A Mother Church at the Heart of Downtown Reading
Trinity Lutheran Church stands at 527 Washington Street in the heart of downtown Reading, an elegant brick sanctuary topped by a 202-foot Georgian steeple that has been a landmark of the Berks County skyline for more than two centuries. Known across the county as the "mother church of Berks," Trinity was formally organized in 1751, only a few years after Reading itself was laid out in 1748, when Lutheran settlers were first gathered for worship at Conrad Weiser's Trading Post by the Rev. Tobias Wagner. The Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, patriarch of American Lutheranism, preached the congregation's first sermon here on October 15, 1752. Nearly three hundred years later, Trinity continues to describe its identity with the same words: "Lifting hearts and hands and voices."
Trinity's long reach is felt across the region. From its early pews came St. Matthew's, St. James', St. Luke's, Grace, Faith, Hope, Peace, St. Mark's, Holy Spirit, and Bethany in West Reading, all of which trace their lineage to Trinity. The congregation helped establish the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary). In 1866 its pastor hosted the meeting that founded the General Council, the Lutheran body that responded to Samuel Simon Schmucker's "American Lutheranism." Today Trinity is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, working together with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod.
The Steeple, the Organ, and the Stained Glass
What a first-time visitor notices first is the steeple. After the original 1752 log church with its modest bell tower and clock, a substantial brick two-story church was dedicated on Trinity Sunday 1794. Its first steeple, completed in 1833 and rising 202 feet, was reported to be the tallest structure in Pennsylvania at the time. Rebuilt once before the twentieth century, it survived a lightning strike in 1925 only to be felled by a tornado in 1933. The present steeple, lifted onto a steel frame and reassembled in 1963 in the original design and fitted with spotlights, remains the church's calling card by day and night.
Behind the worshipers in the pews and around the nave walls lies a treasure that few congregations anywhere can match: a full set of stained-glass windows by Tiffany Studios of New York. The Nave itself seats about 400 and is reserved for sacred use. Above it all sits one of the finest organs in Berks County, the 2013 Patrick J. Murphy & Associates instrument, Op. 58, with three manuals, 48 ranks, and 37 stops, its Georgian-style case picked up in the sanctuary's architecture; more than a quarter of its pipes were recycled from earlier Trinity organs, going back to a 1771 Tannenberg instrument. The chapel, seating about 50, is served by a small Andover positiv organ and is used for midweek services and small weddings and funerals. Five octaves of Malmark handbells and three octaves of handchimes round out the instrument collection, carried by the Trinity Ringers.
Sunday Morning at Trinity
Worship on Sunday morning is the heart of life at Trinity. The principal service is the 10:00 a.m. Choral Eucharist, held in the historic Nave and lasting about seventy minutes. The congregation describes it with three words: liturgical, sacramental, and traditional. The service follows the ancient shape of Christian worship - gathering with song and prayer, hearing God's living Word through scripture and sermon, receiving Holy Communion, and being sent out to serve the world - always including a sermon from one of the clergy, congregational hymns sung in four-part harmony, and music by a rotating roster of ensembles. The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, is celebrated every Sunday; the congregation teaches that in this meal believers receive Christ's body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and are sent out as "little Christs" to every neighbor they meet.
Traditional vestments for the clergy, acolytes, and choirs, chanting, processions, and bodily prayer that would be familiar to worshipers a thousand years ago shape the atmosphere. People come dressed "from suits and dresses to sweaters and jeans," the church notes, with no dress code. From September to May, a shorter service is held at 12:05 p.m. in the Chapel - a brief sermon, one hymn, and a full celebration of the Eucharist in twenty-five minutes, walked in by people from nearby homes and offices. Ash Wednesday, Christmas Eve, and Holy Week services are offered every year.
Baptism, the church teaches, is the sacrament that begins the Christian journey and happens once in a lifetime. Anyone interested in baptism for themselves or a child is invited to contact Senior Pastor Hans E. Becklin.
