Originally posted by NemesioCould you clarify what you mean by "formal sense" here?
Certainly the Trinity is a dogma that predates the Church in any formal sense.
Certainly the Church hierarchy of Bishops/Elders, Priests/Presbyters/Ministers and Deacons is not a post-Biblical construct - they're mentioned all over Acts and the Epistles. What's more, St. Clement of Rome (writing about the same time as John's Gospel) goes into great lengths to describe the hierarchy in his writings.
So if, as you assert, the Trinity is a post-Biblical construct, then the formal Church certainly precedes the dogma of the Trinity.