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In 1839 German Saxon immigrants began to meet for worship in the home of a baker. By 1843 they were sufficiently strong to incorporate The Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession in the City of New York, since changed to Trinity Lower East Side Parish. By 1850 they had built a new church with four apartments below and a one-room school in the back. When this became too small they purchased the church and parsonage on Avenue B and 9th Street that belonged to the Methodists. Deterioration of the church required its demolition in 1975, leaving only the small parsonage for worship and ministry. By the grace of God, a new three-story building with community center, church and parsonage was dedicated June 9, 1996.
Over the years, Trinity has experienced good times and bad. In the very early years, Trinity’s membership grew but not always easily. When the Methodist Church was to be dedicated as Trinity’s new church in 1863, some unhappy Methodists barricaded themselves in the old church, forcing the Lutherans to come back the following week. In 1986 while installing a new assistant pastor, two disgruntled Trinity members disrupted the installation service and demanded an audience with the Bishop. In 1904 a happy midweek Sunday School outing turned to a horrific disaster when the leased ship the General Slocum burned and sank in the East River killing more than 1000 Lutherans from the Lower East Side. Known as the General Slocum Disaster, it is one of the worse disasters in the history of New York City. In the early 1900s Trinity’s membership numbered some 1,750 souls, a figure that had been reduced to some 15 by the time the church was demolished in 1975.
Within recent history, for many years there was no Sunday School, but today there are nearly 50 active children. For many years, there was not a church council, but now it meets every month. Trinity has been blessed with a new building for ministry, but a large mortgage remains the responsibility of Trinity's members. Growth has not been dramatic in recent years, but it has been steady and persistent, and new members continue to bring new talents to the church and its ministry. Currently there are about 160 members.
Trinity has always centered itself in Word and Sacrament. Records from the past reveal the importance of gathering specifically for worship. In planning for the new building, the first concern was to have a place of worship. In the 1940s and '50s when the community was losing its distinctively German character, the congregation sought pastors who would proclaim the Gospel to a growing racial diversity. When liturgical renewal began in the 1960s, Trinity was among the first to move to a free-standing altar, offer the Eucharist weekly, and share the Greeting of Peace. In the 1970s and '80s, this rich liturgical tradition was deepened and strengthened with the adoption of the Lutheran Book of Worship. Today weekly Eucharist, clear preaching, assisting ministers, acolytes, some incense, bells, petitions openly offered, and a varied hymnody contribute to a worship that is both filled with mystery as well as being accessible to all who believe.
Trinity has always been actively involved in outreach. In the early days a school for Christian education was opened. Full-time parish workers were on the staff. During the 1960s a Prince of Peace volunteer corps was begun and though their work Trinity could offer tutoring, a breakfast program, music and arts, as well and Sunday School and confirmation. With Trinity's support, members moving to other boroughs of New York City, particularly Queens, began new Lutheran churches. Bread for the World, now an international Christian advocacy agency, began at Trinity. In 1986 Shelter and Food for the Homeless (SAFH) was incorporated in order to meet the growing number of hungry and homeless that came to Trinity for help. An active outreach to children was begun again in 1988 with the renewal of the Sunday School and the beginning of an after school program. Our outreach to children is part of the fabric of the whole ministry: to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, and to help those who find basic living challenges more of a problem than do others with greater wealth. Our outreach is part of our ministry of Word and Sacrament, and part of our social ministry. Only one other church in our community offers an outreach to children that includes sharing the Gospel. (This is a Baptist church with whom we have excellent and monthly ecumenical contact. When we can, we share resources and meet.)
Trinity is in a neighborhood that in its recent history has been more well-known for drug use and social ills than for the large number of low-income but struggling and responsible families. Real Estate values have so increased that long-term residents who could never afford a $900/month studio apartment, much less fit their family into it, worry about being forced to move. Unfortunately, the young couples who have purchased these costly and difficult-to-find apartments are either themselves struggling financially or have not found a means to help residents with lower incomes.
