Holy Trinity on Parkview Avenue
Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church sits at 2086 Parkview Avenue in Abington, just north of Philadelphia in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where it has gathered for worship and service since 1930. From this corner of Parkview and Lycoming Avenues the steeple rises above the surrounding streets, drawing people by car, by SEPTA regional rail to Crestmont Station, or by Route 55 bus along Old York Road. The congregation belongs to the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), and was actually one of the first seventeen congregations to charter the new denomination on August 27, 2010. Holy Trinity is known for combining a deep Lutheran liturgical life with an unusually wide circle of local and global mission relationships, weekly Holy Communion offered in two weekend services, a strong volunteer music program, and a neighborhood food pantry that has become a fixture of Abington's charitable landscape.
Weekend Worship: Saturday Spoken, Sunday Sung
Holy Trinity offers Holy Communion every weekend. On Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. a simpler spoken liturgy draws those whose Sundays belong elsewhere. On Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. the full liturgical service unfolds in the sanctuary, with the chancel choir, cantors, and organ leading the people through the historic Lutheran Mass.
From the moment the choir begins to chant the Introit and the congregation turns toward the processional cross, the people of Holy Trinity are at their most important work of the week: the worship of the Triune God. Several musical settings of the Lutheran service rotate through the year, and a large number of hymns span the early chant hymns, the robust Lutheran chorales that are the congregation's particular heritage, the treasury of Protestant hymnody from the last three centuries, and strong modern hymns from today. The instrumentalists and the Family Choir of children and adults add their voices several times each year.
Worship is also livestreamed on YouTube so that members away from home and those who cannot be present can still take part. The church teaches that true heart-felt liturgical worship is meant to lead to an encounter with God, not to serve as a consumer event, and that everyone in the community is invited to participate.
Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion
Holy Trinity celebrates both sacraments that Lutherans recognize. Baptism is offered to adults and to children, by pouring, and the pastors ask that baptisms take place during one of the weekend worship services so that the wider congregation can welcome the newly baptized. Parents and sponsors meet with the pastor several days or weeks beforehand and provide information for the baptism certificate, including the candidate's full name, date and place of birth, current contact details, and the names of any sponsors. On the day, the family is asked to arrive ten minutes early, and the baptism is performed at the front of the sanctuary with sponsors standing alongside the candidate.
Holy Communion is offered every weekend. All baptized Christians who believe that Christ is really present in the bread and wine are welcome to receive, whether or not they are members of Holy Trinity. Children who have not yet received Pre-Communion Instruction may come forward to receive a blessing, and children who have been instructed either at Holy Trinity or at their home parish are also welcome to commune.
Music: Organ, Choir, and Bells
Music is central to Holy Trinity's identity. Thomas H. Williams serves as Director of Music and Organist, working closely with the pastor and the Worship and Music Committee. He rehearses the chancel and bell choirs each week, selects music that fits the liturgy and the Scripture lessons, plays the organ, and directs the choir every Sunday.
The chancel choir is an all-volunteer SATB choir for adults and youth. New members are always welcome. The choir sings at the 9:00 a.m. services from September through Trinity Sunday and at all festival services. Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings at 8:00 p.m., with generous time off in January and after Easter. The handbell choir plays in worship a couple of times each month and rehearses on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Members need basic music-reading skills or a spirit willing to learn to count. Those with the gift of helping to lead the congregation in song can serve as cantors, and instrumentalists from inside and outside the congregation frequently add to the music.
Sunday Church School for Every Age
Christian education is taken seriously at Holy Trinity. At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings, after the principal worship service, four parallel classes run simultaneously:
- A Longer Look at the Lessons. A Bible study based on the three Scripture readings from that morning's worship, providing background, context, and discussion questions. The class meets in the Fellowship Hall at the stage end. Pastor Guenzel facilitates. All older teens and adults are welcome.
- God of the Ordinary: A Study in the Book of Ruth. A six-week study led by Tom Schied, set in the dark days of the Judges and tracing a story of purity, faithfulness, innocence, loyalty, duty, and love. Meets in the Study after worship.
- Reason for Hope: Apologetics Without Apology. A twelve-week course, September through December, on living out 1 Peter 3:15. Led by Pastor Maurice in the Fellowship Hall.
- Family Sunday School. An intergenerational study for Pre-K through fifth grade, with parents and older post-Confirmation children joining in. The year's theme walks through Old Testament stories from Creation to the building of the Tabernacle, with Bible stories, snacks, crafts, and a Big Brother/Big Sister mentoring element for older participants.
Confirmation meets on Sundays for sixth through eighth graders and covers a three-year course on the Bible, the Lutheran catechism, and church history. For teens and adults, topics by video offer studies using study guides and instructional videos on subjects such as Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. On Thursday mornings the Meanderings group gathers at 10:00 a.m. for a Bible study and theological discussion over bagels. Real World Theology meets monthly on Wednesday evenings for lectures and discussion.
