Trinity Episcopal Church sits on the corner of North Arthur and West Lander in Pocatello, across the street from Pocatello High School. Built in 1897 from sandstone quarried on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, it is the second oldest church in the city and the first Episcopal church in Idaho. The congregation that worships inside it has been gathering since 1889, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Parishioners sum up their approach in the line that runs across the front of their site: "If it's not about love, it's not about God."
A 1897 Stone Church Lined With Irish Glass
The present church was designed by the architectural firm of Mooney and Johnson and completed in 1897 at a cost of $3,912. Its walls are rough ashlar of yellow sandstone, trimmed with red sandstone, and its 92-foot steeple made it the tallest structure in Pocatello at the time. The building is High Victorian Gothic, laid out in the symbolic shape of an inverted ark: the nave where the pews stand for life on earth, the chancel and choir for the time between life and death, the communion rail marking that boundary, and the sanctuary at the high altar where Christ is present. Bishop Abel Leonard of Utah and Nevada consecrated the finished building on Easter Sunday 1899.
Trinity's stained glass windows are its most celebrated feature. With the exception of the entryway window, which was designed locally by Jan Raymond and installed in 1976, the windows were produced in Ireland around 1900, funded in part by the Sunday school children of the parish. They were extensively restored between 2002 and 2004. As you face east toward the altar, the three large sanctuary windows (O, P, Q) glow in the rising sun: a flowering cross in the center proclaiming the resurrection, flanked by two hearts, one garlanded in flowers for God's forgiving mercy and the other circled with thorns for the heartbreak of divine love. Over the west entry doors, a Star of David in purple and gold marks the setting sun and the fulfillment of the old covenant in Christ. Each side aisle window carries a different biblical symbol: the Bible and Ten Commandments, a censer and menorah, a communion wafer and chalice, alpha and omega, a crown of thorns beside a sheaf of wheat, a Lamb of God with grapes, a crown and crossed keys, a lectern and winged hourglass, an oil lamp, and an anchor with pelicans. The pink-glass windows to the south include Window R, where an olive branch, a horn, and a scythe form a triangle that nods to the parish's own name - three elements for the Trinity.
From a Carpenter-Gothic Shack to a National Landmark
The story begins on September 29, 1889, when a small group of Episcopalians organized Trinity in a town that was little more than a single short street, then known as Harrison Avenue. Pocatello was not yet a city, and the land still belonged to the Shoshone and Bannock peoples. The congregation hired Rev. Thomas Bert Foster of St. Paul's Parish in Blackfoot, held its first services upstairs in a two-story building owned by the Oregon Short Line Railroad, and by November of that year had erected a small carpenter-Gothic building on the corner of North Main and West Lander. It was the second church structure built in Pocatello, and it was raised on twelve-foot wooden pilings because the ground beneath it was an old buffalo wallow. Parishioners complained that wandering cattle would park under the building and rub against the pilings; local wits claimed the cows attended often enough to have learned to "moo" amens at the close of prayers.
In 1893 the parish bought lots on the corner of North Arthur and West Lander, and the original church was rolled across town. Four years later it was moved again to make room for the present stone church, and the relocated frame building became Trinity Hall - a schoolroom, a kindergarten, a venue for political meetings, and the home of the choir and Sunday school. In the mid-1930s the present parish hall, now called Asboe Hall, was built on the same property. The church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Sunday Worship in Prayer and Sacrament
Each Sunday at 10:00 a.m. the congregation gathers for its principal service, which alternates between Morning Prayer led by a licensed lay minister on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, and Holy Eucharist led by a priest on the first and third Sundays. Both follow the Book of Common Prayer and other authorized Episcopal liturgies, with inclusive-language options used in places. The service includes congregational singing, at least three scripture readings, a sermon, prayers for the world and the church, and the sharing of consecrated bread and wine at least twice a month. On the second and fourth Sundays, the Eucharist services include a brief "children's moment" for the younger members of the congregation before the sermon.
Visitors are gently guided through the experience. A printed bulletin in the pew contains everything needed to follow along, with hymns in the bulletin itself and in the hymn books in the rack in front. There is no pressure to stand, kneel, or come forward for communion; in general, the congregation stands to praise, sits to learn, and stands or kneels to pray, but not everyone does the same thing at the same time. People who have worshipped in Roman Catholic or Lutheran traditions often find the Eucharistic liturgy familiar. After the service, coffee hour in the Parish Hall offers a chance to meet people over whatever the hosts have brought that morning.
Music That Holds the Liturgy Together
Music is treated as an integral part of worship rather than a decorative layer. The Trinity Choir rehearses on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. and sings and leads congregational singing at the Sunday 10:00 a.m. service. Members of the Alleluia Choir, the parish's youth choir, rehearse each week and join the adults for two or three services a year, occasionally performing at other community events. Together they draw on the rich tradition of Episcopal church music, with selections noted in the bulletin each week.
