An Old Tennessee Valley Parish
Trinity Episcopal Church has gathered for worship in Florence, Alabama since 1824, making it the oldest parish in the Tennessee Valley. The current church building, a familiar landmark at the corner of Pine and Tuscaloosa Streets, has been in continuous use since 1894. Reverend Cook organized the congregation as Trinity Episcopal Church in 1836, building on a missionary movement that brought the first sixteen ministers to the area from the late 1700s. Among those earliest clergy, the Reverend William Spencer Wall is listed in the first parish register as having held services in a school building and is credited with opening the second school in Florence.
The twentieth century was shaped by the long tenure of the Reverend Doctor Edward G. Mullen, who served as rector from 1943 into the early 1970s and remained rector emeritus until his death in 1994. Longtime parishioners are still called "Mullenites," and his name still draws a smile around the parish hall. The history of those early decades is recorded in Mary Holland Lancaster's volume, "Gathering Up Our Sheaves With Joy: A History of Trinity Episcopal Church 1824-1976, Florence, Alabama," available in the parish library.
As part of the Episcopal Church, Trinity belongs to the Anglican Communion in the United States, in partnership with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. The parish's stated faith is simple and direct: a belief in the loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world. The parish carries a legacy of inclusion, with men and women serving as bishops, priests, and deacons, and laypeople and clergy sharing leadership at every level. The parish puts it plainly: "We believe God loves you. No exceptions."
Two Rites on Sunday Morning
Sunday worship follows the Book of Common Prayer in two distinct forms. At 8:00 a.m. the parish celebrates Holy Eucharist Rite I, a simple and joyful spoken service set in the older language of the prayer book. The 10:30 a.m. service uses the more contemporary language of Rite II, with a full choir, congregational singing, and a lively, family-friendly atmosphere. Between the two services, at 9:30 a.m., Sunday School gathers in the classrooms of the Education Building, and the youth meet in Mullen Hall.
After the early service, or before Sunday School, parishioners stop by the Parish Hall for biscuits and coffee. The nursery opens at 7:45 a.m. and stays open through the 10:30 service, welcoming children from six weeks to four years. During the 10:30 service, children in kindergarten through third grade are invited to Children's Chapel, located upstairs in the Parish Hall above the nursery. Parents are welcome to pick their children up from the nursery during the Passing of the Peace so the family can share the Eucharist together.
From the Sunday before Memorial Day through the first Sunday in August, the parish combines its schedule. Sunday School meets at 8:30 a.m. and Holy Eucharist is celebrated at 9:30 a.m. After the summer service, the breezeway fills with cookies and lemonade, and many families head to the park with a picnic lunch and a stop at the playground.
Children, Youth, and the College Years
Children's Ministry is led by Lindsey Black, who joined the staff in September 2023 after more than a decade of children's ministry work in other local churches and a background as a special education teacher. Kate Hanbery serves as nursery director, caring for infants and toddlers from six weeks through age four. Nursery care is available for special services throughout the year, including Christmas Eve.
Downtown Youth Ministry is led by Tammy Spake, who has been involved in youth work since her college years and brings nearly thirty years of full-time ministry experience to the role. Trinity youth meet for Sunday School in Mullen Hall at 9:30 a.m. and join diocesan events with Episcopal youth from across Alabama.
At the University of North Alabama, Trinity is a proud partner congregation of All Saints College Ministry, an interdenominational campus ministry led by Jack Mann. All Saints was launched in 2022, and Mann has worked full-time in college ministry in Florence since early 2018. The ministry brings together students from many local churches and keeps a presence on both Facebook and Instagram.
Small Groups Through the Week
Life at Trinity stretches well beyond Sunday morning, with a steady calendar of small groups for every stage and interest.
Morning Prayer is offered in the chapel every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:15 a.m., followed by coffee and fellowship. A Tuesday Book Group meets at noon in Mullen Hall, and a Wednesday Book Group gathers at 8:30 a.m. in the library. Centering Prayer, a quiet midweek reset, meets in the chapel on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and is open to all ages.
On Thursday afternoons, "Hairsplitters," the parish lectionary Bible study, gathers in the Parish Hall at noon for a spirited discussion of the upcoming Sunday readings, then moves to the chapel at 12:30 p.m. for Holy Eucharist. The group's name comes from a habit of "splitting a few hairs" over the text. On the second Tuesday of each month, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, the parish chapter of the men's ministry, meets in the Parish Hall for fellowship and service planning; the chapter was reopened at the beginning of 2023 and welcomes all men in the parish.
