William Lawrence

“ In 1869 he became rector of Trinity church, Boston. In 1877 the present church was finished, the architect being his friend H. H. Richardson. Here Phillips Brooks preached Sunday after Sunday to great congregations, until he was consecrated bishop of Massachusetts in 1891. In 1886 he declined an election as assistant bishop of Pennsylvania. He was for many years an overseer and preacher of Harvard University, his influence upon the religious life of the university being deep and wide. ”

“ In 1860 he was ordained priest, and in 1862 became rector of the church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, where he remained seven years, gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. Endowed by inheritance with a rich religious character, evangelical traditions, ethical temper and strong intellect, he developed, by wide reading in ancient and modern literature, a personality and attitude of mind which appealed to the characteristic thought and life of the period. ”

“ His sympathy with men of other ways and thought, and with the truth in other ecclesiastical systems gained for him the confidence and affection of men of varied habits of mind and religious traditions, and was thus a great factor in gaining increasing support for the Episcopal Church. ”