Tucked along Mt. Holly Road in Burlington, New Jersey, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church has been part of the life of its town for more than seventy years. The congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), part of the New Jersey Synod, gathers each Sunday around the same gospel promise that has shaped its ministry since the 1950s: that in Jesus Christ people are freed by grace to live faithfully, witness boldly, and serve joyfully. The Rev. Russell Haab serves as pastor of a church that, in its own words, is committed to being a welcoming place for all.
A Sunday Morning at Holy Trinity
The week at Holy Trinity centers on Sunday, and the rhythm of that morning has its own character. Christian education opens the day at 9:00 am, when children from preschool through high school gather for Sunday School using a curriculum called Bold Transformational Faith, produced jointly by Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center and Luther Crest Bible Camp. The lessons track the lectionary readings used in ELCA congregations, and parents are welcome to sit in. A staffed nursery is available for children under four.
At 10:00 am the congregation moves into the sanctuary for worship, both in person and via livestream on Facebook and YouTube. Communion is celebrated every Sunday - open communion, meaning all who profess faith in Jesus Christ are welcome at the table. The manner of serving changes through the month. On the first and last Sundays the meal is shared at the altar; on the third Sunday worshippers receive communion at the rail; and on the other Sundays the sacrament is offered by intinction. The musical style rotates as well, giving the morning a different feel from week to week.
On the second Sunday of each month the music is traditional, drawing on the historic Lutheran choral and hymn tradition. On the fourth Sunday the contemporary praise band Voices That Reign takes over the music and the service takes on a more energetic feel. After worship on the first Sunday of the month the congregation gathers for a monthly birthday celebration and fellowship time, with coffee and conversation in the social hall.
Voices That Reign
The contemporary worship band at Holy Trinity is led by Michelle Foster, the church's music director and organist. Foster grew up at Holy Trinity and now serves as both the congregation's organist and the director of the praise band she helped shape. A singer and pianist who has studied at the Juilliard School and the Liz Caplan Vocal Studio, she also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and currently tours with "Sweet Seasons: A Celebration of the Music and Life of Carole King." Her work with two-time Grammy Award winner Gloria Gaynor, Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, and a long list of classic American vocal groups has given the band a depth that reaches well beyond the average church worship team.
Joining her in Voices That Reign are bassist Kai Gibson, a graduate of Berklee College of Music who has played the Kennedy Center and Chris' Jazz Cafe; Liam McGeary, a Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers) trained musician and music teacher who has played the Count Basie Theatre, NJPAC, and Paper Mill Playhouse; and Danny Allen, a pianist, vocalist, and composer studying Jazz Piano Performance and Communications at Rutgers New Brunswick. Together they bring jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock, and Latin influences into a contemporary Lutheran worship setting.
Faith Formation: From Nursery to Senior High
Faith formation at Holy Trinity is taken seriously, beginning in infancy and continuing through the college years. Nursery care is staffed during the Sunday School hour and worship service by Kaylyn Hargrave, an inclusive education student at Rowan College at Burlington County. As children grow they move into Sunday School, where elementary teachers Laura Poethke and Danielle Ercolani walk through the lectionary readings week by week, and middle and high school students gather under the leadership of Bonnie Mazza.
Sunday School students at Holy Trinity have run an ongoing collection of aluminum pop tabs from beverage and soup cans, which are delivered to the Ronald McDonald House of Southern New Jersey to help keep housing affordable for families receiving care there. The project is small but ongoing, and the congregation treats it as a tangible way to teach children about generosity.
Older youth have a parallel rhythm. The Holy Trinity Youth Group meets on the fourth Sunday of each month, splitting the evening into two age-appropriate gatherings: Junior Youth for students in grades four through seven from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, and Senior Youth for grades eight through twelve from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Mazza directs the program, with Amber Johnson and Nicole Rodig as assistant directors. The stated goal is to develop young people in Christian leadership, social responsibility, and fellowship, and the group is closely tied to Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center, the outdoor ministry shared by the New Jersey Synod ELCA and the Episcopal Diocese of Newark.
