Trinity Episcopal Church
Long Green, Maryland
* About Us * Christian Education * Day School * History * Liturgy, Mission, & Music *
* Mission * Outreach * Parish Life*
We welcome you to Trinity Long Green. This brief introduction will tell you a bit about us, our history as well as our current programs and ministries. If you haven't already come for a visit, we hope to see you soon. Please contact us for any information you might need that you don't find here.
Trinity Church began over one hundred and ninety years ago as a small "chapel of ease" for local farmers and residents of Long Green Valley in Baltimore County, Maryland. Our current membership continues to draw largely from a ten mile radius. While many of our members have been part of Trinity for more than fifteen years, new people find a church home at Trinity every year.
We take pride in our Sunday worship, our adult and children's choirs, our fellowship and our outreach. Visitors and new members often comment as to the welcome they have felt. We care deeply about one another and believe that a wide variety of people will find Trinity to be a safe and inclusive church.
Trinity Church provides Sunday School for children from September through May. We currently use the Weaving God's Promises curriculum that explores Bible stories utilizing a variety of crafts and activities to help the children learn the core lessons of the Christian faith. The children begin Sunday mornings at 9:45 a.m. with Children's Worship in the parish hall led by the rector. They then split into age appropriate groups for the lesson of the day, and join the adults in the church just prior to the Eucharist at approximately 10:40 a.m. Periodically, we have "Family Sundays" where the children participate in the entire worship service, reading lessons, assisting the ushers, and singing in the choir.
Special programs help the children explore their faith outside Sunday School.
- Christmas Pageant – The children dramatically present the Christmas gospel at the Family Christmas Eve service. We continue to expand this presentation each year, adapting it to the ages of the children, and encouraging participation by children attending the service who are not part of the Sunday School program.
- Coming to Communion – While all baptized children are encouraged to receive communion, when they are in early grade school, children can learn more about the meaning of the liturgy through the Coming to Communion program. During each week of the eight-week program, parents lead their children in the exploration of one element of the liturgy, using a biblical story and contemporary connections to better understand the Eucharist. The Second Sunday of Easter the participants are honored and awarded certificates of completion.
- Mystery Walk – This child-friendly Stations of the Cross allows the children to better understand Holy Week and Easter. Adapted from the traditional Stations of the Cross liturgy, the Mystery Walk tells the story of Jesus arrest, crucifixion and resurrection. The children receive an object at each station to help them retell the story for themselves later.
- Children's Choir – For the last few years, Trinity has offered a Children's music program led by our Organist/Choirmaster Edward McGee. As part of their rehearsals they learn the meaning behind the music, as well as how to lead worship.
Adult Christian Education takes place outside the Sunday morning time with special fall and Lent programs. Recent programs have included: The Gospel According to Mark; The "I Am" sayings of Jesus; Christianity and the Jews; and War and Peace in the Christian Tradition.
Trinity Church Day School, established in 1952, is an extension of the educational, pastoral, and missionary ministries of Trinity Episcopal Church. The School is open to all children regardless of race, creed, or national origin. We strive to help children discover, develop, and grow in all ways, including their relationship to God and God's world.
The school has a staff of about 16, an average enrollment of approximately 90 children, and serves children two years of age through kindergarten. Trinity Church Day School holds a certificate of approval from the Maryland State Department of Education and belongs to the Mid-Atlantic and National Episcopal Schools Associations. It also offers before and after school care, licensed by the Maryland Child Care Administration. The Day School is self-supporting and contributes to the church's annual budget. In November 2009, we completed a building expansion that added four classrooms and a multi-purpose room to the Day School's facilities.
The charming white-stucco, Norman-style church along Manor Road-seemingly timeless and unchanging- actually has a long and interesting history and a rich tradition befitting an institution rapidly approaching its bicentennial.
Under the leadership of Edward Peerce and John Yellott, the church at Long Green was originally established as a "chapel of ease" for the benefit of the inhabitants of the valleys-Long Green and Dulaney-who previously attended church at St. John's in Joppa or St. James in Monkton. In those days, travel to either church would have meant a long and often difficult journey. Peerce donated an acre of land on Bull Ridge, and a committee raised, in two subscriptions, a grand total of $1,745.37. Work on the building began in 1819, and was completed the following year when the church was formally consecrated by Bishop James Kemp of the Diocese of Maryland, on October 12, 1820.
For nearly a half-century Trinity was linked to St. James in Monkton, sharing a rector and being otherwise subordinate to the Monkton church which antedated it by some seventy years. Though Trinity petitioned for full autonomy in 1860, it was not recognized as an independent church until 1862, and only severed its last links with St. James in 1866.
For many years thereafter the church remained virtually unchanged - a simple, square, single-story building - but in 1889, the first of the great renovations occurred. It was at that time that the exterior of the church was covered in stucco and the interior was rearranged and refurbished. The orientation was drastically altered, with the entrance being shifted to the north, and the altar being placed on the south wall. The older entrances were closed off, and the slave gallery was removed. The magnificent stained glass window of the Transfiguration, imported from Germany and brought up Manor Road by horse and wagon, was placed above the altar where it remains the focal point of the church. A decade or so later, a two and a half-story tower (the Yellot tower) with double doors was added, and in it was hung the fine Gloria in Excelsis bell. In 1934, the old chancel furniture was removed, a new marble altar installed, and electric lights replaced the oil lamps. Three years later, thanks to the generosity of a parishioner, the handsome lancet windows on either facade of the narthex and the nave were installed. Finally, in 1969, the last vestiges of the Gothic influence were removed, and the interior of the church was left in much the form that we are familiar with today.
