THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506060091
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
BEFORE THE 1920s, conservative German Lutherans in Norfolk scattered each Sunday morning to attend worship services with the Presbyterians, Methodists, evangelical Lutherans or other Protestant denominations.
But they dreamed of coming together each week, as one unified congregation, to celebrate God in their own special way.
On May 30, 1920, their dream finally came true. With the help of missionaries from Baltimore, some 18 Lutherans gathered together for their first worship service in Williams' funeral parlor at Granby and 29th streets.
They've been a presence in Norfolk ever since.
Now, as Trinity Lutheran Church celebrates its 75th anniversary, several longtime members reflected recently on the genesis of a still-thriving congregation that has spawned seven other Lutheran ministries in Hampton Roads, operated a Christian elementary school for more than 50 years, and been a sanctuary to thousands of Lutheran military personnel stationed in the area seeking a place of worship.
``From the beginning, this church has been a very close-knit congregation, mainly because of our German background and our dedication to worship as Lutherans,'' said Helen Everett, a member of the church since 1926.
Added the current pastor, Daniel Quiram: ``Those early members certainly had a missionary outreach in terms of their vision. They wanted to serve the Lutherans in the area, but they also wanted to serve the military and provide a place for children to receive a Christian education. Over its 75 years, this church has really reached out to others in the area with the gospel of Christ.''
But during those early years, getting the mission-oriented ministry on firm footing was sometimes an emotional roller coaster for the founders of Trinity Lutheran.
Not long after those first services in the funeral home, the Norfolk residents received some financial help from the Baltimore-based district board of the Lutherans' Missouri Synod to purchase a residence at 34th Street and Omohundro Avenue for $17,000. The home served as both a church and a parsonage.
The first pastor stayed only five months before being transferred to New York. His successor, however, established a Sunday school for the eight children attending services, a choir and a ``young people's society.'' Pastor Louis Roehm also initiated services twice a month in German.
By 1922, filled with missionary zeal, the congregation began holding services in a Hampton community hall twice a month. As membership grew, they started a ladies' society and began building a chapel adjacent to the parsonage.
But during the late '20s and early '30s, like the rest of the country grappling with the Depression, the church also fell on hard times. Few new members were joining, and many in the congregation began leaving the fold. As a result, the services in German and those held in Hampton were discontinued, and the ladies' and young people's societies were disbanded.
It was about that time that Everett, then just 5 years old, began attending services.
``I can remember there was an oil stove in the center of the (sanctuary), and we all had to huddle around it in the winter to keep warm,'' this Virginia Beach resident, now 74, recalled. ``It was a very small church, and it didn't have two dozen pews. All activities took place in the basement of the parsonage.''
Undaunted by setbacks in their numbers, the remaining Lutherans continued with their missionary efforts, trying in vain to establish ministries and outreach Sunday school classes in Suffolk and Portsmouth.
Not until 1931, with the arrival of a new pastor, Paul A. Plawin, did the church begin a significant era of growth. Plawin, a much-loved figure among members, eventually would stay at Trinity Lutheran for 35 years. During his tenure, members experienced a renewed religious fervor. Over the next few decades, they would help establish seven other Lutheran congregations in Hampton Roads and establish a school for young children.
``He drew people in from all over the area,'' recalled Everett, who served as Plawin's assistant for several years and, later, a teacher and then principal at the school. ``I would travel around with him to other churches and all the new members. He was very mission-minded.''
``I admired him greatly,'' noted 72-year-old Melvin Simms, who has been a member of the church for 60 years. ``He was part of the reason I kept going all those years.''
Simms first started attending Trinity Lutheran as a boy of 12. Some of the other children he played with in his neighborhood of Fairmount Park were members, and one Sunday they invited him to go along with them. He did and never stopped.
``I can remember before the war we'd go down to the YMCA beach at Chesapeake Beach in the summer and have services and an all-day picnic,'' he recalled. ``Certain members of the congregation would play musical instruments, and we'd sing hymns out in the sand hills. Then after the service, we'd all go swimming and eat watermelon on the beach and play. It was a lot of fun.''
Initially, Simms was attracted by the church's picnics, softball games and other activities, but after a few years, he discovered a deep spirituality. At one point, inspired by Plawin, he considered going into the ministry.
``I found something there,'' said Simms, a Virginia Beach resident. ``I found my savior there.''
Another longtime parishioner, Melva Hespenheide, also began attending Trinity Lutheran because of Plawin. As a young girl right off a Pennsylvania farm, she had met the pastor at a Lutheran service in Hopewell during a visit to her sister's.
When she moved to Norfolk to study nursing years later, Plawin was the only person in the city she knew.
``He was a very active pastor,'' recalled Hespenheide, an Edgewater resident. ``The church membership really flourished under his leadership. It was a small church ... and I found a home there.''
She also found a husband. The pastor's wife introduced Hespenheide to a young man, also from Pennsylvania, who recently had moved to Norfolk to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The two hit it off immediately and married within five months.
``Mrs. Plawin said she wanted me to find a nice Lutheran boy to marry, but there weren't many at the time who were cute,'' Hespenheide recalled with a laugh. ``I'm a great believer that all things work together to those who believe in God.''
During World War II, when thousands of sailors from the Midwest began flocking to the area, many found their way to Trinity Lutheran. Steeped in German heritage, the Norfolk church was a spiritual refuge much like the one they had left at home.
``The church membership really mushroomed and blossomed then,'' noted Sharon Plawin, the daughter of the pastor who died in 1966. ``We have a strong military presence even today.''
After the war, the burgeoning congregation was literally bursting at the seams. In 1945, the congregation built a new church and parish hall on Granby Street near West Belvedere Road and moved there soon after. With the help of volunteers, members also began offering preschool and kindergarten instruction to about 28 children from nearby neighborhoods.
At its peak, during the late '60s, some 900 members attended Trinity Lutheran, and the school, which eventually expanded to the fifth grade, boasted an enrollment of 200.
Those numbers have dropped slightly in recent years, but the current pastor, only the sixth in the church's history, maintains that the original mission and dedication of Trinity Lutheran's members remain the same.
``We are regional in outreach,'' Quiram said. ``This church remains dedicated to not only spreading the word of God and the sacrament, but to Christian education as well. It's a strong church ... with an impressive history.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Daniel Quiram is the pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church on Granby
Street.
TRINITY LUTHERAN'S CELEBRATION
Trinity Lutheran Church will celebrate its 75th anniversary at a
worship service and a banquet Sunday.
The Rev. Charles Mueller, past president of the southeastern
district of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, will be the guest
speaker at the 11 a.m. worship service in the church sanctuary,
located at 6001 Granby St.
The anniversary banquet will be held at 5:30 p.m. at Grand
Affairs on Pleasure House Road in Virginia Beach.
The cost of the banquet is $16 for adults and $7.50 for children.
For more information, contact the church at 489-2551.
Throughout the rest of the year, church members will hold
picnics, special worship services, recitals, sing-alongs and other
special events to commemorate their anniversary.
by CNB