From a Dairy Community to an Open Door
Trinity United Church of Christ sits on North Calhoun Road in Brookfield, Wisconsin, in Waukesha County just west of Milwaukee. The congregation was founded in 1869 by a small circle of German immigrant farm families, most of them working dairy and vegetable farms in and around what would later become the City of Brookfield. They came out of the Evangelical Union heritage, and they were as serious about their faith as they were about their fields. Trinity is now part of the United Church of Christ and continues the same basic commitments: gathering on Sundays, raising children in the Christian story, and looking after neighbors both near and far.
For nearly a century, Trinity was one of only two Protestant congregations in what is today the City of Brookfield. Then the post-World War II boom transformed the surrounding landscape from dairy farms into subdivisions, and families from many different church and ethnic backgrounds moved in. Trinity's "open door" became a way to introduce itself to each new neighbor. The strong emphasis on family, faith, and community service survived the transition from country to suburb. The German flavor of those early services survives today in small but heartfelt ways: in the German Christmas tea, in the sourdough-and-bread tradition of the quilters, and in the hymn singing still led from the front of the sanctuary.
On Labor Day weekend in 2005, a fire caused major damage to the church building just as a planned remodeling project was about to begin. The congregation spent the next fourteen months worshipping elsewhere and came out of that season with a clear conviction that Trinity's identity is its people rather than its walls. The rebuilt sanctuary continues to host Sunday worship, and mission and outreach now reach into surrounding communities in new ways. In 2019, the church marked 150 years with a banquet luncheon and a special All Saints-tinged worship service the first weekend of November. The 150th-anniversary research also produced a careful record of the four Civil War veterans buried in the TUCC Cemetery on the church's grounds - Friedrich Bogislov Unke (1837-1898), Heinrich Schatz (1843-1908), John Williams (1846-1886), and Robert A. Knolle (1849-1931), who enlisted as a musician at age 15 in the 9th Wisconsin Infantry.
An Open and Affirming Welcome
Trinity's motto is "Open Hands. Open Hearts. Open Minds," and the congregation is an active Open and Affirming church of the United Church of Christ. The Open and Affirming Statement on file with the church declares that the congregation is "a community of openness, kindness, and support for all people regardless of who they are or where they may be on their faith journey." It names age, creed, ethnicity, economic status, sexual orientation, race, gender, gender identity, marital status, and physical or mental ability as features of identity that will never prevent anyone from joining Trinity in worship, ministry, or governance.
The UCC itself was formed in 1957 as a union of several Christian traditions committed to the conviction that Christians did not always need to agree in order to share communion. Its motto, drawn from Jesus' prayer in John 17, is "that they may all be one." Trinity lives inside that tradition and, in its own way, extends it to every visitor who walks in. Visitors are apt to hear the words "all are welcome" or "all are welcome at Christ's table" repeated several times during a typical service. The phrase is a habit of speech, not a slogan.
Sunday Worship at 10 AM
The weekly rhythm at Trinity is simple. A single Sunday morning worship service is held at 10:00 AM each week. Visitors who arrive a few minutes early will find coffee, juice, and treats in the Gathering Space, the bright common room just outside the sanctuary. Greeters and ushers make a point of welcoming anyone new, name tags are usually worn, and announcements are printed in the weekly bulletin and sent through the Trinity Bells newsletter.
Services follow a familiar mainline shape. The Trinity Choir and Music Director Mike Hetzel lead the congregation in hymns; scripture readers carry the readings; and the children are invited forward for Children's Time before the older students head to their Sunday School classrooms. The pastor preaches, prayers of the people close the morning, and a post-service coffee hour fills the Gathering Space with conversation. Communion is celebrated regularly, often on the first Sunday of the month and during the Advent season, and is always open to all who want to take part.
The church year shapes the texture of the year. Advent is marked with the lighting of the four candles - Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love - across four Sundays, usually with the children's Christmas program on the fourth Sunday. A Casual Hymn Sing Sunday in late December invites worshipers to come in Christmas sweaters and warm casuals. A Patriotic Worship service near the Fourth of July invites red, white, and blue. All Saints Day in early November is a remembrance of the year just past. The annual Pet Blessing in October brings an evening of pets, treats, and a special blessing.
For those who cannot attend in person, recorded worship services are posted on Trinity's YouTube channel. Christmas Day worship has been offered online only in recent years, going live at 10:00 AM for those joining from home.
