Welcome to Trinity Church, which we believe to be one of the 'thin places' in the world (at least in the Reno area).

What is meant by a 'thin place' is borrowed from Celtic spirituality, which is very old. The expression refers to those places where the spiritual seems very close and very real. The beauty of our gothic building, especially the vivid colors in our windows and the warmth of the wood, suggests to those of us who come here a special closeness to God.

God's presence is suggested not only by the architecture of our building, but also by the location of Trinity Church in the city--downtown, right on the Truckee River. The stillness of the water on occasion reminds us of the silence of God, while those times when the water rage and swell (as in the January 1997 flood) remind us of God's awesome power as expressed in nature.

We would be delighted to have you come and worship with us. If and when you do, you will notice Episcopalians are People of the Book (the Prayer Book, that is). It takes some getting used to. The best way to handle that is to 'go with the flow,' which means you don't try to keep up by flipping pages, but simply try to get an over-view of what's going on. Some of us, when we first came, were always relieved when it came time for the Lord's Prayer, which we all knew anyway without looking!

Our tradition has been called the 'the middle way' ("via media" in Latin), which loosely applied means Catholics find us much like the Roman Catholic church, Protestants like the Protestant churches. Episcopalians in their worship like to use colorful clothing, pomp & ceremony, and good preaching (which helps us understand the Bible and how it relates to our own living and the problems and/or joys we experience in our daily events). The celebration also includes a celebration of the mysteries or sacraments of the church (including baptism into the faith and receiving the bread and wine of Jesus' Last Supper.

You may want to stop by just to see our location alongside the Truckee River in downtown Reno. Our office staff will be glad to show you around. You can also look in the yellow pages (or on this web site) to learn the times of services (two during the week, three on Sunday).

Some of us are almost as new as you might be. Others of us have been here almost from the beginning (Trinity was established in 1873, and now stands on its 5th site). Hopefully all of us have been touched by God. We hope you will experience some of that same acceptance.

V. James Jeffery, Rector