TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
The area was part of the city’s common fields in the late 1700s. Over the last 40-plus years, it has been an area of revitalization, known for its restaurants and bars and its popular Mardi Gras celebration. The neighborhood is anchored by Soulard Market, which dates to 1779, and the world headquarters of Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
Families from the Saxony region of Germany arrived here in the late 1830s under the leadership of Martin Stephan. These were Lutherans who were fleeing the “Age of Enlightenment” for the opportunity to practice their religion in the traditional way that they treasured. Stephan’s “Gesellschaft” or Emigration Association assembled communal funds from those planning to emigrate to America. They traveled to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. This was intended to be just a temporary stop on the way to a new community Stephan planned in Perry County, Missouri.
However, many of the Germans were not happy with the autocratic Stephan, or with the idea of moving into the wilderness. They found their own jobs, established their own lives and stayed in St. Louis. They would become the foundation of Trinity Lutheran Church.
Rev. Otto Herman Walther became the first pastor of the new church. Funds were scarce, as most had given their money to the Gesellschaft. For the first three years, services were held in the basement of Christ Church Cathedral. Finally, in 1842, the congregation was ready to build its own church. By this time the first Rev. Walther had died and been replaced by his brother.
The congregation had never given itself a name. Now that they would have their own building, that became a necessity. Pastor C.F.W. Walther had three suggestions: “that the name not be that of a human being, that it should contain a confession, and that it should not stir up the scorn of the world.” The church became the German Evangelical-Lutheran Trinity Church.
The first church was built at Third and Lombard Streets. It became significant, not because of the building itself, but because of what happened here. Pastor Walther started a newsletter in 1844 that led to the founding of the Concordia Publishing House. Next the congregation assembled a Lutheran hymnal which was given to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The founding of the synod itself would become the most significant of the events. Trinity Lutheran is considered the synod’s mother church.
It didn’t take long for the congregation to outgrow that first church. When efforts began to build a larger edifice, land was purchased in the Soulard neighborhood on the south side where many of the members lived. The new church was built during the late years of the Civil War and dedicated debt-free in December, 1865. The entire cost of $113,000 had been paid by its members, some of whom mortgaged their own homes.
Trinity Lutheran Church today may not be as large and elaborate as the Catholic and Episcopalian cathedrals, but it is warm and welcoming in a different way. The interior of the church is painted in shades of pink and mauve. Side pews are angled to face the white and gold altar which is dominated by a statue of Jesus above the words “Come Unto Me.” A relief of the Last Supper is located immediately above the altar.
The pulpit has the same white and gold look and features figures of the evangelists and Martin Luther. The statue of Luther in the center niche replaced one of an angel that was destroyed by a tornado. A congregation in Dresden, Germany sent the statue of the religion’s founder to the St. Louis church.
Stained glass windows at Trinity Lutheran are fairly simple, except for the windows of the Risen Christ on the right and the Good Shepherd to the left of the altar. The baptismal font is located right inside the entrance to the church.
Trinity Lutheran is located on the corner of Eighth and Soulard south of downtown St. Louis. Visitors wishing to tour the church should go to the parsonage on Soulard Street west of the church on weekdays from 8 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Before visiting, call 314-231-4092.