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Trinity's History

1893-1899   1900-1909   1910-1919   1920-1929   1930-1939   1940-1949
   1950-1959   1960-1969   1970-1979   1980-1989   1990-1999   1993-2004

1893-1899
The church was founded on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1893. There were 40 founding members, the majority of whom were connected with the University of Michigan. They were looking for an English-speaking Lutheran Church. There was none in Ann Arbor, so they formed their own. In April 5, 1896 they consecrated the new building at the corner of 5th and William in downtown Ann Arbor.
1893-1899 pictures

1900-1909
The congregation grew, but stagnated at about 130 in 1901. In 1904, Pastor Tedrow presented his resignation. Around that time the mission board terminated its support for the church. Reverend E.E. Neible started preaching at Trinity in 1904. In April of 1908, Reverent Neible resigned. In August of 1908, Reverend A.E. Mumma was invited to be the pastor, but he was only pastor for a year. Reverent J.A.M. Ziegler was invited to be pastor in 1909, but seven months later he too resigned. Throughout that time, the church was having funding problems.
1900-1909 pictures

1910-1919
Trinity decided to have services only on Sunday mornings and secure pastors on a temporary, week-to-week basis. For awhile during 1910, the congregation was in contact with Pastor Neible in Africa. He died of Yellow Fever in 1913. They continued to look for pastors, finding Reverend Courtland Miller in 1911. Membership increased greatly under Reverend Miller. The congregation was looking more optimistic. Pastor Miller resigned in 1917. Around 1917 there was a proposal to merge with three larger Lutheran Midwestern synods. Most of the churches in the larger synods were still German-speaking. But the merger still went through. The result is the United Lutheran Church, which survived until 1962. Also around 1917 was WWI, making things hard on the German-speaking Lutherans. This caused them to quickly adapt to American ways. Reverend Lloyd Wallick arrived in 1917 to become the new pastor. He was interested in attracting University of Michigan students to the church. In 1919, a gift from Sandra Miller was used to purchase a bell in memory of her husband Joseph. [The bell is still in use today.]
1910-1919 pictures

1920-1929
A Lutheran student club was formed at the church. This sparked a big expansion of the campus ministry. Pastor Wallick also urged the congregation to pay off its $2000 debt to the mission board (who helped provide seed money for the starting of the church). About the time when they started the expansion, another pastor came on board to replace Pastor Wallick. Louis Gunderman was very instrumental in paying off the mission board debt. He put an emphasis on personal religion. Pastor Gunderman left in 1925. The congregation had a hard time finding a replacement. This was especially hard because they had to satisfy both the congregation and the board of education (University of Michigan campus ministry). After a year had passed, Reverend R.N. McMichael answered the call (1926). He worked with students and the congregation. He was a very energetic leader and served the congregation well. Attendance had been good, at all-time highs. In 1928 the congregation started to remodel & refurbish the chancel to conform more closely to liturgical usage. The baptismal font, lectern and pulpit were completed. In the 1920’s, the women’s missionary society had become increasingly active. They did a lot for children and elderly shut-ins. The country as a whole enjoyed prosperous times during this decade.
1920-1929 pictures

1930-1939
These times of the Great Depression were a time of trial for Trinity. Pastor Henry Yoder came in 1932 to replace Pastor McMichael. Pastor Yoder pulled the congregation together, using his exceptional executive ability. They experienced coal shortages, so the church was heated only on Sundays. One week the church was heated on Saturday evening in preparation for the Sunday service. The people heating it found that the Christmas tree had toppled over in the night. Needles and broken ornaments were all over. They frantically cleaned it up to prepare for the service. Also people took turns cleaning the church (in order to save money on custodians). One volunteer custodian forgot about the lack of heat and left puddles of frozen water under the pews. In the 1930’s, the national church decided to abandon all money making functions organized by the church. This required more individual giving to fund the church. But there was no money to repair the church.
1930-1939 pictures

1940-1949
Between 1935 and 1945 the church membership doubled. In the 40’s times were changing. People started going back to work. Many young men went off to war. Between 1941 and 1945, Pastor Yoder worked frantically to serve the Naval Reservists at the campus of University of Michigan. In 1945, Walter Brandt became the new pastor. The church started to grow out of its building. Sunday school classes took up every available space. Ever since the beginning, Sunday school was a vital part of the church. Many people found Trinity to be a friendly, convenient house of worship. Beside the space problem, the parsonage was in a shambles. Repairs had been a constant drain on the budget. In the late 1940’s the congregation voted on whether or not to move. The motion was narrowly defeated.
1940-1949 pictures

