At the eastern edge of Decatur's square, just a few blocks from the MARTA station and right at the corner of Sycamore Place, Holy Trinity Parish has long been one of the Episcopal Church's most active outposts in metro Atlanta. The parish describes its calling in a single sentence: "Our mission is to open hearts to God and doors to community." On a Sunday morning or a Wednesday at eleven, that double commitment shows up in the chapel and the nave, in food pantries and on sidewalks, in the choir loft and at the baptismal font.
Holy Trinity welcomes newcomers with the words "Come as you are." Whether someone arrives in shorts and flip-flops or in a Sunday best, the red doors on Ponce de Leon Avenue open onto a congregation that prides itself on diversity across age, background, politics, and church experience: cradle Episcopalians alongside those walking through Anglican doors for the first time.
Sunday Worship, Two Rites in Two Spaces
On Sunday mornings Holy Trinity offers two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist. At 8:00 a.m. in the second-floor Chapel, the congregation gathers for a Rite I service, more traditional in language and tone. At 10:30 a.m. in the Nave, the larger concrete sanctuary on the third floor, the service follows Rite II. During the academic year the Parish Choir leads worship at 10:30, and an ASL interpreter translates the service for parishioners who use American Sign Language.
Each Sunday the 10:30 service is livestreamed on Holy Trinity's YouTube channel so members and friends near and far can worship along. A bulletin and the day's readings are posted online so at-home worshipers can follow the liturgy.
Wednesday mornings add a quieter offering: at 11:00 a.m. the Chapel hosts a Holy Eucharist and Healing Service. Once a month the clergy lead worship at Park Springs Senior Living Community, and the campus regularly opens its doors for Evensong, Holy Week, the Principal Feasts of the Church, weddings, and funerals. Holy Trinity also hosts the Gift of God Eritrean Church and Hudson Fellowship Church for their Sunday worship services.
A Music Program with Range
Music is woven into the rhythm of weekly worship and the wider parish life. The Parish Choir, open to singers from grade nine through adult, leads worship at the 10:30 a.m. service each Sunday. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., and the choir's repertoire stretches from traditional Anglican and classical church music to the wider treasury of the church's musical tradition. The smaller Evensong Choir prepares music for several services a year, rehearsing Wednesday evenings at 8:30 p.m. following Parish Choir rehearsal, and singing special feast-day repertoire from the Anglican tradition. The Children's Choir, with hand bells, leads worship at the 10:30 service once a month and at major services such as Lessons and Carols and Christmas Eve.
Will Buthod, Minister of Music, brings decades of church music experience to the parish. He works as pianist, organist, composer, and conductor and moves easily from Gospel to classical church music to Bluegrass. He also serves on the faculty at Emory's Candler School of Theology, where he directs the gospel choir Candler Voices of Imani, and he founded Voices Found, a community choir focused on social justice.
Forming Children and Youth
Children are welcomed into the life of the parish long before they can read. The nursery, located on the main third floor next to the office reception area, welcomes children from birth through age four from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. each Sunday. Staff are child-care professionals who meet the Safe Church standards of the Episcopal Church. Worship bags and books sit just outside the Chapel and Nave for parents who prefer to keep little ones nearby.
Formation for older children draws heavily on the Godly Play method, an approach Children's Minister Amy Armstrong Wells came to love in 2014 and in which she completed Advanced Training in 2017. She went on to become a licensed Godly Play trainer. On Sunday mornings the schedule looks like this:
- 7:55 a.m.: Nursery opens for drop-off.
- 8:45 to 9:15 a.m.: Children's Choir practice in Room 208.
- 9:15 to 10:15 a.m.: Children's Formation in Godly Play classrooms.
The Little Lambs class serves toddlers from about fifteen months to three years, sharing short Godly Play stories with an emphasis on the Holy Family, the Good Shepherd, and Baptism. The Primary Community welcomes children ages three to seven, and the Elementary Community serves students in grades two through five. Children and families come together for parish-wide events during the year, including a St. Nicholas Day service, the Christmas Pageant, the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Easter Brunch, and the Parish Retreat.
The Youth Ministry gathers students in the Youth Room on the first floor of the Comer Center for Sunday formation from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Youth Minister Christian Foster also coordinates the Sack Lunch Ministry and oversees youth participation in worship. Holy Trinity partners with the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany for many youth events and fellowships with youth from the Ismaili Civic Center. The youth group meets monthly at Coyote's Grill, and the program includes a summer pilgrimage each year.
Young adults, from about age 18 to 40ish, gather monthly for food and fellowship, often at a local Decatur eatery, and play a leadership role in the Wednesday Night Supper program. During the academic year HTP hosts a catered meal from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, with formation programming following from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Adult Christian Formation: Newcomers to Going Deeper
Adults new to the parish are invited to a Newcomers Class led by the Rev. Ellen Echols Purdum and the Rev. Rhett Solomon. The series covers the Anglican tradition, the history of Holy Trinity, and the discernment of individual gifts. Membership at Holy Trinity happens through baptism, confirmation, reception, or transfer from another Episcopal congregation.
