Steeple to Soar Again Above Trinity Lutheran Church in Boonsboro

Restoring a Landmark, Renewing a Legacy

After more than 70 years, a steeple will once again rise above Trinity Lutheran Church in Boonsboro. Originally built in 1870, Trinity’s wooden steeple stood as a visual and spiritual landmark along Main Street until it was removed following a series of lightning strikes and fires. Now, with the strength and safety of modern aluminum construction, we are excited to bring the steeple back—restoring not just a piece of our church’s architecture, but also a part of our town’s historic charm.

Work began in mid-May by Franklin Builders to prepare the brick tower base for the steeple, which will be custom fabricated with the measurements taken. It will take approximately 6 months to fabricate and deliver the steeple so Trinity is hopeful it may be erected by the end of 2025.

Interestingly, workers found piles of ash in the tower, evidence of the historic fires related to the original steeple. The tower also still contains the bell which Trinity rings each Sunday morning at 10:15 to announce the beginning of worship.

Our new steeple is generously being donated by the Cline family in memory of their father, grandfather and husband C. Rodney Cline — a lifelong member and pillar of our congregation. Rodney devoted much time, energy and leadership to Trinity over many years.

Before his passing, he was part of a Trinity subcommittee that re-established the church’s carillon that plays hymns and chimes throughout Boonsboro, a project that Rodney was very pleased to see come to fruition.  It is also one that many members of of our community have told us they love.

The steeple gift is made by Rodney’s wife Connie and their daughters and their families: Jennifer and Mark Poffenberger, Julie and Kurt Williams and Laura and Matt Iager. Their generosity and vision allow us not only to honor the past, but also to look to the future, as we continue our mission to worship and serve Boonsboro and beyond.

As the steeple rises again, we hope it will serve as a reminder that God is very present in our lives and inspire us to look heaven-ward for strength and hope.

We are so excited to see this project underway and invite the whole town to join us in watching the progress of the steeple being erected – follow us on Facebook to watch the progress.

We hope to celebrate the completion and dedication of the steeple with all of Boonsboro in the coming months, along with celebrating the 255th anniversary of laying the cornerstone of Trinity’s building on S. Main Street. Unfortunately, Trinity missed celebrating the 250th anniversary of laying the cornerstone in 2020 when Covid struck.

In addition to the steeple project, Trinity continues its outreach efforts in a variety of ways in our community, including our new Blessings in Motion program, the third year of our community Summer Day Camp and our 3rd Annual Community Picnic with all of Boonsboro invited on August 23.

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Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church has been a core presence in our community since 1750 when it was officially established as a congregation. German Lutherans were among the first settlers of the Boonsboro area. At Ringer’s Church, a Lutheran congregation met several miles northwest of Boonsboro on the Peter Ringer homestead.

Many of these Lutherans joined with members of the Reformed church to build Salem Church in 1810. Salem Church was located at 35 Potomac Street in Boonsboro on land donated by William Boone’s family (one of the founders of Boonsboro) and was home to both congregations from 1810 to 1870.

Outgrowing the shared building, Trinity Lutheran laid the cornerstone of its current building at 64 S. Main Street in 1870 and the Trinity UCC Reformed Church built a new church (which stands today) on approximately the same site as Salem Church.

Note that the two congregations still share ownership of the small Boonsboro Cemetery site located behind the church at 35 Potomac St. as well as the larger Cemetery site located behind Trinity Lutheran at 64 S. Main St.