Trinity Church in Marshall, Texas, was established in the late 19th century to minister to the numerous railroad workers, and their families, who came to work with the Texas and Pacific Railway Co. The city serves as the seat of Harrison County and is approximately 39 miles from Shreveport, Louisiana.
The church was founded on January 4, 1851. Marshall was a boomtown then and soon became one of the largest and wealthiest towns in east Texas. The parish’s lasting presence, which was not without difficulties and challenges, gave it a prominent place in the community’s history.
In December, the city council declared January 4 as “Trinity Episcopal Church Day.” Bishop C. Andrew Doyle of Texas joined parishioners and their first female priest, the Rev. Dana Jean, on that date in 2026 to celebrate the church’s 175th anniversary.
“Think of how many people have sat where you are sitting today,” Doyle told the congregation. “These pews hold the prayers of everybody who has come before you—where they knelt, where they prayed.”
Doyle emphasized in his sermon during the anniversary service that everybody is welcome at God’s table.
The sermon’s focus on remembering those who once sat in Trinity’s pews was reminiscent not only of the parish’s long history, but also of a more recent challenge it confronted.
In email to The Living Church in December, Jean described how the church experienced a split in recent years. Almost half of the congregation left to form another parish, slashing not only the number of parishioners present at Sunday services but also support for the parish by up to 75 percent.
“What remained was a much smaller, older community that could have easily turned inward or given up,” Jean wrote. “Instead, this anniversary year finds us surprisingly joyful and hopeful: welcoming new members, preparing for baptisms and confirmations.” Since the split in March 2023, Trinity has seen more diversity in the people visiting and joining its services.
“I think that it sets us apart in that way,” Jean told TLC in a phone interview. After the pandemic and before the split, the church had around 150 members. When Jean became priest in charge in 2024, around 47 showed up on any given Sunday. On some weeks now, there are up to 70 people.
“That’s really fun to see and have newcomers visiting or church shopping—you know, sort of checking out what we offer,” Jean said. “Almost every Sunday, there are new people walking in the doors. Sometimes they stay, sometimes they don’t. Just the fact that they come in the doors, though, is really a hopeful thing to me.”
And on January 4, the first Sunday of the year, many came through the doors. The whole of Marshall was invited to join the congregation for the services and celebration. The milestone anniversary featured a parade and the creation of a time capsule that will be opened in 2051, in time for the church’s 200th anniversary. Doyle said the time capsule is filled with blessings, prayers, and hope.
“Trinity Church has been a part of Marshall, Texas, through famine, fires, floods, and continues to just be a staple church in the community,” Doyle told the local ABC affiliate KLTV. The bishop of Texas also reflected on the joy, life, and spirituality he had witnessed in his visits to the parish in the past 20 years.
He said he prays that the next Bishop of Texas who opens the time capsule 25 years from now will have the same hope and joy the parish experienced that anniversary Sunday.
The Rt. Rev. Jeff Fisher, Bishop Suffragan of Texas, was at the parish in September 2025 for confirmations. Jean said he challenged her and the vestry to look forward to the 200th anniversary. Jean said the vestry, which includes a former senior warden in her 70s who has been part of the parish since her birth, took up Fisher’s challenge.
“Everything we are doing, we’re trying to keep in mind that we want this church … to be thriving and flourishing 25 years from now. And we want to know that we did our part to extend God’s kingdom through those years,” she said.
The Rev. Kevin Wittmayer was among the people who were at the parish on January 4. Doyle summoned Wittmayer out of retirement in 2023, right after the split. He remembers his first Sunday in the parish was around mid-March of that year.
“They had lost the church as they knew it. They lost friends who haven’t spoken to them, and they used to do things with,” Wittmayer said. He added that American culture is not very good at lamenting loss in general, and honoring the grief the parishioners were experiencing and ministering to it pastorally was something he prioritized during his time as interim rector.
“The other side of that is to give them a sense of hope, that this wasn’t the end,” Wittmayer said. Those who stayed really loved the church and stepped up to the plate, responding positively to the call of what needed to be done to keep the parish going.
“I probably could have asked for the moon, and they would have done it. They were ready to roll up their sleeves and get after it. They didn’t want to see that church destroyed,” he said.
Wittmayer, who was instrumental in bringing Jean to the parish, said the 175th anniversary is a great testament to the congregation’s resilience.
Just months after the parish was established, the first confirmation occurred at Trinity on June 22, 1851. A Masonic Lodge was the first worship space used by the congregation.
“Unfortunately, the first church was a standalone brick structure that collapsed in 1868,” Trinity’s website said. The structure’s demise almost led to the parish’s dissolution. But more than a century later, Trinity still stands in Marshall, Texas.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