What to Expect When You Visit
There is no formal dress code at Trinity. Most Sundays, members and visitors wear what they would wear to a family gathering - a button-down shirt or blouse, a sweater, sometimes jeans. Easter and Christmas Eve draw the dressier clothes, and the Jazz Worship service in February invites Mardi Gras colors and beads. The Patriotic service near the Fourth of July is another chance to wear something fun.
Children are welcomed as full participants. After Children's Time at the start of worship, the older students go to Sunday School; younger children may stay with their families or go with a parent to the nursery area. Communion is open to children as well as adults. Visitors who arrive alone can expect to be greeted several times - by an usher handing out a bulletin, by members at coffee hour, and by name by the time the closing hymn is sung.
Children, Sunday School, and the Faith Year
Sunday School begins in mid-September with Rally Day and a parish-wide cookout of hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, and potluck dishes. Classes then meet every other Sunday through May. Children attend the first portion of the 10:00 AM worship service, leave for class after Children's Time, and rejoin their families for coffee hour afterward. Confirmation Class is offered for older youth and concludes with Confirmation Sunday in May, followed by a reception. Sunday School Appreciation Day in May celebrates the year's teachers.
The annual Trunk or Treat has become one of Trinity's signature fall events. Held in the south parking lot on the Saturday before Halloween, it fills the lot with decorated trunks, treats, and games, and draws families from the wider neighborhood. Members of local Boy Scout troops help run the games, and the Christian Nurture and Fellowship Committee organizes the afternoon. A pet blessing follows in early October, and scouts are honored with a Scout Sunday each winter as well.
Youth ministry at Trinity is coordinated by Kathy Haass and Robin Komassa. Older youth (12 and up) participate in Trinity's long-running partnership with the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force, helping assemble the Senior Stock Boxes that the food bank distributes throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Mission projects round out the year, with a different beneficiary selected each season. The children's Christmas program in December typically combines a play with solos, instrumentals, and singing from the Sunday School children, with the older Celebration Singers joining in.
Music: Choirs, Bells, and Once-a-Year Jazz
Music sits at the center of Trinity's worship. The Music Director, Mike Hetzel, rehearses the Trinity Choir on Sunday mornings at 8:30 AM from September through June. The Trinity Handbell Choir rehearses on dates announced throughout the year, and voices and ringers of all experience levels are welcome; reading music is not required. As Hetzel puts it, "The Trinity Singers are some of the finest voices in our area and I am proud to lead them each week."
The Celebration Singers, Trinity's small choir of about fifteen volunteers, leads an annual Christmas Concert during Advent and has also offered a Good Friday cantata in past years. The Christmas Eve Candlelight service features congregational singing of "Stille Nacht" and "Silent Night" as everyone holds a lit candle, and the children's choir and youth ensemble typically take part in the Christmas program on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Members and visitors seeking service roles - readers, ushers, projectionists, sound, scripture readers, the Guppy Room - are listed on the volunteer roster.
The annual Jazz Worship service in February is the most distinctive musical event on the church calendar. Mike Hetzel and guest musicians put a New Orleans spin on the liturgy; Mardi Gras beads and colors show up on the pews; and the morning ends with a Mardi Gras-style coffee hour and a free-will offering that benefits Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi. The jazz service and Mardi Gras lunch are tied together - the luncheon is organized by the Mission Committee, and proceeds are sent to Back Bay.
Holy Week and Lent at Trinity
Holy Week at Trinity runs deep. On Palm Sunday, the congregation gathers in the Gathering Space holding palms, then processes into the sanctuary to the singing of a Taizé-style chant, waving branches along the way. Members shout hallelujahs and sing along as they walk. The pastor leads the procession, and after the service the coffee hour picks up the joyful mood.
Maundy Thursday brings the Symbolic Seder Meal. The Maundy Thursday service lays out the elements of a traditional Seder - beitzah (hard-boiled egg), karpas (vegetables dipped in salt water), chazeret and maror (bitter herbs), charoset (apples, walnuts, and wine), z'ro'a (lamb), and matzah (unleavened flatbread) - and the pastor leads the room through the meaning of each item. Red and white wine are served, and the pastor walks through the Last Supper's words from Luke 22. Members of Trinity's leadership note that this is one of the most memorable evenings of the year.