A Music Tradition That Reaches Beyond the Choir Loft
Music is one of Trinity's four calling cards, alongside liturgical worship, robust preaching, and advocacy and service. Under the direction of Cantor Dr. Cameron Lee Wentz, the church sustains a remarkable program of in-house ensembles and visiting recitalists.
The Trinity Choir, made up of dedicated volunteer musicians, leads worship for most of the program year and regularly performs larger works. The Trinity Scholars serve as paid section leaders. The Mixed Ensemble gathers children from kindergarten through high school with adult family members to form an SATB group that sings roughly once a month. Trinity Ringers rehearse handbells Wednesday evenings. Trinity Brass and Trinity Orchestra, both led by David Himes, play for Christmas Eve, Easter, and other special occasions throughout the church year.
Beyond Sunday worship, Trinity presents Music From Trinity, a three-part series that brings world-class performers into the Nave:
- The Noonday Recital Series brings a variety of performers and styles to downtown Reading on a monthly schedule during the program year. Recent and upcoming recitals have featured baritone Jonathan Mortensen in Finzi's song cycle, soprano Brandi Diggs with pianist Akiko Hosaki, saxophonist Benjamin Small, organist Dr. Cameron Lee Wentz in a Lenten program of Franck and Weaver, and concerts of Ukrainian music with pianist-organist Gail Archer and a program of Ukrainian art songs.
- The Rändel L. Wolfe Memorial Concert Series, founded to honor Director of Music & the Arts Dr. Randel Wolfe (1999-2010), partners with community organizations who receive financial support from concert donations. A Mardi Gras Big Band Bash with Charlie Randazzo's Let's Dance Big Band has raised money for REFRESH BERKS, and the brass-and-organ collaboration fills the sanctuary each winter.
- The Steeple Series focuses on Trinity's own musicians, presenting the Trinity Choir and others in concerts outside the Sunday schedule.
Partnerships are also part of the rhythm: the Kutztown University Choir has presented a spring concert at Trinity, and planned appearances include organists Nicole Keller (University of Michigan) and Tom Trenney (First-Plymouth Church, Lincoln, Nebraska), and the Brentano Quartet, Yale School of Music's quartet-in-residence.
Fifty Years on the Airwaves and Online
Trinity's reach beyond its walls has been amplified by technology since the early days of radio. The congregation's Media Ministry marked its 50th anniversary in January 2026, beginning from a January 11, 1976 television broadcast on what was then Berks Cable Company, after the late Rev. Elton P. Richards led the campaign to put Sunday worship on BCTV. Within a decade, a $100,000 grant from the Lutheran Church in America, matched by the C. Scott Althouse Endowment Fund, made possible a state-of-the-art color recording system and the hiring of Brian K. Trupp as Director of Media Ministry in 1982. Members of the congregation were trained to produce the broadcasts in rotating teams of ten.
For nearly five decades the broadcasts have reached viewers across Berks County and beyond, including distant listeners in England and Germany who tracked the congregation down through the airwaves. Trinity transitioned from analog to digital to high-definition, and now to 4K cameras for some music programs. Director of Technology and Communication Matthew Mellen, who grew up at Trinity, began volunteering as a teen producer, became interim Media Director in 1991, and now oversees a ministry that includes a YouTube channel with more than 1,000 subscribers, a sermon podcast, and weekly vertical-format clips for Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. Sunday worship is livestreamed on both Facebook and YouTube at 10 a.m. Eastern time, and recorded programs remain available online for anyone who wants to revisit the music, preaching, or a particular hymn.
Affirming Widely, in the Heart of Reading
Trinity's affirming posture is central to how the congregation introduces itself. The "Welcoming All" statement names the conviction with unusual directness: Trinity welcomes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people along with cisgender and heterosexual people, having been an affirming congregation for decades and a participant in the larger movement for inclusion through ReconcilingWorks. Republicans and Democrats and independents are welcome; single, divorced, and widowed people are welcome alongside married couples and families of every shape; newcomers to Berks County and old-line Pennsylvania Dutch families are equally at home; people who have every word of Luther's Small Catechism memorized and people who have never heard of Martin Luther sit in the same pews.
