The now named Trinity church formed in 1861 when twenty-one members and thirty families followed Rev. Mr. D.V. Mc Lean from the First Baptist church. This congregation used the sanctuary on W. Second Street, Plainfield, NJ for worship. On October 20, 1863, the Classis of Raritan organized us as the Central Reformed protestant Dutch Church. On October 1, 1864, we purchased the building from the Union Baptist Church. During this time, there was some dissention between the minister, the consistory and some members of the congregation. After a three-day trial in March 1872, Rev. Smith and the consistory were found guilty of "desertion of office".

In 1880, the Classis of Newark organized us as Trinity Church. On February 1, 1882, the church and the organ were partially destroyed by the first fire to happen at Trinity. During renovations, church services were held at the YMCA building in Plainfield, NJ. The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was organized under Dr. Raymond in 1885. During the late 1880's, Trinity's membership grew to eight hundred and thirty three members. In 1948, the church suffered a second fire. We celebrated our 100th anniversary as a church in 1963.

Construction of a new church building was begun in 1964 at the corner of West End Avenue and Greenbrook Road on North Plainfield, NJ where it still stands today. The construction was completed in 1966. The building sustained much damage due to floods in 1971 and 1973.

Without the help of church members, neighbors and neighboring churches, we would not have been able to clean up as quickly as we did and keep moving forward. Once again, fire struck our church in 1988. Much smoke and electrical damage was sustained. We still continued to worship at our church using Broek chapel while repairs were being done to the rest of the building.

Most recently, our sanctuary has been remodeled to join the choir and organist in the worshipping family where they before worshipped behind the pulpit in a curtained area. The different organizations in our church have been doing many things to be involved in the community and beyond.

PASTORS

Rev. Mr. John Simonson     1864 - 1869

Rev. Mr. Nichollas Everett Smith     1869 - 1872

Rev. Mr. F. V. Van Vranken Raymond     1881 - 1887

Rev. Mr. Cornelius Schneck     1887 - 1906

Rev. Mr. Edward Payson Johnson D.D.     1906 - 1908

Rev. Dr. John Y. Broek     1908 - 1958

Rev. Lorenz Proli     1958 - 1979

Rev. Dr. Keith Schmidt     1979 - 1987

Rev. Mr. Gerald Koster - Interim Minister     1988 - 1990

Rev. Dr. Steve Miller     1990 - 2002

Rev. Mrs. Erika Beer-Gerhard     Minister Under Contract         May 2002 - May 2003

Rev. David Taylor     Minister Under Contract         Jan 2004 - present

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