An integral part of the church history is the cemetery, which reflects the diverse face of its community. The oldest burial is dated 1826, so obviously many of those who rest here were born in the latter half of the 18th century. Edward Peerce, the donor of the original parcel of land, is here along with the Yellots, Colemans, Marshes, and Lakes - all the founding fathers of the church. A youthful Confederate colonel, a descendant of that Edward Peerce, is buried here along with veterans of all the wars of the Republic of the past century and a half. A former member of the Colts football team; a beneficent owner of a local estate, Eagles Nest; the generous donor of much of the interior of the church - all these and more are here in what a former rector, Fr. Kagey, called "a perfect spot - none more beautifully kept than Trinity cemetery. May they rest in peace, and may light perpetual shine upon them."
Sundays begin at 8:00 a.m. with a spoken service for the early risers. Our main service starts at 10:00 a.m., with music playing an essential part. The Sunday School children join this service just before the Great Thanksgiving, as we share God's peace. Holy Eucharist, Rite II is normally used at both services. Most parishioners attend the 10:00 a.m. service, and join in fellowship in the parish hall afterwards.
During Lent, additional mid-week services are held. Our special Christmas Eve services include a family service with a children's pageant, and a late evening service followed by a reception in the parish hall.
Many parishioners participate in the services as lay readers, chalicists, intercessors, acolytes and ushers, and our dedicated Altar Guild members care for the altar, vestments, vessels, and altar linens of the parish for all of our services. Greeters welcome members and visitors before and after the services.
Our choir is a dynamic and indispensable part of our services at Trinity. We are fortunate to have a talented choirmaster, Edward McGee, who is also a very accomplished and gifted organist. Under his direction, the all-volunteer choir rehearses weekly and leads worship mid-September through Trinity Sunday. The last two years have seen the revival of a children's choir. Their gifts enhance our worship on feast days and Family Sundays throughout the year.
Through the generosity of individual contributors, an Ahlborn-Galanti organ was purchased and installed in the church in September 2004 as a memorial to a longtime member and in celebration of Trinity's 185th anniversary.
To unite ourselves in Christ's way by ministering to the spiritual and human needs of all people. In support of this statement, we set forth the following goals:
(1) We will create a church climate that fosters acceptance of all people.
(2) We will provide Christian education and other opportunities for fellowship and community service.
(3) We will strive for worship services that nurture, uplift, and strengthen us to carry out our daily lives.
(4) We will minister to those in need or any kind of trouble.
(5) We will seek ways to improve communication and the open exchange of information among our members and the surrounding community.
Outreach has long been important to the people of Trinity Church. We continue to work to strengthen and expand our ability to help those in need. Currently, there are two primary recipients of Trinity's time, talent and treasure.
Paul's Place, in Baltimore City, is a community outreach center serving the poor and homeless. Their programs include meals, food and clothing banks, medical assessments, and educational initiatives. Our parishioners regularly prepare and serve hot meals at the center. We also contribute clothing, food, baby items, and financial aid year-round. At Thanksgiving, the church and Day School donate food, prepare and help serve meals, and donate prizes for games. At Christmas we provide gifts, help clients shop, and wrap presents for their families and friends.
As part of our global outreach, individuals and groups support children through Compassion International. This organization helps assure basic necessities and religious education for 700,000 poor children all over the world. Compassion's economic development projects help the families of these children rise out of poverty. Over the years, our dedicated Compassion representative has helped our Sunday school children, our Men's Breakfast Group members, and many of our members to sponsor twenty five children in twelve countries. In addition to providing financial aid, our members correspond with their sponsored children and some have been to visit with them in their home countries. We are blessed to be connected to the needs of our global village through this project.
Other outreach efforts include seasonal donations of food, toys, and clothing to agency-identified families in need, and the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund. Over the last several years, the special Lenten offering of the church and Day School have purchased mosquito nets, goats, and playground equipment that doubles as water pumps through ER-D. In 2012, we will collect "Nickels for Nurses" to provide school nurses for Haiti.
An active parish life thrives at Trinity. We traditionally have two major events each year. In late spring we hold our Country Fair, and the first Saturday of December we enjoy a Candy Cane Christmas Bazaar. Other events include occasional summer flea markets, a Fall Spaghetti Dinner that is jointly hosted by the Day School and Church and a Pancake Supper each Shrove Tuesday. In addition, we support the Annual Spring Fundraiser sponsored by the Day School. These provide fellowship, increase awareness of the church in the surrounding community and provide income for parish ministries.
Other fellowship opportunities include Sunday morning Coffee Hour after the 10:00 a.m. service, the monthly Men's Breakfast Group, Tuesday at Trinity, Lenten Soup Suppers, and gatherings at nearby Boordy Vineyards.
Movie nights, held once a month from September through April, provide free family entertainment for church and Day School families and their friends.
Tuesday at Trinity is a dedicated women's group who meet weekly for lunch and fellowship. They craft items for fundraising sales, knit prayer shawls and sew quilts for the less fortunate and homeless in our community. TAT has been in existence for over 60 years.
Our Pastoral Care Team provides an extremely strong and essential part of our parish life. This ministry involves concerned and compassionate parishioners reaching out to others in times of sorrow, need, and celebration.