Local Tourist -- Historic Trinity Lutheran Church (LC-MS), Detroit

On Saturday, November 16, the Local Tourist took his lovely wife, Laura, and joined Pastor Gregory & Susan Gibbons and Pastor Geoff & Becky Kieta to tour Historic Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (LC-MS) in Detroit.  Our tour was graciously led by Pastor James Rolf and his wife Cheryl.  By coincidence, Pastor Rolf and Pastor Gibbons knew each other as children when they were both growing up in Saginaw.

Historic Trinity is the mother church of Lutheranism in Detroit.  Many parishes (some no longer functioning) can trace their roots back to Historic Trinity.  The church was established in 1847, but the church building we toured was built during the Great Depression.  A great amount of planning and detail went into the construction of this church.  Besides being a magnificent structure, it is also highly decorated with wood work, stained glass, stone reliefs, and even floor tiles which include many pieces from Pewabic Pottery, another Detroit institution.

In addition to the ornate features in the church, Historic Trinity also boasts a 2nd edition Luther Bible and a sample of Martin Luther's own handwriting.  Besides the church itself, we also got to walk through the adjoining building which boasts the Luther Lounge.  A bonus for us is that they had just finished decorating for Christmas already, which included dozens of Christmas trees scattered throughout the facility and over 100 (I think) Nativity scenes from around the world.

Photos almost never do justice to the real thing, but here are a few for you to enjoy.

The Luther Lounge, decorated for Christmas.

Martin Luther's handwriting

(L to R) Pastor Geoff & Becky Kieta, Pastor Gregory & Susan Gibbons, Pastor Tom & Laura Schroeder