First Lutheran Church is a historic

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in

downtown Dayton Downtown Dayton is the central business district of Dayton, Ohio. Major reinvestment in the downtown area began heavily in the mid-1990s, and continues today with $2 billion in residential, commercial, health, and transportation developments that ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Constructed in the 1900s for a large congregation, its architecture includes numerous elements seen in older grand churches, and it has been named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

Congregational history

First Lutheran was established in mid-1839. After a time of worshipping in a store owned by a charter member, the congregation erected their first church building in what is now downtown Dayton. Although several different buildings have housed the congregation since 1839, all have been located in the downtown area. It has parented several other Dayton-area Lutheran churches: the members planted six congregations at different times, and political issues related to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

caused an acrimonious split in 1864, after which the minority formed a separate congregation.MS-212: The Records of the First Lutheran Church of Dayton, Ohio
.

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviation ...

Archives, 2010-10, 3. Accessed 2014-09-26. Once a massive congregation, with approximately 2,500 names on the roll in 1948, the congregation has experienced challenges from

suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...

. According to denominational statistics, the congregation's membership fell from 457 to 78 between 2000 and 2013, and average attendance at worship services fell from 125 to 70, although the latter number represented an increase from averages in the thirties from 2007 to 2011.

Church building

Construction on the congregation's two- story original building began in 1841, two years after the congregation was organized, although it was not ready for worship until more a year later, and the second story was only added three years after the first story was completed. The congregation later erected several other buildings elsewhere downtown, culminating in the construction of the current building in 1906. The present building, a

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, is a rusticated stone building designed by Peters, Burns, and Pretzinger. Its general appearance was intended to resemble that of the most prominent Lutheran churches in Europe, so the architects included

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

portraits of certain of the

Twelve Apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

and Four Evangelists, traditional details such as label stops with

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...

s, and a painted ceiling with visible structural elements. Among the most prominent aspects of the overall design are a central tower tall, tall but thin

ogive An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

windows, and the use of stone with multicolored

veins Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated ...

for the exterior walls. It is the only extant downtown church in the Gothic Revival style.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ...

: Somerset, 1999, 1038.

Preservation

In early 1983, First Lutheran Church was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

, qualifying because of its historically significant architecture. It is one of five Dayton churches with this distinction; the others, all

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, are scattered among various city neighborhoods, and only

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

is located downtown.

References

External links

Congregational website
{{National Register of Historic Places Churches completed in 1907 Churches in Dayton, Ohio Gothic Revival church buildings in Ohio Lutheran churches in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Ohio Stone churches in Ohio Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio