St. John's Lutheran Church (Knoxville, Tennessee) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
St. John's Lutheran Church
|
|
 |
|
 Location in Tennessee
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Knoxville, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Built | 1912 |
| Architect | Richard F. Graf |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
| Part of | Emory Place Historic District (ID94001259) |
| NRHP reference No. | 85000700 |
| Added to NRHP | April 4, 1985 |
St. John's Lutheran Church is an old and important church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can find it at 544 Broadway NW. This church building is special because it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a very important historical site in the United States. It's also part of the Emory Place Historic District, which is a whole area with many historic buildings.
The Church's Story
How St. John's Began
The St. John's church group started in 1888. It was the first Lutheran church in Knoxville to use English during its services. The people who founded the church were from German families. They were Lutherans, but they wanted to worship in English instead of German. Other Lutheran churches in the area used German at that time.
At first, the group met in another church downtown. It was called the First German Evangelical Lutheran Church. In 1889, the group rented an old church building. This building was on the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. It used to be the Broad Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
Building the New Church
In 1890, the church group officially became a congregation. They joined with the United Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the South. They also bought the old Broad Street Methodist property.
The idea for a new church building began in 1910. A church member named Martha Henson gave some land for it. This land was one block north of the old church. More land was bought next to it. Construction of the new church building started in August 1911.
The new church was finished and opened in 1912. R. F. Graf was the architect who designed the building. He designed it in the Gothic Revival style. Martha Henson gave almost $90,000 for the project. The total cost was about $100,000. She gave the money to honor her husband, James A. Henson.
Special Church Features
The church has many Gothic design elements. These include arched windows and doorways. Outside, you can see buttresses, which are supports that stick out from the walls. There is also fancy stone work called tracery.
Inside the church, the wood is made of quarter sawn oak. The ceiling in the main worship area is very high. It uses special wooden beams called hammerbeam trusses. These beams make the ceiling almost 40 feet (12 meters) high.
The church has 61 beautiful stained glass windows. These windows surround the main worship area. Nine of these windows show pictures from the Bible. They tell stories in order, from beginning to end. The company that made these windows was Von Gerichten Art Glass from Cincinnati. They put the windows together at the church while it was being built.
Today, the church group is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
