Trinity Presbyterian Church stands on the north side of Washington Avenue in University City, Missouri, just west of the Loop and across from the COCA Center of Creative Arts. A congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a member of the Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery, Trinity has lived for decades by a simple three-part motto: celebrating diversity, working for justice, living with joy. Members describe the church as a place where leaders are called by God and chosen without respect to gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, previous religious tradition, worldly circumstance, or voting record. Sundays at 10:00 a.m. draw a steady crowd into a sanctuary anchored by a 1970 Casavant Frères organ, and the same service is livestreamed on Facebook and later posted on YouTube for those who cannot be there in person.
Sunday Morning at 10:00
Worship is held in person and online every Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. The service is livestreamed on the church's Facebook page so people can join from home, and the recording is shared on YouTube later in the day for anyone who wants to revisit it during the week. Communion is observed periodically, including on the first Sunday of the month.
The order of worship follows a familiar pattern: a prelude focuses the congregation, the assembly sings hymns together, and at several points one of the dedicated ensembles - the chancel choir, the handbell ensemble, or the children's choir - presents a piece that highlights a particular theme, emotion, or spiritual point. After the final blessing, a postlude sends everyone out and on to their day. On holidays such as Easter the ensembles are reinforced with brass or string players. Bulletins and lists of service music are archived on the church's bulletin page for several years back.
What to wear and what to expect
Trinity is a church where jeans and suits sit comfortably in the same pews. The congregation is intergenerational, and children remain in the service for the first portion of the morning before heading to Children's Worship with the Director of Children and Youth.
A Casavant Frères Organ, the First in Saint Louis
The instrument that defines the sanctuary is a Casavant Frères organ listed as No. 3052. It was the first Casavant ever built in St. Louis, initiated by then Organist and Choir Director S. William Aitken and completed and dedicated in 1970. The organ grandly occupies the north side of the sanctuary in the choir loft, with three manuals, forty-seven ranks of pipes across four divisions, and a total of 2,520 pipes.
In 2005, major renovations restored the pipes and console under the leadership of then Minister of Music Paul Vasile. A decade later, in 2018, a major electrical storm damaged the console's electronics, and the congregation pulled together to fund the repair so the instrument could sing again. The full specification includes a sixteen-foot Quintaden in the Great, a Swell division with a Vox Cœlestis and Oboe, a Ruckpositiv with a Zimbel, and a Pedal division with a thirty-two-foot Resultant and a sixteen-foot Posaune - a French-Romantic palette well suited to the church's wide-ranging repertoire.
Music at Trinity: From Brahms to the Beatles
Music is one of the most visible expressions of the church's theology. The chancel choir, a standard SATB ensemble with section leaders, rehearses on Thursdays at 7:15 p.m. and sings the majority of service music. Its offerings range from newly arranged hymns to Renaissance motets, from spirituals to chant, and include pieces in English as well as other languages. The handbell ensemble meets on Thursdays at 6 p.m., and the group uses Schulmerich handbells covering G3 to G7, Malmark hand chimes from C4 to C7, and a Jeffers handbell tree for solo work. A relatively new children's choir, open to anyone under eighteen, sings several times a year for special holidays.
Guest musicians are a regular part of worship. Section leaders sing solos; congregants share folk music; and on festival days the chancel choir is joined by outside players. The Director of Music writes that Trinity's musical offerings strive to be eclectic - "it's not unheard of to move from Brahms to the Beatles" - and the church welcomes guest artists, especially high school and college musicians and dancers who might not have an easy time performing elsewhere. They are treated and paid like professional performers.
Troubling the Waters: A Year of Negro Spirituals
In June 2022, Trinity launched a yearlong initiative called Troubling the Waters to acknowledge the power and beauty of the anonymous spirituals used in worship, learn about their origin and structure, and gather funds to pay royalties for their use - just as the church does for known composers and arrangers. Funds collected are distributed to local organizations dedicated to keeping the spiritual tradition alive.
