On the 500 block of 11th Street in downtown Huntington, Trinity Episcopal Church has gathered Anglicans for over a century beneath a cornerstone that still reads, “To bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” The parish’s own short mission statement - “Making disciples of Christ to witness by word and example to his resurrection life” - names the rhythm that shapes everything else: Word, Sacrament, and the long work of forming one another in faith.
Trinity is a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia and a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The worship is traditional and rooted in The Book of Common Prayer (1979), the building itself is more than one hundred years old, and the doors open onto a city block where the parish serves its neighbors through three signature partnerships: Harmony House, the Cridlin Food and Clothing Pantry, and the Backpack Ministry at Central City Elementary.
Three Sunday Services in a Classic Anglican Pattern
Sunday at Trinity takes the form that Anglicans have followed for generations. Two morning services fill out the year, and a third evening service returns in the colder months.
At 8:00 a.m. the parish prays a streamlined Holy Eucharist, Rite II, with two hymns, scripture, a sermon, and communion. Most weeks it finishes in under an hour.
At 10:30 a.m. the principal service unfolds in full. The Trinity Church Choir, made up largely of Marshall University students, leads the music from September through Pentecost, and the congregation joins in hymns, a sermon, and communion that usually last about an hour. Childcare for children under five is offered during this service from September through May, with drop-off at 10:15 a.m. This 10:30 a.m. service is also the one broadcast live each week on Facebook and YouTube, so it reaches those who cannot be in the pews.
From the Sunday after Labor Day through mid-May, a third service gathers at 5:30 p.m. in Bethlehem Chapel, a quieter space entered through the glass door facing 11th Street. The service is simple and spoken - no music - and follows Holy Eucharist Rite II.
All baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion, and anyone is welcome to come forward for a prayer or blessing in place of receiving, or to remain in the pew. Worship is fully participatory; the bulletin carries written prayers and responses so the whole body takes part.
Weekday Prayer and a Presence Across the City
The worship of the church does not stop on Sunday. On Thursday mornings at 8:30 a.m. the parish offers Morning Prayer, a shorter, said office that gathers during the fall and spring Marshall semesters at the Campus Christian Center on John Marshall Drive and, at other times, in the chapel at Trinity.
Later that same day, at 4:00 p.m., Father David leads a celebration of Holy Eucharist at The Woodlands Retirement Community on Bradley Foster Drive, taking the Eucharist to those who can no longer easily make it to the church. The two weekday services together give Trinity a prayerful presence that stretches across the city.
A Welcome That Begins Before Anyone Walks In
Newcomers often find a liturgical service unfamiliar, so Trinity makes a simple offer: anyone who would like a guide can ask for a member to meet them at the door and sit beside them through the service, helping them follow the bulletin and the movement of the liturgy.
What should a first-time visitor wear? The honest answer at Trinity is that members dress across a range, from dressy casual to a suit and tie or a dress. The invitation is to come in whatever makes a person comfortable. Children are welcome in all services; those who have been baptized may receive communion, and those who have not are warmly invited to come forward for a blessing.
The Rector and the Parish Team
The Ven. David Johnston became rector - the parish’s lead priest - in January 2023. A graduate of Louisiana State University and Duke Divinity School, he served as an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church before coming to Trinity. He is married to Colleen and is a father of two, with a stepson as well; his free time goes to reading, hiking, and birdwatching. Beyond his work as rector, Father David serves the wider church as the Archdeacon for Young Adult and Campus Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia.
Fiona Reynolds, a Marshall University education student, serves as the children and youth minister. She also leads Vespers, the campus ministry, as its president. Behind the scenes, Jenn Naglee keeps the parish office running, Krys Fulbright directs communications and runs the Sunday livestream, and Mike Naglee serves as sexton, caring for a campus of buildings that have been in continuous use for over a century.
Children, Acolytes, and an Intergenerational Life
Trinity takes seriously the inscription on its parish house cornerstone. Children are not only welcome at worship; they have a role in leading it. Kids aged eight and up can serve as acolytes, lighting candles, carrying torches in procession, serving as crucifer, and bringing forward the gifts at the offertory.
