Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Trinity Church, Newport

Photos by Salt Water New England

  








 

19 comments:

  1. What a lovely old building! The interior reminds me of the unheated field stone chapel at my family's old church in Pennsylvania (Saint Gabriel's Episcopal Church in Douglasville), which was used May through September and during Christmas Eve candlelight services at midnight. It began life as a Swedish Lutheran church but was later sold to the Anglicans as the Swedes in the area assimilated, and pastors were no longer sent over here from the old country. In any case, this interior photograph sure brings back some lovely memories.

    Kind Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich

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  2. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and his valet died when the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-Boat.

    On May 7, off the coast of County Cork, Ireland, German U-boat, U-20 torpedoed the ship, triggering a secondary explosion that sank the giant ocean liner within 18 minutes. Vanderbilt and Denyer helped others into lifeboats, and then Vanderbilt gave his lifejacket to save a female passenger. Vanderbilt had promised the young mother of a small baby that he would locate an extra life vest for her. Failing to do so, he offered her his own life vest, which he proceeded to tie on to her himself, since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Many considered his actions especially noble since he could not swim and he knew there were no other life vests or lifeboats available. Because of his fame, several people on the Lusitania who survived the tragedy were observing him while events unfolded at the time, and so they took note of his actions. He and Denyer were among the 1,198 passengers who did not survive the incident.

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  3. Wonderful church.

    Interesting that Mr. Vanderbilt died on the Lusitania* that day when it was just fate that so many people needlessly lost their lives. A beautiful clear afternoon off the coast of Ireland, the ship was soon coming into port at Liverpool, and so many of the crew were busy below the bow deck bringing the luggage up so the passengers wouldn't have to wait for it upon arrival. The one torpedo struck exactly here killing many of the crewmen who knew how to lower the life boats, and so only six out of the forty-eight lifeboats were ever launched. True, the crew would not have had much time anyway, but still if only ...

    * What was it with the Upper Class and Steamships - the Titanic took its fair share down too?

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  4. Interesting that it has a center aisle. My husband’s Episcopal church (1769) doesn’t have a center aisle. Too Roman.

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    1. Most Episcopal churches have center aisle layouts.

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    2. Unusual in colonial and early American Episcopal churches. Center aisles were viewed as too Roman.

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  5. Good to see Her Majesty’s visit is remembered in this week of her Platinum Jubilee

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  6. The kneeler made commemorating HRH's visit is quite lovely. And took some time to make. I do needlepoint and would certainly enjoy seeing other kneelers that no doubt are there. The other one pictured looks like it is inside a prayer box.

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  7. As the plaque indicates, the queen's kneeler should've been embroidered with "H.M.", not "H.R.H." Still, a lovely remembrance.

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    1. Not only is ‘HRH’ incorrect on the kneeler, so is the date. According to the Queen’s 1976 US visit schedule, a copy of which is in the Ford Museum library, the Queen was at Trinity Church between 5.55pm and 6.00pm on Saturday July 10. Not a very long visit!

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  8. Sadly, the elites of Newport have turned away from the Church, so Trinity lingers on mainly serving as a museum.

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  9. What wonderful photos, of an equally wonderful church! Thank you!

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  10. I attended Trinity Church in Newport each Sunday when I was at US Navy Officer's Candidate School in 1982. As an Episcopalian, I preferred the Rite II services at Trinity over the homogenized, non-denominational Protestant services held at the Chapel of Hope at what was then referred to as NETC Newport.

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  11. When I attend US Navy Officer's Candidate School in 1982, I often shared a box with the late R.I. Senator Caliborne Pell. Although he was a Democrat and I was not, after one service, we walked over to the Brick Alley Pub on Thames Street and he stood me to a round and I returned the favor.

    He was a true gentleman and although quite the patrician, the type of Senator, this country should have more of these days.

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  12. Gorgeous! These old churches have such stories to tell. And the craftsmanship that went into building them is astounding. It's a shame that church worship is dwindling, compromising the importance of these sacred places. --Holly in PA

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    1. What would we in New England do without our churches, especially the Congregational churches. There’s at least one in every town. Usually they front the town Green. The one in Harwinton Conn is a real beauty. I must say, alas, if you drive around rural New England in March or April, there’s not much to look at, except for our churches. And we’re here now, what, 400 years? Look at what the Venetians built.

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  13. Beautiful photos and splendid historical references ~ especially about the Queen with her jubilee weekend approaching. Ta!

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  14. There is a lovely “New England” church on Pequot Avenue in Southport, Connecticut.

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  15. Trinity is certainly beautiful and the wine-glass pulpit is among the finest examples of that design. During Department Head School our young family attended Trinity and Emmanuel, but primarily a church nearer our home in Middletown - perhaps Holy Cross - on West Main.

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