Trinity Lutheran Church, founded in 1751 and one of the oldest continuously worshipping congregations in Berks County, will open a year of 275th anniversary celebrations on Trinity Sunday, May 31, 2026, at its historic sanctuary at 527 Washington Street. The day begins with festival worship at 10 a.m., during which the congregation will welcome nine new members, and continues with a free public organ recital at 1:30 p.m. presented by Trinity\u2019s Cantor, Dr. Cameron Lee Wentz.<\/p>\n
The anniversary year will continue through Trinity Sunday 2027, which marks 275 years since the consecration of Trinity\u2019s first sanctuary building in 1752. A series of special events, programs, and observances is planned throughout the twelve months between.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 275 years, this congregation has worshipped, served, and helped shape life in Berks County,\u201d said the Rev. Hans E. Becklin, Senior Pastor. \u201cWe open this anniversary year on Trinity Sunday because that is the day this place has always returned to\u2014the day our forebears gathered to consecrate their first building, and the day we now gather to welcome new members into a community whose work is far from finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 1:30 p.m. organ recital is designed to reflect the historical cultural composition of Reading, gathering composers of German, American and Native American, and Latin and Hispanic heritage into a single afternoon\u2019s listening. The program opens and closes with the two halves of J.S. Bach\u2019s monumental Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major (BWV 552)\u2014the \u201cSt. Anne\u201d\u2014which frames the recital as a kind of musical bracket around the wider world the composers within represent.<\/p>\n
Between the Prelude and the Fugue, listeners will hear H\u00f3zh\u00f3 by Connor Chee, a contemporary Navajo-American composer whose work draws on the Din\u00e9 concept of harmony and balance; a Toccata by the Portuguese Baroque master Carlos Seixas; and Richard Frey\u2019s Three Trumpet Tunes for Today\u2014Procession, Pastorale, and Jubilation. After a brief intermission, the program continues with the Prelude from Joseph Rheinberger\u2019s Sonata No. 7, the Interludio of Mexican composer Alfonso de El\u00edas, Mainacht by German composer Barbara Heller, and Mary Beth Bennett\u2019s Partita on Veni Creator\u2014a set of variations on the ancient Pentecost hymn \u201cCome, Creator Spirit\u201d\u2014before closing with Bach\u2019s \u201cSt. Anne\u201d Fugue.<\/p>\n
The recital is free and open to the public. Parking is available at 121 North Fifth Street.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1751, Trinity Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) whose historic sanctuary at 527 Washington Street in downtown Reading is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Trinity is known for its high-church liturgical tradition, its commitment to sacred music, and its long-standing service to the people of Reading and Berks County. The congregation\u2019s 275th anniversary year coincides with the launch of a $3,000,000 Sanctuary Restoration Project and the adoption of a new five-year strategic plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trinity Lutheran Church, founded in 1751 and one of the oldest continuously worshipping congregations in Berks County, will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-203132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}