History
Anglicans living in the Tiverton area, assisted by missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, began worshiping together around 1704. The group was first served by the Reverend James Honyman, who was rector of the newly founded Trinity Church in Newport. On weekdays, he ministered to Anglicans in Freetown, Tiverton, Little Compton, and other nearby towns. In 1712, the Tiverton Anglicans were identified as a mission and assigned their own missionary. The liaison between Rev. Honyman and the Tiverton mission continued well into the 1730s.
For the next 150 years, the mission in Tiverton appears to have existed without the benefit of clergy leadership. Around 1890, women of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity began ministering to Anglicans in Tiverton. The order had been founded by the rector of the Church of the Advent in Boston in 1882. A chapel consecrated within their house on Shore Road served as the mission’s place of worship.
In 1907, the ministry of the Reverend James Dennis at Holy Trinity began. Under his leadership, Holy Trinity Mission incorporated as Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in 1911, leading to the groundbreaking for a new church in 1914. The new church, overlooking the Sakonnet River, provided a beautiful and sacred space for the faithful to worship and grow in the love of Jesus Christ. By the grace of God and under the leadership of dedicated rectors, the congregation survived and grew through the Great Depression and two world wars.
The post-war period initiated a time of renewed growth under the leadership of several notable rectors. The Reverend W. David Crockett oversaw the addition of a rectory to the property and a single-floor parish hall, which, in later decades, would add a second story with a magnificent view. The Reverend John Petersen, during his fifteen years of ministry, was known for his inclusivity and brought residents of group homes for the developmentally disabled in Tiverton to worship at Holy Trinity.
The Reverend Paul Koumrian incorporated his background in theater, storytelling talents, and love of jazz into a twelve-year-long healing ministry. The Reverend Daryl Stahl, during his tenure as extended interim rector, brought boundless energy and conducted baptisms in the Sakonnet River. The Reverend Alan Gates shared his compassion and thoughtfulness with every person who walked through the church doors.
He was followed by the Reverend John Higginbotham, who greeted the residents of Tiverton with a blessing and hearty wave every Sunday morning, rain or shine, from the front steps of the church. After Fr. John, the congregation was been blessed with Interim Reverend Greg Prior, who has reinvigorated Bible study and, with his kind and gentle ways, helped the congregation through the process of selecting a new rector. This process has resulted in the selection of Kaley (K) Casenhiser as the Deacon-in-Charge of Holy Trinity Church. K will assume responsibilities mid-June 2025 subsequent to her ordination into the diaconate.