Church of the Week: Trinity Church, Wall Street (New York)

More than thirty years ago, in the months of November and December 1979, the scene above was a frequent sight for me and the lovely Robin. It is Trinity Church, on Wall Street, in New York City.

Though we most often played in a brass quartet at a Salvation Army red kettle outside Macy's, midtown, we spent a week or two, I think, on Wall Street. I don't remember if it was before or after our Macy's post. What I DO remember, though, is this old church and its cemetery nestled in among the towering skyscrapers and cavernous thoroughfares of the financial district at Wall Street and Broadway.

On several occasions, on those cold, tiring days of bellringing, we would seek sanctuary (and warmth) in St. Paul's Chapel at Trinity Church, an Episcopal parish church in the Diocese of New York. Alexander Hamilton worshiped here, as did John Jay. Following his 1787 inauguration, George Washington attended a service of thanksgiving here. St. Paul's Chapel is the oldest public building in continuous use in New York City.

It remains an active, thriving church to this day. It is currently led by the Rev. Jim Cooper, seventeenth rector of the parish of Trinity Church.

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