The Church bell, named “Concordia”, which means peace, was placed in the steeple in 1896. It is of “pure bell” metal weighing 425 pounds and was purchased with gifts for $78.00. In the early days, services were conducted by “traveling ministers”. The church bell was rung at dusk on Saturday evening, telling everyone in the countryside that a minister was in the area and would be conducting services the following morning. On November 18, 1918, the bell was rung with such enthusiasm announcing the end of World War I, that the bell fell from its stand. It required several men to lift it back in place.

The history of the construction of the church comes from descendants of early church members. Mr. J. F. Beken, a master carpenter from Germany, was the lead builder of our church and supervised the construction for many of the larger buildings in the area. Mr. Beken’s granddaughter, who serves as the church organist and historian, explains that he also built the pews, which are still used today. Mr. Fritz Koehn, a cabinetmaker, whose family remains active in the church, built the altar and the pulpit. The post of the guest register stand was part of the original pulpit. It was found in the 1970’s in a storage area of the church and placed in the church entry.

The stained glass window, over the altar, was a gift in 1989 from Mr. Peter Jackson. The window is over 150 years old and features a rare “Rosette” technique no longer used in the making of stained glass. The stained glass windows above the entrance to the church and in the balcony were gifts from the Echels family in 1992. The interior walls of the church remained bare wood beams until 1897 when the church records show that the walls were papered to keep out the wind. A piece of the original “wallpaper” was found by a repairman recently and is displayed in the church.

A fellowship hall was constructed behind the church in 1988, one hundred years after the construction of the church. Plans are now being formulated to double the size of the fellowship hall in 2005. This work was completed and the building was dedicated on June 7, 2007. Progress is always on the move at Trinity Church. In 2010 one half of the parking lot was paved with future plans to do the balance in a few years. On October 15th, 2011 the Trinity Church will be celebrating it's 125 year anniversary. Trinity Church is the only church in Colorado County that is still holding worship services in their original sanctuary.

Until recently, this church has always shared a minister with Weimar and surrounding congregations. On June 1, 2003, Rev. Kenneth Wheeler became the first minister in over 100 years to serve this church as its own minister. Another major event also transpired in 2003. Because the membership of the church is comprised of people from a variety of different worship traditions, it was decided by the congregation on September 1st of that year to forego any specific denominational affiliation and function exclusively as a nondenominational evangelical Christian church. On May 14, 2006 Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church called Rev. Paul Mitchell to become the spiritual leader of this church. He became the second full time minister to serve this church since it was organized. On July 15, 2007, Rev. Mitchell resigned to pursue a profession in the business world. On February 1, 2008, Rev Jon Simesglusz joined our congregation as our long term Interim Minister. It was not long before he accepted the position as our permanent minister. Rev. Siemsglusz is a graduate of Concordia Seminary and is an ordained Lutheran Minister. In 2017 Rev. Glen Schoeneberg became our assistant supply pastor, preaching one or two Sundays each month. On March 24, 2020 Rev. Jon Siemsglusz retired as senior pastor of Trinity Church. 

Beginning on March 22, 2020, Trinity Church had it's first Sunday that the Church  did not have Sunday Service because of the COVID-19 virus.  The services were videoed on You Tube along with home communion.  Everyone was quarantined to their homes. 

The small New Bielau and Content communities changed drastically when the main East-West railroad was built to the North in the late 1800’s. Commerce either moved North near the railroad which became the town of Weimar, or closed. However, as Trinity Church entered the new Millennium, our community began experiencing a re-growth as families from the surrounding cities desired to make a home in our community. This began reversing the pattern from years ago. Our congregation has grown and found new ways to serve Christ and our rural community. This is evident by the many new faces appearing among our members each month. We, at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, are eager to provide Christian fellowship and love to our community through worship and service to God. Be a part of our growth…. Come and worship with us. If you are seeking answers from the Bible, then you need to become a part of this church family.

IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR Worship Facility

 

1987 - A church water well was dug
1987 - Air Conditioning and central heat were installed in the church
1988 - A Fellowship Hall was built
2000 - Automatic sprinkler system was installed
2002 - The Church was built on tree blocks in 1886 and never releveled until this year when new concrete blocks were installed to secure the foundation
2002 - Floors refinished
2004 - On November 30, 2004 the Church Web Site came on line
2006 - New shutters were were added duplicating those that had been on the church for 112 years
2007 - Expansion to the Fellowship Hall... adding nursery, class rooms & Pastor's office
2010 - Phase I of paving of the parking lot
2011 - New full size keyboard was added to the Church
2012 - A stand alone amplifier and speakers added for the keyboard
2012 - A complete sound system, including microphones and speakers were added
2012 - Phase II paving of the parking lot
2012 - New Church lighted sign was added near the highway
2013 - Two A/C and heating systems are being installed
2013 - Inside of the Sanctuary was repainted and new carpeting was added in the back rooms, Sanctuary and balcony
2013 - Front Doors w/glass inserts were installed
2013 - Replacement of Pew cushions
2014- Added playground equipment with swings, slides and climbing bars
2014 - Seal coated the asphalt parking
2014 - Refinished floors in church and installed new carpet
2015 - One acre of land purchased to expand the cemetery.
2016 - A new storage was built replacing the skid buildings and the neon cross was repaired and up-graded with new equipment.
2017 - A Poly Picket Fence was installed on the North side of the cemetery with a new chain link fence around the East, South & West sides.
2018 - A closed circuit television system was added to the Fellowship Hall for overflow crowds. A security system is also a part of this system.
2018 - Addition to the cemetery is now complete with a cremated remain section, that includes trees planted and water lines installed
2020 - Two new oak trees were planted to the East side of the cemetery
2021 - A new water well was drilled adjacent to FM155 and a new pump house was built adjacent to the storage building.and a water softener installed
2021 - A rose bed was added to the newer addition to the cemetery
2024 - New plumbing installed from pump house to Fellowship Hall