Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church located at 3 West 65th Street at the corner of

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is a member of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

. The church is a double-height-over-basement stone structure with a rectory, and is located within the

Central Park West Historic District The Central Park West Historic District is located along Central Park West, between 61st and 97th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on ...

, designated 1990 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.Holy Trinity Lutheran Church - Organ History
(Accessed 25 Dec 2010)

History

The congregation was founded in 1868 after splitting from St. James's Lutheran Church. Most New York Lutherans were German in the nineteenth century, and "Holy Trinity was one of a very few English-speaking Lutheran congregations. The first church was at 47 West 21st Street, in the edifice originally built for St. Paul's Reformed Dutch Church." It was built between 1902 and 1904. The church building, designed by the noted architectural firm of

Schickel & Ditmars Schickel & Ditmars was an architectural firm in New York City, active during the city's Gilded Age from 1885 until the early 1900s. It was responsible for designing many fine churches, residences and commercial buildings. History J. William Sc ...

, who were generally responsible for the designs of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

commissions or other clients of German descent.

Social programs

According to the church website, "Holy Trinity is most widely known for the Bach Vespers series, begun in 1968, the first instance in America where the cantatas of Bach could be heard regularly on their appointed day (designated by Bach himself) in the context of worship." The church's Bach Choir records hymns and liturgical music for Augsburg Fortress Publishing House. The church also hosts a

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...

for people suffering from

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

and other sexually transmitted diseases.

In popular culture

*In the 1970 film '' The Out-of-Towners'', Gwen Kellerman recommends prayer to her husband George at the church in order to get through a night of havoc. They go inside to pray, only to be thrown out by television producers who are rehearsing for a taped service there.The Out of Towners (On the Set of New York)
/ref> *In the 1984 film ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', the rampaging

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man is a Fiction, fictional character from the Ghostbusters (franchise), ''Ghostbusters'' franchise, who appears as a giant, lumbering, and paranormal fluffy monster with a cute but also creepy looking smile on his face. ...

steps on and destroys the church, causing

Peter Venkman Peter Venkman, PhD is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters (franchise), ''Ghostbusters'' franchise. He appears in the films ''Ghostbusters'', ''Ghostbusters II'', ''Ghostbusters: Afterlife'', ''Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire'' and in the anim ...

to exclaim, "Nobody steps on a church in my town!"

References

Notes Bibliography *, p. 105

External links

*
Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (New York City) Churches in Manhattan Lutheran churches in New York City Upper West Side Churches completed in 1904 20th-century Lutheran churches in the United States Schickel & Ditmars church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Central Park West Historic District Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Ghostbusters