It’s often been said when God closes a door he opens a window. Though that window may be in a different place than the person is used to, the faith inside a person remains. That is the case for the congregation of Trinity United Church of Christ, which will hold its closing service at 2 p.m. Dec. 29, with the majority of members planning to become a part of the church family of St. Thomas UCC, the church with which Trinity is merging.

“The members allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them in this process, so it’s easy to move on and minister in new settings,” said the Rev. Dennis Schappell, pastor of Trinity since 2018, noting members would take their grief over Trinity’s closing with them, but look forward to being members of the church family at St. Thomas.

“They all have gifts to contribute, new friends to make and will continue the mission work in the Lehigh Valley,” Pastor Schappell said.

“We had a shared ministry with St. Thomas before the COVID pandemic, so this is a natural and easy transition for the congregation.”

Pastor Schappell said Trinity has been working toward this since before the pandemic, due to an aging congregation and a lack of younger people joining the church.

In 2020, the congregation looked into merging with different churches, working through different theological issues and traditions, but it didn’t come to fruition, and decided in January 2024 to close. Trinity members fielded multiple purchase offers and chose to go with a church.

That church is Riverbend Community Church. The legacy of Trinity will live on, Pastor Schappell said, through such ministries as the food pantry, which is open the second and fourth weekends of each month and serves over 150 families or 300 people per month.

“It’s a really important mission that started many years ago,” Pastor Schappell said. “Riverbend has been running the pantry with people from Trinity, and will take over Jan. 1.

“Members are grieving the loss but feel good that the legacy will continue through Riverbend and the missions they’ve always supported,” Pastor Schappell said. “They feel good they’ve always lived Jesus’ mission to help the community and love one another.”

“This is the best possible outcome. When we started this process we promised to follow the Holy Spirit where the Spirit leads us.”

For many years, Trinity has also supported Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering (BES), Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the Boy Scouts and New Bethany.

In the past few years Trinity had to find a new organist after the death of the organist who had held the position for 23 years. Ultimately, the search led to Sean Reidy of Moravian University, who has filled the role for the past two years.

“Sean’s been an inspiration, and we feel good about helping the university and the students there,” Pastor Schappell said. “The sale of the church has allowed us to support things like the music scholarship fund at Moravian.”

As most Trinity members will be moving to St. Thomas, Pastor Schappell said there will be a smooth transition. “We’ve had a strong relationship with St. Thomas over the years,” he said, noting the Rev. Debra Hess, pastor of St. Thomas, previously served as part-time pastor at Trinity, “so there’s already a relationship.”

“I feel this congregation has grown a lot during the past five years, working through the pandemic.”

In light of the closing, Trinity is having Blue Advent and Blue Christmas services this year. “This is where we recognize our suffering and grief during this time, as well as the suffering of those grieving the loss of loved ones,” Pastor Schappell said.

“We also acknowledge that the holiday season can be difficult for many who are alone and away from family and friends because of work, illness or family struggles that keep them apart. It was in such a world as this that God’s love took on flesh in Jesus’ birth,” Pastor Schappell said.

The closing service Dec. 29 will be followed by dinner at a local restaurant.

Though Pastor Schappell will be retiring, he will check in and be involved with different groups, as well as the Penn Northeast Conference of the UCC.

Trinity has a rich history at 81 E. North St. The building that is now Trinity used to be First Presbyterian Church, built in 1913 – the original building was constructed in 1865, and was razed in 1912 and rebuilt into the larger church it is today. In the 1950s, First Presbyterian sold the building to St. Paul’s UCC, which merged with Zion UCC and Calvary UCC in 1973 to form Trinity, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. First UCC, Southside Bethlehem, merged with Trinity 17 years ago.

Cecilia Moll was born and raised at First UCC and became a member of Trinity when the churches merged almost two decades ago. She recalled First UCC’s last service was held Thanksgiving 2007.

“We were welcomed at Trinity – it’s a friendly church, a good church,” Moll said. “Now it’s an older congregation with no younger adults or children to keep it going.”

Moll said the late Betty Scheirer was the most welcoming person at Trinity when Moll became a member. Scheirer’s sons Jim and Randy are still members. Moll fondly remembered the Welcome Wednesday group, during which women would gather for lunch and cards and make a day of it. There had been 18 members who gathered, but after COVID hit, that number dwindled to seven, with the last meeting held in March 2020.

Moll said the death of Jim Repp was also a loss for Trinity. “He did so much for the church. We had spaghetti dinners, parking lot sales, tricky trays – and he made the best sausage sandwich you’ll ever eat. Then he died, COVID happened, and you could feel the church going down.”

Moll is especially glad the church supports New Bethany, as its roots are tied to First UCC. She explained First UCC was one of five Southside Bethlehem churches that formed Southside Ministries in the 1980s, which provided lunch for those who needed it. That group subsequently became Bethany House, then New Bethany Ministries, now known as New Bethany.

“Trinity is a nice, community-oriented church, and I’m sure we’ll continue that,” said Moll, who will attend St. Thomas. “Everybody did as much as they could.”

Rose Oberly has been a member of Trinity for as long as she can remember, having been a member when it was St. Paul’s.

“My mom was a member of the church, and I honestly do not remember going to any other church as a child,” Oberly said. “My mom was very spiritual, and church was very important to her. It was expected that my brother and I attended church every Sunday – we were never allowed to wear jeans and always had to arrive on time. My dad was a holiday church goer.”

Oberly was confirmed in the church, attended a youth group where she formed long term friendships and got married there many years ago. Both of her sons were baptized, confirmed and attended Sunday School there, “so I have many, many years of memories.”

“Even though all the children have now grown up and moved on with their lives, there are several parents who still attend this church,” she said.

Oberly is president of the consistory of Trinity, which is the governing body. She volunteered to take the president position after the president passed away unexpectedly.

“Speaking for myself and I know so many others, we are all very glad the building will remain a church and not become another apartment building in Bethlehem or be torn down and replaced with who knows what. The parking lot is prime real estate and we again are so glad the church will remain,” said Oberly, who also plans on joining St. Thomas.

“Way back in the day as a younger adult, church services were attended by more people, had lots of singing which was wonderful with a full church, and lots of activities. With our aging and dwindling congregation, I do look forward to that type of worship again.”

Oberly recalled a song her children sang when they were in the youth choir called “Christmas Isn’t Christmas ‘Til it Happens in Your Heart.”

“My fondest memory still to this day is all those sweet little faces standing up front singing that song,” Oberly said. “Our congregation has been singing it every year on Christmas Eve now for many, many years but with this being our last December together in this church, we have been singing it at the end of every service.

“I generally am not a very emotional person but this song brings back so many great memories,” Oberly said.

The memories members have of Trinity will no doubt live on in their hearts as they make new memories worth keeping in their new congregation.