On Sunday mornings at 9:15 a.m. several long-running classes meet in the Comer Center and around the campus:
- Going Deeper meets in the fall in the Comer Center and chooses topics anchored in faith and Biblical texts.
- Life in Christ, a women's class for women of all ages, studies, prays, and learns together year-round in the Gaylord Room on the second floor.
- Men's Room gathers adult men to discuss the previous Sunday's gospel reading using a simple curriculum, meeting in Room 256.
- Stories for All Seasons invites adults and youth to hear a designated parish member share their history and relationship with Holy Trinity, with responses from the group.
Two prayer and service orders carry the parish forward across generations. The Daughters of the King meets on the first Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m. for devotion, prayer, and study. The Brotherhood of St. Andrew meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, except December, at 7:15 p.m. in the church reception area. Souls 'n Stitches gathers on the second and fourth Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. in the Chapel to make prayer shawls for parishioners, families, and friends in need.
Open Doors to the Community
Holy Trinity's outreach is among the most visible in Decatur. The headline ministries flow from the parish's mission to open doors to community.
Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry, known as DEAM, has operated from the lower level of the Holy Trinity Parish campus facing Sycamore Place since 1984, when the ministry moved into the parish for $1 a year. Born in 1977 from cooperation between local Decatur churches, DEAM now serves vulnerable neighbors through a Client Choice food pantry designed like a small grocery store and provides meals to unhoused neighbors Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. In a recent year DEAM delivered $173,697 in emergency utility assistance to 791 households, $9,139 in emergency prescription costs to 277 individuals, and 192,823 pounds of food and personal hygiene items to 2,155 individuals, including more than 15,000 meals to unhoused neighbors. Office manager Victoria Carter and treasurer Pete Pfeiffer anchor a staff of two paid employees supported by an all-volunteer board.
The parish is also a founding supporter of PORCH, a grassroots hunger-relief organization that collects food and cash donations through monthly neighborhood food drives and feeds hundreds of at-risk families in the broader community. Right at the church, Christian Foster coordinates the Sack Lunch Ministry. During weekday office hours, anyone who needs a meal can stop by for a sack containing a sandwich, snacks, and a bottle of water.
The Giles Bequest and the Centennial Scholarship
Two named funds extend the parish's reach beyond the immediate neighborhood. In 2022 Holy Trinity received the Giles Bequest, a major gift dedicated to the outreach of the church. Since then the parish has given away more than $150,000 in grants and gifts through the fund. Part of the bequest supplements the Outreach and Evangelism budgets, including Mo. Ellen Purdum's position, while a separate Giles Bequest Committee reviews initiatives submitted by partners outside the parish. Recipients have included L'Arche Atlanta, the Jessye Norman School of the Arts, Church of the Common Ground, Camp Mikell, the Holy Trinity Parish Preschool, Camp PEACE, Water Life Hope, and Casa Alterna.
The HTP Centennial Scholarship Trust provides scholarship aid to people committed to ministry in the Episcopal Church or the wider Anglican Communion. Past winners include Chesirae Valentine and Alex Colby.
Sacraments and Milestones
Weddings, baptisms, and funerals are central to the parish's common life.
Holy Trinity affirms marriage between two people of all genders as a sacrament of the Church and welcomes conversations with couples who want to develop a relationship with the parish community. Required pre-marital counseling follows the canons of the Episcopal Church, and the liturgy follows the Episcopal Church's rites.
Holy Baptism is the full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ. Baptisms at Holy Trinity are incorporated into regular worship services on designated Sundays of the year because the rite belongs in public worship rather than private ceremony. Preparation includes two two-hour meetings with a priest, plus a Saturday rehearsal, and a brief sharing of the candidate's experience with the congregation. The Rev. Rhett Solomon oversees baptism preparation.
For Christian burial the parish prefers services to be held in the church, though circumstances sometimes require other locations. Fees are adjusted in situations of financial hardship.
Coming Home to HTP
Anyone new to the parish can sit down with Mo. Ellen, fill out a Welcome Card found in the pew, and tell her how best to be in touch. The Rev. Greg Tallant leads the parish as Rector, with the Rev. Rhett Solomon serving as Associate Rector. The office, located at 515 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue at the corner of Sycamore Place, is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. A parking lot is reached from Sycamore Place just past the door to Tisdale Hall, and on-street parking is available along Sycamore Place and across Ponce at Glenwood Elementary School. Both MARTA stops, Avondale and Decatur, put the church within walking distance.
Giving is supported through Realm, the parish's online community, through text giving by texting HTP and any amount to 73256, and through the Realm Connect app. An annual pledge campaign gives members a chance to commit to sustaining the parish's ministries and mission.
The parish's preschool, Holy Trinity Parish Preschool, follows guiding principles that all children deserve love and respect, that children learn best through play, that connecting with nature is crucial to healthy development, and that learning is a joyful, active endeavor.
Holy Trinity describes itself as a parish that is both a neighborhood church and a faith community on a public square. In every season and every corner of its campus, the parish tries to live up to its motto: open hearts to God, doors to community.