Christ Church Lutheran | |
 Christ Church Lutheran viewed from the northeast | |
| Location | 3244 34th Avenue South,Minneapolis,Minnesota, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 44°56′37″N93°13′24″W / 44.94361°N 93.22333°W /44.94361; -93.22333 |
| Built | 1948–1949 |
| Built by | Kraus-Anderson, Inc. |
| Architect | Eliel Saarinen |
| Architectural style | International Style[2] |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000654[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 20, 2001 |
| Designated NHL | January 16, 2009[3] |
Christ Church Lutheran is a congregation of theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) inMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Its buildings—a sanctuary with chapel (1949) and an education wing (1962) designed by Finnish-American architectsEliel Saarinen andEero Saarinen—have been internationally recognized and were declared aNational Historic Landmark in 2009.
The congregation was established in 1911 as part of theLutheran Church – Missouri Synod, but left in the 1970s as part of a dispute that led to the formation of theAssociation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, which in turn was among the founding denominations of the ELCA.
The Miriam Samuelson-Roberts currently serves as lead pastor, with the Erik Haaland as associate pastor. The congregation is also served by its cantors, Deacon Mark Sedio and Martha Mutch.
TheInternational Style worship building was designed by the firm Saarinen and Saarinen, a father and son partnership ofEliel Saarinen (1873–1950) andEero Saarinen (1910–1961); the project was Eliel Saarinen's last completed building. The sculptured stone panels were designed byWilliam M. McVey (1922–1976). It was dedicated in 1949 and was acknowledged as an architectural masterpiece from the day it opened. As an early, outstanding example of modern religious architecture in the United States, it was widely published in the architectural, popular, and religious press, and provided inspiration for countless modern churches that would be built in the 1950s and 1960s.[4] Noted conductorOsmo Vänskä said of the church that "It's a good place to play. The acoustics are good for music—for chamber music—and it's a good place for the audience to listen. It's a place not only for the congregation but also a venue for concerts."[5]
The congregation opted to go with the design after finding that their plans for a traditionalGothic Revival building would be too costly. In 1946, a new pastor, William A. Buege, contacted the elder Saarinen, then the president of theCranbrook Academy of Art, and convinced him to take the commission. Saarinen had designed the pioneeringFirst Christian Church inColumbus, Indiana, in 1941 and used it as a model. It was Eliel Saarinen's last building; he died the following year. Upon the church's opening, Saarinen noted "if a building is honest, the architecture is religious."[4] At first look, the church appears to be an oblong box, but actually it is an irregularquadrilateral—the side walls are not parallel, nor are the front and back walls.[4]
An addition, the education building (connected by an arcade and interior hallways) was designed under the supervision ofEero Saarinen by his former employee Glen Paulsen, and completed in 1962. By coincidence it was also Eero's last completed project; he died the year before. The addition is organized around a courtyard and was carefully designed to complement and complete their earlier worship building.[4]
In 1977, the building was the eighth recipient of theAmerican Institute of Architects'Twenty-five Year Award, one of only two places of worship to have been so honored. It is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. The entire building was named aNational Historic Landmark by theNational Park Service by theSecretary of the Interior on January 16, 2009.[3][6][7][8]
Restoration of the bell tower was completed in 2011,[9] and the courtyard was reconstructed in 2017. In 2018, the previous organ was replaced with a new pipe organ built byDobson Pipe Organ Builders of Lake City, Iowa.
Free architecture tours are offered to the public at 11:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of every month. Tours are led by a trained docent from the non-profit Friends of Christ Church Lutheran. Tours for larger groups can be arranged with prior consultation.
MacDonald & Mack Architects preserves Christ Church Lutheran, a National Historic Landmark and modernist icon designed by Eliel and Eero Saarinen.
