Trinity Lutheran Archives

September 20, 2013May 9, 2021

Trinity’s Balcony and Pews

Here’s another series of photos of the demolition of Trinity Lutheran Church. I’m focusing on the balcony and pews this time. I always thought it was impressive how the balcony swept out over the congregation. I always liked to sit in that section.

A simple church

The church eschewed ostentation. It was a simple, but elegant building with a distinct lack of geegaws.

The only jarring element for me was the cheap-looking acoustic tile ceiling. I often wondered what the original church ceiling was made of.

I noticed stuff like that as a kid. My first grade scrapbook contains the September 19, 1953, entry: “The whole family went to 8 o’clock church. I didn’t wiggle very much. To pass the time away, I counted 13 bugs on the wall….”

“I have loved the habitation of Thy House”

Shortly after taking those photos, I got to watch the church being dismantled, ironically under the words of Psalm 26:8, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house and the place where Thine honor dwelleth.” I’ll spare you the rant this time. I got that out of my system when I posted photos of the church’s altar.

Pews at Trinity Lutheran School

At least two of the pews ended up in the hallway at Trinity Lutheran School.

Trinity Lutheran Church gallery

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September 11, 2013

Trinity School Then and Now

The wooden treads on these steps at Trinity Lutheran School had been hollowed out by generations of children, me included, going and down them. There was something special about those old dark steps, kept shiny by diligent janitors.

In case you were wondering, no, we didn’t have a super-strict dress code. These kids were probably on their way to or from Sunday School.

Wood replaced by steel

I’m glad to see the building is still there, but the wooden stairwells have been replaced by modern construction materials. I suppose they are easier to maintain and are a lot safer in case of a fire, but I bet they don’t have those creaks and squeaks I remember.

Playground was gravel

When I was in the lower grades, this playground was gravel. In fact, when I was in the lower grades, I don’t think the the two-story classroom building on the left had been built yet.

The tall building in the middle housed classrooms and administrative offices. The reddish brick building to the right was the gym / auditorium, with the cafeteria in the basement.

George Alt House being wrecked

I wrote about the history of the George Alt House, also known as Trinity Hall, last year. I could understand tearing the building down because of maintenance issues and a need for more space, but I was disappointed that the fine woodwork and windows weren’t salvaged.

Here are photos of the wrecking ball at work.

September 3, 2013September 4, 2013

Old Trinity’s Altar

When we heard Trinity Lutheran Church was going to be torn down just shy of its 100th birthday, Brother Mark and I did our best to document the building.

Here are photos of what I think was the most impressive part of the church: the chancel and altar with its statue of Jesus. I’ll run more pictures later.

Money came with strings

It seems an odd coincidence that the old building was discovered to be structurally unsound not long after a large donation was made to the church that could only be used to build a new structure.

Missourian photographer Fred Lynch has a series of photos showing the steeple being pulled down that makes the place look pretty sturdy to me.

It’s not my church

I was baptized in that church, confirmed in that church, suffered through a multitude of Christmas pageants in that church, and my father’s casket stood in the shadow of that altar.

I made a promise to myself never to set foot in the new building. I have no respect for an organization that allows nearly 100 years of memories to be turned into brick dust. It is no longer my church.

Photos of the church bell

I ran a post about the church’s bell in 2011. I read somewhere that the bell had been moved to the new church.

View from the bell tower

Here are photos taken from the bell tower in 1978.

1954 pledge drive

I copied a 1954 pledge drive booklet that included an extraordinary photo of the congregation. It’s amazing how many faces I can still pick out of it (names, however, are another matter).

Abraham story has him worried

Brother Mark is holding Son Matt up for a closer look. He doesn’t look too comfortable. I think he may have heard that story about God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son on an altar and he’s not sure if the story had a good ending.

UPDATE:

I learned several things from my readers here and on Facebook:

It wasn’t just a rumor that the donation was earmarked for a new building. A relative of the donors confirmed it.
Jesus wasn’t welcome in the new church: he has been exiled to Hanover School. I’ll swing by to see him on my trip back to Cape in October.

January 2, 2013May 25, 2021

Trinity Lutheran School Cafeteria

I could have sworn The Missourian ran school menus, but I poked around for several weeks of old papers and couldn’t find them. I don’t have a lot of memories of the Trinity Lutheran School cafeteria. I managed to convince my parents to let me slip off the school grounds most days to eat at Wayne’s Grill.

The black and white photos were taken February 13, 1967.

Keep Sloppy Joes away from me

I had a weakness for Sloppy Joes, described in Wikipedia as “an American dish of ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun.”

I was so fond of them, in fact, I kind overdid it one day just before going out to the playground. The resulting spewage spoiled the sandwich for me forever. It’s not quite as bad as my Dr. Herbert wooden stick phobia, but it ranks a close second.

This is what the cafeteria area looked like in 2010.

Trinity Lutheran School cafeteria photo gallery

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