1950-1959
Pastor Brandt was constantly urging the congregation to pray and do devotions. He had a firm gentle manner, always talking about evangelism. We wanted the Lutheran Magazine to be sent to every member’s home. So they built the Lutheran Magazine into the budget so daily devotions could be sent to everyone. Mrs. Brandt took care of the altar and was the church secretary. She had a genuine friendliness and a concern for everyone she met. In 1956 Pastor Brandt submitted his resignation and again in 1956 the people of Trinity had to find a new pastor. But it was not as hard as before, due to the strong lay leadership that emerged during Pastor Brandt’s disability. Nationally, it was hard to find pastors because of the four year gap of training during WWII. In 1956, Pastor Richard Preis was invited to visit Ann Arbor and he accepted the call immediately. When he came on board, WM-YWCA announced that they had just purchased land northwest of the church and now they wanted the rest, on which the church and parsonage stood. Some church members protested, but the congregation voted to sell the buildings and land. It was the right time to move. But the first problem was “where to build?” The congregation advertised and they looked and they looked. No piece of land would do. Except for the West Stadium Boulevard property. Next they had to approve it with the congregation. That was surprisingly easy. Ground was broken for the new building in 1957. A lot of the work done prepping the property for building was done by the men of congregation. By the fall, the big machines were ready to start removing the dirt. The Worship and Art committee traveled around the state to get styling ideas from other newly-built churches. There was also an organ committee that was aware that they needed room for an organ and the choir in the balcony. They had to figure out how to bring the old organ to the new church, and modify it. Many other people worked on ordering furniture, kitchen equipment and plantings outside. The dedication was set for February 1st, 1959. On that day, the people of Trinity gathered at the old 5th & William sanctuary for the last time. However, on December 31st, 1958 some members could not wait and had New Year’s Eve service amongst sawhorses and rubble. A scant ten hours before the dedication, the organ moving was completed. They moved out of the old building on February 1st and it was hard for a lot of people to leave their old church home. But they knew they were going to something better. For the dedication service, everything went great except for one hitch. When the congregation arrived, the new church door was locked. The keys that the builder had presented did not fit the door. But after a bit of searching the builder found the correct ones and the procession went on. The congregation settled into the new building. They had a few problems. The gravel parking lot had to be paved. And there were traffic snarls immediately. Several operational defects had to be corrected. But it was inevitable to have these things in a new home.
1950-1959 pictures

1960-1969
The new building was spacious when it was first built, but by 1962 membership grew to nearly 700. Sunday school had to run in split shifts. They hadn’t added the educational wing yet. By September 13, 1964, the educational wing was dedicated. It provided for an enlarged narthex, library, a beautiful lounge and kitchen, four classrooms and a nursery. And on the lower level there was another nursery, a catechism room, multipurpose room and five more classrooms (the nursery school was started in 1964). Although it had been envisioned that a third wing might be added, another building program was not undertaken. Instead, the challenge came in the form of social upheaval triggered by political assassinations and an unpopular war. Trinity members had to deal with race riots and the social revolution that had erupted in America. Every month brought a new confrontation. Looking back at those troubled times, it appears that Trinity did quite well in steering a precarious middle course between inflexibility and advocating radical change. Attendance was still high and a large percentage of the members took an active part in the work of the congregation. Membership seemed to be growing fast, but there were also large losses. In 1966, for example, 144 adults were received and 67 were lost (mainly by letter of transfer). With the University nearby, there were a lot of innovative ideas that people brought with them. There was always a core of people and then a lot of people who would come and go. After the race riots of 1967, the congregation had a large meeting to share opinions. This led to an Adult Forum during educational hour on Sunday mornings. The Forum covered things such as Communism, Poverty, Crime and the war in Vietnam. On November 16th, 1969, a spokesman for a local black militant group presented Trinity with the Black Manifesto. The militants demanded $10,000 to overthrow the U.S. Government. They said that unless their demands were met, they would destroy Christian churches and synagogues. The Trinity congregation had a meeting and decided not to pay the $10,000. But they did decide to reevaluate their commitment to the Christian way of life, particularly in regard to rooting out prejudicial attitudes. Pastor Arnold, a previous intern, joined Trinity in 1968 to work alongside Pastor Preis.
1960-1969 pictures

1970-1979
In 1972, a rare opportunity came along which enabled the congregation to respond to a pressing need in the community in an unusual way. One of the nearby Lutheran churches had disbanded and the