Trinity Fellowship’s story begins in 1976 when God placed a burden upon the hearts of Dr. Ed Blum and Dr. Alan Hull. Ed was a professor at Dallas Seminary and one of the teaching pastors at Believers Chapel in Dallas. Alan was a practicing nephrologist who served as an elder at Believers Chapel. While Ed and Alan were grateful to see how God was blessing the ministry at the church they recognized that the tremendous growth created an opportunity for a new work.
Alan and Ed spent a year studying the Bible together regarding God’s plan for the church. As they prayed they sensed God’s direction in beginning a new work. They called a meeting for those they thought might be interested in a new church. About a dozen couples met at Alan’s home and a decision was made to step out in faith and begin a new ministry.
The church was to be named TRINITY FELLOWSHIP, not because of any association with the “fellowship” churches but because of the Biblical verse, 1 John 1:3: “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” The goal was to have a new church where our “vertical” fellowship with God was lived out in the context of the “horizontal” fellowship created by the Spirit of God in the church.
The early years of the church were exciting but difficult. After several years of meeting at a recreation center the church began to meet on Sunday evenings at another church. While it was a time of great personal growth in the lives of individuals it was less than ideal to meet only Sunday nights.
When God provided an option to purchase land at our present location it was a major step of faith. The challenge was laid before the congregation and after great personal sacrifice the property was purchased and the first phase of construction was completed, that which is now the fellowship hall.
In the following years the church grew in many ways. New elders joined with Alan Hull and Ed Blum to serve the church. New families became part of the life of the community. Several construction programs expanded the church building.
In 1985 Dr. Blum left Dallas Seminary to take the leadership of the Christian Medical Society, a move which limited his involvement in teaching at the church. For one year the pulpit was shared by Dr. Blum, Dr. Darrell Bock, a professor at Dallas Seminary, and Carl Anderson, who was completing his doctorate at the seminary. When Carl graduated in 1987 he began serving full-time with the church and served as pastor from 1987 to summer of 2011.
Since its inception in 1977 Trinity Fellowship has continued to see God’s faithfulness in a wonderful way. The faith and vision of Ed and Alan has been blessed into a ministry where God has worked mightily in the lives of many. Over the years the church has grown from the original twelve couples to a congregation of over 600. An overcrowding problem led to a major building program that resulted in the construction of the sanctuary and new adult classrooms, opened in March 1999. Similar overcrowding problems in the youth ministry led to a brand new youth facility expansion in the fall of 2000.
Several years ago, the church had the opportunity to buy the property adjacent to our north boundary. It was very overgrown and the house was barely visible. The land was cleared and the house turned into a place for the youth to worship. After the tragic death of one of our deacons and his teen age daughter, it was named the Lu Alice House. It later became offices for our growing church staff after the youth facility expansion was completed.
The Lu Alice House was plagued by old age and an abundance of “critters” who chose to live under it. We had a full time animal trapper who captured and removed skunks, raccoons and other similar animals. It became a very unpleasant place to inhabit.
The church decided to add an administrative wing to replace the Lu Alice House. It was completed in the summer of 2004. The Lu Alice House was torn down and was replaced by lawn and the absence of “critters.”
