Current Church, 1932 - 2013
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The church’s 100th anniversary celebration in April of 1932 became the starting point of a building campaign. While holding services at Eureka College, congregation members formed a building committee, fundraising began, and a design was agreed upon in 1934. The design called for two phases of building: a sanctuary first and then a parish house. The parish house would include classrooms, offices, and community space (Dickinson, 1989).
​The committee chose Herbert A. Brand of Chicago as the architect. Brand was previously with the Foltz and Brand architectural firm Chicago, and in 1925 he formed his own company specializing in church and educational buildings. Brand had years of experience in the English Gothic of the Early Decorated Period architectural style for churches, and in 1931 had toured England studying the rural churches of Cumbria, York, Chester, Bath, Cornwall, Exeter, Cambridge, and Oxford. Brand also visited London, Berlin, and Paris (Brand, 2015; Dickinson, 1989).
Brand’s English Gothic style used for the sanctuary’s exterior included: a steep roof; a bell-cote; masonry crosses; copper gutters and downspouts; pointed arch windows and doors; stone tracery exterior windows with lead-lined, diamond-paned tinted cathedral glass; brick walls with irregular staggered lines of kiln-blackened bricks; and exterior walls and buttresses of brick and Bedford limestone trim. Interior features included high stone Gothic arches, stone support columns, exposed Gothic arch wood trusses, wrought bronze door hardware and lighting fixtures, and richly carved wood furniture and pews (“A New Church for Eureka,” 1934).
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The construction contract was granted to J. M. Allen of Eureka and Clifford Owen of Washburn. Construction work on the sanctuary began on August 16, 1934. The cornerstone was laid on October 10. The total cost, including donated labor, was $42,283, and the sanctuary was dedicated on May 26, 1935, free of debt (Dickinson, 1989).
The bell-cote houses a 200-pound, medium-sized bell manufactured in St. Louis. It is made of four parts copper to one-part tin, and it rings by pulling the clapper. The building committee drove to St. Louis to select the bell in October or November of 1934. The cost of the bell was $200 (“Committee Select New Church Bell,” 1934).
The 1864 and 1901 church cornerstones are incorporated into the entrance to the narthex. Surrounding the cornerstones are bricks gathered after the 1932 fire (Dickinson, 1989).
The floor plan includes a narthex at the south end of the building; baptistery chapel on the west end of the narthex, wood and leaded-glass partition separating the narthex from the nave, north-south nave main and side aisles, and chancel. The chancel features divided choir seating, elevated pulpit, lectern, organ, and communion table with seating and carved reredos. The roof line of the chancel is lower than the main roof and the floor is raised above the level of the nave floor. Marbleized asphalt tile floors are installed throughout the building. The building measures approximately 95 x 45 feet (“A New Church for Eureka,” 1934).
The walnut wood used throughout the building was locally sourced from members and the community. It was processed by the sawmill of John E. Anderson of Washburn. One set of planks was sent to the Peoria Planing Mill for processing into trim. Another set of planks were cured and finished by the American Seating Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for pews and furniture. The wood at the front of the communion table at the north end of the chancel was carved by Alois Lang, a master woodcarver. Lang was born in Oberammergau, Germany, and immigrated to the United States when he was 19. He worked at the American Seating Company in the 1930s (Dickinson, 1989; “Alois Lang,” 2019; “New Church To Be Finished From Local Trees,” 1934).
The large stained-glass window at the north end of the chancel, and the focal point for worshipers, was partially funded in 1934 by a monetary donation from the recently dissolved Mt. Zion Christian Church. Forty members from Mt. Zion united with the Eureka church. The company and/or artist who created the window is unknown at this time (Eureka Christian Church, n.d.).
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The sanctuary was built to accommodate 340 people in the nave, 63 people in the balcony, and, if needed, an additional 52 people in the narthex. The divided choir in the chancel accommodates 48 singers. The baptistery chapel seats 60 people (“A New Church for Eureka,” 1934).
In 1936 an Aeolian Skinner organ was installed. The cost was $5,000. It was enlarged in 1964 and 1965 at a cost of $15,000. The new pipes were handmade in Boston and Germany, and a number of the pipes were stamped with initials of the craftsmen. The organ has 2 manuals, 14 ranks, 18 stops, and a total of 1,128 pipes. There was a dedication service for the organ on March 29, 1965. After a successful capital campaign, the organ underwent restoration in 2015 along with other building updates. The organ was restored by John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in Champaign, Illinois (Dickinson, 1989; Eureka Christian Church, n.d.; “Mortgage Burning Celebration,” 1978).
​Construction of the parish house (known today as the parish hall) commenced immediately after the completion of the sanctuary. This two-story building, measuring approximately 52 x 93 feet, is connected to the sanctuary by an enclosed cloister. The floor plan includes a large, open social hall with a stage; kitchen; parlor; office; and 17 rooms for Sunday school classes and groups. The social hall was designed to seat 200 people for dinners and 300 people total (“A New Church for Eureka,” 1934).
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Brand’s English Gothic architectural style was continued throughout this building, including lead-lined, diamond-paned windows; walnut doors; and exposed wood trusses. The building was dedicated on May 3, 1936, almost one year following the sanctuary dedication. The total cost of the parish house was $31,917.65. The debt retirement was celebrated in 1942 (Dickinson, 1989; Klaus, 2009; “Service in Celebration,” 1942).
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By 1961 the church was outgrowing its classroom space. A building campaign was launched and raised $75,000 for an education building and the enlargement of the Aeolian Skinner pipe organ. The church hired the Charles W. Johnson and Associates architectural firm from La Grange, Illinois. Herbert A. Brand, who had retired to Western Springs, Illinois, by this time, served as a consulting architect. Johnson earned a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Johnson worked for Brand as a draftsman before opening his own architectural firm specializing in churches. Brand’s assistance with the project helped with the continuation of his English Gothic style into the new building (Brand, 2015; Dickinson, 1989; “Obituary: Charles Johnson,” 2017).
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The floor plan of the two-story building, measuring approximately 60 x 81 feet, includes a parlor and meeting room with a kitchenette, choir room, nursery, and 11 Sunday school rooms. Wall construction is concrete blocks with a brick facade. The building is attached to the parish hall by a hallway. Dell Construction of Washington, Illinois, was in charge of construction. Ground was broken on October 6, 1963, and the cornerstone was laid on April 16, 1964. Classes were first held in the building on Palm Sunday in 1965, and it was officially dedicated on May 2. The cost was $160,000. The debt was officially retired with a special mortgage burning service on October 29, 1978 (Dickinson, 1989; “Mortgage Burning Celebration,” 1978).
In 2003 the name of the church was changed once more to Eureka Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Incorporated. The second-floor social space in the parish hall was not handicapped accessible, so an elevator was needed to make the building accessible to all. In June of 2011 a three-year capital campaign raised over $300,000 to install an elevator and create a new informal gathering space between the sanctuary and parish hall buildings. The architect for the project was Paul Young, and Bishop Brothers was in charge of construction. The elevator and gathering space were completed in 2012. The debt was retired in December of 2013 (Eureka Christian Church, Inc., ca. 2014).
Church architecture can be appreciated for its beauty and uniqueness, but it can only be fully understood if one also studies its religious function and ceremonial role within a community. Video documentation of the church’s religious events help communicate the church’s role and lends context to the architecture. The Eureka Christian Church annually holds a Christmas Eve Service at 8 p.m. on December 24. It is attended by church, community, and family members and is a highlight of the church’s ceremonial role in the community. The two videos (external links) below illustrate the religious experience of Christmas Eve, which is heightened by the church’s architecture and Christmas decorations.