OUR HISTORY
In the fall of 1947 a small Army Chapel was moved from Camp Claibourne to Baton Rouge. There it was erected on a vacant lot on the corners of Stanford and Morning Glory Avenue.
On November 9, 1947 the first services were held in the Chapel. Ninety children were enrolled in the Church School and at the first celebration of Holy Communion over seventy people were present. The Reverend John L. Womack led services once a month, otherwise they were held by laypeople. At the first services our founding organist and choirmaster Genevieve Collins (1912-2008) played a rented piano.
On January 1, 1948 the Trinity Episcopal Mission was entered in the Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana as an organized mission. In May that year the Reverend Alfred Stratton Lawrence, Jr. (1910-82) was appointed the first rector of Trinity.
During his tenure Father Lawrence also helped found the missions at Camp Hardtner and St. Francis Episcopal Church in Denham Springs. He presided over the first services held at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge.
By 1956 the Parish was ready to build a new permanent Church building. It was built next to the old Army chapel, which served as a parish hall until it was demolished in 1967.
The present Church was designed by Bodman, Murrell and Smith and finally dedicated on October 27, 1957.
In 1959, our organ was built by the Casavant-Frères company of Quebec in memory of Wilford Malvern Eberhart. It was one of the largest organs in Baton Rouge at the time and remains among the finest instruments in the city.
Also around this time the chancel and chapel altars were painted by parishioner Sonia Rostovsky, and stained glass windows designed by Pierre Millous were installed.
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In 1965, the Reverend David J. Coughlin, Jr. (1920-93) became the second rector of Trinity. A Naval officer during World War II, Father Coughlin previously served at Christ Episcopal Church in Kealakekua, Hawaii and the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Lafayette, LA.
Under his leadership, the parish and day school continued to grow and build. As adjoining property became available, the parish purchased it. The present office building, school building, and activities building were constructed during his tenure.
In 1992 the Reverend Ralph F. Howe, Jr., was named the fifth rector of Trinity, serving until 2004. Under Fr. Howe’s leadership, the school grew and added a new classroom wing, as well as a library and music room. Additional property adjacent to the school and church were acquired, allowing the school space for a new playground, and the church additional space for a nursery and youth meeting center.
Trinity Parish called the Reverend Peter R. Wong in January 2021. The focus of his ministry revolves around the ways in which the church serves one another and the world around them as members of the Incarnate Word. He is passionate about small group studies, engaging the living Word of the scriptures and building relationships through which all the people of God experience the love of Christ.
