About

Trinity Cathedral's downtown San Jose neighborhood showcases both high-tech wealth and acute need. We strive to shine as a beacon of grace and hope, and we warmly celebrate our parish's diversity across socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, ability, religious upbringing, political affiliation, and language (información en español).

As members of the Episcopal Church, we seek to center our lives on Jesus Christ and to follow him into loving, liberating, and life-giving relationship with God, each other, and creation. Trinity Cathedral is the seat of the bishop for the Diocese of El Camino Real, currently the Right Reverend Lucinda Ashby. Our diocese includes forty parishes in Silicon Valley and on the Central Coast, stretching from Palo Alto to Arroyo Grande.

Trinity Cathedral is a place of worship, contemplation, and action. Our choir and musicians, readers, intercessors, crucifers, acolytes, altar guild volunteers, and ushers assist the clergy in glorifying God through weekly Sunday worship. The cathedral also offers common prayer, online or in-person, every day of the week. Our children and families ministry, young adult ministry, theology seminar/reading group, and other educational offerings enrich the mind and open the heart. Our ministries of service provide food and necessities to our unhoused neighbors and put the gospel into action in other ways.

Dedicated to worship in 1863, Trinity Cathedral is the oldest church building in continuous use in San Jose and the oldest Episcopal cathedral church in California. Our church’s beautiful and lovingly maintained “carpenter gothic” architecture and stained glass windows have inspired generations of worshippers and provided a glorious venue for innumerable weddings, funerals, concerts, and community events. Founders of the parish include modern-day saints Peter Williams Cassey and Annie Besant Cassey. The building was designed by John W. Hammond, a retired sea captain and ship builder, and visitors often compare the interior of its steep hipped wooden roof to the hull of a ship.

Although our cathedral parish is historic, we listen for the ways the Holy Spirit speaks to us in our twenty-first century context. We strive to make our parish and community more inclusive and just, ever seeking to help build the Kingdom of God. Join us.

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