Holy Trinity Episcopal Church stands at 2929 Level Road in Churchville, Harford County, Maryland. Founded in 1867, it is known for traditional yet family-friendly worship in a small Gothic Revival church, a close-knit congregation that sings and shares meals together, and a practical commitment to neighbors in need. Its mission, stated plainly, is “To know Jesus Christ and make Him known through our good works.”
From an 1867 Mission to a Gothic Revival Landmark
Dr. David Harlan, a local landowner who retired as Medical Director of the United States Navy to his farm in Churchville, donated the land for Holy Trinity and its cemetery. He anonymously financed a frame church that could seat at least 150 people, along with a rectory, barn, outbuildings, parish day school, and boarding school. Holy Trinity began as a mission of Deer Creek Church. The Reverend Edward A. Colburn became its full-time rector in 1867, and the first service took place on July 7.
The frame church burned a few days before Christmas in 1877. Services continued in the ruins, which the congregation decorated with boughs and berries, while the altar and pews were salvaged, cleaned, and put back into use. A new stone church was completed within a year. Its stone was quarried in Churchville on Calvary Road, the trim is Port Deposit granite, and the roof uses slate from Cardiff in Harford County. The 13th-century English Gothic structure remains largely unchanged since 1877.
The Parish House was built in 1961 and expanded in 1984-85, largely through parishioners' own labor. It contains the kitchen, offices, choir room, Harlan Room, and classrooms. A 1980 Moller pipe organ was acquired in 2004, reconditioned, and placed in a new case; it was reconditioned again in 2020. The church entered the National Register of Historic Places in December 2002, and the parish marked 150 years of Holy Trinity in 2017.
Two Sunday Eucharists
The usual Sunday service is the Holy Eucharist, very similar in form to Mass in Roman Catholicism and Holy Eucharist worship in the Lutheran Church. The 8:00 a.m. Eucharist is held without music. The 10:00 a.m. Eucharist includes congregational hymn singing and an anthem from the small volunteer choir. That service is carried live on Holy Trinity's YouTube worship channel. The parish calls its worship traditional and family-friendly rather than formal or stuffy, so newcomers can take part without treating an unfamiliar liturgical form as a test.
Episcopal worship draws on ancient Christian patterns while using contemporary language and thought. Scripture lessons from the Old Testament, epistle, and gospel follow a three-year lectionary, and the sermon usually grows from one or more of those readings. The church calendar moves through Advent, Christmas, Epiphanytide, Lent, Eastertide, and the extended season of After Pentecost, also called Ordinary Time.
A Leaflet, a Hymn, and the Eucharist
People who are new to Episcopal worship can follow the printed service leaflet, which places the prayers in the Book of Common Prayer and the hymns in The Hymnal 1982. Red type refers to the prayer book, while blue type refers to the hymnal. The Book of Common Prayer provides directions for when to stand, sit, or kneel, but anyone who finds standing or kneeling difficult may sit during any part of the service. The congregation generally stands for hymns except the Communion Hymns, when it sits.
All baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion. There is no need to choose only one traditional way of receiving it:
- Receive bread in the hand and drink from the cup.
- Receive only the bread, in the hand.
- Receive only the wine, drinking from the cup.
- Allow the chalice bearer to dip the bread in the wine.
Anyone unable to reach the altar rail can receive communion in their seat. Gluten-free communion bread is always available. A person who does not wish to receive communion may come to the rail, cross their arms over the chest, and receive a blessing. Priests, chalice bearers, and altar guild members sanitize their hands before touching the bread or cup.
Children's Sundays, Healing, and Coffee Hour
On the second Sunday of each month, young people participate in leading the worship service and the rector gives a children's sermon. The Sacrament of Healing is part of the service on the third Sunday of each month. These recurring features make room for children and for prayer directed toward healing within the rhythm of the Sunday Eucharist.
Coffee hour follows both Sunday Eucharists in the Parish Hall next to the church. Members, visitors, and friends gather there for coffee, snacks, and fellowship at 9:00 a.m. after the early service and 11:30 a.m. after the later service. Sharing food is a familiar part of Holy Trinity life, and coffee hour remains an important opportunity for people to meet one another after worship.
