About Us

Church History

In 1836, the non-denominational Union Church was constructed in the Village of Euclid and was part of the Circuit Rider
Conference, in which preachers would travel 50 miles or more a week on foot or horseback to serve their churches. By
1851, Methodism was becoming prominent in the area. The Union Church serviced three Protestant denominations at
that time, but the Methodist Society was growing stronger in influence and in 1854 acquired the church and their first
resident Pastor. A new building was built to house the Methodist Society in 1886 and was named the Euclid Methodist
Church on present day Morgan Road near Route 31.

Concurrent with this period of Christian history in the area, Brother Abram Morgan and a group of fellow Christians
constructed the Morgan Church in 1839, south of Euclid on the corner of present day Morgan Road and Wetzel Road. In
1867, Rev. Morgan retired, and serving as Church Elder, joined with the Euclid Methodist Church. For almost a century,
the two village churches shared the same pastor.

In 1961, under the leadership of Rev. Paul J. Beeman (1959-1961), the two churches dedicated their efforts to building a
new parsonage for their pastor as the old one across from the Euclid church was in need of much repair. The new
parsonage was built on a site of land approximately 7 1/2 acres, presented to the Euclid and Morgan Churches in
October, 1960 by Mr. & Mrs. Howard Mosher, in memory of her brother, Theodore Hudson. One acre was designated for
the site of the parsonage and 6 1/2 acres for the site of the new church. The land was originally part of a 640 acres land
grant to a soldier from General George Washington. Making plans for the new parsonage was a team effort by the two
congregations, and the contract was awarded to Mr. Scherer for construction. Moving day was March 25, 1961. Rev.
Beeman left in June 1961 to serve in Seattle, Washington.

Rev. Jack R. Buskey arrived in June 1961, amid a flurry of activities. On September 17, 1961, the parsonage
consecration service was held in the basement of the new parsonage. On September 24th the Euclid church with
guests and participants of the Morgan church celebrated the 125th anniversary of the Euclid organization and the 75th
anniversary of the church building.

Working on these joint efforts was a rewarding experience, so the two churches chose to continue as one church. On
August 26, 1962, the Morgan and Euclid Churches were duly constituted as a merged church by the District
Superintendent of the Methodist Conference. On October 7, 1962, the congregation voted to name the new church
Trinity United Methodist Church and a 'future site' sign was placed on the church property north of the new parsonage on
Morgan Road.

On September 29, 1963, while celebrating our first anniversary, we rejoiced by retiring the debt on our new parsonage.
Immediately following this, a successful building fund program was launched and plans were undertaken to erect an
educational wing, the first phase of our new church building. On Easter Sunday, March 29, 1964, the Trinity United
Methodist Church broke ground for the educational wing. The first service was conducted in the new church on
November 1, 1964.

In June 1969, Rev. Buskey left to serve the Manlius Methodist Church. From 1970 to 1976, Rev. Carl Johnson served as
our pastor. In 1971, our church began sponsoring the Nursery School, a pre-school for 3 and 4 year old children. In
1976, Rev. Hollis Hayward came to serve our church until his retirement in 1979.

In June 1979, Rev. Roy E. Hansen became the pastor of Trinity. Surveys of interest were taken; and in June 1981, a
committee was elected to investigate the feasibility of completing the church building by adding a sanctuary wing in
fulfillment of our original goal. In June 1982, the congregation was presented with a plan, a scale model, and
recommendations by the committee. A successful three year pledge toward our goals had been inaugurated during
this period. In December 1982, William Bargabos, A United Methodist in Cazenovia, deeded a 30 acre parcel of land to
Trinity Church. The land is situated to the north of the church building and has become known as "North Trinity".

The new sanctuary was consecrated on March 17, 1985. In July 1985, Rev. Hansen departed to become a hospital
chaplain. Bishop Forrest C. Smith appointed Rev. Ronald F. Hoffman as our new Pastor. Rev. Hoffman, with his wife
Barbara, came to Trinity after 16 years experience in the ministry.

