History of Trinity Episcopal Church, Swarthmore
Left - Trinity Protestant Episcopal Mission of Swarthmore as it appeared January 1, 1901. Top Right - The Rev. Fletcher Clark. Bottom Right - The Rev. Walter Antonio Matos.
Trinity Church's 100+ year journey as a faith community began in the early 1890's. It began with two Episcopalian women of Swarthmore. One day while they were walking up North Chester Road, one said to the other words to this effect: "You know, we ought to have an Episcopal church in Swarthmore."
At that time, about 20 Episcopalian families lived in the borough, a largely rural settlement dominated by Quakers. Most of the Episcopalians had been worshiping at Christ Church, Media, which could be reached by train, preferable by far to hitching horse to buggy for the haul down to St. Paul's Church in Chester.
Like first-century Christians, the Episcopalians then began holding services in their homes.
An outreach effort, meanwhile, had been bringing Episcopal women together weekly at each other's homes to sew garments for people of an impoverished North Carolina mission. Like first-century Christians, the Episcopalians then began holding services in their homes.
The first one was on the stormy evening of May 27 1894, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred P. Chapman on Cedar Lane. William S. Neill, who later would be ordained, read the service and preached.
Soon, clergy of nearby parishes took turns conducting the cottage services. The Rev. A. J. Arnold, rector of Christ Church, Media, brought with him a "reading desk." It was carried from home to home and prayers and sermons were read from it.
Before the end of 1894, Swarthmore's Episcopalians had decided that they needed a church building. They checked out locations, raised some money, bought a plot on the northeast corner of College Avenue and Chester Road, and acquired a mortgage.
"A mission has been started under very favorable auspices at Swarthmore, Delaware County, and has been admitted as a mission of Convocation," was the optimistic entry in the 1895 Journal of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.
Construction of the wood-shingled chapel, in the form of a Latin cross, began in April 1895 and by June was completed. The church seated about 75 persons, three per pew.
Named Trinity Protestant Episcopal Mission of Swarthmore, it was dedicated to the memory of the Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts and perhaps the greatest preacher of his time, who died two years earlier. The mission's Bible was one that Bishop Brooks had used at his church in Philadelphia.
The smallest church in the United States
"The smallest church in the United States, a memorial to the biggest bishop in the Episcopal Church" was the label some attached to the pocket-sized mission.
The 1896 diocesan Journal noted: "A church building has been erected upon a well suited lot and the work of the mission has been inaugurated with good promise of future growth." The Diocese asked for and received a $5 annual payment from its new mission.
On June 18, 1895 the door was opened for the church's first service. The Rt. Rev. Ozi W. Whittaker, Bishop of Pennsylvania, began it with the first words of Psalm 127, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." The Rev. Fletcher Clark, newly appointed missionary-in-charge, read a lesson. By the end of 1895, the membership stood at 40 families.
The Rev. Clark served for two years (annual salary: $525), to be replaced on June 1, 1897 by the Rev. H. M. G. Huff, who left after serving exactly one year.
The Diocese of Pennsylvania granted full parish standing in 1919; and with that, The Rev. Walter Antonio Matos, missionary-in-charge 1898-1920, became Trinity's first rector. He would continue as such for another nine years.
On November 7, 1931, the cornerstone of the present Gothic style church was laid; with the building being completed in 1932. By 1940, 45 years after the formation of the original mission, Trinity Parish had grown to a membership of approximately 250 families. The early Fifties produced a major fund drive to finance the construction of a new chancel and the expansion of the surrounding parish house. During this period, the music program was increased with help of Trinity's first pipe organ.
Left - Clergy and choir procession down Chester Road on November 7, 1931, when the cornerstone of the present church was laid. Right - Fr. Guenther, rector 1930-43, Bishop Francis M. Taitt, third from left, and other churchmen at the cornerstone laying.
Beginning in the Sixties, the parish began sponsoring refugee families from Cuba, Vietnam and Laos. In the 1970's the church introduced the new Book of Common Prayer, the choirs increased and a Casavant Freres pipe organ was installed. From the late Seventies through to the present, under the direction of Linda Wilberger Egan, Timothy Hagy, and presently James Smith, Trinity's Adult Choir has developed into what some have called the finest choir in the diocese. During the Eighties, Trinity's first clergywoman was ordained.
The 1990's were designated as the decade of Evangelism and as a result outreach programs continued to be expanded. For example, Trinity was host parish for homeless people for several months over the past three years. The Christian Education programs were also improved for children as well as adults.
Trinity Church, Swarthmore continues to grow as a faith community, well grounded in a positive past.
[ My thanks to Harry Toland for researching and writing this history. - Rich Englebach ]