t was faith that created Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansford 125 years ago.

Members are hoping such faith will help it survive.

Like many churches, membership has been on the decline.

At one time, the church had junior and senior choirs, but had to combine them because there aren’t enough members. There used to be Sunday school, youth groups and women’s organizations, but not any more.

The small nucleus of members hope things will get better.

Church recording secretary Deborah Bamford said, “We take each week as it comes.”

The church held a 125th anniversary celebration in September and 89 people were at the service, many of them former members who returned, a lot more than who come during the 9:30 a.m. weekly Sunday services.

“Hopefully, with the anniversary, some people who came (to the anniversary service) and who had been members, we hope they come back,” Bamford said.

Here to stay

Martha M. Tirpak, church council president, stressed that the church has no plans on closing, nor is it even in danger of such status.

“While we are at a point where our membership is low and our attendance at Sunday services is low, our doors remain open, and we stand strong as a small but faithful congregation,” Tirpak wrote in the anniversary booklet.

In fact, the church is sound enough that it periodically gives donations to other organizations.

Money contributed during the offering at the dedication service was given to the Lansford Food Pantry and to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Trinity Lutheran Church is located at 104 E. Abbott St., Lansford.

The history of Trinity

Although the church was officially incorporated on Aug. 12, 1894, the existing church building constructed of Chestnuthill Stone was dedicated in June 1929. It replaced the original structure that had been dedicated in June 1895.

In 1896, the church had 90 members and 140 children in Sunday school. Periodically German services were offered.

But the history of the local church goes back to 1748, when the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium was begun by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. By the late 1800s, Lutherans were well-established in the Panther Valley area.

In 1893, a group of Lutherans from Lansford who desired to worship in the own community appealed to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Summit Hill for assistance. Services were conducted in the Lyceum Building in Lansford by the Summit Hill pastor.

In 1894, the “Lutheran Congregation of Lansford and Vicinity” was established, an executive committee was formed and land on Abbott Street was purchased for the building of a church.

The church grew and prospered, resulting in the need for construction of the new, larger building which exists today.

The Rev. Roy E. Koehler Jr. has been serving as the designated pastor of the church since December 2011. He had been the church’s called pastor from 1983 to 1993.

Dr. Susan M. Featro is the church musician, having been with Trinity for 16 years. She served as choir director for a period of time and currently plays the organ, piano and guitar, sings vocal solos and performs musical services on occasion.

Celebrating a milestone

For the anniversary, the history of the church was compiled by Tirpak, who looked through minutes and other church records from 1894 to the present.

Interesting tidbits she found include:

• In 1896, a fee of $5 was to be paid for weddings/funerals in the church.

• In 1899, a parsonage was built for $2,700. The clergy was charged $195 per year rent for the parsonage.

• In 1923, the Hauto Bible Class was organized.

• On Aug. 12, 1928, groundbreaking was held for the present church, and the final service was held in the original church. The Hauto congregation donated $555 for construction of the new church.

• The financial obligation for the new church was met and a mortgage burning ceremony occurred on Oct. 12, 1952.

• In 1991, the food pantry was started in the Lansford Community Center and run by Trinity Lutheran Church.

Improvements continue at the church. In 1999, a chair lift was added; in 2004, new stained-glass doors were installed, and in 2006, the kitchen was remodeled.

During the dedication in September, the sermon was delivered by the Rev. Albert J. Domines, a son of the congregation.

A graduate of Panther Valley High School, Domines presently serves as senior pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown.

Members of the anniversary committee are Bamford, Tirpak, Wendy Coury, Susan Featro, Kirsten Matalavage, Joan Tout, Richard Willing and Koehler.