Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia

Church of the Holy Trinity is an Episcopal church on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first service in the church building, designed by Scottish architect John Notman, was held on March 27, 1859. The corner tower was added in 1867 and was designed by George W. Hewitt of the firm of Fraser, Furness & Hewitt.

The church's rector from 1862 to 1869 was Phillips Brooks, probably most famous as the author of the lyrics to the familiar Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem". Renowned (and sometimes reviled) for his ebullient homilies and his staunch opposition to slavery, Brooks delivered a eulogy to Abraham Lincoln in the church on April 23, 1865, following the U.S. President's assassination on April 14. This sermon was reprinted and widely read. After the end of the American Civil War, Brooks took a sabbatical from the church to travel to Europe, Israel and Palestine. His visit to Bethlehem inspired him to write a poem for his Sunday School students, and for the church's 1868 Christmas season he had church organist Louis Redner set the poem to music. The result was “O Little Town of Bethlehem."

In 1869, Brooks became rector of Trinity Church, Boston, where he oversaw the design, decoration and construction of Trinity's new Back Bay facility from 1872 to 1877 following the original church's destruction in Boston's Great Fire of 1872.

Philadelphia's Church of the Holy Trinity is also known for its numerous stained glass windows, including five by Louis Comfort Tiffany and one by Luc-Olivier Merson.

Church of the Holy Trinity is also seen in the film National Treasure (2004), as the site of the lost treasure of the world.

The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

References

External links

• Church of the Holy Trinity website
• "Church of the Holy Trinity photographs, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress