For administrative purposes the Protestant Episcopal Church in America is divided into provinces which are subdivided into dioceses and in turn into parishes or missions. Trinity Episcopal Church in River Falls, Wisconsin belongs to the 5th (Midwest) Province, and was in the Diocese of Wisconsin until 1874. Diocesan subdivision placed it in the Diocese of Milwaukee until 1928, and after that in the Diocese of Eau Claire.
Episcopal activity began in the area of River Falls with three seminary volunteers in 1841. By 1842 they had founded Nashotah House in southeast Wisconsin which later provided many clergymen for the parish. The first recorded Episcopal service in River Falls was conducted Feb. 26, 1858, by Rev. John Williamson in the schoolhouse. On December 19, 1859, Episcopal residents of the town met at the home of R. Bowron to formally organize a church. Unanimously, they named it “Trinity.” Until 1865, however, there was little evidence of regular services.
In 1871 church members purchased a lot on the west side of town, broke ground in June, laid the cornerstone in August, and by March 31 of the next year held first services on Easter Sunday in the new church. Over the years, services continued with visiting ministers who encouraged attendance with “free seats for all,” an obvious departure from the traditional sale of pews. Rev. C. A. Carey organized a Sunday School and, in 1875, the first forerunner of the Trinity [Women's] Guild, called Episcopal Sociables. By 1882 another Guild forerunner, the Ladies Aid Society, was introduced, and the first of many Harvest Home Services was held. In general the first twenty years of the church's history were sporadic with periods of growth and decline attributable in part to the absence of resident priests.
In May, 1888, the Trinity Guild was formed under the pastorate of T. Cory-Thomas and the women's group was the driving force in sustained church activity thereafter. That same year a rectory was built, the interior of the church renovated, and an east porch added.
The church growth continued to parallel the increasing prosperity of the town since many of its members were business leaders in the community. By 1918, a reversal trend ensued. The church was badly damaged by fire that year, and controversy over building plans split the parish. On April 1, 1920, the old church building and lot were sold with the approval of Bishop William Walter Webb. In 1921 property was purchased next to the Congregational Church for a building site. On Sept. 13, 1924, the cornerstone was laid and the first service held Nov. 23, 1924. By July 1936, the church, free of debt largely due to Guild fundraising activities, was consecrated. Membership stood at 42, but a period of steady growth began with members returning as the parish controversy ended.
In 1954 the church had its first resident pastor in more than 40 years in the person of George G. Greenway. Bishop William Wallace Horstich purchased a rectory for the parish which was replaced in 1965 by the present vicarage. Both traditional and new activities continue under increasingly stable conditions. Membership remains small but active. Trinity church marked its contribution to the nation's bicentennial with a published history written by Douglas L. Patin.
