support him or her in being the spiritual leader we each need to guide us on our Christian journey.

Our worship experience is the highlight of our life together as a congregation. An abundance of willing hands are here to help the Rector who welcomes the assistance of laity in this fundamental element of our church life. Our many programs owe much to dedicated lay leadership; however, those leaders believe programs would be strengthened by closer interaction with the Rector.

A church of our size and demographics will benefit from having a Rector who has strong preaching and teaching skills. We are a parish of primarily more mature people who are looking to improve our understanding of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Christian education programs including adult Sunday School and Bible Studies are important to us. As we grow in membership and ministries and seek wider interaction in our Deanery and Diocese, there are many opportunities for an energetic and enthusiastic spiritual leader who is attracted to a small town, with its sociability and community interaction, and who is interested in pastoral care and outreach.

We look forward to learning about you and how your experience, skills and devotion to Christ can help us achieve our mission.

In Christ, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Vestry and Parishioners

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Table of Contents

Welcome i Table of Contents ii Who We Are! 1 History 4 Local Community 5 Buildings and Grounds 7 Worship 10 Outreach 11 Vestry and Ministries 12 Our Vision of the Future 13 Contact Information 14

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e are a vibrant and joyous Christian community of love and grace with a historic past reaching back to the early nineteenth century, with a deep commitment to living the faith in new and exciting ways each day. We are faithful to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church, as well as its comprehensiveness, diversity, and the middle way of tolerance and understanding. All people are welcome to worship with us and encouraged to participate fully in the ministry of this church.

Who We Are! W

We are a congregation predominantly of active adults who number around 135 with an average Sunday attendance of 80. We recognize our age and family demographics as evidence of the trends affecting many churches today. We seek to be a faith community that grows by attracting all who are interested in our mission, regardless of demographics. A large number of our church family have chosen to come to this beautiful, friendly town after careers that took them around the country and abroad; and they bring skills and talent from a variety of life's experiences.

Music is a very important part of our ministry. Our choir can only be described as awesome – it is composed of 15 dedicated, experienced, volunteer musicians, including our choir director and our assistant director. We are fortunate to have a director who is a retired music teacher. Our choir’s accompanist is a native of Hertford and a member of the church for over 50 years. Ten members of our choir also sing in the local tri-county Albemarle Chorale.

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We take great pride in our “Fellowship Hour” that follows each service. Our Foyer Groups are a fun and easy way for parishioners to gather together on a regular, but informal basis for purely social reasons – to enjoy one another’s company, and to meet new members and just to get to know other.

We sing every Sunday from Labor Day until the end of June. (In recent years the choir has taken a break during the months of July

and August; during those months our accompanist continues to supply music for the services.)

We sponsor the “Trinity Bells,” which is an ecumenical group of twelve bell ringers hailing not only from our church but also from other churches in our area. They use Holy Trinity’s five octaves of bells and chimes and rehearse weekly. They play in our Palm Sunday and Lessons and Carols Services each year.

During the Christmas season the Nave is decorated with beautiful wreaths, garlands, and poinsettias. Our Lessons and Carols service and our Christmas Eve “candlelight” service are always special.

Our choir sings every Sunday from Labor Day until the end of June. (In recent years the choir has taken a break during the months of July and August; during those months our accompanist continues to supply music for the services.) The repertoire is primarily in the Anglican tradition and spans the centuries. In addition to our regular Sunday and Holy Week services, we have an annual Festival of Lessons and Carols in December. We occasionally have an Evensong service and hymn sings coupled with covered dish suppers during the year. We are very proud of our choir’s contribution to our services and community events.

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The Bells are part of our outreach ministry, playing in nursing homes, community gatherings and other churches in the area. Hearing the Bells playing “Amazing Grace,” accompanied by their own violinist is truly an amazing experience.

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Our “step out of the boat” commitment towards stewardship has resulted in a strong financial foundation that has served us well. In addition to the financial contributions of our communicants and non-members, several long-established, restricted endowments assist with the maintenance of the church, the parish house, the rectory, the organ and the churchyard. The parish facilities are in good repair and there are no mortgages on the church properties.

