At St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Scranton, Tiffany stained glass from the turn of the 20th century in dark blue hues, magenta and red illuminates scenes from the Bible’s New Testament under high-arched ceilings, a signature in long-gone English Gothic-style architecture.
Leaders from St. Luke's have preserved its future by honoring the church's history.
As of April 16, St. Luke’s joined many Scranton and Lackawanna County buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It gives it the imprimatur of federal significance. It's beyond state, beyond local," said Ella Rayburn.
Rayburn, a parishioner, retired from the National Park Service. She helped curate the Steamtown National Historic Site. The Rev. Rebecca Barnes, the church’s former rector, asked her to help with research for the national designation.
Rayburn held an 80-page application on Wednesday. It took her and other church leaders five years. She pointed out that she could not get in the church during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Register is a National Parks program that honors historic places worthy of preservation. The program was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
As of 2024, there are more than 99,000 properties listed on the register. Almost every county in the United States has at least one place listed in the National Register.
Michael C. Baccoli, senior warden of the vestry, has been a member of the church for 24 years.
"The church is beautiful ... it just blows you off your feet."
He's excited about the designation.
Rayburn said the long history of St. Luke’s parallels the history of Scranton.
St. Luke’s first Mass in the new church was held on July 2, 1871.
“The opening of this church will be an important event in the history of the parish, marking not only its growth but the growth of this city…” states an article in The Tribune published on July 1, 1871.
'Will bear comparison with any of them'
The first Rector, John Long, came from Montrose to set up the parish before the city was incorporated. It was originally on the 100 block of Penn Avenue. Scranton became a city in 1866.
Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company gave Long the land on Wyoming Avenue. The church’s Ladies Sewing Society began fundraising for the new building, according to the newspaper article from 1871.
Prominent architect Richard Upjohn, who designed Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City, along with his son Richard Michell Upjohn, were the architects behind the ornamental English style church.
Construction on the current church finished in 1871 — there was a coal miners' strike in the middle of the build.
“It takes rank at once with the beautiful churches of the diocese and will bear comparison with any of them,” the 1871 article says.
Rayburn said post-American Civil War Scranton was growing and so was the church.
“This place … It was bustling," she said.
The original black-walnut pews are still used today and can fit 400 people.
Then, on Easter Day 1905, parishioners walked into the church and saw for the first time the stained-glass Ascension of Christ window behind the new marble high altar.
The window and the altar were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany from the Tiffany luxury jewelers and design house family. The prominent Throop family hired Tiffany.
Jesus, draped in white robes with arms outstretched, basks in gold light. Rayburn enjoys watching the light change behind Christ as the sun sets.
There's other stained-glass windows designed by Tiffany, including a Nativity scene. The others were designed by Frederick & Brother of Brooklyn.
A mosaic behind the baptismal font depicts St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, which began his public ministry. It's another Tiffany design made of 7,000 tiles. The tiles come together to create Christ's foot appearing half-submerged as he steps into the Jordan River.
'1 Corinthians 15:51: But we shall all be changed'
Like many long-standing buildings, both the inside and outside of St. Luke’s reflect its evolving history.
The Throop Parish House was added in 1898. The outside of that building is also part of the historic register.
From 1890 to 1940, the rectory stood in the area of the church’s now Warren Memorial Garden. Wyoming Avenue was active and loud with businesses and music. The noise made it hard for pastors and their families to enjoy a quiet life. The rectory was moved. In 1955, it was torn down and the garden planted.
"In the heart of things … that's the [churches] motto, has been for years and years," said Rayburn.
In the 1980s, stenciling was added to the vaulted ceilings depicting the testaments and the apostles.
Gold chandeliers designed by Tiffany now have LED light bulbs. Some of the original wood pillars are mounted with speakers.
The church was built over a marsh. Rayburn said today, the sidewalks are slipping.
Being on the national register doesn’t necessarily protect the church from development, said Rayburn. She used a main road in downtown Scranton as an example.
"Lackawanna Avenue was on the register as a historic district, and they blew it up. I watched it go.”
That was in early 1992 when demolition began for the Mall at Steamtown, now the Marketplace at Steamtown.
The Architectural Heritage Association sued the mall’s developer and architect and won because of the road’s historical status, she said. To this day, the association uses the money to help preservation projects, including St. Luke’s application fees for the National Register.
One thing surprised Baccoli about the research that went into the national designation.
"It seems like all those things that are facts now, back then were just rumors," Baccoli said of the famous details around the sanctuary.
Like many congregations across religions, the number of worshippers at St. Luke’s is dwindling.
Baccoli believes there are many people interested in local history. They can learn at St. Luke's.
"And maybe by experiencing the history, something may awaken in them, you know, spiritually or religiously, and get people to stay," he said. "We all hope it's gonna survive and succeed."
Rayburn believes the church still has a place in the community, over 150 years since it was built. And that the antique architecture and storied history is for everyone to share.
"It's an all-welcoming church. People of Color, gay, lesbian, transgender, white, please come in our doors. Please walk through these doors, whoever you are," she said.