This welcome sits on a foundation of classic Lutheran theology. Lutherans, the church teaches, believe that it is only through faith in God that any of us receive God's favor - which means there is nothing we can do that will separate us from God's love. That conviction frees the congregation to focus on praising God and making the world a better place rather than on moralizing or drawing sharp lines.
Advocacy is one of Trinity's four emphases. The congregation participates in Lutheran Advocacy Ministries in Pennsylvania and works through the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod to speak up on local, national, and international concerns. "Jesus calls us to lift our voices, advocating for and serving those who are marginalized or in need" is how the staff describes it.
Forming Faith at Every Age
Christian formation at Trinity is intergenerational by design.
Children and Sunday School. Sunday School is offered during the program year and uses the Whirl Lectionary curriculum, connecting what children learn on Sunday morning to the same texts used in worship. Younger children gather with volunteer teachers and helpers in classroom #4; children are encouraged and welcome in all parts of worship, including as acolytes, ushers, lectors, camera operators, altar guild members, and musicians.
Youth and Confirmation. Trinity's youth ministry, led by Deaconess Deborah Matern Graf, organizes service projects, overnights, lock-ins, and summer service camps with other Lutheran congregations in the region. The heart of older youth work is ChAOS - Catechism And Other Stuff - a fluid program for young people typically in grades 7 through 9, designed as a place where they can ask hard questions, grow in awareness of God's presence in daily life, study Luther's Small Catechism, and serve in worship. Confirmands who complete the program publicly affirm their baptisms on Pentecost, pledging to live among God's faithful people, hear the Word and share in the Lord's Supper, proclaim the good news through word and deed, serve all people following Jesus' example, and strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
Adult Forum. From 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings during the program year, adults gather in the All Saints Room with Pastor Hans as principal teacher for Adult Forum, a wide-ranging hour of Bible study, theology, history, current events, and conversations with community partners. Recent forums have included studies on the Old Testament readings for Advent using Robert Alter's literary translation, a spring journey to Guatemala with Deaconess Deborah (visiting Hogar Miguel Magone boys' orphanage in Aguacate, the bilingual Hope Academy, and the Chica Bean women's coffee cooperative), and a three-Sunday series walking through the draft 2026-2031 Strategic Plan, with new programs called Gather, Discover Trinity, and Circles on the horizon.
Educational Assistance. Thanks to endowments built up over decades by Trinity members, the Educational Assistance Committee offers grants each year to students pursuing further education. Applications are reviewed by the committee each spring and confirmed by the Vestry.
Walking with Reading Through Service
For decades Trinity has been a force for the city around it. The congregation helped establish Reading's city-wide food pantry system and was instrumental in founding Opportunity House, the homeless shelter, child care, and learning center, and later in nurturing Helping Harvest and the Lighthouse Center for Women. Trinity's voice and its rooms have helped bring Lutheran alcohol, drug, and other dependency recovery work to the heart of the city through its longtime partnership with Common Ground Recovery Community.
Common Ground's primary weekly gathering is a 2:00 p.m. Sunday worship and meal in Trinity's All Saints Room. On Mondays, the All Saints Room is open from 1 to 5 p.m. for anyone in recovery, with board games, art projects, conversations, and skills shared by volunteers. The ministry is led by Pastors Tom Scornavacchi and Jayme Babczak (who also serve at Atonement Lutheran Church in Wyomissing) with a team that includes Mal Mitchell and Gloria Berrios. Trinity members help set up, serve the meal, and volunteer in other ways.
