Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church is located on Pella Avenue in West Columbia. We chose the name of our street carefully; Pella is the city to which the faithful Jews fled for safety during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Likewise, our church on Pella Avenue strives to be the refuge for Christians seeking protection from the trials and temptations of this world. Holy Trinity was org
anized as an Independent Lutheran congregation in 1968 by former members of the AELC (then LCA). It was not an easy choice to leave the security of an established congregation or the people who they loved and with whom they had worshiped for many years. They felt they had no choice, however, when they saw false doctrine taught and defended in their congregation. Taking a leap of faith, these faithful Christians built the church in which we still worship. Realizing the importance of the Christian Education of their children, the members further sacrificed to establish a Christian elementary school and after school care. The Lord has blessed our efforts, enabling us for over 40 years to continue hearing His Word, being comforted by His promises, and praising Him in our Worship Services and other activities. In the 1970s we became affiliated with the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC), an organization consisting of other congregations, pastors and laypeople throughout the nation who have separated from every major Lutheran synod as the cancer of error and disobedience to the Word of God continues to permeate Lutheranism. All of the CLC member churches confess that the Bible is the inspired and unerring Word of God. They confess the creeds of the Lutheran Church without qualification, as they are found in the Book of Concord of 1580. Scripture itself is the source and foundation of Christian teaching and faith—the Lutheran Confessions are a faithful setting forth of what Scripture teaches. The name of our church body is a witness to what we believe; it is a continual reminder of our responsibility to be truly Lutheran, and therefore Scriptural in our teaching and in our practice. This principle holds true among us: “If it is not Scripture; it is not Lutheran!”
