Urban Exploring » Trinity Lutheran Church

This week our whole crew of staff, docents, volunteers and interns were invited to visit Trinity Lutheran Church in Soulard. Docent Dennis has been a member of Trinity all of his life, and when he’s not giving tours at Campbell House, he gives tours at church. Since Trinity was built around the same time the Campbells’ Second Presbyterian Church was constructed in the mid 1860s, he thought it would be a good place to host our quarterly docent meeting.

Trinity is significant because it is the traditional German-heritage Lutheran church in St. Louis. The congregation was founded 1839 by Saxon immigrants who were fleeing religious persecution in Dresden, and, after a stint in Perry County, it has flourished in its Soulard location since 1864. To learn more about Trinity’s history (and to see Dennis in action!), take a look at this YouTube video.

Today, Trinity is a vibrant part of the neighborhood, serving its spiritual congregation and the needs of the less fortunate in the area. They open their doors to give the homeless a place to sleep during the coldest months of the year,  they operate a food pantry and soup kitchen, and they offer many more direct services to those most in need. Click here to read all of the important help Trinity offers the community.

After seeing the sanctuary and some of the church’s treasures (a fancy, sparkly chalice and an old church spire), Dennis took a few of us into the steeple to get up close and personal with the big bells that live there (not to mention the beautiful views of the neighborhood). Without further ado, the pictures:

The O’Connells have volunteered at Campbell House for years. Kay and Joe (left) often dress like Virginia and Robert Campbell, and they are joined on the steps of the church by their daughter Amy.

One of the windows and the bottom of one of the smaller bells.

Your truly with one of the smaller bells. They’re really big.

Executive Director Andy taking pictures.

View of the south. You can see the Anheuser-Busch brewery in the distance.

View of the west from the steeple. The 9th Street Abbey is right behind us.

View of downtown from the steeple.

Part of the bell-ringing mechanism in the steeple.

Detail of one of the bells.

Two of the five bells in the steeple.

View of one of the stained glass windows from an upper tier of the steeple.

The first set of stairs to the steeple against the backdrop of another beautiful art glass window.

Here’s another example of the graffiti. Note the date.

The room behind the choir loft has been graffiti-ed by the kids who rang the bells before mechanical bell ringers were installed. The walls of these rooms are totally covered with names and dates, and many are over 100 years old.

Dennis took a few of us into the steeple, and the picture above shows us in a non-public area behind the choir loft. We’re gawking at the steep, dusty stairs we have to climb.

Off the sanctuary, the church has a small museum with some pieces of their collection on display. This is the old copper spire that was recently removed from the roof.

Detail of the angel Gabriel on the chalice. The figures are painted on ivory and are surrounded by white sapphires.

Trinity’s chalice.

The chandelier that hangs above the congregation.

This beautiful window was installed in 1896 after the great tornado of that year swept through St. Louis. The church suffered extensive damage, and this was one of the many windows that were replaced.

Docent Dennis tells us about the building and history of the church. Preach!

This is the hymnal rack that is attached to the back of each pew. See the ring at the bottom of the rack? That’s there to hold your umbrella or cane. Talk about thoughtful design!

The large wooden pipes that sing along with the congregation.

View of the sanctuary from the choir loft.

Our group enters the sanctuary. In a style that is associated with modern churches, the space is more wide than deep to accommodate curved pews so the congregation can be as close as possible to the action up front.

Under the beautiful curved vestibule ceiling is the constantly-bubbling baptismal font that is carved of wood.

Detail of the vestibule ceiling bricks.

The vestibule ceiling features a beautiful, undulating pattern of specially-cut bricks.

The front of Trinity Lutheran Church, just down the street from Soulard Farmers Market at 812 Soulard Street, St. Louis, MO 63104.

As is usually the case with folks from Campbell House, food is a priority. We made a stop at John’s Donuts on Broadway to provide nourishment for the sugar-hungry volunteers. We’re pretty sure the “S” stands for “Supergooddonut.”

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