Dr. Louis W. Smith, Founder

Trinity United Missionary Baptist Church (TUMBC) was founded by the Rev. Dr. Louis W. Smith and was dedicated under the auspices of the Southern General Missionary Baptist Association (SGMBA) of New Orleans, LA.  A total of 74 members were in the organization of TUMBC on April 14, 1998, and 49 members were the incorporators of the church on June 8, 1999.  

Dr. Smith named the church, “Trinity,” after which member Crystal Washington suggested “United” be added. The first public recognition and dedication services was on Sunday, April 21, 1999 at Greater Galilee Baptist Church, the Rev. Felman Taylor, host pastor, with Dr. Frank L. Lewis, president SGMBA, officiating. 

The first services were held at the SGMBA Headquarters Building at 2510 Dumaine Street and later at the Greater Galilee Baptist Church on St. Ann Street. During the week of April 10-14, 2000, Trinity dedicated their church building at 3501 N. Claiborne Ave., purchased from the Antioch Apostolic Church. 

Before Katrina, church services were aired on a local cable station, and members offered after-school tutoring, music, community outreach, and Christian education. Dr. Smith, a trained musician whose mother was one of Mahalia Jackson’s first pianists, was a longtime public-school teacher, seminary professor and board member of national and local Baptist associations, and civil rights organizations.  

After Dr. Smith passed in 2020, Trinity was led by the Rev. Malcom Bacchus, one of his mentees, until January 2024.  In April, the Rev. Damien L. Dyson, Sr. – grandson of Dr. Smith’s closest friend, Dr. J.C. Profit, Sr. – was installed as pastor by the Ideal Missionary Baptist and Educational Association, officiated by President Dr. J.C. Dyson, pastor of Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church - “The Treme Church.”