Exterior of Trinity showing the Trinity Commons

Rev. Simon Fensom | Trinity Lutheran Church

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Members and friends of Trinity Lutheran Church are enjoying the first phase of the congregation’s massive expansion and remodeling this month, as construction winds up on the $13.9 million project that has transformed the downtown Moorhead landmark, inside and out.
They visited and drank countless cups of coffee for the first time Sept. 13 in the bright, welcoming space that has been dubbed Trinity Commons. The new fellowship area spans the distance between the church’s 1951 sanctuary and the Christian Life Center, constructed almost 40 years later.
The Commons – with its wall of eastward-facing glass, its soaring two-story ceiling, and its coffee bar serving up that classic Lutheran brew – seems to symbolize the congregation’s decade-long plan to reinvent and refurbish its venerable church home for the 21st century.
“This is a place where we can gather,” Pastor Simon Fensom mused last week as he led a guest through the renovated complex, one of the oldest and easily the largest church in the city. “It’s a space for the whole community, not only our own members.
“We spend so much time alone these days, with our cellphones and all the rest of our personal technology. They seem to have left us with far fewer opportunities for interpersonal connection,” he says. “Now gathering with others has become more intentional. This is a place where people will be welcome to greet one another and linger.
“That’s why we have added a coffee bar. Members and guests will gather here before and after our services on Sunday, of course. But our intention is also to have the Commons, as well as the coffee bar, open to the community from 10 to 2 every day of the week. That’s coming soon.” He cautions, though, not to expect lattes, macchiatos or even pumpkin spice: “It will be simple Lutheran coffee, after all.”
The Trinity family is witnessing the fulfillment of a dream that goes back nearly a decade. Shortly after Fensom was installed as head pastor, a committee dubbed the Dream Team began making plans to prepare the 142-year-old congregation for an expanded and changing role in years to come. Plenty of changes lay ahead, both for their ministry and the physical structure that accommodates it: Among them, 13 levels separated by steps and stairways; an aging boiler and HVAC system struggling to keep up; a busy day care tucked away in the basement; too few meeting rooms and areas; offices scattered wherever a few square feet of space could be found; and entrances and hallways that confused visitors and parishioners alike.
Beginning in 2019, recounts Fensom, they kicked off Phase 1A of their ambitious plan, “Renew, Refocus, Refresh,” with an ambitious fundraising campaign. When work began on the preschool, education and youth spaces the next summer, members’ contributions already were pouring in. By the summer of 2022, Trinity Day Care was occupying new above-ground quarters in the southern half of the complex, along with classes and activities for older children and teens.
A few months later, Phase 1B – “Shining Together” – was launched. By Spring 2023, the rest of the community could watch from Eighth Street South as the 1949 parish education wing was demolished and construction began on the Commons.
Now, 18 months later, the final steps are underway to finish what will become the church’s main entrance on its east side, facing Eighth Street. The small building, formerly an insurance office, was to be demolished earlier this week. Then all that remains is to pave the spacious parking lot.
An open house for the entire community is tentatively planned for Sunday, Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, the Phase I funding campaign is $1.7 million away from its $13.9 million goal. When that milestone is reached, the Dream Team intends to continue on to Phase II, intended to replace the air handling system in the sanctuary and lighting and sound systems there and in the Christian Life Center. Asbestos removal will be completed in a few remaining areas. Additional meeting rooms are planned as those spaces are cleared.
“In the beginning, the estimate was $8.6 million,” Fensom remembers. “Even that seemed way too much. And yet, amazingly, the congregation came through, bit by bit by bit. The generosity of our members is phenomenal. They are so invested in our role in this community.
“This is a locale for all kinds of people to gather,” he continues. “It would be obscene to have this much real estate preserved solely for Wednesday choir rehearsals and Sunday mornings. We play an active role in downtown Moorhead and the life of this community.”
Prior to construction, he points out, 17 nonprofit community groups met regularly in the church; nine have continued throughout the sometimes-chaotic renovations. “We’ll have room for even more as things settle out, so stay tuned.”
Trinity hosts services at 8:30 and 10:30 Sunday mornings. The first, a traditional service in the sanctuary, draws 750 worshipers; the second, contemporary worship in the Christian Life Center, 300. The largest audiences of the week, though, lie elsewhere. An estimated 1,200 to 1,500 tune in to live-streamed programming on YouTube, Facebook and Trinity’s website (trinitymhd.org).
The busiest evening of the week is Wednesday, when families gather for a meal, the 6:30 service in the CLC, and all kinds of activities for children and youth, including Wednesday School, children’s choir, confirmation classes and Friends in Faith for those in grades 7 through 9.
“These are exciting days,” Fensom observes. Drawing on the language of his youth in England, he notes, “Our members are truly gobsmacked when they see the Commons for the first time. There’s lots of energy in this bright, welcoming space.”