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History of Trinity United Methodist Church

In 1962 several couples that attended a large Sunday School class at Northwood Methodist Church in West Palm Beach responded to the call to plant a new Methodist Church closer to where they lived. In July of 1962 Trinity was officially chartered and our first home was located on the southeast corner of Burns Road and Alternate A1A. Later in November of 1962 Trinity moved to the cafeteria of Howell Watkins Middle School while the first sanctuary was being constructed.

Services continued there for another three years. Charter member Harold Armstrong, who owned a construction company, built the chapel. Harold himself was out there doing the work, even operating the crane to put the steeple in place. It was clear God had gathered people at Trinity with different spiritual gifts to help in the building of Trinity’s facilities. In October of 1964 the new Chapel located on 5 acres of land on Military Trail was opened to the congregation. Trinity had a home! In the beginning the church operated entirely on a volunteer basis. Trinity’s first pastor, Rev. Bob Brittain, began with no staff. Church members and volunteers provided the services and labor needed to operate the offices and services for the new congregation. All of the members, even the kids, contributed in one way or another.

Trinity started with a strong faith and a willingness to work hard; that plus a genuine friendliness and willingness to reach out to the community were all the ingredients needed for a successful church family

In September of 1966 Trinity grew and added a new Fellowship Hall (currently the ROCK wing) to our facility. This helped Trinity to start a kindergarten class with about twenty students as it was not offered by the public school system at that time. Within a few years this had grown to include two morning classes and one afternoon class.

In May of 1970 Trinity continued to grow with the groundbreaking for the children’s educational unit added to the facility (currently the preschool wing).

Trinity continued to grow through the next few years and the need for a larger area to worship was evident. Easter of 1974 the new Sanctuary and staff offices were dedicated. In 1981 Trinity added more administrative offices , another educational wing, and completed the courtyard.

As Trinity grew the need for a larger area to fellowship was realized and in 1988 the addition on the new (and current) Fellowship Hall, nursery wing, kitchen, and youth center was opened. In 2004 the addition of the administrative wing was complete.

In 2006 as the need of the church continued to grow, thus started the construction of a new educational facility which was completed and opened in September of 2007. The Erbey Center, a place for learning, houses part of the ministry of Trinity Christian School of Palm Beach Gardens as well as classes for other ministries of the church.