Congregational United Church of Christ is located in the downtown area of Iowa City, Iowa, United States near the campus of the University of Iowa. The congregation was organized in 1856 and the church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2004 it was included as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

in the Jefferson Street Historic District.

History

Seventeen individuals signed the charter that initiated the congregation in 1856. Chicago architect

Gurdon P. Randall Gurdon P. Randall (February 18, 1821– September 20, 18841884) was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Early in his career, he studied in Boston, Massachusetts, in the office of Asher Benjamin. He moved to Chicago when he was 30, and practiced th ...

designed the present church and the cornerstone was laid in 1868. with The building cost $30,000 to construct, and it was dedicated on December 9, 1869. A

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

was built on the eastside of the church in 1891, which was later sold to the university and is now the location of the biology building. In 1903 a Lyon and Healy organ was installed. Other additions to the church include the administration annex, which was built in 1924, and the Little Chapel built in 1940. In 1957 the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

and the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged to form the United Church of Christ. The congregation was affiliated with the new church at this time. The same year a new Wicks organ was installed and the Christian Education building was added. Renovations to the church building made for a new ground floor entry and improvements to the social hall, choir loft and chancel in 1969. The sanctuary became handicapped accessible in 1986, and was renovated in 2002. The Casavant Frères, Opus 3867, pipe organ was donated anonymously to the congregation in 2007. It combines elements of the church's previous instruments. The base of the retable woodwork is from the 1903 Lyon and Healy organ; the upper portion of the case, with the Gothic style embellishments, were from the 1934 additions; and seven ranks from the 1958 Wicks organ are part of the 29 ranks of the new organ.

Architecture

The brick,

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

structure features a square corner tower, an asymmetrical facade, and a small tower at the rear that was part of the ventilating heating system. The small

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

opposite the tower originally terminated in a

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

. A small vestibule, added in 1969, projects from the front of the building. Above it are three lancet windows. The same type of window also lines the side walls. The main sanctuary is located above a raised basement. A 1934 renovation of the interior saw the introduction of the Gothic-styled beams on what was a plain ceiling.

References

External links

Church Web Site
{{NRHP in Iowa City, Iowa Religious organizations established in 1856 Churches completed in 1869 19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in Iowa Churches in Iowa City, Iowa United Church of Christ churches in Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Iowa City, Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa 1856 establishments in Iowa