At Home at Trinity

How generations of Caribbean Anglican immigrants found faith and fellowship at Trinity Church 

In the late 1970s, Jamaican immigrant Lorna Nembhard began searching for a church to call her own. She tried visiting congregations near her Brooklyn apartment, but nothing felt right. One fateful Palm Sunday, she was working a shift as a private nurse when she noticed a worship service flickering across her patient’s television screen. The liturgy was moving, the altar radiant, the hymns just like the ones she had grown up singing. She was captivated. Then, a relative who worked on Wall Street suggested Trinity. When Nembhard walked in for the first time, she was stunned. The altar, the music, the liturgy — it was the church she had seen on television. “God must have had a hand in this,” she says. “I immediately felt a camaraderie, a spirituality. I felt at home.”  

Nembhard’s story is one of many that reflect the deep roots of Trinity’s Caribbean Anglican community. Since 1965, more than half a million immigrants from the Caribbean have made their way to New York City. Many came from former British colonies, such as Jamaica, Barbados, and the Bahamas, where Anglicanism — an expression of Christianity that emerged from the Church of England — is a significant part of the religious landscape. They sought out churches that mirrored the traditions they knew. The Episcopal Church, the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, was a natural fit, and Trinity, with its rich Anglican heritage and welcoming spirit, became a beacon for these immigrants.

Many worked in Lower Manhattan but lived in other boroughs. As a result, their first encounter with Trinity often came through the noonday services, which fit neatly into their schedules.  

That was how Terence A. Boyce Sr. discovered Trinity. Boyce came to New York City from Barbados in 1968 and worked as a bank clerk on Wall Street, steps away from Trinity’s imposing front doors. It wasn’t long before his curiosity compelled him to peek inside. Boyce started attending weekday services and the connection was immediate. The liturgy, the hymns, the incense, everything “felt familiar, like home,” Boyce says. When his wife, Sheila Boyce, joined him in New York in 1971, they decided to make Trinity a permanent part of their lives.  

“This place feels like a community,” says Sheila Boyce.

Word about Trinity spread by word of mouth, according to Oliva George, whose family hails from the Dominican Republic. “The numbers began to multiply, although getting to Trinity meant traveling a distance by bus, train, or car.”  

Slowly, the demographics of Trinity’s congregation began to reflect the diversity of New York City. By the time the Rev. Canon James Callaway joined Trinity’s staff in 1980 the Caribbean presence was unmistakable. Trinity had earned a reputation for being dynamic and diverse, drawing people from across the city. Unlike neighborhood churches that primarily served local residents, Trinity’s location in the heart of the financial district meant its congregation included commuters and seekers from all boroughs. “Because everyone came from a distance, no one demographic or neighborhood could lay claim to Trinity and decide who could or couldn’t be part of it,” Callaway explains. This openness created fertile ground for Caribbean immigrants to find a spiritual home and contribute meaningfully to the life of the church.  

“Caribbean Anglicans are well formed in their faith,” Callaway says. “They weren’t coming with a blank slate. When they showed up, they felt compelled to get involved.” That heritage manifested in active participation and leadership. Oliva George observes that the earliest members of Trinity’s Caribbean Anglican community were “faithful stewards in every sense of the word. Everyone was involved in some type of ministry.”  

For Terence Boyce Sr., being part of a church community meant being ready to serve in whatever capacity was needed. Back home in Barbados, he had been an acolyte and a member of his church’s council. As soon as he joined Trinity, he searched for ways to contribute to the community. He has served as acolyte, torch bearer, cross bearer, subdeacon, and Congregational Council representative to the vestry. Decades later, his legacy of service lives on in his daughter, Wendy Boyce, currently fulfilling her second term on Trinity’s vestry.  

“I was always taught to give of your time, your talent, and your treasures,” says Wendy Boyce. “I’m grateful to serve in a place that fosters spiritual growth, and brings me peace, fellowship, and authentic connections.”  

When Nembhard found her spiritual home at Trinity in 1985, she was keen to get involved. She began volunteering as an usher. Over the years, her dedication and warmth led to her election as head usher in 1994, a role she still cherishes today. Nembhard says her goal is to make newcomers feel at home as soon as they walk through Trinity’s doors. “I want people to know we are a community that welcomes everyone,” she says.  

Today, the legacy of Caribbean Anglicans at Trinity Church continues to flourish. Their stories are woven into the fabric of this parish. What began as a search for belonging has blossomed into a vibrant, multigenerational community — rooted in tradition and ready to extend the welcome they received to the next generation of New Yorkers searching for a spiritual home.