Holy Trinity Church, Leicester

Holy Trinity Church, 19th Century

Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican parish church in Leicester, England.

Background

The Victorian building is situated on Regent Road, to the south of the city centre, close to the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Leicester Royal Infirmary. Holy Trinity prides itself on being an informal lively church. John McGinley was appointed as vicar in January 2009, and Phil White was appointed as Associate Vicar in November 2009.

History

The Church Building Act of 1818 provided funds for two new Leicester parishes, one of which was Holy Trinity. The church was built in 1838 to Sydney Smirke's classical design as the city expanded, and formed part of a new suburb. The new parish, also established in 1838, was created out of part of the parish of St Mary de Castro Church.

In 1872, Holy Trinity was completely redesigned by Samuel Sanders Teulon in a High Gothic style, with spire and side turrets in red-purple brick with limestone decoration.

In the 19th century, the church had wooden pews and a single central aisle, with balconies on both sides of the church; the central aisle was occupied by the middle classes and the balconies by their servants. Access to ground floor was via the main church entrance, with two side entrances for the balconies.

The church buildings

A significant building project was undertaken in the late 1980s, and there is now a single balcony at the rear of the church. The former main entrance to the church now features a display of a cross behind a glass window, and there is an extended lobby area with the main entrance to the church is to the west of the tower.

The chancel end wall has five arched stained glass windows featuring contemporary designs of the Parable of The Sower (see Matthew 12:1-24), above which there is a more traditional floral design including an emblem of The Trinity, with smaller windows featuring 'The Truth' and 'The Life', but strangely there isn't a window depicting 'The Way' (see John 14:6). The chancel marble end wall also features a depiction of The Last Supper.

The pipe organ is in working order, and is sometimes used in church services.

The church and nearby buildings are now part of the New Walk conservation area.

Holy Trinity Church today

Holy Trinity is a cell church, where church members belong to small cell groups which meet regularly for bible study and prayer. The cell groups are organised in a hierarchical structure, whereby cell groups within a particular geographical area within Leicester grouped into a 'pastorate' under the care of a pastorate leader, under the oversight of one of the ministry team. As a cell group grows, once the attendance consistently exceeds twelve, the cell will 'multiply' to become two cells. Under this approach, the first cell group which started in 1994 has multiplied to over 60 cells in 2009.

The church is actively involved in outreach into the local communities in Leicester. This involves running Alpha Courses, and work in the nearby Leicester Prison, social outreach, and dialogue with the local Muslim community.

The Sunday services follow a theme during each term. The morning services are family-oriented, and music is from a live band and sometimes includes the organ; with songs both modern and traditional. At each service, the sermons are recorded, and are made available as a podcast or can be downloaded individually from the church website in MP3 audio format. On average, attendance at the Sunday services totals 670.

Organ

A specification of the pipe organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register

References

• Leicester City Council Urban Design Group: New Walk Conservation Area
• Modern Leicester

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holy Trinity Church, Leicester.

• Official website
• Holy Trinity Leicester podcast on iTunes

Coordinates: 52°37′43″N 1°7′51.4″W / 52.62861°N 1.130944°W / 52.62861; -1.130944