A wider circle of musicians and worship leaders shares the work of the service. Acolytes of all ages carry the processional cross, candles, and spirit sticks; lectors read the scripture lessons (sent the readings ahead of time, scheduled at times they are available); Eucharistic Ministers, licensed by the Bishop, administer the wine and bread at communion; ushers greet worshippers and assist with the offering; and the audiovisual support team handles the sound system, the Zoom feed, and the YouTube livestream that carries Trinity's services into homes, hospital rooms, airports, and hotels. Behind the scenes, the Altar Guild sets the altar and polishes the silver and brass, volunteer bakers take turns providing bread for communion Sundays, and a flower crew arranges fresh bouquets in every season except Advent and Lent.
Children, Books, and Big Questions
Children are warmly welcome in the worship itself. They are encouraged to take part by acolyting, reading lessons, and singing in the Alleluia Choir, and to join in seasonal gatherings such as the pre-Easter palm-cross-folding party. A few of them also help serve at My Brother's Table. A nursery is available in the Parish Hall for those who would rather use it; the parish does not currently run a Sunday school.
Adults have two recurring opportunities to dig deeper. Trinity Reads, a book group that meets monthly on a Tuesday evening in the Parish Hall, works through a book over two months. Recent selections have included Lauren Winner's Wearing God, Rachel Held Evans's Wholehearted Faith, Richard Rohr's Things Hidden, Sara Miles's Take This Bread, and Gregory Boyle's Barking to the Choir. Loving the Questions is a Saturday-morning series, usually monthly, that mixes short teaching with open discussion on topics such as the formation of the biblical canon, Holy Eucharist, salvation, and Anglican history.
My Brother's Table and the Wider Work of the Parish
Trinity's most visible outreach is My Brother's Table, a free hot meal served every Sunday from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall, with the entrance at 355 W. Lander Street. Staffed by volunteers from Trinity and from other churches, schools, and organizations, the meal has been running since 1982 and is open to everyone, with no questions asked. Take-home food bags are also distributed. A few doors away, the parish runs Our Gathering Place, an after-school program for students at Pocatello High School that offers healthy snacks, pool and foosball, dental health checkups, and family-meal workshops.
Other outreach work reaches further into the community and the world. Each December, the parish raises money for Heifer International's goat drive; one recent year bought sixteen goats for families in need, providing a path to medicine, school, food, and a sustainable livelihood. Trained volunteers lead Eucharist services, Bible study, and spiritual counseling at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center, including a Story Link program in which inmates record children's books for their own children and grandchildren. Trinity has worked with other Pocatello churches and sponsors to welcome Afghan refugee families since 2022 and has a longstanding commitment to the area's LGBTQIA+ community, including sponsorship of Rise Up Pride.
Care, Conversation, and a Tapestry Still Being Woven
Parish life at Trinity is supported by a network of smaller ministries. The Pastoral Care Team visits members who are sick, homebound, or feeling disconnected. The Prayer Chain prays daily for people in need. The Shawl Ministry, started in March 2007, knits and crochets prayer shawls and lap blankets for those in sorrow or in joy. Episcopal Church Weavers (ECW) hosts receptions, fundraisers, and gatherings that knit the parish together. Fit and Fall Proof, a gentle exercise class, meets twice a week in the Parish Hall to help with strength, mobility, and balance. Coffee hour, after each Sunday's service, is itself a ministry: hosts sign up, bring food, set it out, and clean up, accommodating a range of dietary needs.
The parish is also clear about the ground it stands on. The opening pages of the church's site include a land acknowledgement, noting that Trinity sits within the original Fort Hall Reservation boundaries and is the traditional and ancestral home of the Shoshone and Bannock peoples. The parish's 1993 vision statement, "Weaving God's Unfinished Tapestry," describes a community that sees itself as a work in progress, with each member a thread - some as sturdy linen, some as brilliant gossamer - woven into a pattern whose design belongs to God.
What a First-Time Visitor Finds
Trinity's main entrance is across from Pocatello High School on Arthur, with a second entrance on Lander. On Sunday mornings, visitors are welcome to park in the Lander Street lot across from the school. Both the church and the Parish Hall can be reached by concrete ramps, and accessible restrooms are available in the Parish Hall. The worship bulletin contains everything needed to follow the service; there is no pressure on attire, no pressure to give when the offering plate is passed, and no requirement to stand, kneel, or come forward. A nursery is available in the Parish Hall for those who would rather use it. The service is livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot attend in person, sermon recordings are available as a podcast, and giving can be done online, by check, or by cash placed in the offering plate. The parish office is open on site on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with remote hours on Wednesdays. The Rev. Haydie LeCorbeiller, the Priest-in-Charge, keeps office hours on Mondays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and by appointment.