Our History at Trinity
It all began in the early 1890's. Members of Trinity Church in Buffalo pledged funds to support an Episcopal mission in Hamburg, NY which lay fourteen miles south of Buffalo. The first services were held in the Baptist church when Bishop Coxe appointed the Reverend Arthur Mellon to take up the work of the mission in 1892. Land was purchased and the cornerstone for the new church was laid in the fall of that same year.
The first service celebrated in the new building on the corner of Union and Center street was on Christmas Eve, 1892. By 1909, the little mission church had paid off their mortgage and was debt free. Trinity remained a mission church until 1924, when it was incorporated and the Reverend Paul B. Hoffman became Trinity's first rector. During the first thirty-three years, the congregation grew from forty-five families in 1924 to one hundred and ninety-five families in 1954.
In 1955, a survey by the National Church indicated Hamburg was a strategic growth area and recommended building a larger church. A building fund campaign quickly raised $76,000 in pledges. With a loan from the Episcopal Advance Fund and the trustees of the Diocese of Western New York, a nine acre lot on East Main Street was purchased and ground was broken in October that same year. On December 1st, 1957, Bishop Scaife dedicated the new building. The new church was a Tudor style of stone, stucco and wood with a slate roof. The stained glass window over the altar was brought from the former building into the new church. It's seating capacity accommodated 276 plus another 28 in the choir loft. The undercroft included a fully equipped kitchen and large gathering room where many community and social events occurred.
Trinity continued to grow and prosper and soon a parish hall was added to provide space for the church school programs and parochial offices. Membership increased to four hundred and three families in 1977. In 1978, a columbarium was established in the church orchard.
During the 1980s the parish hall was reconfigured to provide a library, a small chapel, a nursery, a large meeting room for social events, and several small rooms for Christian Education. A section of the undercroft became a music and rehearsal room.
Over the years, a variety of worship formats, and activities for Christian education evolved with our parish leaderships and congregational interests and talents.
A strong music program became the hallmark of Trinity Hamburg with multiple choirs and singing tours. In 2001, an Allen Renaissance organ was purchased and placed in the loft.
In 2003, a capital improvement plan upgraded the kitchen and areas downstairs, provided handicap accessibility, and rebuilt the parking lot. Trinity also set up an ongoing maintenance fund to keep up with future needs.
More recently, improvements were made to the parish hall to accommodate multiple purposes for conversation, coffee hour and provide space for our food pantry. The grounds have been improved and maintained to include lovely flower beds and lawn space.