Trinity Anglican Church

Insider Guide

What is Trinity Anglican Church?

Trinity Anglican Church is a thriving evangelical Anglican church serving the Westside, Eastside, and Northside of Atlanta. Trinity offers the rare combination of evangelical beliefs, openness to the Holy Spirit, and historic liturgy, combining these three streams as they serve a flourishing and ever-growing church community with many weekly services among three parishes.

Trinity is a popular church choice for young professionals and families arriving in Atlanta and seeking a church with a focus on knowing Jesus and making Him known, experiencing deep and lasting community, and maturing in faith. Trinity is not a “high church” Anglican church (ie, there’s no kneeling involved), but rather it combines the liturgy of the Anglican tradition with a more relaxed style and modern worship. Originally planted as a Vineyard church, Trinity’s charismatic roots permeate the worship style and energy of the church, while its adherence to the Anglican Church liturgies serve as a reminder that we are a part of a historic and lasting faith tradition.

Church Size

Trinity is comprised of three main campuses: Trinity (Westside), Immanuel (Eastside), and Northside Parish. The larger Westside campus sees about 1200 people total each Sunday across its 3 services, with around 500 at each morning service, including kids classes and volunteers, and around 150-200 in the evening. The Eastside welcomes over 500 across 2 services, with 150-200 at each service, including kids classes and volunteers, and around 50-75 at the evening service. The Northside campus is the newest of the three campuses and is located inside Roam in Dunwoody and has one Sunday morning service.

The Westside can feel big due to the large sanctuary size, but the evening Sunday service meets in the smaller chapel space, which feels more intimate and relaxed. On the Eastside, the sanctuary is smaller but can be quite packed at times. Each location offers a streaming option as well for those who prefer to worship from home.

Some community groups make an effort to attend the same Sunday service together when they can; this also helps make a relatively large church feel more like home. Even having a few familiar faces to sit with makes a big difference.

Leadership

There is a lot of respect for the leadership at Trinity, and they are exceptionally friendly, gifted teachers, musicians, and leaders. Introduce yourself if you see them in the lobby before or after the services; they love getting to know members of the church.

You can learn more about Trinity’s leadership and see their photos, so you can recognize them on Sundays:

Trinity (Westside) staff found here
Immanuel (Eastside) staff found here
Northside Parish staff found here

Goals & Objectives

Trinity’s mission is “to be a people growing into Christ’s likeness.” This is articulated through Trinity’s focus on 4 key areas in the life of the church: Worship, Community, Formation, and Influence.

Dress Code

The dress code is relaxed; wear what you feel comfortable wearing. Jeans or khakis for men, casual dresses or jeans are common for ladies. You’ll often see the pastoral staff (and a lot of folks in the congregation) in jeans, Chacos, and a plaid button-down.

Worship & Music Style

Worship at Trinity is a blended style and is both intentional and Spirit-led. Songs are led by a worship pastor or worship fellow (worship pastor-in-training) and accompanied by an acoustic band of skilled volunteer musicians. The band may be comprised of guitars, keyboard, bass, drums, cello, banjo, or even accordion, depending on the week.

The songs are a range of contemporary worship songs (Vineyard, Hillsong, etc.), hymns, traditional Anglican prayers set to music, and original songs written by worship their pastor. Trinity’s worship follows the Anglican Church calendar, and the music selections may reflect the season the Church is in; songs of lament and confession in Lent, of expectation for the Messiah in Advent, or of celebration in Easter.

The choice and order of songs sung is intentional and done in a way that invites the congregation into a place of worship, reverence, and praise.

At Worship and Prayer services, music is played by the band for an hour and a half, and all are invited to listen, sing, or even dance as the spirit moves.

What to Expect

Weekly Sunday services follow the same order across locations. Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel scripture readings are interspersed with 4-5 songs sung by the congregation. The teaching pastor for that week reads the scripture for the sermon, prays, and teaches for about 20-30 minutes.

The sermon is closed in prayer, and the congregation is welcomed to share in the passing of the peace (greeting those seated around you with a handshake or hug). The pastor then leads the congregation through a time of confession, jointly stating the mystery of our faith, and into a time of Communion for all who confess the Christian faith. If you aren’t a Christian, you are welcome to receive a blessing during this time. The service closes in a song and a blessing.

Doctrine

Trinity adheres to the beliefs of the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), which are summarized in the historical Nicene, Apostles, and Athanasian Creeds. It is part of the Churches for the Sake of Others diocese.

Trinity focuses on three main “streams” of worship: Charismatic (Holy Spirit-led), Liturgical (valuing the historic traditions of the Church), and Evangelical (speaking about and living like Jesus).

The Charismatic element is seen most clearly at Worship and Prayer services monthly on the Westside. Due to their charismatic backgrounds, the leaders on the Westside lean a little more heavily towards this stream. On Sunday mornings, prayer ministry is available during Communion and at the end of the service.

