In 1981 a small group of Anglicans met with representatives of the Anglican Diocese of Calgary with the hope that a new congregation could form in Northwest Calgary. Under the ministry leadership of The Rev. Robert Taylor, Holy Trinity was founded (although back then, the church was called The Church of the Advent). Services were held in various schools–the first one being St. Henry’s Elementary School in Huntington Hills.

In 1984 discussion ensued focusing on the visibility and the viability of the congregation and it was decided that the church needed to move out of school locations and move to something more permanent. It was at this time that the church changed its name. It also got a new pastor–The Rev. John Torley. Under his ministry leadership, the congregation moved to rented space in the strip mall at the corner of 14th Street and MacEwan Drive NW. Outside, the church didn’t look like your typical church; however, inside there were pews, communion rail and an altar. For nearly ten years the congregation rented this space for its ministry and during those ten years the congregation welcomed two new pastors–The Rev. Richard Lemmon (1990 to 1993) and The Rev. Stephen Hambidge (1994 to the present).

In 1995, one year after the arrival of Pastor Stephen, the landlord of the MacEwan Strip Mall gave notice that Holy Trinity’s lease would not be renewed. While the congregation had plans to leave the facility anyway (as it was costing us nearly $3000 per month to rent), the news from the landlord speeded things up and so in June of 1995, the congregation of Holy Trinity put its belongings in storage and started holding services once again in local schools. One of these schools was Dr. J.K. Mulloy School, located across the street of St. Henry’s School-the place where the congregation began.

Holding services in a school had some advantages and some disadvantages–the advantages included keeping running costs low as we only had to pay for space for our Sunday services. The disadvantages included having to set things up and take things down each and every week.

In 2002, with assistance of the Diocese of Calgary, Holy Trinity Anglican Church opened the doors of its first church building, located in the northwest community of Hanson Ranch in Hidden Valley. Very quickly we experienced some dramatic changes as new people from the surrounding area started to join us for our services.

As we look back over the years, it has been very clear that God has walked with us along the journey to where we are now. We have learned many things and believe that we still have many things to learn. We look forward to the new things God has for us as we seek to follow him and we look forward to discovering new ways in which we can be a blessing to the people around us.