Groups That Hold the Congregation Together
Several small communities sustain the wider life of Holy Trinity. Coram Deo, whose name means "Living in the Presence of God," meets on the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Sts. Peter & Andrew Study. It is a book discussion group with a published reading list for the year; members can drop in for any or all sessions. The current season has worked its way through The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Sea, The Ladies' Paradise, Shop Class As Soulcraft, a biography of Fred Rogers, Turgenev, Bernard Lewis on Islam, Lucky Jim, and others. Nancy King Berkovitz and Betsy Zimmermann lead the group.
Lutheran Church Women (LCW) brings together every woman who is a member of Holy Trinity, with many choosing to meet in smaller circles: Eve on the second Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Hannah on the second Sunday at 11:30 a.m., Miriam on the second Monday at 12:30 p.m., and Ruth on the second Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. From September through June the women study a Bible topic together, share food and fellowship, and support causes like Cradle of Hope and Sarnelli House. The group also hosts two general meeting programs a year, an annual Church Women's Retreat, Blanket Sunday, the Ladies Sewing Group, a Lenten Soup Supper, and collections for various charities. The Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry at Holy Trinity was launched by LCW in 2007.
The Men's Devotional Group gathers on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Youth Room. The men read the Bible together, pray together, and challenge each other to use their talents for God's kingdom. They organize outreach events through the year, including a 5K Run for Water Mission International. Tom Schied leads the group.
A Women's Prayer Group meets on the first Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The 2nd Friday Nighters gather at 6:30 p.m. on the second Friday of each month for fellowship and a meal (often soup, with members asked to bring a salad or bread to share). A Youth Group and Children's Group are organized through the church office. A Sew, Knit, Crochet group gathers on Saturday mornings throughout the year to make blankets, scarves, drawstring bags, and prayer shawls, with the Sarnelli House in Kensington as one of the principal recipients.
The Bread of Heaven Food Pantry
The Bread of Heaven (BOH) Food Pantry is Holy Trinity's own outreach to Montgomery County. Open on Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon, the pantry provides nonperishable foods and basic toiletries (toothbrushes and paste, paper towels, toilet paper, and soap) to those experiencing food insecurity. On Mother's Day weekend the church takes a special collection to provide baby food and basic infant supplies. The pantry serves both individuals and families, and lists of current needs are posted so that shoppers can pick up an extra item during their regular grocery run.
Recovery, Hospitality, and the Wider Building
Holy Trinity makes its building available to Alcoholics Anonymous for three weekly meetings: Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. Three Red Cross blood drives are held each year, scheduled around Valentine's Day, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving because those are typically low-donation times. Members serve dinner to the Red Cross workers, an extra touch that the volunteers especially appreciate. Holy Trinity also serves as a polling place for local elections.
Mission Commitment Fund and Benevolence
At the end of 2014 Holy Trinity received a substantial bequest from Dan and Emma Hettler. The Church Council designated 25% of the gift for ministries beyond the congregation, creating the Mission Commitment Fund. Members were invited to apply for grants to their favorite Christian 501(c)(3) charities, and over several years more than two dozen organizations received support. The list of partners gives a clear picture of Holy Trinity's reach: Asia Harvest, Bread of Heaven Food Pantry, Carson Simpson Farm, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Compassion International, Cradle of Hope, Harvest USA, Lutheran World Relief, the NALC Disaster Response Fund, the North American Lutheran Seminary, Samaritan's Purse, Silver Springs/Martin Luther School, Valley Christian School, Voice of the Martyrs, Water Mission International, World Mission Prayer League, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Young Life of Montgomery County, and many more.
Local Partners Around the Region
The church's local mission relationships extend in several directions. Young Life Montgomery County is led by Area Director Jeff Pearson, working out of Fort Washington, and is part of an international, non-denominational ministry that introduces adolescents to Jesus Christ through Club gatherings, Campaigners Bible studies, Wyldlife for middle schoolers, and weeklong or weekend camps.
Christ's Home serves both older adults and disadvantaged children in an atmosphere of love, dignity, compassion, and respect. At Sarnelli House in Kensington, Holy Trinity volunteers serve meals on a weekly basis, maintain a clothing room where guests can obtain needed clothing and toiletries for free, tend the gardens seasonally, and host special events that include pizza dinners with live music, Mr. Softee visits, and the making of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for neighbors experiencing homelessness.
Freedom Steps is a local 501(c)(3) that sends quarterly care packages to men and women in the United States military, particularly those with connections to local friends and families. Each box costs roughly $75 to ship and is shared by ten service persons. Holy Trinity's Evangelism Committee holds a 5K Run each summer to support Freedom Steps, and a collection box for supplies remains in the narthex.
Global Mission Partners
Beyond Montgomery County, Holy Trinity supports a wide circle of international ministries. Operation Christmas Child, run through Samaritan's Purse, has been a flagship mission project since 2007. Members pack shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items for children around the world; each shoebox recipient also receives an age- and culturally-appropriate Gospel and an invitation to a twelve-week discipleship program called The Greatest Journey.
