First Evangelical Church (Houston)

First Evangelical Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
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Location	1311 Holman St., Houston, Texas
Coordinates	29°44′25″N 95°22′32″W / 29.74028°N 95.37556°W / 29.74028; -95.37556Coordinates: 29°44′25″N 95°22′32″W / 29.74028°N 95.37556°W / 29.74028; -95.37556
Area	1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built	1927
Architect	Northrop, Joseph W. Jr.; West, James
Architectural style	Lombard Romanesque
NRHP Reference #	06001066[1]
RTHL #	129128
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 21, 2006
Designated RTHL	2002

First Evangelical Church is a historic Lutheran church at 1311 Holman Street in Houston, Texas. It is part of the North American Lutheran Church.

The current church building was constructed in 1927 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

History

On July 1, 1851, a group led by the Rev. Caspar Messon Braun (1822–1880) founded the Erste Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Kirche, or First German Evangelical Lutheran Church. The State of Texas issued the church's charter on September 21 of that year. First Lutheran was the first Lutheran congregation in Houston and the second Lutheran congregation in Texas. First Lutheran is responsible for the establishment of no less than eight daughter congregations in Harris County.

In November, 1851, just 2 months after its founding, six missionaries from St. Chrischona of Basel, Switzerland arrived in Texas. Along with the Rev. Braun, they established the First Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Texas, often called the Texas Synod. The purpose of the synod was to gather the many Lutherans in Texas that were without congregations and a churchly structure. The confession of the synod included subscription to the Lutheran Confessions, adopting unaltered symbolical books as found in the Book of Concord, 1580, accepting the Unaltered Small Catechism, and selecting the German Hymn book of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States.

The first church building was erected on the southeast corner of Texas Avenue at Milam Street. In 1901, under the Rev. William L. Blasberg (1862–1935), the congregation moved to the northwest corner of Texas Avenue at Caroline Street, to a new red brick and sandstone edifice built in the Gothic tradition. After selling the second structure in 1926, the First Evangelical Church, as it became known, purchased the current site on Holman Street. Under the leadership of the Rev. Detlev Baltzer (1889–1962), the congregation hired architect Joseph W. Northrop, Jr., who had moved to Houston to oversee construction of the original Rice Institute, now Rice University. James West was general contractor for the new church campus, and J. C. Nolan and the Star Electric and Engineering Company held sub-contracts.^[2]

Architecture

Northrop's North Italian Romanesque styling features terra cotta roof tiles on the nave, education building and parsonage, as well as a campanile, or bell tower. The buildings were constructed of interlocking concrete tiles covered with buff-face brick and white sandstone trim. The campanile's bell, forged in 1880, has rung at each of the congregation's places of worship. The tower connects the nave to the seven-bay arched portals of the education building, which houses classrooms, offices, auditoriums, and a stage. The nave's details include pulpit and altar made by master woodcarvers from Oberammergau, Germany. Pews and chancel furnishings, designed by Northrop, are by the American Seating Company. The north gallery of the nave houses a 1903 Kilgen and Son pipe organ, and the stained glass windows of the gallery - a later addition to the building - are from the Browne Window Company. First Evangelical Lutheran Church was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 2002.^[2]

Renaissance

First Lutheran's history since 2002 is as interesting as its founding. Through the 20th century, First Lutheran had moved through several different denominations. In early 2002, a Houston lawyer and civic leader discovered that First Church, the first Lutheran congregation in Houston was technically no longer "Lutheran". Virtually no Lutherans in Houston except those who had attended First Lutheran, knew that the "First Church" was still in existence. At that time the formerly thriving congregation had dwindled in size and worship attendance was paltry. The church faced the real possibility of having to close its doors.

Based upon extensive research, congregational forums, consultation with ELCA synodical representatives, and conversations with the pastor and congregational council, First Evangelical Lutheran Church voted to join the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, thereby reclaiming its Lutheran identity. This move was encouraged and sponsored by sister congregation, Christ the King Lutheran Church, located near Rice University in the Village neighborhood of Houston. In 2006, the Rev. Edwin D. Peterman, a distinguished Lutheran pastor and well-known teaching theologian, began to serve as Interim Pastor. Through the Holy Spirit, the congregation began to grow to viability again, and called a full-time pastor in December 2009 to help the congregation continue the work of the church into the 21st century.^[2]

References

External links

• First Evangelical Lutheran Church Website
• http://thenalc.org/