Focus Tour: Two Landmark Churches of Downtown

First English Evangelical Lutheran Church and Smithfield United Church of Christ

Friday, July 18
10:00 a.m. – Noon

$25 per person

This tour is limited to 20 participants.

Click here to purchase a ticket.
Tickets will not be available after 11:30 p.m. on July 17.

First English Evangelical Lutheran Church and Smithfield United Church of Christ seem to hail from different architectural universes. The modest scale and sturdy demeanor of First Lutheran (Andrew Peebles, dedicated 1888) call to mind an English country church.

In contrast, Smithfield United (Henry Hornbostel, dedicated 1927) feels more attuned to the tall buildings that had been rising in Pittsburgh since the 1890s. With good reason: it’s built on a steel frame, and its unusually airy steeple is constructed of aluminum, a quintessentially modern material. The churches’ interiors draw attention and encourage contemplation in equally distinctive ways, with exquisite artistry in wood, stained glass, and mosaic.