“When Spencer preached, this man, who out of the pulpit was reserved, even formal, and gave the impression of being self-assured, became a person who seemed to wrestle with the same torments and doubts that his congregation had,” Elizabeth Hunnewell wrote in a preface for a collection of Rice’s sermons. His sermons included cultural and historical references and amusing anecdotes. During the decade he was rector at Trinity, church membership increased dramatically and Sunday attendance nearly quadrupled to where “they were in the rafters, practically,” Hunnewell recalled last week. They filled Trinity Church to hear Rice give voice to vulnerabilities in ways that were uplifting and inspiring.