Compassion International partners with local churches to provide holistic child development through sponsorship. HOPE International, based in Lancaster County, PA, operates a network of microfinance institutions in sixteen countries, investing in the dreams of the poor while sharing the Gospel. The Voice of the Martyrs serves Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith, identifies hostile governments, locates and helps suffering believers, and equips others to pray and advocate.
Water Mission International is a Christian engineering organization that has brought safe water and sanitation to more than 2.4 million people across the globe. Holy Trinity's Evangelism Committee holds a 5K run each summer to raise funds for this work. Asia Harvest collects donations annually to provide Bibles for the growing church in China, and China Venture Service fosters prayer and exchange between Chinese and American Christians. The Spiritual Orphans Network mobilizes congregations for mission in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Latin American Lutheran Mission proclaims the Gospel throughout Mexico. The World Mission Prayer League sends Pastor Didi Panzo and his wife Seraphina, members of Holy Trinity, to serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they focus on community development, counseling, and spiritual guidance for women and children affected by abuse, while Dr. Panzo teaches part-time at the Lutheran Theological Institute in Kinshasa.
When disasters strike, Holy Trinity directs its relief giving through Lutheran Disaster Response in the United States and Lutheran World Relief overseas, trusting the local congregations in affected regions to distribute aid in the name of Christ.
The Long Road to the NALC
Holy Trinity's denominational home is itself part of the story. The congregation had previously been a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). On June 6 and September 12, 2010, the congregation voted by the required two-thirds majority to leave the ELCA and affiliate with the newly forming North American Lutheran Church. Holy Trinity had dual-rostered with the ELCA and the NALC from August 27, 2010 onward and became solely an NALC congregation on September 22, 2010. The move placed Holy Trinity among the very first seventeen congregations to affiliate with the NALC on its start-up date.
The NALC is a young denomination that claims the lineage of Martin Luther and the foundation provided in the Book of Concord. It describes itself as Christ-Centered, Mission-Driven, Traditionally-Grounded, and Congregationally-Focused, affirming the authority of Scripture, the ecumenical creeds, and the Lutheran Confessions. The bishop of the NALC is the Rev. Dr. Daniel W. Selbo.
Belief and Practice
Holy Trinity teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God: the Father, creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all people and to rise to life again in victory over sin, death, and the power of Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God's Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God.
Being "Lutheran" means accepting and preaching the Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the reformation of the Christian Church in the sixteenth century. Those teachings can be summarized in three phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.
The congregation prays with the Nicene Creed, confesses the faith set out in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, and affirms the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel. It also shares the commitments of the Common Confession (2005), which articulate belief in the Triune God, the Gospel of salvation by faith in Christ, the authority of Scripture as God's revealed Word in Law and Gospel, the priesthood of all believers, the Biblical view of marriage and family, and the centrality of the local congregation in the Church's mission.
Children, Youth, and Nursery
Children are always welcome in the sanctuary. For those who become restless, a Nursery is available equipped with sound so that parents can continue to enjoy the service. Family Sunday School on Sunday mornings is designed for Pre-K through fifth grade along with parents and older post-Confirmation children, weaving Bible stories, snacks, and crafts around the year's Old Testament theme.
Confirmation runs on Sunday mornings for sixth through eighth graders as a three-year course on the Bible, the Lutheran catechism, and church history. Teens sing and ring in the choirs and participate fully in the total life of the congregation. There is no separate junior worship; rather, children and youth are folded into the same worshiping body as the adults.
Visiting Holy Trinity
Holy Trinity has always been a "come as you are" church. Jeans or ties are equally welcome. The address is 2086 Parkview Avenue, Abington, PA 19001; the door facing Parkview Avenue opens into the church. By car, the closest major intersections are Route 611 (Old York Road) and Old Welsh Road. By train, the church is a short walk from the Crestmont Station on SEPTA's Warminster Line; from the platform head east to Rockwell Road, walk across to York Road, turn left and continue north to Old Welsh Road, then turn right onto Parkview Avenue. By bus, SEPTA's Route 55 stops at Old York and Old Welsh Roads.
Worship services are Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the Sunday service livestreamed on YouTube. Sunday Church School begins at 10:30 a.m. Visitors who would like prayer are welcome to come before or after any service to the Chapel, where a pastor or a member of the prayer team is available; those wearing a Prayer Ministry badge can also be found in the sanctuary. Giving is offered through the offering plate at worship and through Holy Trinity's Simply Giving program, an electronic fund transfer partnership with Vanco Services that allows members to give weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly directly from a checking or savings account, with all transaction fees paid by the church.
Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the office administrator, Deborah Mumford, is glad to answer questions or connect visitors with a ministry. The pastor, the Rev. Dr. Maurice Y. Lee, was called to Holy Trinity in the summer of 2022; previously he served Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (NALC) in Santa Barbara and before that taught religious studies at Westmont College. He and his wife Beth, the Director of Music Thomas H. Williams, and the wider staff and congregation welcome all who come through the door on Parkview Avenue.