The initiative brought renowned scholars and performers to Trinity. Dr. Robert A. Harris, Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, led an interactive adult education session in November 2022 on the history and performance practice of African-American spirituals. In April 2023, the Legend Singers held a freewill-offering concert at the church, with composer, arranger, and educator Dr. Roland Carter of the University of Tennessee Chattanooga serving as clinician and conductor for a Festival of African-American Spirituals. The church also shared resources on the coded lyrics of spirituals used along the Underground Railroad, on Antonín Dvořák's 1895 declaration that Negro melodies could be America's national music, and on the founding and travels of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Children's Worship, Confirmation, and Youth
Children and youth are central to life at Trinity. Each Sunday, children from age four through fifth grade begin the morning in adult worship with their families. After the passing of the peace and a brief time up front with the pastor, they head off with Hannah Peters, the Director of Children and Youth, for Children's Worship. There they explore a different Bible story through crafts, games, prayer requests, and time in the children's library.
Middle school youth take part in a two-year confirmation program built around the Re:Form curriculum. The journey includes mission opportunities, mentor relationships, retreats, and confirmation classes. High school youth and confirmation students meet for Youth Fellowship in the Youth Lounge; they lead an annual Youth Sunday service, take part in mission trips, and join varied activities throughout the year. Summer Vacation Bible School is hosted jointly with Grace United Methodist Church; the most recent program used the Camp Firelight curriculum and welcomed children from age four through rising seventh grade.
The Scholin-Weems Memorial Scholarship
Each year Trinity awards scholarships through the Scholin-Weems Memorial Scholarship Fund, established by parents who wanted to honor two beloved sons of the congregation, James Scholin and Todd Weems, whose lives were cut short as young adults. Jimmy and Todd grew up in the Trinity family and were active from childhood through young adulthood, including the senior high youth fellowship and mission trips. The fund invests in the futures of Trinity high school, college, and vocational students, and approximately 160 students have already received support.
Applicants must be active members or active participants of Trinity, must be at least in their last year of high school, and must be applying to a college, junior college, or accredited vocational-technical school. Recipients are recognized in worship each June.
Adult Education and Book Discussions
On selected Sundays after worship, members gather to explore topics ranging from science and literature to social justice. Trinity's membership includes people with vocations in art, science, medicine, music, business, education, social work, and the humanities, and these congregants willingly share their expertise. Recent sessions have featured Seed St. Louis, a nonprofit that helps neighborhoods create gardens; the Honorable Terry Crow, Mayor of University City; and Dr. Rachel Presti, who led COVID vaccine research at Washington University. Past sessions are recorded and made available on the church's YouTube channel through the church office.
The Winger Food Pantry
The largest of Trinity's affiliated ministries is the Winger Food Pantry, based at the church and open every Wednesday afternoon from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m. Clients enter on the Kingsland Avenue side near the pantry sign. The pantry has been part of the congregation's mission since 1980 and now feeds more than 900 Saint Louis families per year.
The pantry operates with volunteers at every step: people who purchase food, pick up donations, pack bags, register recipients, and help load food and clothing into cars. Clients do not need a referral, but they must be at least eighteen and may receive food once per calendar month. A photo ID is required for check-in, and only one client per family or address may register. Bags of non-perishable food are provided along with perishable items, personal care products, and gently used clothing. Bread comes from Panera; meat, fresh vegetables, and dairy come from Operation Food Search; produce is supplied by Fair Shares; and the pantry distributes Commodity Supplemental Food Program boxes to income-eligible seniors through the St. Louis Area Foodbank.
The pantry closes on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the Wednesday after Christmas, and any Wednesday that the University City School District is closed for in-person learning because of winter weather.
A Matthew 25 Church
Since May 2021 Trinity has been a Matthew 25 church of the PC(USA). Matthew 25 is an initiative of the Presbyterian Mission Agency grounded in Matthew 25:31-46, calling congregations to focus on three commitments: building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. At Trinity the work is led by the Mission and Ministry Committee, whose members include Mary Klingensmith, Steven Crumb, Liz Nelson, Rachel Presti, Kevin Harkins, and Nigel Holloway.
The committee supports and guides the work of the church's affiliated organizations - the Winger Food Pantry, Pinwheels, Light for the Darkness, UKirk, More Light Presbyterians, and Fair Shares - and looks for sustainable ways to build community. Members of the committee and congregation hold meetings with other Matthew 25 churches in the Presbytery to share what they are learning about poverty and racism.
