Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Portland, Oregon)
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Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
is a progressive Episcopal congregation and the seat of the
Episcopal Diocese of Oregon The Episcopal Diocese of Western Oregon is a diocese of the Episcopal Church which consists of the western portion of the State of Oregon bordered by the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River, the Cascade Range and the Oregon–California border. Maj ...
of
The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...
. The cathedral is located at 147 NW 19th Avenue in Portland, Oregon, in the Northwest District. The legal name of the cathedral corporation is Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, Oregon. It was originally organized on March 18, 1873 as Trinity Episcopal Church, Portland, Oregon and was renamed as a cathedral on February 17, 1994, after the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon relocated the diocesan seat to the current location in the previous year. The Rt. Rev. Robert Louis Ladehoff, the Eighth Bishop of Oregon, consecrated the cathedral on November 19, 1993. Prior to 1993, the seat of the Diocese of Oregon was the then Cathedral of St. John the Baptist since 1973, which, in turn was relocated from the then St. Stephen's Cathedral. The cathedral serves as the central parish of the Episcopal diocese whose jurisdiction includes the parts of Oregon west of the
Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
. Approximately 1,800 active parishioners attend the cathedral's
Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
services and participate in various activities. Portland Mayor
Ted Wheeler Edward Tevis Wheeler (born August 31, 1962) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 53rd mayor of Portland, Oregon, from 2017 to 2025. A moderate member of the Democratic Party, Wheeler served as the state treasurer of Ore ...
, whose mother was a member, attends occasionally.


History

On May 18, 1851, the Rev. St. Michael Fackler and the Rev. William Richmond along with four parishioners organized Trinity Episcopal Church in the city of
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, and secured permission to hold services in the newly completed school house. It was the first Episcopal congregation organized in the
Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...
. Fackler and Richmond went on to organize parishes in
Oregon City Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 ...
,
Champoeg Champoeg ( , historically Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 398.) is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in t ...
, Lafayette, and Milwaukie before the year was over. In 1853 the congregation had grown to 25 parishioners, and called its first rector, the Rev. John D. McCarty. Construction began on a permanent building, located at the corner of Southwest Second Avenue and Oak Street in Portland on land donated by parishioner
Benjamin Stark Benjamin Stark (June 26, 1820October 10, 1898) was an American merchant and politician in Oregon. A native of Louisiana, he purchased some of the original tracts of land for the city of Portland. He later served in the Oregon House of Representat ...
, a prominent lawyer and citizen. When this building, essentially a log cabin, was consecrated by the newly elected
Missionary Bishop A missionary bishop is one assigned in the Anglican Communion to an area that is not already organized under a bishop of a church. The term was also used in the Methodist churches at one time, but this was discontinued in 1964. Anglican churches I ...
of the vast Missionary District of the Oregon and Washington Territories, the Right Rev. Thomas Fielding Scott, it was the first Episcopal church building north of
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and west of
St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...
. By 1871, Trinity had grown to over 200 members. The congregation had purchased a half block at the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Oak Street for $3,000. In 1872 a new church building was built on this site that was thought to more accurately reflect the congregation's (and the City of Portland's) stature. The
Vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...
voted that the
Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
window of this church was to be a memorial to Bishop Thomas F. Scott. This window, which was saved when 1872 building burned, is now in the East wall of the present cathedral. The congregation in this period included many prominent Portlanders, including Cicero Hunt Lewis,
Sylvester Pennoyer Sylvester Pennoyer (July 6, 1831May 30, 1902) was an American educator, attorney, and politician in Oregon. He was born in Groton (town), New York, Groton, New York, attended Harvard Law School, and moved to Oregon at age 25. A History of the Demo ...
,
Rodney Glisan Rodney L. Glisan, M.D. (; January 29, 1827 – June 3, 1890) was an American medical doctor who served on the frontier in the United States Army and was well known as a medical authority in the 19th century. Biography He was born in Linganore in ...
, and
Matthew Deady Matthew Paul Deady (May 12, 1824 – March 24, 1893) was a politician and jurist in the Oregon Territory and the state of Oregon of the United States. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1853 to 1859, at which time he was appointed to the n ...
. In 1873, Trinity was involved in the founding of Good Samaritan Hospital. In 1902, the church building at Sixth and Oak was heavily damaged by fire, and the congregation decided to relocate yet again, to the more fashionable NW 19th Avenue, where many wealthy parishioners lived. This new building, in which the congregation still worships, was consecrated on October 14, 1906. The stained glass windows, the work of the Charles J. Connick Studios of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, date from the late 1940s. In the late 1970s the Episcopal Church was undergoing a period of liturgical renewal, with the adoption of a new
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
. Under the leadership of Trinity's rector, the Reverend William H. Wagner, Jr., the Cathedral was redesigned and renovated to better reflect a new understanding of
worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...
. The
altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
was moved forward, closer to the congregation, and the chancel was redesigned to allow for more flexible seating. This redesign, completed in 1983, coincided with the building of a new
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
, and Trinity hired young organ designer
Manuel Rosales Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero (born 12 December 1952, in Santa Bárbara del Zulia) is a Venezuelan educator and politician, current governor of Zulia. He was the most prominent Venezuelan opposition candidate in the 2006 Venezuelan presiden ...
to begin construction on a new instrument. In 1987 the Rosales Organ, Opus 11, was completed and has since earned acclaim as one of the finest organs in the country.


See also

*
List of cathedrals in the United States This is a list of cathedrals in the United States, including both actual cathedrals (seats of bishops in Episcopal polity, episcopal Christian groups, such as Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy an ...
*
List of the Episcopal cathedrals of the United States The following is a list of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church cathedrals in the United States and its territories. The dioceses are grouped into nine Ecclesiastical province, provinces, the first eight of which, for the most ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


Trinity Episcopal Cathedral

Oregon Secretary of State filing information for Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, Oregon

Oregon Secretary of State filing information for Center for Spiritual Development
1851 establishments in Oregon Territory Churches completed in 1904 Churches in Portland, Oregon Episcopal cathedrals in the United States Episcopal churches in Oregon Religious organizations established in 1851