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Historic Trinity Lutheran Church

 

DESCRIPTION: Historic Trinity Lutheran Church is the oldest Lutheran church west of the Mississippi River. It was founded in 1839 by Saxon Lutheran immigrants who had planned to settle in Perry County, Missouri. The church's school is the oldest continuously operating elementary school in St. Louis. The congregation's second pastor was Dr. C. F. W. Walther, first president of the 1.5 million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and Trinity Lutheran is one of the Synod's oldest founding member congregations.

ADDRESS: 1805 S. Eighth Street, St. Louis, MO 63104

LOCATION: Soulard Neighborhood south of downtown

PHONE: 314-231-4092

WEB SITE: www.historictrinitystlouis.org

GETTING THERE: From downtown St. Louis, take Broadway south and go past historic Soulard Market. Turn right on Soulard Street and go one block west to Trinity Lutheran. The church is at the corner of Soulard and Eighth Streets.

HOURS: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon. Saturday evening Eucharist is at 5 p.m. Sunday services at 8:45 a.m. and with Eucharist at 10:15 a.m.

TOURS: Tours of the church are available during the day. Call the church office to arrange a time.

ADMISSION: Free. Donations for ministry and the maintenance of the historic buildings are welcome.

WHAT'S NEW: The 100-year-old parsonage recently underwent a half million dollar renovation when it was converted into offices, a bride's room, meeting rooms and kitchen areas where food for the needy is prepared or assembled into packages.

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • The church's gleaming white and gold carved altar against the pink backdrop of the vaulted sanctuary dates from 1896. The pulpit is a woodcarver's masterpiece with hand-carved statues of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, each holding a scroll showing the beginning verses in Latin of their books in the New Testament. The Gothic-style pulpit, on a pedestal similar to those in some European cathedrals, is the original and was made in 1864. A statue of an angel -- a gift from another congregation in Dresden, Germany which replaced the original statue damaged by falling roof timbers in the tornado of 1896 -- is in the central niche.
  • An ornate chalice dating from the late 1700s was one of two brought to St. Louis by Saxon immigrants and is used at every celebration of the Eucharist. The chalice was made in Austria for a monastery in Spain. During the Napoleonic Wars, it ended up in the hands of a Saxon prince who gave it to the group of Germans who sailed for America bound for St. Louis in 1838 and established Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis.
  • Several Christian symbols, including the cross, the keys, the tools of the crucifixion, the beehive, the crown, the fruit, the vine, the sickle, the rake and the sheaf are illustrated in the church's stained glass windows.
  • Two massive stained glass windows depict the Good Shepherd and the Victorious Savior.
  • The Veronica Window -- named for the woman who, according to tradition, wiped Christ's face as he was on his way to Calvary and the crucifixion -- is reminiscent of the rose windows found in many Gothic churches. The central pane shows the face of Christ on a white cloth.
  • Three of the church's four bells were cast in 1866.
  • The church's intricately carved baptismal font dates from 1864.
  • Display cases in the church hold several Bibles from the 1600s, old photographs and C. F. W. Walther memorabilia.
  • A relief of the Last Supper has very realistic details including three-dimensional plates and food on the table.
  • One of the unique architectural features of the building is the narthex of the church which has a unique brickwork vaulting in the main entryway. The bricks vary in width along the ridges of the vaulting and were hand made on site in 1864.
  • The church's elementary school, while not open to visitors, dates from the months the Saxons spent on the boat sailing from Europe.
  • Services are conducted in German once a month.
  • Historic Trinity Lutheran Church has an active community outreach program entitled Community Care. Food is provided daily to the homeless and bags of food are given weekly to the needy.

ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS: Children's services are often held at the Church and it operates an elementary school.

ANNUAL SPECIAL EVENTS: Each year a unique nativity scene made by church members in 1911 is set up in the sanctuary and special lighting is used to illuminate different aspects of the scene as services are held and the congregation sings Christmas carols.

HISTORY: The church's roots actually go back to 1838 when they held services on the ships that brought them to the United States. The 600 Saxon immigrants aboard the boats were headed for Perry County, Missouri, where they planned to settle. Some of the immigrants laid over in St. Louis until they could ready themselves to move south but others ended up staying in St. Louis.

When the congregation was established in St. Louis in 1839, it was called "Dreieinigkeitskirche" which meant "Trinity Lutheran." The church retained its German name until 1917 when anti-German sentiments forced it to adopt the English name.

At first the church held services in the basement of Christ Church Cathedral, then at Broadway and Walnut Street. The congregation's first building on Lombard Street between Second and Third Streets was consecrated in 1842. After a few years, the congregation outgrew the building and many members had moved away to the southern edge of the city. In 1864, a cornerstone was laid on the church's present site at what was then Eighth and Lafayette Streets. The congregation soon moved into its new church which seated 900 on the ground floor and 150 in each of two balconies.

But on May 27, 1896 the building was hard hit by a tornado which ripped through the area. About half of the church's walls remained standing but the rest of the building had to be rebuilt.

Part of the church's organ, which was installed by Pfeffer, a noted builder of organs at the time, was salvaged from the ruins of the tornado and rebuilt in the front of the church. The tracker organ had no electric power and required several boys or young men to be in the basement of the church pumping on the huge bellows with their feet for music to be made. The organ was rebuilt in 1928 as an electro-pneumatic instrument.

When the church was rebuilt after the tornado, church leaders had electric lighting -- a fairly new invention at the time -- installed in the building. Most St. Louisans did not get their first glimpse of electric lights until 1904 when the World's Fair was held in St. Louis. Electric-powered wall sconces in the church also have gas jets to be used in case the electric failed.

Historic Trinity Lutheran Church played a significant role in the national Lutheran movement. The church began publication of Der Lutheraner, a German language church paper in 1844. The newsletter was the forerunner of The Lutheran Witness which later gained national circulation among Lutherans. Early editions of the paper were published in the first church building at Third and Lombard.

The congregation also undertook publication of a Lutheran hymnal, important because up to this point, the verses of the hymns had to be read to the congregation before singing. The congregation underwrote publication of the hymnal which was published by Ludwig Publishing Company in New York and henceforth was used in all Synod congregations. Trinity Lutheran gave the revenue from the sale of the hymnals to the Synod.

C. F. W. Walther, the congregation's second pastor, was one of the founders of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

HANDICAPPED ACCESS: Historic Trinity Lutheran Church is handicapped accessible with handicapped parking west of the parish house.

WHERE TO GET LUNCH: There are several restaurants nearby in the Soulard neighborhood.

GIFT SHOP: There is no gift shop but the church sells a souvenir booklet about the church and the history of the area.

WHAT'S NEARBY: Soulard Market, the oldest farmers market west of the Mississippi River. Also nearby are the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, the DeMenil Mansion and Antique Row on historic Cherokee Street.

PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT: King Schoenfeld, 636-305-9777, king.s@iname.com

 

Readers should call 1-800-916-0040 to request a free copy of the Official St. Louis Visitor Guide or point, click and explore St. Louis at www.explorestlouis.com