Love, Inclusion, and Faith in Action
Holy Trinity begins with the conviction that God loves everyone without exception. It describes God as a loving, liberating, and life-giving Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world. Its inclusion is explicit: women and men serve as bishops, priests, and deacons; laypeople and clergy cooperate as leaders at every level; and leadership can be expressed by anyone, regardless of sexual identity or orientation.
The Episcopal Church is open and welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, and Holy Trinity says it welcomes all who enter its doors. Its shared commitments are summarized in four direct statements: “Worship God,” “Nurture one another,” “Help those in need,” and “Show our faith by the example of our lives.” Those commitments connect the parish's worship with its food pantry, clothing projects, transitional-housing work, and service to people experiencing homelessness.
Brown Bag Study and Soup for the Seasons
Every Wednesday at noon, a small group studies the Scripture lessons for the coming Sunday. The gathering is called Brown Bag Bible Study because most participants bring their own lunch. It offers a regular midweek rhythm centered on the texts that will be heard at Sunday worship.
During Advent and Lent, a teaching-and-learning series meets Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and includes a soup supper. The topic is announced in advance, and the sessions are organized so that someone need not attend every segment. Together, these gatherings connect Scripture study with the lectionary and the changing seasons of the church year.
Outreach Rooted in Harford County
Outreach is a high priority at Holy Trinity, and nearly every parishioner takes part in some way. The Outreach Committee is open to anyone who wishes to attend its meetings. Its intended aid spending is divided among three areas: 10 percent for international projects, 10 percent for national projects, and 80 percent for local work. Past international and national support has included disaster relief following the Puerto Rico hurricane, girls' UNICEF scholarships, and Claggett church camp scholarships.
Local assistance takes many forms. Parishioners provide food, help with utility cutoffs, assist with prescription medicine needs, and occasionally provide temporary shelter. Holy Trinity gives financial support to Welcome One Homeless Shelter in Belcamp, while outreach volunteers provide groceries and home-cooked meals to the Help for the Homeless rotating winter shelter program. The parish maintains a relationship with Harford Family House, a transitional shelter for families with children, and supports an apartment connected with that work.
The church also works with school guidance counselors to provide school clothes for children. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, families receive individualized gifts and groceries. The parish has responded to emergencies affecting children, including house fires and electricity cutoffs. Its Praying Hands group knits prayer shawls for people who are ill and caps for hospitals, including infants and cancer patients. The parish is also exploring new ways to provide meals to people in need within the church family and the county.
The Food Pantry's Weekly Work
Holy Trinity's Community Food Pantry relies on regular donations from parishioners and community members to keep its shelves stocked. Among the most-needed foods are:
- Packaged goods
- Canned meat and fish
- Peanut butter
- Pasta and sauce
- Canned vegetables and fruit
- Cereal
- Cooking oil
The pantry also distributes toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, diapers, and wipes. Nonperishable food and nonfood necessities can be dropped off at the church office from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
Households seeking assistance can call the office at 410-914-5531 during those hours and explain their need. Outside office hours, a message with a name and contact information allows an outreach volunteer to follow up and arrange pickup or delivery. When transportation is a concern, Holy Trinity can deliver groceries to people living in Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Churchville, and Belcamp.
Women of Holy Trinity and Many Ways to Serve
The Women of Holy Trinity is open to anyone in the parish. The group promotes fellowship and raises supplemental funds for the work of the church. It meets at 7:00 p.m. on the third Monday of each month over Zoom, bringing women together for conversation, planning, and service to the wider mission of the congregation.
Other small ministries make the work of the church more visible. Sunshine Ministry members take turns mailing monthly cards to parishioners celebrating birthdays, recovering from illness, or needing comfort. The lawn maintenance ministry has operated for more than 40 years, with members mowing the grounds and tending the flower beds. Their labor reduces the need for outside landscaping work and keeps more of the parish's operating budget available for other ministry.
A Parish House Shared with the Community
Holy Trinity consists of the historic church and the neighboring Parish House. The church seats approximately 140 people and can host marriages, baptisms, and funerals. The Parish House contains church and rector offices, the Parish Hall, the Harlan Meeting Room, basement classrooms, a choir room, and a fully operational kitchen. Parish Hall can accommodate 97 people for a banquet or 207 for a meeting. Groups may rent it or use it gratis, subject to the Rector's and Vestry's discretion.
