Trinity Lutheran Church of Valparaiso
A.D. 1934
A Brief History
Trinity Lutheran Church of Valparaiso, Indiana, was founded on Trinity Sunday, May 27, 1934, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Schlundt at 257 Michigan Avenue. The worship service and organizational proceedings were conducted by the Rev. George Schutes. Following the service, a group of individuals met with Pastor Schutes to form a new congregation, which they called Trinity Lutheran Church. There were approximately 148 charter members, many of whom were former members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Valparaiso.
Within two weeks, Mr. John F. Sievers, of Sievers Drug Store, a member of the new congregation, initiated the purchase of a large 80-year-old house, known as “the old Vincent place,” to be used as a church. The address was 201 Washington Street, at the corner of Washington and Chicago Streets, where the current church now stands. On June 10, 1934, they held their first worship service in this house. Pastor Schutes led the worship while standing on a box and using a music stand to hold his Bible and sermon notes. The members began remodeling the house to make it suitable as a church building and when it was dedicated on December 9, 1934, it had a worship area that could seat 200 people, an assembly room, a pastor’s study, a church office, and a kitchen, all on the first floor. In addition, it housed a five-room apartment on the second floor that was used as the parsonage. The congregation worshipped in the renovated house-church for the next 18 years.
