Trinity Cathedral Episcopal - Tours of Cleveland, LLC

Trinity Cathedral Episcopal was started in 1816, making it the oldest Christian congregation in the city of Cleveland. It started in the home of Phineas Shepard. The church would build a building in 1829 and then another in 1855, just off Public Square. But eventually the church outgrew the space and decided to build a new, bigger church on the corner of E. 22nd and Euclid Ave.

The Cathedral

The new building is the home to the Episcopal Diocese on Ohio and therefore is a Cathedral. Trinity Cathedral Episcopal was designed by Charles Schweinfurth, who designed the insides of the Old Stone Church and Cuyahoga County Courthouse. The building was designed in the spirit of the grand cathedrals in England. The building is made with Indiana limestone. Charles Brush supervised the installation of the electrical system during construction. It took six years to complete and opened in 1907.

Inside the cathedral, the alter contains a carving of nearly 60 figures from the Bible surrounding Jesus. It is said to be made of nearly eight tons of marble. There are huge stained glass windows throughout the entire building. To the right of the alter is the chapel. The communion rails, and two of the three stained glass windows in the chapel are from the previous church building built back in 1855.

Today

You will notice there are no pews in the sanctuary. They have been replaced with chairs. This gives the church much more flexibility to host different events in the space and not just on Sundays. One thing that they have offered since 1978 is the brown bag lunchtime concert series. It happens every other Wednesday and it is the longest-running free concert series in the Greater Cleveland area! Check the website for the most up to date concert schedule.

In 2002, they added on the Trinity Commons community space to the building. It has meeting space and hosts many of their programs throughout the week. The church is open during the week to take a look inside and offers its on tours every other month on the first Sunday of the month, after services. Again, check their website for the most up to date schedule.

Photos

The plaque honoring Phineas Shepard, whose home was the first church

One of the large stained glass windows in the Cathedral

An angel carved into the pew — It is all in the details…

What We Do

Tours of Cleveland, LLC offers year round, exciting and educational walking tours of beautiful and historic downtown Cleveland. Our Downtown Highlights walking tour covers Public Square to Playhouse Square and everything in between. Learn more, see our schedule and book your tour at www.toursofcleveland.com.