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