Local Church Gets New Home

Parishioners at Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranford are more than just a group of people who pray together. They say they're a family and now, more than ever, they're experiencing the joys of what working together as a family can bring.

For the last several years parishioners at the church on North Avenue have been working tirelessly on a $2 million renovation of their church building. The process is now nearing its final stages.

The 138-year-old building is getting a full makeover from the exterior which will have a new spire to a refurbished inside with new pews, interior design and plumbing and electrical wiring. Most of the 120 families who belong to the church have pitched in to help whether by raising money, carefully taking hymnals and stained glass out of the old building and, now, picking out items for the new building.

"People are looking back already and saying this is a golden time," said parishioner John Zebrowski, who is a project manager for the renovation.

Zebrowski said church members first thought about renovating the building about three decades ago. In 2005 they formed a committee to explore the financial cost. Since then the parishioners have raised $1.7 million for the project. Zebrowski said the other $300,000 will come from the sale of a vacant piece of land owned by the church on Arlington Road.

"This is like a dream come true for them," church Senior Warden Korine Dankowski said about the parishioners, who, for the last year and a half, have been attending services in the parish hall adjacent to the church while the renovations are underway.

The original Trinity Episcopal Church was constructed in 1872. It was first renovated in 1922 and thereafter fell into disrepair.

"She was a tired building," Zebrowski said.

Zebrowski said the building will be brought back to its 1890's Gothic appearance with a spire on the front. He said they're keeping the cross-shaped footprint of the building but all the walls will be replaced. The building was never insulated, so insulation will also be put in. Zebrowski said they're also preserving the ceiling and salvaging material from the roof.

In terms of interior changes, crews will add new kneelers, lighting and paint. Zebrowski said they're also getting a new pipe organ, which will be prominently displayed behind the altar.

Zebrowski said the new church is a gift to future members of the church.

"It's something we wanted to be available for the three to four generations to come," Zebrowski said

Meanwhile Dankowski said she hopes the new building will help the church become closer to the community.

"[We want to] make people more aware of us in the community," she said. "So when people go by there we'll have an identity and maybe we can get the interest of more people in the community." Dankowski said once the building is complete, they plan to do more community outreach projects.

Zebrowski said the renovations should be complete by the end of this year. They hope to be in the new church for Christmas services – just in time to celebrate the Episcopal Church's family as well as their own.