More than a century ago, German-American Protestants raised a Gothic sanctuary of stone, stained glass and painstakingly carved woodwork on West Jefferson Street in the Russell neighborhood. On holidays, worshippers would overflow its 500 seats.
But by 2006, St. Peter’s Evangelical United Church of Christ was down to about 15 active members, most of them elderly and commuting from other neighborhoods.
Endowment funds left by deceased members, which had kept the church solvent, were running out. The church, with its rich history, had to decide if it was willing to accept a radically different future — or no future at all.