The congregation also walks young people through Confirmation in the seventh and eighth grades. Poethke leads the seventh grade class; Pastor Haab teaches the eighth grade class and prepares young people for First Holy Communion. Each year the congregation awards memorial scholarships to college-age members, supported by funds honoring past members including Otto P. Andersen Sr., Pastor Charles Immendorf, Margaret M. Sadlier, E. Edward and Anne L. Shewell, Harold E. and Ruth B. Stinson, and Philip Waldman. Vacation Bible School rounds out the summer, organized by Mazza, Poethke, Johnson, and Karin Schmalz.
The Food Pantry and Caring for Neighbors
In September 2023, Holy Trinity opened a food pantry named in honor of the Immendorf family, whose generosity the congregation credits as a pillar of grace throughout its history. The pantry, which operates on the third Sunday of each month from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, distributes perishable items including refrigerated and frozen goods along with non-perishables. People in need can call the church office to schedule a pickup at another time. The pantry's mission is broader than food: "We want all people to know they are accepted and forgiven," the church writes.
Donations are gathered through the monthly food drive organized by the Social Ministry Committee, which also collects personal hygiene items year round for New Visions in Camden. New Visions offers breakfast and lunch along with showers to people experiencing homelessness, and the congregation supplies toothbrushes, toothpaste, washcloths, soap, and shampoo. The committee has also coordinated school supply drives and sent cards and gifts to military members serving overseas.
A small tradition called "Phillip the Bucket" reinforces the giving culture. On the first Sunday of every month Phillip appears in the sanctuary to collect loose change - what the church calls the pennies that change the world.
GreenFaith: Creation Care on the South Jersey Synod Border
Holy Trinity hosts the GreenFaith Circle of Southern New Jersey, a multi-faith environmental network founded locally in 2019. The circle has advocated with state representatives on environmental issues, co-hosted an educational session on green jobs, and worked to limit single-use plastics in the area. Members come from area congregations and the wider community, and the group is open to anyone curious about connecting faith with environmental justice. Those interested can reach the circle at gfcirclesj@gmail.com.
Rooted in Lutheran Identity
Holy Trinity's mission statement - "Together in Jesus Christ we are freed by grace to live faithfully, witness boldly and serve joyfully" - is the language of the ELCA, and the congregation is explicit about its grounding in Lutheran confessional sources. Its five stated core values are forgiveness and reconciliation, dignity and compassion and justice, inclusion and diversity, courage and openness to change, and faithful stewardship of God's creation and gifts. The third value is unusually specific for a Lutheran congregation, naming a welcome that explicitly challenges dynamics of power and privilege affecting women, people of color, minority ethnic groups, people with disabilities, people who are marginalized or living in poverty, and the LGBTQ community.
The congregation's vision draws on ELCA language as well: "A world experiencing the difference God's grace and love in Christ makes for all people and creation."
What to Expect When You Visit
The church sits at 1308 Mt. Holly Road, but the parking lot is reached from Springside-Rancocas Road rather than the main address. From the entrance lobby, a short flight of stairs leads up to the sanctuary, and an elevator is available for those who need it. Restrooms and the nursery are on the main floor to the right of the entrance, and both are handicap accessible.
Visitors who arrive at 9:00 am will find Sunday School in session; those who come at 10:00 am will be greeted at the door by a member of the congregation's greeter team and handed a bulletin to follow along with the service. Communion is open to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ. For those who cannot attend in person, the service is livestreamed on Facebook (facebook.com/holytrinityBT) and YouTube, with the broadcast beginning at 9:55 am.
Anyone considering membership can place an "I Am Here" pew card in the offering plate or call the office at 609-387-1202 to set up a meeting with Pastor Haab. New members are formally received twice a year during worship. Baptisms, weddings, and funerals are scheduled through the pastor, and offerings can be given in the plate, by mail, or online through the Vanco Mobile Faith Engagement app. Volunteer roles - from greeter and lector to altar guild, usher, and committee member - are described on the church's Donate Your Time page, and the building is also a place for community service work, food drives, and the summer food pantry distribution that has become one of the church's most visible acts of mercy in Burlington.
For seventy years and counting, Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church has stayed close to its original calling: gathering for worship on Sunday, teaching the faith to its children, and feeding its neighbors - all from a single building on Mt. Holly Road where the doors are open, the elevator runs, and Phillip the Bucket is waiting for spare change.