After 106 years, 54 pastors and a membership that's growing increasingly gray, Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church is still standing.
This year, in fact, Trinity has been recognized as one of 14 centennial churches by the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. That means the Salt Lake church, estimated to be anywhere from 104 to 114 years old, was established before Utah was admitted to the Union in 1896 as the 45th state.Trinity is the only black congregation to receive that recognition.
"It's very good, because it lets not only the community as a whole know, but especially black people, that black people didn't just appear in Salt Lake City," said James Green, a member of the church at 239 E. 600 South since 1951. "Our history goes back to before the Mormons arrived."
Longtime members of the
church, as well as the Rev. Ralph Crabbe, Trinity's minister, say Trinity AME was organized in 1890 in the home of Kitty Prouse, 300 W. 600 South. Green noted that the Rev. Theodore Saunders led a flock of nine faithful members, who convened in various members' homes before the current church was erected in 1907. But according to the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission, Trinity AME Church was established in 1880 in Ogden. It credits the Salt Lake church as coming two years later, in 1882.
In its heyday, from the 1930s through the 1960s, Trinity boasted some 300 faithful. It also housed metropolitan Salt Lake's first black community center in its basement. In the '60s, the church even scored points with its own girls and boys basketball teams. A close part-nership with the YMCA helped foster the church's community involvement.
Today, though, a close-knit 100member community exists within the historic church. Widowed seniors comprise the "heart" of the "working-class church," the Rev. Crabbe said. A few young adult families worship there, but Crabbe wants to attract more teens. Most in the congregation were raised in or are long-term Salt Lake area residents.
"A lot of our members died off. We really haven't grown like we should have," said Ruth Yar-brough, a Trinity member of 46 years. "We have a few young people, but the ones here aren't having many babies."
The old-time members see the Rev. Crabbe, 45, as an essential player in restoring the church to its past glory. The Rev. Crabbe grabbed the media spotlight in January after demanding that Utah Statehood Cen-tennial Commission chairman Stephen Studdert resign or be fired after making a racially insensitive comment. A reporter had asked Studdert about the lack of participation in centennial activities by ethnic and religious minorities. Studdert replied: "If you hung some people with a new rope, they'd complain." The Rev. Crabbe earned a reputation as something of a rabble rouser. One Deseret News reader later wrote that the reverend should "lighten up."
"What we say reflects our beliefs. I hope never to lighten up," the Rev. Crabbe said. " `Lighten up' means we condone the tyranny of being polite by not dealing with the truth as we know it. People want us to lighten up as opposed to lighting the fire. Society today is too light."
The African Methodist Episcopal faith is a 209-year-old Methodist denomination with an Epis-co-palian governing structure. It was founded in Philadelphia as an activist church by Richard Allen, a former slave who purchased his freedom for $2,000. The AME church was born after a group of African worshipers were pulled from their knees while praying at the local white Methodist Episcopal church. The church was founded and adheres to principles of industry, thrift, freedom, social justice, political action, educational achievement and good will.
Crabbe notes that the African Methodist Church is "very pro-black, not anti-white."
Long-time members of Trinity would like to see the historic church restored as close as possible to its original form: vaulted ceilings, unpainted brick exterior and with a roof that doesn't leak. The Rev. Crabbe has a personal vision for the now-struggling Trinity AME.
"I'd like to see it become the basis of community for the African-American community. I'd like to establish generally helpful and healthy relationships for the real expanding community of African-Americans in Salt Lake City and pass that on intergenerationally."