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By Nicole Seiferth

In 1846, the Trinity Church building, designed and built by Richard Upjohn, was consecrated on Ascension Day. Every year since, Trinity Church has marked the day with celebration, music, and friends near and far.

This year was no exception, with the Rt. Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard, bishop of Florida, returning as guest preacher. Before his election as bishop, Howard was vicar of Trinity Wall Street.

"The parish of Trinity Church made its mark on me," Howard said in his sermon, "It really feels like coming home today."

The interior of the church was festooned with three dramatic, brightly colored banners that stretched from one end of the church to the other and inevitably called attention to the architectural detail of Upjohn's Neo-Gothic arches.

"Richard Upjohn knew his theology," Howard preached, "and he recognized that to walk into a church building was to participate in the otherworldly and engage with the supernatural."

Following the service, congregation and staff members, as well as visitors and tourists continued the Ascension Day celebration in the churchyard. Vestry member and parishioner Betty Whelchel said that it was a particularly special celebration for her, because it was Howard, when he was vicar, who caught her husband and her at the door of the church on their first visit and "never let us leave."

But it's also special, she reflected, "because of the way Trinity is living out the Ascension in Lower Manhattan. It's not always an easy place: we've had 9/11 and the [economic] crash on Wall Street. Trinity is always there to lift this community."

On the other side of the churchyard, Joseph Buchalski, who was a member of the Trinity Choir from 1933-1956, was giving this year's service an enthusiastic review. "I like the choir. Ascension Day, to me, was always most impressive."

"In this great Trinity Church," Howard concluded in his sermon, "we celebrate the gift of spaces that God has provided through the hands dedicated men and women in order that all might approach Him and catch a glimpse of what eternity with Him will be like."

Nicole Seiferth is assistant editor for website and parish publications.

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