The Story of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

The Rev. A.E Kurtz did missionary work in the Palo Alto and San Mateo areas in 1925. He held services at the Women's Club House at Homer and Cowper in Palo Alto. Later that year, the Rev. Paul H.D. Lang was called by the California-Nevada District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to serve the Stanford University campus and the Palo Alto mission. Upon graduation from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis in 1925, he had initially been assigned to do mission work in China, but that mission field was closed due to the outbreak of civil war there. Pastor Lang was installed as the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church on December 6, 1925 at the Women's Club House.

A new church building for Trinity was designed by Charles Sumner, a well known San Francisco architect whose home was in Palo Alto. Ground breaking was held August 19, 1928, first at the Women's Club House and then at the new site at 651 Hamilton at Byron. The church was built by the Minton Company for an estimated $10,000.

The cornerstone was laid on October 20 and the church was dedicated on December 2, 1928, the second Sunday in Advent. The first anniversary was celebrated on December 3, 1929, with the Rev. A.E Breihan preaching at the morning service and the Rev. T.C. Pieper preaching in the afternoon.

The wood panels on the altar were carved by Pastor Lang and were dedicated on October 27, 1940. A new pipe organ was dedicated April 26, 1941. The stained glass windows on the south side were dedicated on June 10, 1945 at the 20th anniversary celebration of the founding of the congregation.

The rite of blessing a new church site was May 17, 1953. Worship began at the new site on August 2, 1953 before the building was moved! On Thursday, August 27, 1953, the church building was moved from Hamilton Avenue to its present location at the McKenzie Estate. (Many long-time Palo Alto residents remember the building sitting on Middlefield Road when the moving platform broke down.) The church building was rededicated on December 6, 1953. The windows on the north side of the church were dedicated on May 28, 1961.

Pastor Taddey was called as Assistant Pastor in 1964. When Pastor Lang retired in 1965, Pastor Taddey accepted the call as Pastor and was installed as Pastor on Transfiguration Sunday, 1966.

The three-story house on the estate served effectively as a fellowship, meeting, administration, and education facility until 1967. The house was condemned by the City of Palo Alto as unsafe and was demolished on Saturday, July 1, 1967. The present office, education, and fellowship buildings were designed by Carroll Rankin and built by Ira Ota. These buildings were dedicated on May 27, 1968.

On October 21, 1993, an unknown arsonist started a fire in the Church Sacristy. Through God's grace, the fire was discovered almost immediately by Vicar Wiley Smith, and was promptly extinguished by the Palo Alto Fire Department. In one way it can be said the fire was a blessing: many repairs and improvements were accomplished which might not have been made otherwise, including an expanded Sacristy with a new roof line, handicap access to the chancel, new heating and electrical systems were installed, along with fire and burglar alarms, and there was much painting and many repairs. Trinity congregation has much to thank God for, not the least of which is being able to return to its house of worship!

Trinity's Pastors

Rev. Paul H.D. Lang Pastor, 1925 - 1965

Rev. William Klaustermeyer       Assistant Pastor, 1947 - 1957

Rev. Norman Theiss      Assistant Pastor, 1959 - 1964

Rev. Martin Taddey Assistant Pastor, 1964 - 1965

Rev. Martin Taddey Pastor, 1965 - 1996

Rev. Stewart CrownAssisting, 1995 - 1996

Rev. Stewart CrownPastor, 1996 - present

Trinity's Vicars

Rev. Oscar Gerken  1946 - 1947, now in Eustis, Florida

Rev. Paul Schroeder1948 - 1949

Rev. Alan Rehwaldt 1985 - 1986, now serving in Afton, Minnestoa

Rev. Alan Klatt  1986 - 1987, now serving in Hartland, Wisconsin

Rev. Stewart Crown1987 - 1988, now serving in Palo Alto

Rev. Todd Biermann1988 - 1989, now serving in Parma, Ohio

Rev. Peter Cage1989 - 1990, now serving in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rev. Ernest Bernet  1990 - 1991, now serving in Mineral Wells, Texas

Rev. James Bushur  1991 - 1992, now serving as an asst. prof. at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne

Rev. Robert Weller 1992 - 1993, now serving in San Jose, California

Rev. Wiley Smith IV1993 - 1994, now serving in Redlands, California

Rev. John Paul Salay      1994 - 1995, now assisting congregations in the greater Chicago area

Mr. Kevin Walker    1999 - 2000, now attending UW-Milwaukee

Rev. Daniel Grams   2000 - 2001, now serving in Garfield, New Jersey

Rev. Robert Mayes   2001 - 2002, now serving in Fullerton, Nebraska

Rev. Eric Brown      2002 - 2003, now serving in Lahoma, Oklahoma

Rev. Derek Roberts 2003 - 2004, now serving in Knoxville, Tennessee

Rev. Joshua Haugen 2004 - 2005, now serving Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Greensboro, North Carolina

Mr. Peter Gregory   2005 - 2006, now serving St. Paul, Fort Wayne, IN as Associate Pastor and

                                                                       working on STM at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne

Rev. Samuel Schuldheisz2006 - 2007, now serving Redeemer, Hunting Beach, CA, as Associate Pastor

Mr. John Sias    2007-2008,  completing fourth year at CTS-FW

Mr. David Solum2008-2009,  vicar (Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN)

Trinity's Directors of Christian Education

Mr. Paul Frase 1968 - 1973

Mr. Timothy Halter   1974 - 1977

Rev. Robert Mitchell 1977 - 1984

Mid 1960s, from the corner of Melville and Fulton

April 2006, a view across the courtyard

A Brief History

This page describes Trinity's history.

Link: Windows and Organ web page

Description: Stained Glass Windows