The churchyard rests on the banks of the beautiful Perquimans River in the historic Albemarle region of Northeastern North Carolina. Occasionally we hold one of our Sunday services on the banks of the river. One of our favorite songs is “Down to the River to Pray.”

Pastoral care is a key part of our ministry. We have established a wonderful support system to assist the sick and families with fallen loved ones. Our Prayer Connection members pray daily for those in the parish and beyond for whom prayers have been requested. In the past, our Healing service has been open to and attended by persons living throughout our community.

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In 1785, the American parishes of the Church of England became the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. It was not until 1817 that the Diocese of North Carolina was organized under its first bishop, the Right Reverend John Stark Ravenscroft. He is thought to have visited Hertford in the 1820s. The Reverend William Snowden was appointed Missionary in Hertford and Gatesville in 1848, and a small building adjacent to the Perquimans County Courthouse probably housed the infant Hertford parish. Benjamin S. Skinner, the layman most responsible for the parish's organization, was the first Senior Warden of the Vestry. The Parish was organized in 1848 and burials were made in the church cemetery in 1849. The church building was completed in 1850 and consecrated in 1851 as the Church of the Holy Trinity. During the nineteenth century the largest number of communicants was in the year 1891, at the height of the southeastern timber boom, when there were 96 members. In 1998 Holy Trinity was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Since the formation of the parish, there have been about 32 rectors and officiating ministers. A good number of these clergymen were young men who remained no more than a year or two. The longest tenure was that of Reverend Edmund T. Jillson, who served from 1924 to l950. Reverend Wallace I. Wolverton, Jr., retired in 1994 after serving 19 years. Our most recent rector, the Reverend John H. Bonner, III, served us from 2006 until October 2015, when he retired.

Brief History of Holy Trinity Parish

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Local Community Holy Trinity is located within the Historic District

of the town of Hertford, North Carolina. The population of Hertford is about 2,176 and the county population is about 13,466. Perquimans County covers 323 square miles in Northeastern North Carolina and has 100 miles of Albemarle Sound and Perquimans River shoreline.

The beautiful Perquimans River is one of several major tributaries of the Albemarle Sound, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean via the Croatan and Roanoke Sounds and Oregon Inlet. Hertford is located between Elizabeth City (18 miles) to the northeast and Edenton (12 miles) to the southwest. Hertford is in close proximity to Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, and other Outer Banks beach towns beside the Atlantic Ocean. Hertford is located 60 miles south of Norfolk, Virginia, and the Hampton Roads metropolitan complex, which provides convenient and quick access to major medical facilities, an international airport,

shopping malls, museums and cultural attractions, colleges and universities, and theaters and restaurants.

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Historically, agriculture and forestry have been the primary industries in the county, but changes are occurring. Some small manufacturing businesses are now operating in Perquimans County. The prospects are excellent for additional business investments since a natural gas pipeline has recently been completed to provide service for Northeastern North Carolina. Solar and wind energy projects are currently being built in the county.

The town’s and county’s facilities and infrastructure have continued to improve with a new County Recreation Center and Senior Center. The Recreation Center has meeting rooms, a large gymnasium with a basketball court and seating, a fishing pier, softball and baseball fields, children’s play areas, and a walking/running trail. A new modern library has been funded and construction will begin this year. A new public double boat ramp has also been funded and should start breaking ground soon. The ramp will also service the adjoining planned Perquimans Marine Park which is hoped to bring in the boat building and repair industry.

Where the Spanish moss begins, living in Perquimans County is a joy with its warm and friendly people. The four-seasons climate is moderate -- the winters are mild and the springs are gorgeous as the dogwood, redbud, and tulip trees bloom, and the forsythia bushes glow yellow. The summers are warm and normally have a light breeze; they are equally colorful with red, lavender, pink and white crape myrtle trees that bloom all summer. Winters are colorful also with an abundance of red -- berries, nandina, and tree trunks.

