St. John's-St. Luke's Evangelical Church

St. John's-St. Luke's is significant historically as the oldest German Protestant church in Detroit and the progenitor of twelve other German Protestant churches in the city and architecturally as an interesting example of changing tastes and building technologies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The interior is a fine example of High Victorian Gothic design with a significant lighting system and a noteworthy organ. Begun in a carpenter shop on the riverfront of the growing city, St. John's congregation became the fourth organized religious group in the city in August 17, 1833. Reverend Schmid, the so-called father of German Protestantism in Michigan, was on his way to Ann Arbor where he had been called to found a congregation and found himself stranded in Detroit on a Sunday. He was begged to stay and preach to a hastily gathered audience that subsequently became the congregation of St. Johns. The congregation grew rapidly as more Germans of the Evangelical persuasion immigrated to the city fleeing religious persecution in their homeland. After occupying several other structures in the campus martius area downtown, the decision was made in 1872 to erect a building of significance in the 'Germantown' area of the city. By this time the congregation was already well established in the civic life of the city by right of its Insurance Society, school for immigrants, uncompromising demand for religious liberty, and the involvement of members of the congregation in the shaping of the city. At the time of the erection of the present edifice, the congregation numbered some 2,000 members. The Church established itself on the lower East Side of Detroit, adjacent to the Eastern Market, downtown Detroit and what was then a developing German residential area extending to the east and south across the open fields. It quickly became a gathering place for the entire community. Whether the occasion was religious, social, political or civic, German people gathered at the Church to celebrate their common heritage, share in the struggle to 'make it' in America and to dream their future. With the onset of World War I, the life of the Church was dramatically changed. Partly as a result of the anti-German sentiment of the period, within a span of 4 years during the War the congregation diminished by 50% and the ethnic identity of its surrounding neighborhoods began to change from German to Belgian to Italian and eventually Black as the established German Americans attempted to shed their ethnic identity and blend into the greater Detroit community. As members of the congregation moved to other areas of the city, however, they 'took St. John's with them'. The Church eventually became the 'mother' Church for some 12 other protestant congregations. Most of these were established in the developing residential area between Grand Blvd. and Eight Mile Road where the former Germantown residents were relocating. The Church experienced a brief revival during the 1930s as the pastor pressed for American intervention against Hitler, brought popular German pastors to the city to preach and began an effort to send money to Germany to get Jews out of Europe.

The St. John's-St. Luke's Church complex includes a brick, High Victorian Gothic church, a three-story, brick Victorian parochial school, and a brick, Romanesque Revival parsonage. The complex is located about three-fourths of a mile east of the center of downtown Detroit adjacent to Gratiot Avenue. The church is a brick, Victorian Gothic structure now covered with cast-stone. The exterior has been extensively altered from its original appearance by the application of the cast stone, the removal of the upper part of the towers, the covering of the patterned slate roof, and the loss of most of the pinnacles and other exterior detailing. Inside, the church has been little altered. The church itself, about one hundred feet long and about 45 feet high, is surrounded by galleries. The balconies are supported on iron columns with Corinthian capitals. The transepts are at the rear of the building, and the seating in the side galleries continues up into them on risers. The interior is painted with white and gold on the woodwork and light blue on most wall and ceiling surfaces.