ARCHITECTURE - FIGURES AND SYMBOLS

The many figures in this church were chosen from the Bible and from Church History and are so scaled and placed as not to mar the harmony of the whole structure nor to interfere with the worshiper's concentration on the Word and Sacraments. There are sixty of them in stone, sixty-five in wood, thirty-four in paintings, nine in metals, and one hundred and forty in the stained glass windows, almost all above eye-level. Symbols, i.e., pictured emblems or reminders of the Faith and Life of the Christian, are shown in the small aisle windows, the pew ends, the narthex screen, the organ screen, the chancel woodwork, the stone carving inside and outside, and in the slate floor.

The narthex screen separating the nave from the narthex, or entrance vestibule, contains on each side the figures of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Joseph and Pharoah, Moses and Miriam, Moses and Pharoah, the Wise Men of the East, the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt, Ruth and Naomi, Samuel and Saul, David and Jonathan, and Daniel and Darius. The top of the organ screen in the fifth bay of the nave shows figures of musicians on the heads of the posts: David and Miriam of the Old Testament; Sts. Ambrose and Gregory of the Middle Ages; and Teachers Huser and Plumhoff, former organists and parochial school teachers of our congregation. The fifty-foot stone pillars supporting the roof and adorned with these figures from the history of the church at large and of our congregation: East wall, Luther, the Reformer of the Church; Wyclif and Huss, pre-Reformation martyrs; Princes Frederick the Wise and John the Constant of Saxony, influential friends of the Reformation; Melanchton and our Rev. G. Schaller, educators; Charles Gauss and Theodore Lamprecht, Lutheran laymen; Back and Gerhardt, composers; west wall: Dr. Walther, founder of our Missouri Synod; L. Harms and Wyneken, promoters of missions; Holbein and Duerer, artists; Francke and Buenger, welfare workers; Pastors H.C.F. Otte and J.S. Huegli, the men who served Trinity Congregation long and faithfully; Dr. W.H.T. Dau and Pastor G.T. Otte, two sons of this congregation.

The leaded, stained glass windows on the east side of the church contain Old Testament figures: Abraham, Moses, Job; Samuel, David, Solomon; Jonah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Joel, Isaiah, John the Baptist. The windows on the west side show New Testament characters: Sts. John, Paul, Peter; Luke, James, Matthew; Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew; Barnabas, Eunice, Timothy; Philemon, Stephen, Jude. The window over the choir gallery depicts the Vine and the Branches, or Christ as the life of the church. In the lower row, straight across, figures representing many people looking up to Christ portray the truth: "Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Above this, flanking the figure of our Lord, the second row presents a group of Apostles and Church Fathers; the third row, Reformers; the fourth and top row, more recent church workers, such as Drs. Walther, Muehlenberg, and Krauth.

Amidst the intricate stone carving at the top of this large window, the heavenly Jerusalem is shown with the Saviour on His great white throne. While sitting in the pew, the worshiper lifts his eyes to the richly colored portrayal of the Resurrection and the Ascension of our blessed Lord in the chancel window. The Baptismal Font stands in a side chapel and is made of Botticino marble, with an oak cover and a brass ewer. The Baptistry window depicts the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River, and the Parvis window at the base of the tower shows Ruth, the forerunner of Gentiles who were brought into the family of God's people. The oak bulletin board on a pedestal in the narthex contains a brief history of the congregation in the old English lettering on two door panels.

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