Trinity Methodist Church at Market and Noe Street - 1993

Southeast corner of Market and Noe Street; Site of Trinity Methodist Church - basically a Swedish congregation in the old days. The church was a two-story, blonde brick building with a small deco-like steeple on the corner. By the 1970s the congregation was small and old, but became gay-friendly. Eureka theatre began here. In 1981, the Church was destroyed by arson. Around the same time, two other gay-friendly churches were victims of arson: Stuart Presbyterian on Guerrero Street (was now MCC), and The House of Man on Steiner and Duboce Street. The congregation vowed to rebuild and continued to meet at St. Francis Lutheran Belcher Street Church. Later, Trinity Methodist and Golden Gate MCC who were also using the Belcher St. Church made history by merging. The new building would be called the Life Center, with a total of 30,000 sq.ft. The sanctuary would seat 200 without pews or an alter. Shaker chairs hung on pegs on the wall and when you entered you would pick a chair. The garden dates from 1992; It was the focus of 1992 Earth Day. Several folks gathered here to clear the lot and do the planting. The food goes to Mitre Hospice and Coming Home Hospice, two Castro Area Hospices for AIDS. By November of 1996, the garden was gone and the site was empty and ultimately a condo was built. See later slides.