Trinity Methodist Church one of Sandusky's first

SANDUSKY — Trinity United Methodist Church's congregation has existed in Sandusky since 1856 and met at various locations within the city. The church had several locations before it occupied the building on Washington Street, between Jackson and Decatur streets in downtown Sandusky in 1874, where the Merry-Go-Round Museum is currently located. By 1915, the steeple of Trinity United Methodist Church changed significantly. Because the United States government wanted to build a post office in Sandusky at the site of the Methodist Church, around 1917 the Methodists stopped meeting at their building on Washington Street. Services occurred at various locations for a few years. Construction was begun on the new building for Trinity Methodist Church in 1922, at the corner of Wayne and East Jefferson streets. Before construction on the church's current building began in 1922, the congregation acquired and remodeled the home of Charles Cooke for their purposes, according to the Erie County Historical Society. The church's current sanctuary finished in 1958. In 2018, Trinity United Methodist Church celebrated its bicentennial with the city of Sandusky. A historical marker outside the church states the Methodist Episcopal Church helped develop organized religion in Perkins Township, eventually spreading to Sandusky's city limits when the Rev. Alfred Brunson "preached the city's first sermon in January 1818." Trinity Methodist is a congregation of about 100 people, pastor Donald Kuntz said in 2019. Many of them are engaged in community work. "They're people who take their Christianity to make a difference in the world," Kuntz said. How so? Multiple people attending the church volunteer at Care and Share, which began at Trinity United Methodist, Crossroads homeless shelter and Firelands Regional Medical Center, to name a few. They'll bake cookies for those incarcerated at the juvenile detention center and gift area firefighters and law enforcement with baskets filled with snacks, personal care items and teddy bears to give to scared children. Trinity United Methodist has also donated money and diapers to HOLA Ohio, a Latino community advocacy group, for migrants after recent raids by federal agents. Going a step further, members of the congregation have traveled to disaster areas across the country to assist with recovery efforts, most recently helping out in Iowa after recent flooding. If you'd like to learn more about the history of churches in Sandusky, the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center has five archival boxes about the history of area churches. Inquire at the Reference Services desk for more information. Editor's note: Reporter Caitlin Nearhood contributed to this article.