The roots of Trinity go back to 1778 when Benjamin Chappell, an early postmaster of Charlottetown and a personal friend of John Wesley, invited a number of friends into his home for worship. (A replica of his tiny house is displayed at Trinity.) The present sanctuary structure was opened and dedicated for public worship in November of 1864 and is the oldest Charlottetown church building in continuous use as a place of worship. The congregation takes immense pride in its historic building, along with the adjacent Manse (both included in the registry of Historic Charlottetown Buildings) and the more modern Christian Education Centre.
Trinity’s sanctuary seats 1000. It has a number of impressive stained glass windows and a magnificent Casavant Frères organ, which was installed in 1955 as a memorial to those from the congregation who were killed in World War II and Korea. The organ has three manuals and full pedals and is actually four organs in one, the Great, Swell, Choir, and Pedal organs. It is insured for $1.29 million. The sanctuary has excellent acoustics and is often used by choirs from Confederation Centre of the Arts and by numerous other performance groups.
Clifton United Church was built in 1848 as a Wesleyan Chapel. After church union in 1925, Clifton Church became a part of the Pownal United Church Pastoral Charge. In 1962 it was added to Trinity United Church Pastoral Charge. This historic church is one of the oldest church buildings now used by the United Church on PEI, and in 1994 was recognized as a heritage building by the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation.
