About Us

  On February 15, 1925, Archbishop John Cantwell established a new parish under the patronage of The Holy Trinity in the area that was known as Atwater Park at the time. Reverend M Francis Murphy was appointed as the first pastor. Before the church building was constructed, a rented house on Atwater Avenue served as the church and the rectory. Later on, mass was said in a vacant store on Glendale Boulevard. The Knights of Columbus from Glendale supplied chairs while parishioners built a small portable altar. Father Murphy bought two lots on Boyce Avenue. One lot had a small house that served as the rectory until the new rectory was built in 1957. On October 4, 1925, the first mass was said at the new church. The first confirmation at Holy Trinity was held on October 27, 1927. The church was formally dedicated in 1936. 

In 1948, a fire was started in the sanctuary carpet, the sanctuary floor, altar step and the wall behind the Sacred Heart statue and the statue of the Blessed Mother were all damaged but not destroyed. Due to smoke damage, the whole church interior had to be redone. 

Holy Trinity School opened on September 12, 1949 with an enrollment of 74 students in the first four grades. The school was located in the parish hall, which had been divided to form four classrooms with a small hall in the back of the building. The original location was adjacent to the church building where the current basketball court is located in the parking lot. The school was under the direction of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. 

Rev Daniel Gallagher began his pastorate on February 9, 1951. New flooring was put in the whole church. New carpeting was laid in the sanctuary along with new pews and a new altar railing. The confessionals were remodeled and a new rectory opened on November 18, 1957. Father Gallagher purchased property behind the church, which was then converted into a convent for the Immaculate Heart sisters. Father Gallagher worked hard to construct a larger school but due to poor health, he died in 1964 prior to seeing his goal completed. On May 9, 1962, Rev. Michael Hanlan was appointed administrator, he supervised the construction of the new school in addition to remodeling the walkways along the church and installing a ramp for one of the entrances. Cardinal James Francis McIntyre dedicated the new two-story parish school building on January 31, 1965. The new two-story structure replaced the smaller school building, which had become inadequate due to growing enrollment. The new school had 8 classrooms, a small library and office. The Felician Sisters began their work at the school in 1968 under the direction of Monsignor James A Dessert. 

Rev James Dessert was appointed administrator in 1966 he then later became pastor in 1968, he installed the church heating system in addition to lighting upgrades. He also remodeled the convent, which housed the Felician Sisters. 

Rev. James E McElroy was appointed pastor in 1978, the sanctuary was remodeled with a new main altar, side altars and a shelf for the tabernacle. He installed a new pulpit and lectern. New carpet was laid throughout the interior of the church. The exterior of the church and rectory were repainted. A patio was formed in the front of the church, which replaced the former grass area. On September 18, 1979, Cardinal Timothy Manning designated Holy Trinity as a center for Koreans. Rev. Simon Hyun was assigned as the priest for this center. The Korean Center later purchased a property on San Fernando Road and moved their community in 2005. 

In 1984, under the pastorate of Fr. John Daly, the church had its air conditioning system installed. The confessionals were also remodeled. The church pews were also replaced around this time. The current pews are replicas of the original pews which needed to be replaced after 55 years of wear and tear.

In 2001, under the pastorate of Fr. Thomas Peacha, the school pavilion was constructed along with an improved entrance, the sound system in the church was also replaced. 

In 2006, under the pastorate of Fr. Maurice Harrigan, the church plaza  in front of the church was redone, a grotto was added adjacent to the rectory. The church was then given a makeover, repainted to its current colors inside and outside the church. The Holy Trinity stained glass window was installed above the choir loft. The old carpeting of the church was replaced with the current tiles. A digitalized bell system was installed in the bell tower as well. In 2008, the altar was redone to the current altar, which brought back the altar rail. The pipe organ was also replaced that year. In 2008 the decision was made by the Archdiocese along with the pastor and school principal to operate Holy Trinity School on 2 campuses, grades K-5 were relocated to St. Casimir Parish in Los Feliz which was branded as the Academy while grades 6-8 would be housed at the Boyce Ave. campus using the Preparatory School branding.

In 2016, under the pastorate of Fr. Ricky Viveros, The Academy located at St. Casimir Parish and Preparatory school was brought back under one roof to the Boyce Ave campus. Holy Trinity was brought into the digital era with the introduction of live streams of special events and masses becoming one of the first parishes in the Archdiocese to start streaming on the recently launched Facebook Live platform. You can view our very first live stream here.  A complete overhaul of the website was done that year as well along with an increased social media presence. In 2017, the school building was renovated and classrooms were upgraded with state of the art technology which included an iPad/Chromebook program.  Online giving later debuted in response to younger generations moving away from using the weekly envelopes and writing checks.

In 2020, in response to mandates relating to the Covid-19 virus, Holy Trinity was closed to the public following the 3rd Sunday of Lent. Our first Sunday livestream with no congregation in the church can be viewed here. Holy Trinity was prepared to go virtual since the first week of the lockdown having invested in livestream equipment back in 2016 while many churches in the Archdiocese were not able to do the same due to supply chain constraints which prevented them from livestreaming immediately. This began a 15 month weekly Sunday mass livestream. Holy Week and Easter was celebrated to an empty church that year. Pastor Fr. Ricky Viveros was featured in an LA Times article in April of 2020 discussing the uncertainty of Easter that year.  Local mandates eased in June 2020 which allowed the church to reopen to the public. Parishoners were welcomed back on the Feast of the Holy Trinity. In July 2014, mandates were reinstated that prevented inside usage of the church forcing all masses be to be outdoors in the school pavilion. The regular mass schedule was followed although two 10:30am masses were celebrated at the same time, 1 in the pavilion with congregation and 1 inside the empty church broadcasted online.  On December 23, 2020, it was announced that parishoners would be allowed back inside the church in time for Christmas. Beginning on Christmas Eve, parishoners were once again welcome to attend mass inside the church. During this time of uncertainty, Holy Trinity was in the middle of it's Capital Campaign which managed to surpass 400% of it's goal despite the closure. The altar carpet was replaced with hardwood along with the choir loft floor and staircase. The sound system was replaced with a state of the art system which improved the livestream broadcast quality as well. The confessionals which had been renovated in the 1980s were renovated once again. which included the removal of the original, 1925 middle door which had been covered up inside the confessional during the 1980 renovation to add more space for the priest and penitent.

Although many of these changes have happened in recent years, there are some parts of the church that have not changed since it's opening. The hanging lamp lights and windows are still the original from 1925. Pictured in the 1961 picture above, is the original altar and pews, the statues pictured are still in their same locations to this day.