Trinity Lutheran

Tens of thousands of German immigrants poured into this country in the 1800s. Unionistic Lutheran and Reformed mission societies in Germany trained volunteers and sent them to serve as missionaries in the New World. Some came to Wisconsin gathering German-speaking people into congregations on the American frontier and serving them with Gods Word an... d Sacraments. In 1850 three congregations in Milwaukee County banded together and formed a synod (a group of congregations united to train pastors and teachers, to help each other, and to do mission work). One of those congregations was St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church in Town Oakwood (presently on 27th Street and Oakwood Road in Oak Creek). [Together with Grace Ev. Lutheran Church in downtown Milwaukee and Salem Ev. Lutheran Church in Granville (now part of Milwaukee), these three congregations formed The German Evangelical-Lutheran Ministerium of Wisconsin better known as the Wisconsin Synod.] Ten families who were members of St. Johns got tired of commuting from the town of Raymond to Oak Creek for worship. They decided to form their own congregation. The Rev. Philipp Brenner of St. Johns organized them on April 19, 1869 as Die Evangelisch Lutherische Dreieinigkeits Gemeinde (The Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Congregation) and served as their pastor. The original Board of Trustees consisted of George Ferber (chairman), John Hetzel (secretary), and John Fritschen (trustee). The people of Trinity met for worship in the Hunter School in Raymond Township, and continued to do so for over twenty years. In 1870 Pastor Brenner followed the Lords call to serve as pastor in Oshkosh, WI. Later that year the Holy Spirit led theological candidate Gustav Denninger to accept his call to serve both St. Johns and Trinity congregations. That August the people of Trinity purchased a plot of land on 51st Street south of 3-Mile Road and dedicated it for use as a church cemetery. After ten years of faithful service, Pastor Denninger accepted a call to serve in Neenah, WI. The Rev. ...Read More