Trinity Serves- August 2020 Update

Trinity in partnership with Seamen’s Church Institute and the Newport Community School to host Summer Success, a program that offers both academic support and enrichment opportunities for middle school students.  With traditional settings precluded by safety protocols, the school used indoor and outdoor space during the month of July to study Newport history, math, writing and science.

Trinity Serves- April 2020 Update

We’d like to share with you all of the latest capital campaign information:

• Description of what we plan to do in the new space link
• Description of the adult learning opportunities of our partner, the Newport Community School link
• Description of Naming Opportunities in the new building  link
• Description of Planned Giving Opportunities for Trinity Church link
• Preliminary Business Plan for the capital building project link
• Notes on the New Building link

Links to renderings of the new building are provided below.

By making a significant investment in our campus it will mean:

1. An expansion of our meal program.  Right now the kitchen is so limited that we have few menu options that we can offer to the number of guests that we host.
2. An expansion of our Sunday School.  Right now we have no suitable space for other than a “one room school house” for Christian education.  As our children are now entering the primary grades, we need to offer classes at different levels of sophistication.
3. Support for those seeking to enter or re-enter the workforce with meaningful skills to secure sustainable wage employment through our collaboration with Newport Community School.  Right now NCS serves over 800 adults each year with skills leading to more lucrative employment and meaningful jobs.
4. Growth in our music program.  Right now the music library is stuffed into the church offices, the robes are stored right outside the boiler in the basement and the choir has no dedicated practice space.  We intend to take many steps to grown the choir and improve the quality of the music during service and investing in choir infrastructure is one of them.
5. Growth in public arts presentation.  Trinity plans to build on its strong history of hosting music performance and art exhibitions by having space that can host crowds of up to 150.
6. Hosting myriad community groups seeking meaningful programming partnerships, meeting and performance space.
7. Handicapped accessibility.

Trinity Serves- January 2020 Update

Parish Meeting to Unveil New Design

The designs for the replacement building and Honyman Hall renovation at Trinity were reviewed by the parish at a meeting January 12th.  Tracy Shea of the Newport Community School provided a quick overview of how the spaces can be used by their Adult Education program and Chris Meyers and the Design Team outlined how the new building will meet the needs of the parish.  Jeff Moniz, architect, walked the group though outlines of interior floorplans, interior renderings and exterior renderings.

The new building and the new Honyman feature:

• • • Choir space
    • Office space
    • Classrooms
    • Flexible meeting spaces for small, medium and large groups
    • ADA compliant bathrooms
    • Storage
    • Commercial kitchen

The plans were well received, seen as meeting the needs of the parish and the Newport Community School and as flexible enough to accommodate changing needs.   The committee and architect were applauded for their efforts.  These designs are specific enough for fund-raising and the plans will evolve as we move closer to construction.  Several suggestions were made for those design refinements going forward.  The Design committee will consider those requiring immediate attention and all of them were captured for consideration.

We are very happy with our plans as presented and are pleased to display them here, keeping in mind that this is a work in progress.

Elaine Burress, Chairwoman of Trinity Serves

Trinity Serves- October 2019 Update

Trinity is designing a centrally located, flexible space that will support both community and church functions while allowing a healthy church organization to sustain and maintain the Historic Trinity Church Building.  

We are partnering with Newport Community School to create space for:

• a wide range of ministries:  Christian education, choir, community meal, small and large gatherings and meetings
•  the Newport Community School’s Job training, enrichment, GED and language programs for adults  

Collaborating with 2 Hands Studio and Herk Works Architects, Trinity will complete design for a new, environmentally and historically sensitive building on the site of the former Carr-Rice House and to reinvigorate the current parish house, Honyman Hall.  

The buildings will include:

• • commercial kitchen, 
  • a music suite, 
  • a large gathering space, 
  • meeting space 
  • classroom space
  • office space
  • ADA compliant facilities  

We will introduce floor plans to the parish and neighbors during December.  Details to follow.

Trinity envisions a building that is open and bustling each day, all day. 

Our campaign – Trinity Serves – calls for an investment of $3 million to be raised from parishioners, foundations and members of the community.  We are well underway in our fundraising efforts and look forward to developing full support for this transformative project.

This campaign depends on community members like you, thank you for your continued support.

Trinity Serves – Our Capital Campaign

Trinity Commons is a meeting place for the Trinity congregation and local community that will be open to the public as a place to gather, to co-work, to learn, to be fed, or simply to come together as neighbors and friends. Trinity Commons will support job training, the arts, and a host of other community-based activities, while still serving the essential functions of an active and growing parish church.

After engaging in a series of conversations with its worshiping community, Aquidneck Island neighbors, and interested stakeholders, Trinity is building a vibrant new building that will offer a wide range of ministries, spaces, and services for the multiple communities it serves. While developing designs and raising funds for this new building, Trinity’s parish house, Honyman Hall, is supporting current ministries, and helping to incubate new programs that will eventually be housed in Trinity Commons. As part of the plan for Trinity’s facilities, Honyman Hall will receive needed updates and repairs and will continue to be a vital asset on the Trinity campus.

Collaborating with 2 Hands Studio and Herk Works Architects, Trinity will complete design for a new, environmentally and historically sensitive building on the site of the former Carr-Rice House.   Trinity’s unique space needs will be met with a design for a community responsive and beautiful facility.  It will house the Community Meal program, adult literacy and employment readiness services in food service as well as cultural initiatives.  This thriving space will provide out-of-school time programming as well as evening practice space for choirs and musicians and meeting space for myriad community groups.  Trinity envisions a building that is open and bustling each day, all day.

The building will include a commercial kitchen, a music suite, meeting and performance space and some offices that will be available to rent for community enterprises that do not require independent or permanent space.  Having a multi-purpose building will permit Trinity to more fully embrace its service mission.  It will mean:

• An expansion of our meal program
• Support for those seeking to enter or re-enter the workforce with meaningful skills to secure sustainable wage employment through our culinary training program, offered in partnership with Harvest Kitchen,
• Growth in music education program, and
• Hosting myriad community groups seeking meaningful programming partnerships, meeting, performance or office space.

Love for music, compassion for the underserved, fervor for community, and Trinity’s natural hospitality informed this vision. Additionally, our partners have tangible needs that they are seeking to meet.  The Community Meal program has outgrown the space and, with an 11.5% poverty rate and Newport’s designation as an “urban core” city (United Way of Rhode Island), the need is substantial.  Harvest Kitchen is looking for an East Bay location for local youth in Juvenile corrections system and Trinity is considering partnering with other providers of literacy and job training services in the wake of no longer having a state-sponsored employment support office.   Trinity deepened relationships with local churches, non-profits, and local governments, discovering partners throughout the area willing to join the congregation’s passionate quest to serve the region and its diverse populations.

Trinity’s Next Challenge:

Trinity will design and construct a centrally located, flexible space that will support both community and church functions and allow a healthy church organization to sustain and maintain the Historic Trinity Church Building.  Our campaign – Trinity Serves – calls for an investment of $3 million to be raised from parishioners, foundations and members of the community.  We are well underway in our fundraising efforts and look forward to developing full support for this transformative project.