Education for Ministry (EfM), a four-year program of theological study, meets on Monday evenings in the library under the guidance of the Reverend Catherine Schiesz. On Wednesday evenings at 5:30, Trinity Parents gather at local restaurants for Theology on Tap, a conversation built around a single question. A Sunday afternoon Knitting Group stitches together in the Parlor at 3:00 p.m., and WineDown Wednesdays welcomes women fifty and over to the Parlor for a bring-your-own-dinner gathering at 5:30 p.m.
The Matthew 25 Mission
The Matthew 25 Ministry is the parish's organized response to demonstrated needs in the Florence community and beyond. A nine-member board of volunteers serving staggered three-year terms, led by a chair, secretary, treasurer, and a vestry representative, plans regular fundraisers and grants funds to approved agencies, ministries, and projects, never to individuals directly. Priority is given to initiatives that involve members of Trinity in the work. The ministry is named for the gospel call to care for those in need, and gifts to it can be made through the parish's online giving portal.
A Monday Night Table
Every Monday at 5:30 p.m., Trinity parishioners and friends from across the Shoals gather to serve a hot community meal to anyone in need. The kitchen team prepares more than two hundred plates each week for the open table, and the work is coordinated by Sarah Heckert. Volunteers from the parish and the wider community are welcome to join the rotation of cooks, servers, and cleanup crews.
Trinity also partners with the Shoals Shelter, a community network that rotates overnight accommodations for the homeless among local churches on cold-weather nights. A team of more than eighteen Trinitarians hosts the shelter for several nights each year, providing a warm place to sleep, meals, snacks, and to-go bags for twelve to twenty guests per night. Susan Henderson serves as the parish coordinator.
Music, Vestments, and the Altar
The choir, under the direction of organist and choir director Noël Beck, leads the congregation in hymns and service music at the 10:30 a.m. service each Sunday. Rehearsals are held Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. and again Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. The choir also prepares special services throughout the church year, including Advent Lessons and Carols, Evensong, and the liturgies of Holy Week.
Behind the scenes, the Altar Guild cares for the sacred vessels, the bread and wine, the linens, candles, and torches used in worship. Sarah Ware serves as Altar Guild coordinator, working with a rotating team of captains to ensure that all things in the sanctuary are done "properly and in good order," as the Book of Common Prayer directs. Members of the parish also serve on Sunday mornings as lectors, intercessors, acolytes, torchbearers, and trained Lay Eucharistic Ministers, because, as the parish puts it, all worship is participatory.
For those drawn to the Cursillo movement, the Shoals area Ultreya gathers Cursillistas from Trinity, St. Bartholomew's in Florence, and Grace in Sheffield for shared formation and fellowship. Rachel Hillis serves as the parish Lay Rector.
The Care Committee, organized into seven rotating guilds, is the parish's "inreach" arm, providing hot meals, rides to church, and visits to shut-ins during times of need. The committee is always looking for creative ways to respond and meets under the guidance of the Reverend Catherine Schiesz.
Clergy, Wardens, and Parish Life
The Reverend Callie Plunket-Brewton, Ph.D., serves as the nineteenth rector of Trinity, having been called in September 2020. A graduate of Texas Tech University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she was ordained in the Diocese of Alabama in 2011 and previously served as Trinity's associate rector beginning in 2013. Born in New Zealand and shaped by years in England, she lives in Florence with her husband, Vince Brewton, dean of the Cole Honors College at UNA, and their three children.
The Reverend Jake Andrews, Ph.D., joined the parish as associate rector in August 2023 and also serves as priest-in-charge of St. Bartholomew's. A graduate of the University of Alabama, Beeson Divinity School, the University of Aberdeen, and the University of Iowa, he was ordained to the priesthood in 2019 while teaching at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.
The Reverend Catherine Schiesz has served at Trinity since moving to Florence in 1995. Ordained to the diaconate in 2012, she leads the EfM group, organizes the Care Committee and worship volunteers, and administers the parish's Life is Calling grant.
Parish governance rests with the vestry, led by Senior Warden Gayle Ozbirn and Junior Warden Lee Henderson, with Laura Cruise as treasurer and Susan Smith as clerk. The full vestry includes Victor Apodaca, Brad Bowling, David Howard, Kathryn Keith, Anna Long, LuEllen Redding, Nancy Sanford as assistant treasurer, and Chris Smith.
The parish office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Worship services are livestreamed on the parish's YouTube channel, and recorded services are available there as well. Online giving and pledge cards are available through the parish's online giving portal, and text-to-give is available by texting TRINITYFLORENCE and an amount to 73256. A new columbarium project is among the recent capital investments supported by the Trinity Trust, which is managed by the parish trustees.