Trinity Parish was founded in 1888 when Phoenix was a village.  The Cathedral itself was built in 1920.  The architecture was based on that of a Spanish colonial church in Majorca.  The building has an air of simple elegance and dignity.

The first building to be completed was the center section of the complex (now The Olney Room) in 1915.  The east wing, Atwood House, completed the Close in 1930.

Not many years ago, there was serious doubt about the Cathedral’s future.  By 1960, the original buildings were in a state of disrepair.  There was talk of moving the whole parish to a suburban location, following the example of other downtown churches.  An architectural analysis of the complex was initiated, with an eye toward efficient use and orderly evolution, followed by decisions to repair the damage of fifty years’ use,  and to modernize the buildings.  The buildings were then renovated in the 1970s and 1980s.

All materials used in the Cathedral are native to or made in Arizona.

The Stained GlassTo replace the original opaque windows, Glidden Parker, who was then Chief Designer for Glassart Studio, Scottsdale, was called upon to create designs for faceted stained glass.  The windows were installed in 1966 and 1967, except for the great north window (installed in 2004).

All the windows incorporate the theme of the Trinity; their color scheme runs from earthy (south) to bright (north), symbolizing the passage from earthly life to eternity.

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1. Choir Window (east) In memory of Baron and Josephine Goldwater

This window is a visual interpretation of the music of worship.  It is a tower of sound, expressed in color, ascending from humankind to the Trinity.  The pattern of the central glittering tower of sound is based upon the medieval system of musical notation; the modern clef signs are at the bottom.  The window is a visual expression of the Doxology:  Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. Baptistry Window (west) Given in Thanksgiving by Jean Gibson McElroy, Louis and Beverley Melczer

The Trinity motif appears here as a descending spirit of multiple blessings and divine Grace.  The chalice of wine stands for the living church through which the communicant may receive the blessings of divine Grace.  There are also muted expressions of small forms and the horn of the unicorn woven into the design.

3. Balcony Window (west) In memory of Florence Draheim

Throughout all of the windows there is the theme of God meeting the events in the lives of people.  This window represents the faith of the New Testament and that which sustains our unity with God and all who believe in him: the wheat and the grapes, the bread and wine of life in Christ.

4. Nave Window (west) In memory of the parents of Mary and Sherman Hazeltine

Humankind is born into this green world, and within our grasp are the blessings of divine Grace.  The beginning is joyous, the prospect seems infinite — a future in which all good things are possible:  the emergence of life in all its freshness, the uninhibited joy of new creation, the joy of birth and childhood.

5. Nave Window (east) Given in thanksgiving  by Charles, Katherine and Evelyn Wetzler

The highest order of creation is humankind, in whom God has placed the responsibility of administering his world. Our response is, at its best, vision and idealism.  We come from the earth.  We grow from childhood to an awareness that, even though the power of the Trinity surrounds us, we must seek spiritual maturity and fulfillment ourselves.  We climb the tree of knowledge.  Our endeavors are made either more or less difficult by wordly fortune, expressed here by the radiating wheel-like form around the base of the tree.  The color green is used to symbolize growth.

6. Nave Window (west) In memory of Charles Edward Galbraith

God enters the life of humankind, suggested by a burst of light in the center.  Here, man and woman are dominated by the forces of nature, expressed by their kneeling positions and by the earthy colors of their garments. At right is a pomegranate (the Seed and the Word) from which grows the tree of Jesse, the religion of the Old Testament, producing the scales of justice and the law as its fruit.  Above is the Cross of the Passion, the religion of the New Testament.  The red winged forms of the four evangelists radiate from the cross toward the four corners of the earth.  Above them is the chalice of the new faith.  Above all, the radiant eye of God the Father peers down from within the Trinity.

7. Nave Window (east) In memory of Harry and Martha Jessop

Humans respond variously to God’s intervention:  the entwined rings represent matrimony; the yoke, our burdens and responsibilities; the distorted cross, our doubts about God and ourselves; the ruddy coloring suggests fire and the inhumanity of humankind.  Yet above all these, there is the anchor of hope, and above that the omniscience of the Trinity.

8. Nave Window (west) In memory of the parents of Mary and Walter Lucking

Humanity is caught in the maelstrom of earthly struggle and temptation: swirling waters, lightning, tempest and flood; and beside him the tempting sword of brute force.  Yet, above all soars the symbol of the Trinity expressing calmness, peace, the belief that evil shall not prevail.

9. Nave Window (east) In memory of Walter and Emma Bennett

Humankind’s struggle against negligence (those things which we ought to have done) and indifference.  The figure walks away, shrugging off a welter of discarded obligations.  The scales of justice lie broken and ignored in the foreground.  A grotesque mask occupies the lower right, representing the irresponsible pleasures which harm others.  At lower left lies the maimed and diseased body of humanity, the result of misunderstanding and laissez faire.  Scattered among the rubble of civilization are a serpent, a skull, the rusting cog wheel of industrial waste, the barbed wire of barricades, and the crumbling ruins of war.  A cross, ruined and neglected, is barely recognizable on the figure’s right, while humanity faces the enormous energy of atomic power with indifference.  Yet, the omnipotent Trinity hovers above.

10. Nave Window (west) In memory of Persifor Gybbon Spilsbury

The maturity of life lived with God blossoms as a flower, colored in peace and stillness.  Indigenous plants and flowers were chosen, and the desert’s crown of thorns occupies a lower central position.  In this window, the winged symbols of the Trinity come closer to earth and occupy the center.  The phoenix rising and the trumpeting angel symbolize resurrection.

11. Nave Window (east) In memory of William Wallace Clark & Ethel Maddock Clark

The mariner’s compass at bottom points the way for the ship of the Church to all parts of the earth.  The head of the suffering Christ on his cross is surrounded by the flaming heart of charity — For God so loved that world that he gave his only begotten Son.

12. Nave Window (west) In memory of Herman C. Autenrieth

The apotheosis of Christ, no longer suffering his earthly Passion but One in All with his living Church and his cross, the arms of which are raised in benediction.  The depths of light behind the cross suggest the infinity of space and the universality of his teaching.  His head is no longer the head of a man but a radiance of light and hope for the world under the eternal Trinity.

13. Nave Window (east) In memory of Inez Carson Manley

Christ’s teaching of a future life, the New Jerusalem, Kingdom of Heaven, the spiritual city of eternal light and life, whose maker and builder is God.  An angel measures the city with a large reed, and the bursting golden light at the top is the ultimate reality which we hope to find under the blessings of the Trinity.

14. “Rose” Window (south) In memory of Marie and Edward Eisele (not shown, yet)

At the center is a visual expression of the Trinity, threefold in organization yet with a suggestion of infinite complexity.  The surrounding areas are organized into triangles; the two large triangles seem superimposed, forming together the Star of David, suggesting the origins of the Church.

15.  The Great Window (north) In memory of Bishop George Selway (not shown, yet)

This new window replaces the one desroyed during the October 2002 fire.  Created by artist Vada Roseberry, and built in by J.R. Lupkin designs, this beautiful glasswork shows the Trinity present at the creation of the universe.  One can observe the primal elements forming a colorful pattern in the lower part of the window, while stars and galaxies swirl above, surrounding the all-encompassing Holy Trinity.