There must be something holy in the water at Trinity English Lutheran Church, because the congregation, which just completed a $5.5 million new wing, has produced 35 clergy ordinations since its 1846 founding.

“We have ordinations that include a global missionary, an American mission developer, a seminary professor, a bishop and more, serving in the country,” said the Rev. Richard G. Frazier, pastor emeritus of Trinity.

For the Rev. Melody Brindel of the American Lutheran Church in Filley, Neb., the call to the ministry didn't come quickly.

Always active in choir, drama, Soda Pop Seminar and other church programs, Brindel credits Trinity for forming her faith through Sunday school, confirmation classes, and youth and educational groups.

“I didn't even think about it till right before my senior year in college,” said Brindel, a graduate of South Side High School and Valparaiso University and the Lutheran School of Theology.

“I had lunch with Trinity's music director, Bob Hobby, and he mentioned that the people in church thought I would be a good pastor,” she recalled. “He spent the lunch hour telling me all the reasons why I should go into the ministry, and I in turn told him all the reasons I disagreed.

“After lunch,” Brindel added, “he asked me to pray about it, and later, when I did so in my room, I had a feeling of peace come over me, and I knew for sure that was what I wanted and what I should be doing.”

Had she not received the call, Brindel, a French and Spanish student, likely would have gone into a career as a translator.

Trinity's first African-American member to be ordained was the Rev. Timothy Graham, pastor of Light of the Cross Lutheran Center in Fort Wayne.

Graham, a former Supervalu Distribution Center employee, was a clerical late-bloomer.

“About 8 years ago, after I had blessed our dinner, Larraine, my 7-year-old daughter, shocked me by saying, ‘Dad, you should be a pastor,'” said Graham, who was 33 at the time. “And I politely told her she didn't know what she was talking about; but, in the ensuing months, I thought about it constantly. Months later, while I was praying, I felt God calling me into the ministry.

“It scared me so much that I didn't even tell my wife, Meme,” Graham said. “Instead, I sought (Trinity Senior) Pastor (Fred) Hasecke's counsel. Then I told Meme and, from the very beginning, Trinity was involved and instrumental in my whole process toward ordination.

“Not only did I have Pastor Hasecke's whole-hearted support, but the Trinity members themselves were very encouraging during this time,” Graham said. “In addition, Trinity also helped my family and me financially by supporting us throughout our entire seminary journey and with my educational costs. I am extremely grateful to the Trinity family, and could not have made it without their help.”

The Rev. Barbara Y. Wulsin was another Trinity success, said Frazier, adding, “While working at Riley Hospital with deaf clients, Barbara lived in an area where there were no Lutheran congregations, so she joined a nearby Episcopal church and is now an Episcopalian priest.”

A 1970 Snider High School graduate with a bachelor's degree in speech pathology and audiology from Indiana University and a master's degree in deaf education from the University of Pittsburgh, Wulsin wandered from her church roots for 10 years.

“I was living in Zionsville working with the deaf community, which I loved, but something in me was not fulfilled,” recalled Wulsin. “And the lifestyle I was living then literally imploded on me when I heard the voice of God say to me one bleak February day in 1980, ‘Barbara, you need God,'” recalled Wulsin, who went from there to become confirmed as an Episcopalian Church member and later to be ordained in 1986 as an Episcopal priest.

“For me, this was actually giving my life to Jesus Christ as an adult, and it was life-changing,” Wulsin said. “My background in deaf education has helped me so much in ministering the Word of God, as my main challenge in both places has been how to communicate that which might be difficult to understand. Sign language was a form of communication that touched something in my soul.”

Wulsin, who is also a hospice chaplain, is married to another Episcopalian priest, Stockton Wulsin, and the couple has three children. Her passion lies in the healing ministry and in bringing God to those who will listen, and even, “to those who will not.”

The Rev. Arnold O. Pierson, vice president for the last 20 years of the Mission Investment Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Chicago, gives Trinity a grateful nod for starting him on his career.

“Ever since I can remember, Trinity has been part of my life,” said Pierson, who served previously for 20 years in four parishes and is nearing retirement.

“Most of us growing up in the 1950s can still hear Dr. Paul Krauss from the pulpit, and it seemed as though it was the voice of God,” Pierson recalled. “I'd always been active in Trinity — choir, the Order of St. John, Luther League and more.

“Although I was never ‘struck by lightning,' God's presence came to me through people who came into my life.

“Pastor Frazier played a major role in shaping my life, as he was my youth pastor,” Pierson said. “And how blessed I was to receive my first parish call in working with him as one of his associates.

“Over the years, he has been my pastor, my mentor, my boss, my colleague and my friend,” Pierson said. “For that, I am truly thankful!”