The church and Parish House also serve other congregations and community organizations. Beautiful Church, a Korean Presbyterian congregation, meets there, as do Do-Re-Wee, a music program for toddlers, 4-H, Girl Scouts, a bridge club, Scrapbookers, Lower Crossroads Stitchers, and other groups. Requests for the buildings are considered individually, with profit-making or private-party use generally expected to cover the cost.
Safety and care rules apply to the shared buildings. There are no open flames, including candles, kitchen use requires specific authorization, and groups are responsible for restoring rooms and removing their trash. Parking is restricted to paved surfaces, with no parking on the grass.
Baptism, Marriage, and the Churchyard
Holy Baptism is understood as a sacrament of inclusion and adoption, full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Adults and older children who have not been baptized come with a claim of belief in Christ and a period of catechesis. Infants and young children are brought by parents and sponsors who make vows of faith and take responsibility for their Christian upbringing. Baptism normally takes place in the church during Sunday Eucharist, except in an emergency.
Holy Trinity does not adhere rigidly to the prayer book's recommended baptism dates. The parish will baptize children who are not attending Holy Trinity but have strong family ties there, although it prefers that children be baptized in the parish where they will live and grow in the faith. Every baptized person is welcome to receive communion, and receiving either bread or wine constitutes full communion.
Marriage at Holy Trinity takes place within the community of faith and is supported by the Canons of the Episcopal Church, the Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, and parish requirements. Marriages ordinarily take place in the church unless substantial cause is shown for an alternate location. Couples complete at least three premarital sessions with the Rector or the premarital training offered by Inspirit Counseling Services, and they are responsible for obtaining a Maryland marriage license valid in Harford County. The marriage liturgy comes from the Book of Common Prayer, with music arranged and approved by the Rector and organist.
Holy Trinity's cemetery has provided a peaceful and spiritual setting for residents of the greater Harford County area for more than 140 years. It was consecrated on October 5, 1877, and its first interment was on August 18, 1868. A columbarium wall was added in 2015. Available options include cemetery lots and columbarium spaces for cremation urns, while the church's Wardens and Vestry oversee the continuing care and maintenance of both the cemetery and columbarium.
The People Behind Music and Worship
Holy Trinity's rector, The Reverend Joe Zollickoffer, began his ministry there in July 2019. A graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity, he also holds an M.S. in management from the University of Maryland University College and a B.A. in history from the University of Baltimore. His ministry focuses on small-church work, outreach, and pastoral care. He has served as a hospital chaplain at Johns Hopkins and Bayview and as a chaplain at the Baltimore International Seafarers' Center, where he remains involved.
Organist and Choir Director Jean Tress joined Holy Trinity in July 2020 after more than thirty years as a church musician. Her experience includes vocal music instruction in Harford County Public Schools and the Archdiocese of Baltimore, piano teaching at Harford Community College, and work in her home studio. She is a member of the American Guild of Organists and a past president of the Baltimore Music Teachers Association. The choir itself welcomes people at every level of musical experience, with reading music and singing experience helpful but not required.
The Vestry is the church's governing board and is canonically responsible for managing parish resources and finances. It meets monthly with the Rector and staff to review financial health, consider improvements, and prayerfully discuss the needs and goals of the parish and community.
Sunday worship also depends on a broad team of trained volunteers:
- The Altar Guild tends the sacred vessels, candlesticks, linens, and seasonal hangings used in worship.
- Lay Eucharistic Ministers assist with the chalice at Sunday services after completing training.
- Lectors read the appointed Scripture lessons and lead the Prayers of the People.
- Acolytes carry the cross, torches, and Gospel book and help prepare the altar for the Eucharist.
- Ushers greet arrivals, orient newcomers, distribute bulletins, assist with seating, record attendance, answer questions, and wipe used surfaces.
- The Live Stream Assistant sets up the camera and computer, connects them to the YouTube channel, and checks the equipment, with training provided.
A Parish Still Building on Its Foundation
The history of Holy Trinity is a record of buildings and anniversaries, but it also shows people repeatedly choosing to continue their shared work. The congregation worshiped among the ruins of the burned frame church, raised the stone sanctuary, and built and expanded the Parish House largely through its own labor. That pattern continues in the two Sunday Eucharists, the children's sermon, the hymns, shared meals, pantry shelves, study groups, and service to people in need. Holy Trinity remains a working Churchville parish, joining historic Episcopal worship with a close-knit community and a practical mission of good works.