Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church - Minneapolis, MN
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FSU*Noles
N 44° 58.365 W 093° 13.823
15T E 481833 N 4979949
This is the Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, also known as Grace Lutheran University Church, on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus - listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Building #96001557.
Waymark Code: WM48T1
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2008
Views: 53
Organized in 1903 in Minneapolis within the Swedish immigrant-dominated Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church (later Grace University Lutheran Church) started constructing this building from 1915-1917 with the goal of serving the students at the adjacent University of Minnesota campus.
The first photograph of the building appeared on the cover of the Grace Messenger in June 1917. The accompanying caption described the church as being "built of solid brick and fireproof. Gothic style throughout .. Seating capacity about five hundred ..Said to be the most beautiful church of its size in the Twin Cities." The following month's newsletter carried a front-page piece proudly describing the new building's interior.
"While the beauty of it all will be vastly enhanced by the final finish, it is possible right now to discern some of the more striking characteristics. And prominent among these is the fact that the disposition of the most important pieces of furniture - the altar, the pulpit, and the baptismal font - is distinctly Lutheran.. Another characteristic is that it is eminently "churchly." While it is poorly adapted to the various new-fangled "dofunnies" that too often desecrate the house of God in these latter days, it is admirably adapted to the one purpose for which a true temple of God should be built, namely worship. Everything about it calls for silent reverence and attunes the soul to prayer and holy meditation."
Although services have been held in this building continuously since 1916, the church wasn't officially considered complete until February 1942. Changes noted from over the years included the installation of the nave's permanent light fixtures, and the move from "disreputable" wooden to "dignified" metal folding chairs. Also among the church's finishing touches was a retable for the altar, and a new pipe organ which filled both instrument chambers at the front of the nave.
Source: adapted from the Church's website
Street address:
324 Harvard Street SE
Minneapolis, MN USA
55414
County / Borough / Parish: Hennepin
Year listed: 1997
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949
Historic function: Religion, Religious Structure
Current function: Religion, Religious Structure
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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