The procession through the Trinity churchyard of the Tercentennial Time Capsule toward its burial site. June 1997.

Trinity Church was founded in 1698 in what was the heart of Manhattan, and it still sits at the head of Wall Street. For three centuries it has been a powerful force for religious growth and freedom at both the local and the global level.

Trinity's leadership wanted to document the events of its tercentennial year, and in doing so to show a historic and ongoing whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It also wanted to launch an initiative to correct disjunctures that had developed within the institution and the wider community. The staff, the congregation and the vestry had grown apart, and the parish had lost the close connection it once had with the Wall Street community just outside its doors.

Tercentenary, a documentary about Trinity's milestone year, which wove together three important threads:

It recorded for posterity the major activities of the year. There were gala dinners, elegantly costumed liturgical ceremonies and the publication of a magnificent coffee-table book celebrating Trinity and its works. The congregation developed a storytelling project for children, an oral-history video and a time capsule to be opened in 100 years.

In documenting the projects, Tercentenary also created a clear snapshot of the key people and relationships within the church. And, finally, it introduced "New Ways of Knowing," Rector Daniel Matthews' philosophical initiative and the platform for Trinity's ministry in the twenty-first century.

The video recorded the beginning of the parish's reconnection process, going behind the scenes to meet the people who conceived and produced the celebration, and whose experience working together would resonate long after the events themselves were over. www.trinitywallstreet.org