History

Founded in 1821, from seeds planted three decades earlier by the Reverend John Murray (the English Methodist who founded American Universalism). In 1872, the congregation moved its location from opposite what is now the Shepard Building downtown to its third and current building in the heart of a fashionable neighborhood.

Its cathedral design reflects the liturgically-renewed Gloria Patri prayer book worship tradition, which continues today. This unaltered Gothic Revival style church presents a dramatic corner tower as a beacon to worshippers. Inside, the stained glass windows bathe the sanctuary in color.

Among the most unusual and early in Providence, the windows are the work of the New York studio of Henry E. Sharp. Sharp was among the best American glaziers in the mid-1800s. They pictorially represent the Apostles and the symbols of Christ's Passion, such as the column and whips of the Scourging and the cross and ladder of the Crucifixion.

The Church is active ecumenically, and a founder of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches.