Sandusky's Trinity Lutheran focuses on community outreach

SANDUSKY —Though small in size, a nearby church has a big heart for community service. Trinity Lutheran Church, at 502 Bardshar Road, serves upward of 125 people with most coming from Margaretta Township and Castalia. The church offers two Sunday worship services at 8 and 10:30 a.m. and Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.Pastor Philip Gardner has served the church since 2000 and is originally from Columbus. He pastored a church in Lancaster before moving north.Trinity Lutheran is a daughter congregation of Zion Lutheran on Columbus Avenue in Sandusky and started out as a Sunday School at the village of Venice's town hall in the late 1880s. Construction began for the church in 1913 and was completed in 1914, making it one of two entities in the village. Additions were constructed in the early 1940s and mid-1950s, Gardner said.The church became an independent congregation from Zion Lutheran in 1926 and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.Each year, the church celebrates Rogation Sunday, during which they pray for a successful harvest for farmers, a long-standing tradition, which includes thanking God on Thanksgiving Eve.They depend on the Bible's teachings for discernment."We trust in the word of God though we may not be as literal as others," Gardner said. "It's a source of who we are and what we believe."Trinity Lutheran makes its mission to love others and care for the community through service. The church provides a meal for families at Stein Hospice on Hayes Avenue and assists Project Share in Margaretta Township, Volunteers of America's Crossroads Shelter on Superior Street and Care and Share on Jackson Street in Sandusky, among other area organizations.Most recently, the church has invited its members to support St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Norwalk, who is helping immigrants there.Trinity Lutheran also hosts two support groups: Narcotics Anonymous, which meets at 7 p.m. each Wednesday and 11 a.m. each Saturday and Nar-Anon, a group for loved ones of addicts, which also meets at 7 p.m. each Wednesday.The church also hosted vacation Bible school for children earlier this week."We've made a transition to being more involved in the community and knowing what's going on," Gardner said. "Karl Barth said a preacher should hold the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. I try to be relevant so we can help the community."Pastor Philip Gardner stands in the chapel at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sandusky on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.Get to know Trinity Lutheran ChurchAddress: 502 Bardshar RoadPhone number: 419-626-0204Website: trinityelca.comFacebook page: Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sandusky, OhioReach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com, follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood and on Facebook.com/CaitliNearhoodTrinity Lutheran Church on Bardshar Road on Wednesday, June 27, 2018.