Trinity’s Great Hall
One of the things I loved most about college and graduate school was the presence of stately rooms that were simultaneously witnesses to history and functional places where life still happened. Sometimes these were libraries, where the focused silence of scholarship intermingled with the modern-day sights and sounds of digital learning. Sometimes these were beautiful dining rooms, where hospitality became an expression of the institution’s culture and vision. Sometimes these were visionary program spaces, where world renowned scholars and speakers could open worlds for large gatherings of people.
Churches often have Great Halls as well – rooms with multiple functions and even, as the years go by, multiple lives. Spaces used for worship in one decade may become places for dining and hospitality in the next, or spaces that can host both transformative programing and hands-on programming in the same day.
Trinity Cathedral has a Great Hall, though we call it Cathedral Hall. It is a space that has served us well over the course of more than a century, from being a worship space as the Cathedral itself was constructed, to a multifunctional parish hall, to four decades of hosting our Sunday feeding ministry, A Place at the Table.
We are moving into a season where we might consider, once again, the possibilities of this beautiful, historical space, as well as the barriers (such as year-round climate control) that might stand in our way. I hope you’ll join us in Cathedral Hall this Sunday at 9:00 am (between the services) for an open conversation about this space and what potential it might hold for Trinity Cathedral’s thriving ministry in the years to come.
Please be with us for this conversation, and for next week’s session in the Chapter Room. But if you can’t make it, drop me a line to share your hopes for Cathedral Hall…or even your favorite memories from it!
Faithfully,
The Very Rev. Bernard J. Owens