For younger children the parish offers a Sunday school class for ages five and up, running September through May from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. The curriculum is Godly Play, a Montessori-based program that leads children into the stories of the Bible through wondering and play. All teachers and assistants undergo background checks and safeguarding training through the diocese.
Nursery and childcare for children under five are offered during the 10:30 a.m. service from September through May. Older children often learn the liturgy alongside the adults, joining in the Lord’s Prayer and the Eucharistic responses until the whole service feels like second nature.
Vespers: A Campus Ministry at Marshall
Because so much of the parish’s life orbits Marshall University, the campus has its own ministry. Vespers Campus Ministry meets on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. at the Campus Christian Center on John Marshall Drive during the fall and spring semesters. It is open to students of any denominational background, including those with none. The name is a small bit of honesty: it suggests the kind of gathering that slips easily into the rhythm of a college week - prayer, study, and the slow work of growing in faith.
The Preparing Room: Building for the Next Generation
The oldest buildings on the parish campus are pushing past their hundredth year, and the congregation has launched an initiative called the Preparing Room, named for the words of Jesus in John 14: “In my Father’s house are many rooms.” Its twofold aim is to fund the present ministry of the parish - worship, formation, pastoral care, children and youth, fellowship, and outreach - and to invest in a campaign of capital improvements.
Three projects make up the heart of the campaign. “Room for All” will build a welcoming cloister that connects the sanctuary with the parish hall, along with accessible restrooms, removing barriers so that every person can take part in the life of the parish. “Room for Service” will refresh the Parish House with new flooring, paint, lighting, and improved restrooms, creating flexible space for worship, fellowship, and the community partners who share the building. “Room for Mission” will seed new nonprofit partners into the Parish House and strengthen diocesan ministries, including Peterkin Camp, the Highland Educational Project, and Sandscrest Retreat.
The parish is asking for one hundred percent participation from the people who already call Trinity their church home, with $240,000 pledged for 2027 operating ministry and $500,000 in capital gifts over three years, beginning in December 2026.
Service Beyond the Walls
Trinity’s outreach is built around long partnerships rather than one-off projects. On most Mondays at 11:00 a.m., a team from the parish helps serve lunch at Harmony House on 4th Avenue, working alongside the staff there and the neighboring congregation of St. John’s Episcopal Church. The parish also keeps an ongoing protein bar collection to support the same work, and on Christmas Eve volunteers serve a traditional sit-down dinner at Harmony House from noon until 4:00 p.m.
Through the Backpack Ministry, the parish partners with Facing Hunger Food Bank to pack weekend bags of food for students at Central City Elementary, a quiet response to the food insecurity that follows children home from school on Friday afternoons. The Cridlin Food and Clothing Pantry, an interdenominational ministry originally housed in Trinity’s undercroft, grew out of this parish and continues as a partner.
For those needing help, Trinity points neighbors to Information and Referral at the Cabell County Public Library as the best first stop, and lists Huntington City Mission, Harmony House, and Cridlin among the organizations that serve the city.
What Trinity Believes
In the words of the parish, Trinity believes in a loving, liberating God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - known through the Bible and the witness of the Church across the centuries. Members confess that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born to show the love of God and to bring salvation through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The Bible is the primary authority for the Church and is held to contain all things necessary for salvation. Each Sunday the congregation recites either the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed as a summary of that common faith.
As Episcopalians, Trinity worships and prays from The Book of Common Prayer, sharing a way of praying with Anglicans across the world. That prayer is not meant to be a boundary but a foundation: the parish welcomes people of every background and seeks to be a community where each person who walks in is welcomed, included, affirmed, and free to worship God.
On Sunday mornings the people of Trinity pray, sing, teach their children, serve their neighbors, and then walk back out into a city that has many needs. The doors on 11th Street stay open, the choir returns each September, and the cornerstone still points to the work of the next generation.