Pinwheels: A Safe Space for Trans and Non-Binary Youth
Pinwheels is a St. Louis program launched by Trinity members Liz Nelson and Vicki Carmichael that provides a safe space for transgender and non-binary children and youth between the ages of five and eighteen to gather and make friends. Trinity's local mission funding has supported Pinwheels since its inception, supplying money for activity materials and refreshments as well as other forms of support. Several Trinity members volunteer with the program at its monthly meetings, which have included baking, self-defense classes, picnics, conversations with trans and non-binary adults, art projects, and board games. Invited speakers have addressed parents on insurance and hormone treatment options. When COVID-19 forced the program online, Pinwheels moved to Zoom and held a successful virtual scavenger hunt that connected the St. Louis parent group with a parent group in Chicago.
Light for the Darkness and Mental Health
Since the end of 2019, Trinity has been the partner church of Light for the Darkness, a New Worshipping Community of the Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery whose ministry leader, Rev. Thirza Sayers, is committed to pastoral care for persons with mental illness. She holds regular meetings at the St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center and the Independence Center, and in early 2020 Trinity helped edit a successful $50,000 grant application for the ministry. In April, the two congregations formed a covenant to work for each other's spiritual growth: Trinity provides a venue for Light for the Darkness meetings, and Light for the Darkness welcomes any of Trinity's members living with mental illness to its gatherings. A Monday-night group at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom offers community for those who want to explore where God might be found in the midst of mental health struggles.
UKirk, SHED, and More Light
UKirk, the Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery's campus ministry serving Washington University and Saint Louis University, is housed at Trinity. UKirk hosts weekly Sunday-evening meals, and the two congregations share volunteers. After UKirk joined Pinwheels at a gathering, Trinity followed UKirk's example and voted to become a More Light Church, joining More Light Presbyterians and committing to the full participation of LGBTQIA+ people in the life, ministry, and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
SHED - Sustainable Housing & Equitable Development - has worked with more than 2,100 volunteers over the past decade to assist over 500 residents in University City with repairs and maintenance on their homes. Trinity's renewed collaboration with SHED is one of the ways the congregation puts its Matthew 25 commitment to eradicating systemic poverty into practice.
The Circle, Lunch Bunches, and the Monday Quilters
Beyond the larger mission work, Trinity sustains a network of small groups. The Circle, started in late 2019, gathers caregivers - those caring for spouses, adult children, small children, or aging parents - via Zoom on the third Monday of each month to trade stories, insights, fears, prayers, and resources. The Men's Lunch Bunch, the Kitchen Cabinet for women, and the Young Families Fellowship meet regularly, often through Zoom, for fellowship and conversation.
The Monday Quilters have been meeting at Trinity since October 2021, working at stationary hand-quilting frames in the church dining room from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The group has a long history that traces through several University City congregations and welcomes new stitchers, experienced or not. Earnings are donated to the host church for missions and maintenance.
Getting There: Parking, the Big Steps, and the Purple Door
The church building has two ways in, and a long set of front steps on Washington Avenue is only one of them. Sunday-morning parking is free on nearby streets or in the indoor COCA garage across and just west of the church on Washington Avenue. Visitors can use the large front steps to reach the worship level or, if they prefer to avoid the climb, enter at the handicap-accessible purple door on the Kingsland Avenue side. From there, an elevator rises to the Sanctuary level. Trinity is ADA compliant and welcomes people with physical disabilities.
Office hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The church office phone number is (314) 725-3840, and general correspondence goes through communications@trinityucity.org. Donations may be mailed to Trinity Presbyterian Church, Attn: Linde Weber Onstott, 6800 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63130, or made online through the church's Realm giving page.
Roots in University City
Longtime members trace their connection to Trinity back generations. The oldest member, Genny Richmond, first joined in July 1945. That longevity, paired with a willingness to keep learning - through the adult education series, the spirituals initiative, the partnerships with UKirk and SHED, and the steady Wednesday afternoons of the food pantry - shapes the congregation's identity.