1 of 12
Centenary United Methodist Church. Photograph by Chris Naffziger
2 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
3 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
4 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
5 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
6 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
7 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
8 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
9 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
10 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
11 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
12 of 12
Photograph by Chris Naffziger
Over the course of the study of St. Louis ecclesiastical history, this author has noticed something: dozens of churches here have celebrated their 100th anniversary over the years. But sadly, when the current health of these centenarians is investigated, the realization comes: most of those churches, once seemingly so healthy and proud after a century, proceeded to wither and die in the following decades. The city is littered with their decrepit, crumbling sanctuaries; while many have been reborn in new lives as meeting places for new congregations, far too many sit empty, falling to the wrecking ball.
Centenary United Methodist Church, founded in 1839, is not one of them. Both its building and congregation are alive and well in its second location on 16th Street between Olive and Pine. Surviving the changing population patterns of downtown, urban renewal which annihilated its residential neighbors in the 1950s, and overall declining church attendance nationwide, the church tells a fascinating story of the Methodist Church here in St. Louis. Centenary’s success in staying open, as its other religious neighbors almost completely moved on west, can serve as a model for other institutions struggling to find purpose and survival in the city.
Centenary United Methodist Church takes its name from the 100th anniversary of the founding of Methodism by Charles and John Wesley in England in 1739, the year the Methodist Society in St. Louis first chartered the church. The first building, as was common in the early 19th Century in St. Louis, followed prevailing cultural patterns and chose a neoclassical design when it opened in 1842 at 5th and Pine. But as the city grew rapidly, and the first location became too congested with the expansion of the commercial district, the church began to search around for a new location. Interestingly, as members relate, while the men argued about where to move, the women collaborated and raised the money to purchase the new site by themselves. The new church became known as the Ladies’ Church to commemorate their initiative.
The church turned to Baltimore architect Thomas Dixon, who designed a church in the now popular Gothic Revival style, with help from local architect Jerome Legg in 1869. The church is a member of the “class of early Gothic Revival churches” in St. Louis, whose membership is dwindling; Christ Church Cathedral, a couple of blocks away, is one notable classmate. But Centenary Methodist is not a just another Gothic Revival church in St. Louis.
Befitting its use as a Methodist church, with its emphasis on preaching and close proximity of its pastor to the congregation, the church, while certainly Gothic Revival, takes on a much different form than other famous examples of the Gothic Revival in St. Louis. While Roman Catholic churches such as St. Francis de Sales or the former St. Liborius carefully emulate the form of Gothic churches from the Medieval era, Centenary utilizes the Gothic style more for ornamental and spiritual inspiration.
For example, the exterior of the church follows a relatively standard Gothic massing, with one offset spire, but its fenestration (the arrangement of windows) is atypical. Featuring one large window in the front façade, the side elevations instead are punctuated by relatively small lancet windows. Moving to the interior, the rationale for the placement of the windows becomes apparent after entering the sanctuary on the second floor. Unlike other churches in St. Louis, with the emphasis on the high altar, the sanctuary at Centenary takes on the form of an auditorium. While the church does contain a raised platform, the focus now is on music, in the form of one of grandest and majestic pipe organs in St. Louis, if not the nation. Arranged around the pews, a three sided balcony allows for additional seating, and explains the small windows on the exterior—they would be awkwardly blocked by the balcony if any larger.
But the star of the sanctuary/auditorium is without a doubt the woodwork, a rich and elegant ensemble of black walnut carved by what was obviously the most skilled woodworkers in St. Louis after the Civil War. Thankfully, no one thought it wise to slather the dark stained wood in white paint over the last one hundred years. In fact, what is perhaps so remarkable about the church is its authenticity to its original design; no Modernist renovation has sullied the original integrity of the church, as so often happened elsewhere.
Perhaps what makes Centenary United Methodist Church so successful was its congregation’s reluctance to make furtive and unwise changes. For example, in 1900, as soot surely began to darken its walls, the 3,000 member strong church voted to stay put, even as its more wealthy neighbors moved west. Likewise, even as urban renewal wiped out all of the houses around it (and certainly it could have chosen to have been bought out by the city at this moment), it also again chose to stay put. And when the homeless began to walk past the church in greater numbers, again the church chose to stay, and reach out by helping to found The Bridge. Now, as Centenary Methodist enters its third century in the same location, it provides wavering colleagues a powerful argument for remaining devoted to its neighborhood and city.
Chris Naffziger writes about architecture at St. Louis Patina. Contact him via e-mail at naffziger@gmail.com.