The Evangelical stream is prioritized throughout Trinity’s worship and community work. Making Christ known is a key facet of Trinity’s teaching, and encouraging one another as we strive to live more like Him is a part of community groups, men’s and women’s gatherings, and retreats. The Eastside campus may lean a little more heavily in this direction, given the background of the leaders of this parish.

The Liturgical stream can be seen most clearly in the liturgy and rhythms of the Sunday service: the order of service, the Evening Prayer services on the Eastside (in the summer), and the posted daily Bible readings which follow the Book of Common Prayer. The preaching, too, follows this lectionary and the liturgical calendar. The Northside parish can lean more heavily towards the Liturgical stream.

Messages

The messages at Trinity take an expository approach. Following the lectionary, the preacher teaches from a passage of scripture, unpacking the truths in that passage, drawing on other scriptures, commentaries, and theological work. Kris (on the Westside) might use a more structured approach and put key points on a slide, but on the Eastside, Rev. Matthew and Beth often preach without notes and don’t typically use a slide or numbered points.

The sermons at Trinity are taught at a level that may assume some prior knowledge of the Christian faith, and the focus is on understanding the truths of the scripture and what it means both in the context of the Bible and in the context of our lives today in Atlanta. Because sermons come from the lectionary, both Old and New Testament scriptures are taught, and the Trinity pastors do a great job of tying in truths of the Old Testament with the Gospel message.

Demographics

Both the Eastside and Westside parishes are primarily white, college-educated, and financially comfortable, with lots of students, young professionals, and families. The Eastside may have more socio-economic, sexual orientation, and racial diversity than the Westside, but they are overall pretty similar. Both the East and Westside consist of people who have moved to Atlanta from all over the country, and both are very welcoming to (and have a lot of!) young families and families with older children. There are some senior adults, but this is not a major group.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of Trinity is relaxed, welcoming, and intentional. Hospitality is an integral part of the church. When you show up, grab a cup of coffee, toast a bagel, and catch up with others who are arriving for the service. Feel free to ask a volunteer or staff person for help if you need it; everyone is very friendly and there to help. It’s not flashy, but rather is comfortable, a little hipster and artsy (perhaps more so on the Eastside), and low key.

Find Your Community

As a church, Trinity strives to create opportunities for its members to live out its mission to be a people growing into Christ’s likeness. They group these into four main areas: Community, Worship, Formation, and Influence. Community is about creating events and spaces where people can meet others in the church, deepen relationships, and grow closer to the Lord and includes community group Bible studies, meals, trivia, and informal gatherings at local breweries. Worship includes Sunday services, Worship and Prayer, and Daily Office Bible readings. Formation, which is about walking alongside church members on their faith journey to experience spiritual growth and maturity, includes lectures, classes, and retreats. Influence is about influencing culture, which can look like serving weekly with the homeless ministry (Lazarus), joining a discussion about foster care and adoption, or going on an international mission trip with the church.

Some key involvement opportunities to check out:

Worship & Prayer service on the Westside. It’s on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30pm. The service is designed to create a space for contemplative worship, prayer, singing, and reflection.
Neighborhood Groups meet every week in the homes of members. They usually explore the scripture of the sermon in more depth and are a place to get to know others in the church and build community in your neighborhood. Some groups are structured with a certain demographic in mind (20-30s, moms), but others are open to all. New members can join at any time! Learn more about Neighborhood Groups here.
Immanual Teaching is a series of classes, workshops, and lectures taught by members of the community and invited guests, which explore topics around Christian formation, theology, and the Bible. Think seminary, without the homework.

Local Outreach

Trinity is involved in the community at both the local Atlanta and international levels. While there are many ways to get involved and be a part of Trinity’s “Influence” work, here are a few highlights:

Lazarus – a relational-ministry serving those facing homelessness in Atlanta, with opportunities to be a weekly volunteer, help at annual Health Day or serve in a job skills or finance workshop
Foster Care and Adoption – Trinity supports families in the church to get involved in fostering and adopting children
Redeemer – a church that was planted by Trinity in 2007 in Vine City, Atlanta and is deeply invested in that neighborhood and community
Refugee Care – over 60,000 refugees have made Atlanta their home since the 1990s, and Trinity organizes good neighbor teams to welcome new families

There’s a very active Trinity Facebook group where members of the Trinity community post all manner of local volunteering, arts, ministry, service, roommate/housing information, and requests. Though there are multiple campuses, the Facebook group is churchwide and is a great way to connect with and hear of ministry and service opportunities.

Contact

Website: atltrinity.org
Address: 2270 Defoor Hills Road, Atlanta, 30318
Phone: 404-367-6500
Email: See staff pages linked above

Social & Other

Facebook Page: Click Here
Facebook Group: Click Here
Instagram: @atltrinity
Twitter: @ATLTrinity
Yelp: Click Here

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