Trinity Lutheran

3701 Jefferson Avenue, Midland, MI
Designed by Toshach, Prine and Spears of Saginaw in 1963.

The Church’s four-sided base rises in a truncated triangle, the four sides representing the world (four corners of the earth, four directions, winds, etc.) and the flattened triangle representing the Blessed Trinity. The triangle, traditional symbol of the Trinity, is reproduced many times in many ways. The altar itself is a large triangle with one point of it pointed toward the congregation. Each beam in the church forms a triangle, and takes up the Trinity theme. At the front of the church, there are two free standing brick walls, in order for these walls to work, without falling down, there had to be a collaborative effort between the builders, and Dow Chemical to find a mastic/mortar that would work with the bricks, and give enough to not be brittle, yet strong enough to keep the wall standing. The windows are of faceted glass.  Three basic materials were used – red brick, wood beams and decking- with the beams forming triangles and white plastered areas. Accents are of troweled marble. A massive Trinity symbol is also used on the exterior of the church, a symbol designed by a member of the congregation, Eugene Ulmanis. After conceiving the design, Ulmanis carved it full-size out of Styrofoam. It was then shipped to an ecclesiastical arts firm in Chicago where it was reproduced in pounded copper. The church was designed by Prine,

Toshach, Spears Architects and Engineers of Saginaw and was awarded the Saginaw

Valley Chapter, American Institute of Architects merit award in January, 1967. It was

dedicated during a month-long celebration in October, 1965.

This church won the Saginaw Chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ Merit Award in January of 1967.