A History of Trinity Lutheran Church

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In writing the history of a Christian congregation, we merely trace the hand of the Eternal God.  He is the  Lord of all of our yesterdays, even as He is the Hope of all our tomorrows. God’s hand is evident throughout the Congregation’s past history – a hand that guided,  that helped,  and that has and will continue to heap blessing upon blessing.

The Reverend Dr. W. Harry Krieger, 1949

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      The first Lutheran missionaries came to Traverse City in the 1870’s and met for worship in the homes of Julius Koenig and F. Sachtleben. As Pastors Bruss and Karrer worked to found missions throughout Northwest Michigan, the Holy Spirit continued to work in the small living room based flock.

      In 1881, The Reverend M.H. Feddersen was ordained as the first Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church. Then on Easter Sunday, March 25, 1883 the congregation was officially organized. Perry Hannah, a pioneer in the Grand Traverse region donated land at the corner of 7^th and Oak Streets to the first Trinity Church building. Members of the congregation gathered $700 to build a modest frame building 28 feet wide by 40 feet long by 16 feet high, built from hand-hewn cedar and hemlock.

     The small congregation of German and English speaking settlers continued to meet and grow by God’s grace. The Word of God was preached; the saints were baptized and fed the Lord’s Supper.  Soon the young congregation outgrew its humble site and in 1909 expanded the building. Expansion was necessary again in 1938 when the congregation added a basement, chancel, balcony and steeple.

    Several Pastors and divinity students helped the growing congregation in early days. the Rev. John Harsch became the first resident Pastor in 1885. The congregation built a parsonage on second street for Pastor Harsch and then opened a Christian day school in his home.

    In 1894 the Rev. William Bekemeier became Pastor of Trinity and helped the congregation to join the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in July of 1895.

     In 1899 the Rev. Louis Mueller became Pastor of Trinity and organized the Young People’s Society and Trinity’s first choir.

     After a series of Pastors continued to care for the flock at Trinity, the congregation called Pastor Lorenz C.C. Grueber in 1929. The congregational records during the Golden Jubilee of 1932 show that Trinity had grown to a membership of 187 baptized and 110 communicant members. The Reverend Grueber shepherded Trinity through the great depression and two world wars. In 1948 he became full-time chaplain of the Traverse City State hospital.

     By this time it had become obvious that Trinity once again had outgrown its building and plans were begun for the building of a new Church and School building. In 1948, the Reverend W. Harry Krieger was called to serve Trinity and began guiding the construction of the new facility. The ground breaking service for was held on July 18, 1948 and on May 1^st of the following year the cornerstone was laid at the corner of 13^th and Maple streets in Traverse City.

     The new church was splendidly appointed with ecclesiastical furnishings and art to show the reverence of the congregation for their Savior. A marble altar and pulpit were made in Pietrasanta, Italy. Stained glass windows, in the style of the Munich school were designed to tell the story of the life of Christ. The congregation also built its first pipe organ, a nine rank Schlicker Organ that incorporated the cathedral chimes from the former building. It was the first new church building built in Traverse City after World War II.

     On Reformation Sunday, October 30, 1949 the new sanctuary and school were dedicated to the glory of God. A processional march carried the cross and communion ware from the old sanctuary to the new. Perhaps in a bid to keep the congregation humble, the young man carrying the cross tripped during the processional hitting Pastor Krieger in the head. Everyone was alright, but Pastor Krieger later joked that He now literally bore the wounds of Christ.

     The congregation expanded rapidly in its new home. By October, 1953 the communicant membership had doubled. Organizations including the Ladies Aid, Dorcas Society (organized in 1946), the Daughters of Mary of Bethany Altar Guild (formed in 1948), the LWML, PTA, Men’s Club, and Walther League all formed to meet the needs of the growing congregation.

     In 1950, Merle Bredehoeft was called to be Trinity Lutheran School’s first principal and Mrs. Marie Bathke was hired as Kindergarten teacher.

     In 1952, with membership expansion continuing, Trinity’s Mission Board asked for authorization to begin a mission congregation on the east side of the city. St. Michael and All Angels Lutheran Church was the result. After years of work, St. Michael’s dedicated her sanctuary on August 19, 1956.

     In 1957, Pastor W. Harry Krieger was elected President of the Michigan District of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. While the duties of the position were full time, Dr. Krieger wished to keep his position as Trinity’s Pastor, so his brother the Reverend Eugene Krieger was called to help with the Pastoral duties of the congregation.

     In 1960, the congregation’s planning commission recommended the construction of a larger school building. Before this could be accomplished Dr. Krieger realized he needed to devote his full-time to the presidency of the District and ended his Pastorate at Trinity. At the same time, his brother Eugene accepted a call to serve Our Savior Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

     In September, 1965 the school addition became a reality. The new facility was constructed at a cost of $130,000 and added four classrooms, a principal’s office, storage rooms, restrooms and a library.

     In 1967, Mrs. Belle Payne retired from Trinity after 43 years of faithful service as Trinity’s organist.

     In 1971, the Reverend Edwin V. Fitz was installed as the new pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church. Under the guidance of Pastor Fitz and the work of the Holy Spirit the congregation’s membership continued to grow. By the time of Trinity’s centennial celebration in 1983, the congregation had grown to 1,046 baptized and 719 communicant members.  Trinity also began participating in the vicarage program and had a vicar every year from 1976-1985. The school mortgage was paid off and summer services began in a local campground and weekly Saturday evening services also began at Trinity.

     In 1985, the Reverend Charles Gieschen was called to serve Trinity as Assistant Pastor and following the retirement of Pastor Fitz, the Reverend Raymond Pollatz was installed as Senior Pastor.

     By 1986, the congregation once again was running low on space to serve its growing membership.  A fundraising program began in 1987 and surpassed the congregation’s goal of attaining $650,000 in pledges toward a building expansion.

     Ground breaking ceremonies were held on May 1, 1988. The faithful watched as Louis DeYoung and Gladys Johnson the oldest members of Trinity turned over the first spades full of dirt. Louis had used his farm tractor to level the site for the original building in 1948 and lived to be Trinity’s oldest member until his death at age 104 in 2004. At age 103, Louis was still doing twenty push-ups a day as part of his exercise routine.

     The construction included a new transept increasing seating and making the worship space cross-shaped. A new “great” window was created for the south end of the transept. A gymnasium, two new classrooms, an expanded library, an expanded kitchen and new offices were all part of the $2.1 million building project.

     In 1989, the 39^th rank of the “Schantz” Pipe organ was completed. Over 2,200 pipes, some of which were reused from the Schlicker organ. The new organ again incorporated the Cathedral chimes from the original 7^th and Oak Street sanctuary.

     In 1996, Dr. Charles Gieschen, who had been serving as Trinity’s Senior Pastor was called to teach at Concordia Theological Seminary. Pastor Donald Engebretson, Trinity’s associate Pastor was called to serve as Senior Pastor and served in that capacity until 2000.

     Trinity continues to serve her Lord through the work of faithful Pastors and people, who pray that all their service brings glory to their Lord. Soli Deo Gloria!

  TRINITY          LUTHERAN  CHURCH   

(click to enlarge)

Mrs. Belle Payne,