Trinity's very successful fund raiser, "Grandma's Old-Fashioned Roast Beef Dinner" started in 1986. We have continued
this fund raiser every spring and fall and all have been profitable. The Mary Circle's table of homemade crafts and
goodies for sale also adds to the profits of the Roast Beef Dinner and our annual Garage Sale, "Trinity Treasures," is
another successful annual fund raiser. These fund raisers help Trinity with our financial struggles as we meet our
expenses, while our hardworking members are rewarded with fun and fellowship.

In 1992, our church basement was remodeled and new Sunday School classrooms were built. Also in 1992, Trinity
bought a new organ through generous donations to the Organ Fund. The new organ is an electronic organ that nearly
duplicates the sound of a pipe organ through digital sampling. In September 1999, the Aimee Franc Memorial
Playground was dedicated for all the Trinity children to enjoy.

Rev. Hoffman retired in July, 2001 after sixteen years as our spiritual leader. He taught our congregation, his extended
family, about the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. Rev. & Mrs. Hoffman now reside in Syracuse.

Rev. Thomas O'Donnell became our minister in July 2001, moving from New Hartford, New York with his wife, Susan.
With Pastor Tom's guidance, we refinanced our mortgage in order to make much needed improvements to our church
building and parsonage. Also, our parking lot was paved.

In November 2003 interim Pastor Rev. Gary Bergh arrived and was with us until January, 2004. Then interim Pastor,
Rev. Patricia Jelinek, was with us for six months. Both pastors were wonderful. Many Trinity members also assumed
leadership roles or volunteered extra duties during this time of transition for our church.

Our Roast Beef Dinners continued as well as our Garage Sales. Our Food Pantry donations continued. We began our
American Red Cross Blood Drives. Our Youth Group participated in fun activities and mission projects.

On July 1, 2004, Rev. Dr. Sudarshana Devadhar (our former District Superintendent) became our pastor with the
stipulation that he may be elected Bishop at our Methodist Northeast Jurisdictional Conference on July 15th. As
expected, "Dr. Suda" was elected, so Trinity's new pastor became the Bishop for New Jersey, leaving us in September,
2004.

Joyfully, our Bishop Violet Fisher and new District Superintendent, Rev. David Underwood, sent us a new pastor in
October, 2004, the Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell. The parsonage was readied for Rev. Marti and her husband, Rev. Dana
Horrell, and their two children, Nathan and Madeline. Previously sharing Rev. Marti with Phoenix United Methodist
Church, Bishop Violet Fisher appointed Marti as a full time pastor at Clay Trinity on July 1, 2005. With Rev. Marti, we
enjoyed wonderful music ministries, including singing, chamber music, and guitar playing. We actively reached out to
the community to use our facility. Families for Effective Autism, FEAT, started using our building by remodeling a
playroom for the children and an office for the adults.

In June 2008 Pastor Patience Kisakye arrived. We have continued the Blood Drives and Roast Beef Dinners. We are
committed to donating food to the New Salem Baptist Church food pantry. We also volunteer and donate to the Brown
Memorial mission in the city of Syracuse. The FEAT group continues to meet in our facility. We have several Bible Study
classes that meet during the week, as well as a walking group. We hold luncheons several times per month. We
recently hosted the Hope for Africa Children's Choir. We also recently had Christopher Ames, a Christian singer and
guitar player, perform for us in our sanctuary.

Trinity United Methodist Church has a rich history dating back 170 years. The Euclid Church bell, which graces the front
of our church with our three crosses, was dedicated in 1858. We have a proud Christian heritage which has been left to
us by all the dedicated members who have done the Lord's work, giving us a wondrous past and anticipating a strong
future.

Edited by Jane Cole from the writings of Nancy K. Coburn and Trinity newsletters.