History of Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, Pennsylvania

History of Trinity Lutheran Church, Reading, Pennsylvania

This history appeared in Morton Montgomery’s 1908 edition of The History of Berks County, p. 1385.

Surnames: ARNOLD, KUTZ, WAGNER, WORDMAN, SCHUMACHER, HARTWIG, HAUSIHL, KRUG, NIEMEYER, GROTZ, MOLLER, MUHLENBERG, LEHMAN, WILDBAHN, MARCARD, SCRIBA, MILLER, KELLER, RICHARDS, HOFFMAN, SCHANTZ, RIGHTMEYER, HORN, KUENDIG, FRY, DRACH, LAZARUS, SNYDER, DEININGER, OAKLEY, LIVINGOOD, MOSER, ERMOLD, JONES, BARD, HOYER, SMITH

Trinity Lutheran Church. The first recorded meeting of this congregation
was held Jan. 6, 1752, on which occasion,
it stated, the church officers were re-elected; which shows that the
Church probably was organized in 1751. At the
meeting in 1752 a committee was appointed to build a church. The church
begun 1752, was dedicated Trinity
Sunday, June 17, 1753, by the name of Holy Trinity Church. This church
was a wooden building fronting on
Washington street, and standing nearly where the present parsonage is.
In 1791 a new church was begun, fronting
on Sixth street. The corner-stone was laid May 10, 1782; and the church
was dedicated Trinity Sunday, June 15,
1794. This building still stands. In 1851 the interior was greatly
altered, a basement for Sunday-school purposes
being introduced, and the pulpit and altar, which had been on the north
side of the church, being placed on the east.
The steeple of the church was completed in 1833, and rebuilt in 1892, at
which time William A. Arnold and Samuel
Kutz built and presented a memorial Sunday-school chapel, and the whole
church building was thoroughly repaired
and embellished.

In The History of Trinity Church by Rev. Dr. J. Fry, the following
pastors are named: 1751-1753, T. Wagner and
H. B. G. Wordman; 1754-1763, D. Schumacher, J. C. Hartwig and B. M.
Hausihl; 1764-1771, John Andreas
Krug; 1771-1774, F. Niemeyer and P. J. Grotz; 1775-1781, H. Moller, F.
A. C. Muhlenberg and D. Lehman;
1782-1796, C. F. Wildbahn; 1796-1803, A. N. Marcard, D. Lehman, W. H.
Scriba; 1803-1829, H. A. Muhlenberg,
D. D; 1829-1850, Jacob Miller, D. D.; 1851-1851, F. A. M. Keller;
1851-1854, J. W. Richards, D. D.;
1854,1857, John W. Hoffman, D. D.; 1858- 1861, F. J. F. Schantz;
1861-1864, C. Rightmeyer. From 1865 to
1896 J. Fry, D. D., was pastor; and he was succeeded in 1897 by Edward
T. Horn, D. D., LL. D., who is the pastor
at the present time.

While Dr. Miller was pastor, Rev. F. A. M. Keller served as assistant,
conducting English services, and afterward
became the founder of St. James Church. With Dr. Schantz, Rev. J. J.
Kuendig was assistant, preaching in the
German language, and became the first pastor of St. John’s, which
separated from Trinity in 1861. During the
interval between Dr. Fry’s resignation and the present pastorate, Rev.
George Drach served as a regular supply.
Since 1897 Rev. L. D. Lazarus, and subsequently Rev. J. F. Snyder, have
successively served as assistant, and vicar
in Peace and Faith chapels, which are maintained as filials of Trinity.
All of the Lutheran Churches of Reading look
upon Trinity as the Mother Church, and acknowledge her fostering care.

In her earlier charter Trinity was called the German Lutheran
Congregation in the borough of Reading, but in 1860
she was named Trinity Lutheran Church of Reading, by Act of Assembly,
and in 1888, by an amendment to the
charter received the name and style of The Trinity Lutheran Church of
the City of Reading.

In the Sunday-school the following have filled the office of
superintendent: E. Jon. Deininger 1829-1842; Rev. A.
M. Keller 1842-1850; Geo. W. Oakley 1851-1857; W. H. Livingood
1858-1860; Sol. L. Moser 1861-1865; Rev.
J. Fry 1865-1867; P. S. Ermold 1868-1880; H. M. M. Richards 1881-1899; Geo. M. Jones, Esq. 1900-1907; A.
Raymond Bard 1907-.

We find mention of occasional English services in this church as early
as 1758. When M. A. Muhlenberg was called
as pastor in 1803, he was obligated to preach in English at stated
intervals; but this arrangement seems to have been
abandoned in 1806. Rev. F. A. M. Keller was engaged in 1847 as
“Assistant preacher in the English language.” Dr.
Richards conducted English morning services once in every four Sundays,
and the evening service was regularly
English. After the separate establishment of St. John’s Church, English
became the only language used in the
regular services.

It would be impossible to recite a list of the interesting events which
are connected with Trinity Church. Among the
most interesting are the organization of the General Council of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America,
which occurred in 1866; and the touching scene when the aged C. F.
Hoyer volunteered and was sent to revive the
Mission at Rajahmundry, India,- at the meeting of the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania in 1869. The General Council’s
first missionary to Japan. Rev. Frisbie D. Smith, was formally
commissioned in Trinity Church, Sept. 6, 1908.

The annual report to Synod, in 1909, shows that 1250 persons communed
within the year, and that 1625 are carried
on the roll; the Sunday-school had 69 officers and teachers and 961
scholars enrolled; the properties are valued at
$175, 000; $6,500 were spent for the maintenance of the congregation,
and $4,582.72 given to the various
benevolent works of the Lutheran Church.

[Supplied by Rev. Edward T. Horn, D.D., L.L.D.]

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