Good Friday is observed in a combined service with neighboring Redeemer UCC in Menomonee Falls. Easter begins with a 7:30 AM Sunrise service in the sanctuary, an Easter breakfast at 8:30 AM, and the traditional Easter worship at 10:00 AM. In the wider church year, Ash Wednesday is also a combined service with Redeemer UCC, hosted at the Redeemer UCC building on Town Line Road in Menomonee Falls.
Mission and Social Concerns
Mission is woven into Trinity UCC's identity. The church gives a portion of its annual receipts to the Southeast Conference of the UCC for Our Church's Wider Mission, which in turn funds the UCC's national programs. These include One Great Hour of Sharing - international disaster relief, refugee ministries, and development programs administered through Wider Church Ministries - and Strengthen the Church, which supports youth ministry and new church development in parts of the country where the UCC has a lighter footprint.
Closer to home, the Mission Committee organizes a year-round slate of practical projects:
- A toilet paper collection for the Waukesha Food Pantry that has gathered hundreds of rolls in recent drives.
- Donations to Guest House of Milwaukee through the Undy 500 (underwear for those experiencing homelessness) plus a cash gift.
- A school supply drive supporting The Women's Center in Waukesha, with cash funds topping up the donated items.
- A fall clothing drive that fills three carloads for Saint Vincent de Paul.
- Volunteer crews that pack Senior Stock Boxes at the Hunger Task Force in Milwaukee - 16 volunteers from Trinity have assembled more than 500 boxes in a single day.
- An annual Trunk or Treat that welcomes neighborhood children to decorated trunks in the south parking lot.
Two other events double as fundraisers for mission work. The Mardi Gras Luncheon on Jazz Sunday sends its proceeds to Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi; Pie Sunday in November sells leftover pies to support the Pastor's Samaritan Fund. The Dartball team, a beloved piece of parish social life, represents Trinity in a local league and past seasons have produced league championship hardware.
Cup of Life, the Quilters, and Other Small Groups
Cup of Life is Trinity's women's ministry. About fourteen members strong, the group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 10:00 AM in the Dining Hall, opening with prayer and an inspirational reading and then moving into shared projects. Members host the Mother's Day coffee hour, the Pie Sunday coffee hour in November, and the Roland Perschon Memorial Christmas Tea in December - a traditional German gathering with stollen and tea held in memory of the late Roland Perschon, who introduced Trinity to the custom. Cup of Life also organizes an annual community blood drive, a women's retreat, day trips, an annual picnic at Fairview Park down the road from the church, and outings to The Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove.
The Trinity Quilters have met in the Fellowship Hall twice a month on Mondays since 2002, organized by Wendy Kleman. Quilters come for friendship and shared lunches (frequently featuring fresh-baked bread), and they work on their own projects alongside charity quilts - quilts for veterans, food pantry bags, quilts for children in need, and angel gowns for infants who have passed away.
The Trinity Book Club has been meeting for decades and gathers on Wednesday mornings to discuss a chosen book. Faith Friends, a fellowship group, plans potlucks, chili suppers, dartball games, and outings to Milwaukee Milkmen baseball games. Adult theology and Bible discussion groups meet periodically and are organized by Chris Faulk and the pastor.
The Building, the Newsletter, and Pastoral Care
Worship takes place in the rebuilt sanctuary. The Gathering Space just outside serves as a daily common area, hosting coffee hours, fellowship events, and small group meetings. The Dining Hall downstairs holds larger meals like the Christmas Tea and the Mardi Gras lunch. The TUCC Cemetery, at the edge of the property, is the resting place of the four Civil War veterans honored in the church's 150th-anniversary history.
The monthly newsletter, Trinity Bells, is distributed in print at Sunday worship; PDFs going back several years are available online and a free email subscription is offered. Office hours are Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:00 AM to noon. The church address is 4435 North Calhoun Road, Brookfield, WI 53005, the phone number is 262-781-9378, and the email contact is contact@trinitybrookfield.org. Online giving is available through Trinity's online giving portal.
The current Bridge Pastor is Rev. Dr. Barry Szymanski, who was ordained in 2006 after entering seminary in 2001. He has served UCC congregations as an interim and as a guest preacher, has taught Lay Ministry courses on Pastoral Care and Pastoral Ethics, and has served the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches as Interim Executive Director and on the Board of Directors. He and his wife Sue are the parents of Sarah and the grandparents of Eddie and Opal. Pastoral prayer requests are received through the Joys and Concerns form.