The evenings are quiet and most night skies are excellent for star gazing. Sunsets along the Albemarle Sound provide awesome opportunities for photographers and painters.

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Perquimans County is the home of “Catfish Hunter,” the famous Hall of Fame baseball player, and a museum honoring him is located in downtown Hertford. The Newbold-White House is a few minutes away and is the oldest brick house (1730) open to the public in North Carolina.

Buildings and Grounds

Holy Trinity Church is a beautiful example of the country Gothic architecture, featuring such notable details as pointed-arch windows and doors and a steep, high roof. This is perhaps the only structure of its type in North Carolina. The church, including the gallery over the front entrance, seats a maximum of 175 people. The interior of the church building conveys a simple dignity, and with its beautiful stained glass windows, provides a most inspiring place to worship.

The church's organ, installed circa 1854, was built by George Jardine of New York and is one of the oldest cabinet organs in North Carolina still in use. In 1942 the historic organ was upgraded to an electric blower, thus ending 90 years of hand-pumping by sextons, volunteers and small boys. The church undertook the task of repairing and restoring the organ in 2008 to bring its eight ranks of piping back to their original lovely sonority.

The marble baptismal font circa 1707 reputedly was given originally to St. Paul's Church in Edenton by Queen Anne of England, and subsequently to Holy Trinity when St. Paul's obtained another font circa 1848.

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In 1989 the parish purchased a spacious two-story brick house for use as a rectory. The rectory contains five bed-rooms, two updated full baths, a living room, a dining room, an eat-in kitchen, an office with a separate entrance, an abundance of closets and storage space, new central heat and air conditioning, and new windows throughout. There are two screened porches and a two-car detached garage with two large storage rooms. This lovely rectory is adjacent to the church, but separated enough to provide adequate privacy for the rector and his or her family.

The church's beautiful stained glass windows have background decorations of fleur-de-lis in various styles, always including the three-pointed lily, reminding the viewer of the triune God.

The parish house, built in 1962, was designed to complement the architecture of the church; it includes a large meeting space, kitchen, offices, parlor and choir room. A parking lot adjacent to the parish house affords ample parking.

Rectory

Parish House

Stained Glass

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Historic Churchyard Cemetery

Holy Trinity Church has a beautiful historic cemetery that dates from the inception of the church in 1848. The cemetery is a memorial to our history and an exemplar of the stonecutter’s art of the time. Located on the grounds behind the church and extending back to Skinner’s Creek, the cemetery was established soon after the parish was founded, with the earliest burials being in 1849. The Episcopal Church was historically identified with the plantation

A stroll through the cemetery offers many fine examples of artistic memorial markers, and many of historic importance. One poignant sight is the large number of children’s graves among the family gravesites -- a sad tale of the hard times people endured so long ago.

You will note the recurrence of names. The ties of blood, marriage, and friendship among these people were intricate and complex. Some graves hold remains of persons who were originally interred elsewhere, then moved onto the church grounds into family plots. There are descendants of old Quaker families, casualties of the Civil War, including a Union soldier, and one of the Parish’s early rectors buried on our grounds.

aristocracy and professional classes, but this cemetery is also the last resting place of artists, authors, a baker, a carpenter, a coach maker, milliners, musicians, and a washer woman. It was one of the first racially integrated cemeteries in the area. It also includes more graves of Confederate officers than any other in the county.

Holy Trinity parishioners capture the rich history of those who are interred here by a “A Walk Back in Time.” Presented by family descendants and others, re-enactors speak in “first person” and tell the interesting stories of those buried here.

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Worship is the center of our life at Holy Trinity.

Our worship services are enhanced by wonderful music provided by our choir

and organist. We are fortunate to have a music director and organist who are both knowledgeable and talented.

Our worship ministries are:

• Acolytes • Chalice Bearers • Lay Readers • Altar Guild • Music

• Choir • Hand Bells • Organ

• Ushers • Lay Eucharistic Ministers • Flowers • Counters

Services: One Eucharist service is offered on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. and an

additional 8:00 a.m. service with Morning Prayer is offered during June through August in the summer. In the past, a mid-week Healing service was offered once a month.

