Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church - Tomball TX
Residing in the Museum Center of Tomball is Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. I'm guessing you might not have realized that Tomball had a museum district but they do. It is located at 510 Pine Street. The museum is open on Thursday from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM and on Sunday from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church dates back to either 1901 or 1905 depending on which history you are looking at. The original congregation dates back to 1876. The Church was originally located at the Neudorf Community, southwest of Tomball over close to the subdivision of Stone Lake off of Mueschke Rd. It was an active Church community until sometime in the 1960's. It was abandoned for several years and then was 
moved to the Tomball Museum Center around 1972. Luckily several members of the congregation removed the organ, baptismal and other items that were used in the services and when it came to rest as a historical site those items were restored to the Church for the benefit of its visitors.
As I said the congregation of this church dates back to the mid 1800's when German settlers first settled the area aroune what is now Tomball. At that time they built a couple of different schools but they were burnt by prairie fires. They use to us a school and a church interchangeably. Around 1900 they decided it was time to build a Church. Each member spent about 18 days building the Church. The majority of the lumber that was used in building the Church was provided by the local saw mill.
The church was completed somewhere around 1901 or 1905. Shortly after the Church was completed the Ladies group decided they needed an organ and raised money to buy one. They raised $50 and bought an Organ and had it shipped from New Jersey. The organ that you see in the picture is the original organ that they bought back in the early 1900's for $50.
The Wooden hymn board is also the original board. The wooden numbers were put on to show the selection of Zhymns they would be singing for that particular Sunday. You can also see the infant baptismal that is sitting beside the organ. They would bring warm water in and put it in the baptismal so they didn't shock the baby.
At that time the men would sit on one side of the congregation and the women and children would sit on the other side. The long handle you see at the back of the Church was the offering plate and the offering was only taken from the men's side. Widows were not expected to pay anything.
At this time all the sermons were in German. It wasn't until the 1940's during World War II that the sermons started being done in English. This was also at the same time that the families started sitting together. This was an active church until the 1960's when two churches came together as one and this little church set abandoned until it was moved to the Tomball Museum Center.
It is now a vibrant little Museum Church. When I was there a local elementary was having a field trip. The Tomball Museum Center actually encompasses several other structures such as a school house, an oil camp house etc. The students would spend about 10 minutes in each building getting some history of that building by
a volunteer of the Spring Creek Historical Society. There was another volunteer who rang a bell when the 10 minutes was up so the students could go to their next building. It appeared to me that they went through about 5 different buildings. I happened to be in the Church taking pictures when a couple of the school groups came through and was able to learn this additional history of the Church that I have presented here.
100 years later this little historic Church has an active congregation meeting there on Sundays. This is now where Ascension Lutheran Church meets. Ascension's goal is to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone. They have one service at 9:30 Am on Sunday followed by Sunday School. For more information on Ascension Lutheran Church click here.
Additionally this Church is available to be used for weddings and funerals for a modest fee.
To visit Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church go down Main Street (FM 2920) and turn North on Pine; at the curve of the street you will see the Tomball Museum Center.
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CARL, The whole museum is interesting. Tomball has quite the German heritage. The German Festival is going on this weekend but the weather does not look like it is going to cooperate.
KAREN, That is really wonderful that you attended Church in a Church that was so old. In this part of the country it is fairly rare to find a Church that is that old.
NANNETTE, I really did enjoy the school presentation. I had really good timing because I found out a lot more than I would have just walking around the premises.
KAY, Thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you were here to stop by after reading your last post. It is nice this little Church is being preserved and presently has a congregation meeting there.
GENA, It is GREAT that the Church is being used for more than just museum tours. I look at the difference between this Church and the one in Galveston built the same year and the difference is startling. Back then Galveston would have not been a trip you made in a little over an hour though.
Marchel, I had no idea they had a museum district but how neat. This little church reminds me of the "Indiana" churches I attended as a child. I loved it. Now, they just build them so large and intimidating. This is a terrific post and a wonderful church.
Thank you, Marchel,
Deb
LIZ, Thanks! I loved your mascot post by the way.
DEBRA, It is a great place for those school field trips. When I was there they had about 4 or 5 buses full of kids. They were able to learn a little history of the area.