Holy Trinity Church, Leicester

Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican parish church in Leicester, England. The Victorian building is situated on Regent Road, to the south of the city centre, close to the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Leicester Royal Infirmary. Holy Trinity prides itself on being an informal lively church. Roger Morgan is the vicar of this church.

History

The Church Building Act of 1818 provided funds for two new Leicester parishes, one of which was Holy Trinity. The church was built in 1838 to Sydney Smirke's classical design as the city expanded, and formed part of a new suburb. The new parish, also established in 1838, was created out of part of the parish of St Mary de Castro Church.

In 1872, Holy Trinity was completely redesigned by Samuel Sanders Teulon in a High Gothic style, with spire and side turrets in red-purple brick with limestone decoration.

In the 19th century, the church had wooden pews and a single central aisle, with balconies on both sides of the church; the central aisle was occupied by the middle classes and the balconies by their servants. Access to ground floor was via the main church entrance, with two side entrances for the balconies.

The church buildings

A significant building project was undertaken in the late 1980s, and there is now a single balcony at the rear of the church. The former main entrance to the church now features a display of a cross behind a glass window, and there is an extended lobby area with the main entrance to the church is to the west of the tower.

The chancel end wall has five arched stained glass windows featuring contemporary designs of the Parable of The Sower (see [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=MAtthew%2013&version=31 Matthew 12:1-24] ), above which there is a more traditional floral design including an emblem of The Trinity, with smaller windows featuring 'The Truth' and 'The Life', but strangely there isn't a window depicting 'The Way' (see [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14:6 John 14:6] ). The chancel marble end wall also features a depiction of The Last Supper.

The pipe organ is in working order, and is sometimes used in church services.

The church and nearby buildings are now part of the New Walk conservation area.

Holy Trinity Church today

Holy Trinity is a cell church, where church members belong to small cell groups which meet regularly for bible study and prayer. The cell groups are organised in a hierarchical structure, whereby cell groups within a particular geographical area within Leicester grouped into a 'pastorate' under the care of a pastorate leader; and several pastorates are grouped into a 'community' under the oversight of one of the ministry team. As a cell group grows, once the attendance consistently exceeds twelve, the cell will 'multiply' to become two cells. Under this approach, the first cell group which started in 1994 has multipled to over 60 cells in 2006.

The church is actively involved in outreach into the local communities in Leicester. This involves running Alpha Courses, and work in the nearby Leicester Prison, social outreach, and dialogue with the local Muslim community.

The Sunday services follow a theme during each term. The morning services are family-oriented, and music is from a live band and sometimes includes the organ; with songs both modern and traditional. At each service, the sermons are recorded, and are uploaded to the church website in MP3 audio format. On average, attendance at the Sunday services totals 670.

References

* [http://www.leicester.gov.uk/sys_upl/documents/departments/dpt_2414.pdf Leicester City Council Urban Design Group: New Walk Conservation Area]
* [http://www.le.ac.uk/ee/pot/leicester/modern.html Modern Leicester]

External links

* [http://www.ht-leics.org.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.holyt.net/ Holy Trinity Students' website]