Holy Trinity has a rich history of welcoming the stranger whose first members were new-comers from Sweden carving out a life for themselves in a foreign land bringing with them their own worship practices and religious beliefs. As those first gatherers acclimated they shed many of their immigrant identities including the word “Swedish” from the name of the church. Throughout our history we remember our immigrant roots as we welcomed the stranger by providing a home for two immigrant families – one from Cambodia and another from Vietnam. Later we made a strong and intentional welcome of people who identify as LGBTQI+, and witness to the community by hosting an annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Service.
As early as 1865, Swedish immigrants began arriving from their home-land to North Easton, an attractive community in which to live and work. With an interest in preserving their Lutheran heritage, these immigrants first began gathering in their homes to worship in their native language and with their native customs.
In October 1890, the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church Society was organized with 84 members. That same year, a lot was purchased on the corner of Jenny Lind and Williams Streets, and plans were made to construct a church building. The building was completed and dedicated by the end of that year. The newly organized congregation was received into the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in February, 1893 as the Swedish Lebanon Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1950, the name of the congregation was changed. The word “Swedish” was omitted and the name of the church became the Lebanon Evangelical Lutheran Church.
After World War II as Protestant churches in the United States prospered, the Lebanon Evangelical Lutheran Church experienced significant growth and realized the need for expansion. Since there was no room to expand on their present site, a search for a new site was initiated, with a plot of land on Lincoln Street finally chosen. Mr. and Mrs. William Ames Parker graciously offered 14.6 acres of the property at no cost to the congregation. Ground breaking for a new church building took place on May 24, 1959 and the first worship service was held in the new church on Christmas Eve of that same year. The previous year, 1958, the name of the church was changed to Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. The dedication of the new church took place on February 21, 1960. In 1963, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church became a member of the Lutheran Church in America, which was formed by a merging of three Lutheran synods that same year.
In 1982 beautiful stain glass was added to the sanctuary and world-famous and rare organ was installed – an E. & G. G. Hook Pipe Organ. (Opus 254, 1859), which further enhanced worship services. In 1988, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church became a member of the newly-formed Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
In the 1980’s the church returned to its immigrant roots by sponsoring two refugee families with both sponsorships arranged through ELCA’s Refugee Resettlement program in New York:
· The first family came from Vietnam and arrived in the Easton area in April 1980. The family included a mother and her four children and the mother’s sister. This family’s resettlement was highly successful with all four children graduating from college with engineering degrees and all becoming U.S. citizens.
· The second family was from Cambodia and was a family of four; a father, mother and two children. This family was supported by several church families and eventually settled in Vermont.
Later the church continued its welcome of marginalized people by becoming a “Reconciled in Christ” congregation. On November 20, 2016, at special congregational meeting, the congregation voted to adopt the following statement, “In service to the gospel of Jesus Christ for a world created for communion with God and in need of personal and social healing, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church offers hospitality and welcome to all. Our welcome embraces people of every race, nation, ethnic origin, age, social class, cultural background, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and physical ability. The practice of this wide welcome among us embodies this congregation’s commitment to being an inclusive community that reflects God’s reconciling purpose in Jesus Christ”.
In 2018 Holy Trinity again remembered its roots and reached out to marginalized people by instituting an annual Transgender Day of Remembrance Service to honor and remember people in our country who happened to be trans who were murdered during the previous year because of who they were.
As with all of American society, for at least two years Holy Trinity endured significant change and disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic which began in 2020 including ending in-person worship several times for the first time in its long history. The use of technology, the creation of a specialized Sheperding Ministry and a Prayer Angel Ministry kept people together in new ways. Remarkable expressions of care and concern were acted out in a myriad of ways and people’s generous financial contributions never ceased to amaze and sustained the congregation to flourish in new and unexpected ways. In the midst of the pandemic a Feeding the Hungry Ministry began which provides monthly dinner and weekly lunch meals to people who are homeless at Father Bill’s/Mainspring in Brockton.