The summer brings the Courtyard Cafe, a free lunchtime gathering for the downtown community held in the courtyard between the sanctuary and the Bard House. The TRINITY Transporters ministry provides rides for members with medical appointments or outpatient surgery when they have no other way to get there. Each fall the congregation fields a walking team in the Reading Berks CROP Hunger Walk, with team goals that mark milestones in the congregation's history. The building also houses the offices of the Literacy Council of Reading-Berks and several other aligned nonprofit organizations. Trinity continues to give financial support to church-affiliated partners and to local social service organizations, especially when they are starting a new project or expanding a successful one.
The Building as a Shared Resource
Trinity's downtown campus is itself a ministry. The Nave seats around 400 and houses the principal organ and Tiffany windows. The Chapel seats 50 and is used for midweek worship and small weddings and funerals. The All Saints Room, recently renovated with two 4K projectors and seating for about 115 around six-person round tables, hosts Adult Forum, large meals, wedding receptions, concerts, and Common Ground's Sunday service. The Hintz Room, with seating for about 70, upholstered furniture, and a beverage-and-appetizer alcove, is used for fellowship after Sunday worship and for art shows and small concerts. The high-ceilinged Welcome Center off the main entrance serves as a check-in and reception space.
Parking is a strength. A 50-space secure lot is reachable from North 5th Street and can be rented on nights and weekends. A Sunday security guard directs overflow parking when the lot fills. Street parking around the church is free on Sundays and on Saturdays after 2 p.m. The Bard House, a historic mansion across the courtyard, holds the church offices and is where visitors are received when the main building is closed. The staff keep a Sunday-through-Thursday workweek; on Fridays and Saturdays the campus is closed for sabbath.
The People Who Lead the Work
Trinity's ministry is carried by a staff of eight plus the lay volunteers of the Vestry, the Common Ground team, and many committees. Senior Pastor The Rev. Hans E. Becklin, called to Trinity in October 2023 after pastorates in Lititz, the Milwaukee suburbs, and Chicago, is a graduate of Luther College (Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude) and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago; he served on the ELCA Church Council from 2013 to 2019 and won the A. R. Wentz Prize in American Lutheran History in 2016. He and Pastor Marissa Becklin live in Wyomissing with their son.
Deaconess Deborah Matern Graf, a 1990 graduate of Valparaiso University and a 2013 Master of Arts from Moravian Theological Seminary, has been on staff since June 1999. She is fluent in German as well as varieties of English and currently co-convenes the NEPA Synod Racial Justice Team. Cantor Dr. Cameron Lee Wentz is a composer and church musician whose studies took him from Westminster Choir College through Peabody and King's College London to a doctorate at Maryland; he comes to Trinity most recently from The Reformed Church of Bronxville. Matthew Mellen, Director of Technology and Communication, has shaped Trinity's media ministry for more than three decades. Rachel Gambone, the Congregational Life Coordinator, organizes the volunteers that keep Sunday worship and parish life running and maintains the records and calendars in the Bard House.
Worship Online and Giving
Sunday worship is livestreamed on both Facebook and YouTube at 10 a.m. Eastern time. Visitors are invited to participate from home by praying the prayers and singing the hymns - "even if you've never entered our building, you are a part of our community." Online giving is available for the General Offering, with a 3 percent option to cover processing fees; donations are fully tax-deductible. The Steeple Notes newsletter is published six times a year, and Steeple Notes emails go out on Fridays.
For weddings, Pastor Hans presides at all services in the sanctuary, with another ELCA (or full-communion) pastor permitted to participate at his discretion; he will marry two people of any gender identity who wish to be married according to the Lutheran rite. A fee for use of the building and staff time applies, with a significantly reduced rate for members.
From its first baptism twenty-five years before the Declaration of Independence to a fall 2026 Reformation Sunday reconsecration of a freshly renovated sanctuary on its 275th anniversary, Trinity's story has been one of continuity and renewal in the same downtown place. As Pastor Hans has put it, the task now is to keep finding the places where people are looking for meaning - by livestream and TikTok, by choir anthem and CROP Hunger Walk, by baptizing and burying, by every hot meal served and every prayer walked through the streets of Reading.