Church History
Founded in 1889 as Holy Trinity Mission, Hillsdale, NJ, our church is proud of its robust 125-year history of serving God and enriching the community. Our first service was held by the Reverend Thomas Stephens on January 29, 1890, in the residence of Mr. J.C. Finke, located at the Southeast corner of Patterson and Park Streets. The first church building was erected on May 21st, 1890, on Park Street east of the Erie tracks. The land was donated by Mrs. Ellen Patterson.
The Holy Trinity Mission was moved to its present location on the corner of Hillsdale Avenue and Trinity Place in March of 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Abram C. Holdrum of River Vale donated the land on which Holy Trinity has been located for the past 120 years.
Our first Parish Hall was provided in 1918 after purchasing an old store on Cross Street, and in October of 1923, a new Parish Hall was constructed and dedicated on the church's property by Bishop Stearly. Holy Trinity became a parish in May of 1945. The old church was razed in 1965 and our present church was completed and dedicated on June 18th, 1966 by Bishop Leland Stark. The church was consecrated and the mortgage was burned on March 27th, 1977 by Bishop George E. Rath.
Over the years, Holy Trinity has gone through many renovations to make it the remarkable place it is today, including the construction of a new church office in June of 1978, a new chapel in January 1980, and office relocation and remodeling of our kitchen in 2002.
As seen in the photo above, Holy Trinity held a 120th Anniversary celebration on October 23rd, 2011, and was joined by a number of the priests who have proudly served Holy Trinity over the years.
Our proud history of priests who have served Holy Trinity Church
Thomas Stephens 1890
D.S. Marfield 1890-1891
Henry M. Ladd 1892-1895
Arthur Whitaker 1895
Horatio Garner
William Wherry
Lawrence B. Johnston 1904-1905
John C. Fair 1906-1907
James M. Wright 1907-1908
Glenn C. White 1908-1909
Meade Bolton MacBryde 1911-1916
Alfred R. McWilliams 1916-1921
George E. Boswell 1921-1928
Lewis B. Sheen 1929-1930
Philip Ayres Dales 1931-1934
Ross H. Flanagan 1934-1941
Richard Aselford, 1st Rector 1941-1947
Lee A. Hanes, 2nd Rector 1948-1961
Kendall E. Edkins, 3rd Rector 1961-1968
John S. Allen, 4th Rector 1969-1975
Edmund B. Partridge, 5th Rector 1976
John J. Negrotto, 6th Rector 1976-2004
Charles Lochner, Associate Priest 1994-1996
Susan Schink, Interim Rector 2004-2007
Bridgett J. Keith, 7th Rector 2007-2016
Dr. Ronnie Stout-Kopp, Interim Rector 2016-2017
Fr. Anthony Puca, Priest-in-Charge 2019-present