Built 1911 Opened 1911 Architectural style Neoclassical architecture Added to NRHP 23 April 1998 | NRHP Reference # 98000380 Phone +1 515-288-4056 Architecture firm Proudfoot & Bird | |
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Location 1548 8th Street, Des Moines, Iowa MPS Towards a Greater Des Moines MPS Address 1548 8th St, Des Moines, IA 50314, USA Similar First United Methodist Church, Burns United Methodist, Greek Orthodox Church of, Basilica of St John, Blank Park Zoo Profiles | ||
Trinity United Methodist Church, is located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, which is its previous name.
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History
The congregation was organized as Prospect Park Methodist Episcopal Church when their first church building was constructed on the corner of Washington and Eighth Streets in 1845. The church grew slower than expected so they changed their name to North Des Moines Methodist Episcopal Church in the hopes of growing their membership. It changed its name yet again to Trinity.
Trinity enlisted the architectural firm of Proudfoot, Bird and Rawson in 1910 to design the present church building. John Hinners of Pekin, Illinois built the 17-rank tracker pipe organ when the church building was being constructed in 1911. Space for the pastor’s office, a kitchen and fellowship were located in the basement and an education wing was also built,
Since 1968 Trinity has hosted, with the support of the Inner City Cooperative Parish, a breakfast program to feed children from the neighborhood, which had been suggested by the local Black Panthers. An evening meal has been served since 1987 in collaboration with Our City Kitchen. In 1992 Trinity became the first “Reconciling Congregation” of a United Methodist Church in Iowa, by which it serves all people regardless of sexual orientation. A prison van ministry brings family members of those incarcerated in Iowa’s prisons for visits. The Las Americas Comunidad de Fe, a Hispanic United Methodist Community, worships and studies at Trinity. The two congregations share a weekly bilingual service and communal meal.
Architecture
Trinity United Methodist Church is a Classical Revival style building built of brick. The interior features, a stained glass dome above the center of the sanctuary, a balcony that wraps around three sides of the sanctuary and rose windows on the north and south elevations. Originally, the plaster walls were stenciled. The original pews are still in use.