The Celebrant is assisted by an Acolyte, Lector, Prayer Leader and Eucharistic

minister for each Sunday service. Bulletins are provided with details such as the lectionary, collects, hymns, and parish announcements, and are distributed at each service by a team of ushers.

Worship

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Outreach

There is such a great need for supporting Outreach that we address it through many events and programs. Our chief money-raising programs for Outreach are the Episcopal Women’s Club annual games and card party with a gift basket raffle, and the Men’s Fellowship grand lobster sale. Each of these programs raise substantial funds and at the same time provide much fun for the participants.

We also enjoy filling shoeboxes for the Samaritan's Purse Christmas Child program, selling African Team Ministry handmade items, and selling grocery store gift cards. Collecting teddy bears (blessed by the Rector) and distributing them at Christmas to needy children is always a rewarding experience.

The outreach funds we raise, along with funds from our operating budget, go to more than 16 organizations in our local community, Diocesan programs, and international programs. Local recipients include Habitat for Humanity, Albemarle Food Bank, Jim Hunter ALS Chapter, and others. We also administer the Skinner Scholarship Trust and award scholarships based on need to students living in or descendants of persons formerly living in Perquimans County.

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The Vestry, which consists of seven members, is elected by communicants in good standing who are at least sixteen years of age. Members are elected at the annual parish meeting for two-year terms. Annually, the Vestry elects a Senior Warden (upon nomination by the Rector), a Junior Warden, and a Clerk. The Vestry has established the following committees and positions to serve the parish:

Worship Committee Acolytes Altar Guild Lectors/Eucharistic Ministers Lay Eucharistic Minister Choir Director Organist/Bulletin Ushers Flowers Counters Outreach Committee Parish Care Committee Stewardship Committee Parish Life Committee Evangelism Committee Prayer Connection Finance Committee Cemetery Committee Historical Committee Skinner Scholarship Committee Episcopal Church Women’s Club (ECW) Men’s Fellowship Trinity Trumpet/Church Directory Deanery Representative Audit Committee Office Volunteers Webmaster Holy Trinity is in a firm financial condition with no debt, and we

are continuing, as good stewards, to maintain and improve our facilities.

Vestry and Ministries

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"Holy Trinity will be a vibrant place of worship that attracts congregants, provides an environment of acceptance and fellowship, and is a loving, caring, and growing Christian community. It will be an exemplary parish in the Diocese of East Carolina through leadership in meaningful worship, growth in membership, stewardship, and generous, disciplined outreach. Through God's grace we will serve and be the foundation of our community.“

Our Vision for the Future

Our eight page Strategic Plan contains our Goals, Objectives, and Strategies for guiding us towards our Vision cited above.

We are making good progress on many of our Goals and our priority is to grow our congregation so we can increase our capabilities.

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Contact Information

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

P.O. Box 125 207 South Church Street Hertford, North Carolina Telephone: 252-426-5542

Email: HolyTrinityHertford@gmail.com Website: www.holytrinityhertford.diocese-eastcarolina.org

The Diocese of East Carolina The Rt. Rev. Robert S. Skirving, Bishop of East Carolina

The Rev. Canon Matthew E. Stockard, Canon for the Ordinary Telephone: 252-522-0885

Interim Rector Rev. Edward Mullins

The Vestry Barbara Kehayes, Senior Warden

Laura Rowell, Junior Warden Bobby Dougherty, Clerk

Trish Ludwig Jane McCoy Dick Mohler Dave Smith

Staff Joan Ernst, Choir Director

Lorraine Saunders, Assistant Choir Director Raymond Winslow, Organist

Wes Brown, Treasurer

Search Committee Vince Gullotta, Chairperson

Bill Horton Anne Lankford

Jane McCoy Dick Mohler

Jo Ann Morris Sandy Stevenson

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