In my quest to help me understand where it is we are going, I have been searching in the past. With all the awesome history resources we have here at Trinity Church, to not know where we have come from would only be because we didn’t look. With the history John B. Hattendorf has provided for us, we can learn my things about our past, including the arts.

 In my search through the history of Trinity Church in my lifetime, I was pleased to discover that the year I was born a new rector by the name of Canon Ballard came to Trinity Church. Through my research I have discovered that Ballard was an out-of–the-box thinker and he marched to the beat of a different drummer.

To my delight, I discovered that he was an arts and cultural supporter. He believed that to make Trinity more attractive to young people there needed to be a connection between religion and a variety cultural events. Ballard himself was a fan of Jazz and a proponent of the Newport Jazz Festival. Although he condemned the disorder that happened during the 1960 Jazz Festival, he was still a believer in the event. In fact, he became a major voice of acceptance for music festivals in Newport. By 1969, the parish was offering the use of the Kay Chapel Parish House as shelter for over 150 young people attending the festival. Also, Ballard offered the use of Trinity buildings to local drama groups, with performances ranging from Murder in the Cathedral to Antigone.

In 1966, Trinity’s Easter service incorporated the first Rhode Island performance of Rev. Ian Mitchell’s American Folk Mass, written to jazz up the liturgy with a new exciting sound. The mass was sung by Trinity’s choir under the direction of Wesley J. Rooker, accompanied by three guitars and an autoharp. Ballard was both encouraged and pleased when the older members of the congregation asked him to bring new programming to attract younger people. However, he was perplexed when they disliked his choices. 

The American Folk Mass returned several times and some of the newspaper advertisements invited worshipers to “Another Swinging Service at Old Trinity Church” and “Praising the Lord with a Groovy Sound”.

In July 1968, a record nine hundred parishioners and visitors attended a folk mass with Pete Seeger and the Hudson River Sloop Group, along with Rev. Ian Mitchell and his wife.  Another musically-innovative service, in July 1970, presented Fr. Dick Blank’s Bossa Nova Mass. A month later drums were added to a string combo for a jazz/rock anthem at the eleven o’clock service and, in another jazz-rock service in August 1972, selections from Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar were performed.

It is interesting how there are parallels with the Trinity of then and the Trinity of now. Trinity is in similar position here in 2009 looking for younger people and families. Fr. Ballard recognized that in order to attract the young you have to interest the young.  In my mind, we are looking inward at our church and wondering what might bring back those who have left us, and what could bring new families of all ages to worship with us. Like those before us, we are putting forth initiatives that can reach out to the community and re-introduce ourselves in a new way that could “strike a chord”.

tce