Welcome to Trinity Lutheran Church

Our History

Trinity Lutheran Church, Fort Worth, TX was started during the early years of World War II, by people who moved to Fort Worth from Clifton, a primarily Norwegian community central Texas, to work in the Defense industry. The congregation was organized by Pastor Erling Wold in 1942. The young congregation acquired a home at 3621 Tulsa Way, and remodeled it for administration, education, and worship space. When the congregation outgrew the space available by the remodeled home on its property, it worshipped in the Bowie Theater on Camp Bowie Blvd., a few blocks west of the Camp Bowie-Montgomery intersection, while its new building was under construction.  

Click here to view an archive copy of our church newsletter from 1948.

A unique building was designed by the Austin architectural firm, Fehr and Granger, and their plans were accepted by the congregation in September, 1953. Dedication of the new building took place on the congregation’s 13th anniversary, September 18, 1955. Later, in 1963, a fellowship hall and education/administration were added with a parking lot behind the facility, giving the congregation a three-story building from the lower (south, parking lot) side, with entry to the nave from a breezeway connecting the nave with the U-shaped building around a courtyard.

In the early years of the 1950’s and 60’s the congregation numbered over 800 members with two full-time pastors. The congregation has historically offered traditional liturgical worship, a strong asset of the Lutheran heritage, through a rotation of several settings for the Holy Eucharist. As Fort Worth continued to grow, members from around the city gravitated to newer congregations organized in the suburban communities in which they resided, and transferred their membership to those congregations. 

To view a detailed history of Trinity's early years, compiled in 1992 for our 50th Anniversary, click here.

In the early 1960’s the congregation started a Mother’s Day Out (MDO) program, staffed entirely by volunteers from the membership. As the needs of the community warranted, the MDO program evolved into the Trinity Lutheran Children Center (TLCC), as a mission outreach into the community, serving currently an enrollment of 75+ children ranging in age from 6-week old infants through Kindergarten with a paid staff of 14-17 people. The constituency of the TLCC is currently only about 7% from member families of the congregation. This provides a mission field as TLCC seeks to build a caring community among constituent families and offer them a church home if they have none. The mission of the congregation has centered around providing not only a early-childhood ministry including parenting classes, but also some unique ministry to the aging population of Tarrant County. This has been accomplished through such programs as Eldercare, Lifeline, Continuity of Care (a monthly meeting of Senior services personnel and resource people in Tarrant County), and Caregiver Training and Support Groups. The congregation has a strong Stephen Ministry in place, providing caring and listening to people experiencing special times of stress in their lives.

While originally having a majority of its membership living in neighborhood proximity of the location of the facility (Arlington Heights, Monticello, Mistletoe Heights, and neighborhoods around TCU) over the years, Trinity has gradually become more of a regional congregation. However, the demographics of the last few years have been changing in the Arlington Heights, Monticello, the 7th Street corridor from downtown, and other neighborhoods around the facility. More and more young adults and young families are purchasing lots, and often razing the home to accommodate the construction of a new dwelling, or are purchasing condos along the 7th Street corridor and into downtown. Neighborhood public elementary schools are expanding their facilities to accommodate increased numbers of young children. More and more construction of the Cultural District and the North Texas State Osteopathic School of Medicine in the immediate neighborhood of our facility are continuing to help us shape some new and innovative forms of ministry. These developments present some unique challenges for the future and for ministry in our geographical location.   

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