St. Luke's Methodist Church

This building, newly constructed as St. Luke’s Methodist in our tour’s timeline, served as the house of worship for two storied congregations in OKC. First as St. Luke’s, and then as Zion Lutheran, the building followed the course of OKC’s fortunes, the gleaming façade torn down as Oklahoma City moved out.  

St. Luke's Methodist Church first moved into its new home in 1908. Construction began on the Greco-Roman tabernacle in 1907, and after several delays, the building opened its doors for Sunday Service on May 24, 1908. "Generally recognized as being one of the best arranged and most elegantly built religious edifices in the southwest", the building featured a sanctuary for 1800, a nursery, banquet hall, two parlors, pastor's study, choir room, basement gymnasium, and a promenade hall. Built for $65,000, the exterior was constructed by adding crushed marble to cement making the building appear gleaming white.  

As the membership climbed to 4000 parishioners in the late 1940s, St. Luke’s swapped the building on NW 8th street for $100,000 and land Zion Lutheran owned at 15th and Robinson. After St. Luke’s new building was dedicated, Zion Lutheran moved in here. Zion’s congregation remained at this site until 1982 when they began construction on a new church near NW Expressway and Council. 

The Zion congregation remained in the building as long as they could, but Oklahoma City’s downtown found it hard to recover from the rise of suburban living and the destruction from Urban Renewal. The building was bought by Southwestern Bell in 1986. Bell had successfully turned the neglected Central High Building, on the south side of the street, into their corporate headquarters. The revitalization had brought national acclaim, but Bell’s architects deemed the church building beyond repair. Destruction of the 78-year-old building was completed in late June 1986. 

Accessed January 10th 2022. https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc960816/.

Accessed January 10th 2022. https://www.metrolibrary.org/archives/image/2021/07/st-lukes-m-e-church.

"At The Churches ." Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) May 24th 1908. .28.

"New Church Will be Occupied on Sunday." Oklahoma State Labor News (Oklahoma City) May 22nd 1908. .3.

"Three Costly Churches Now In Course Of Construction." Daily Oklahoman (OKLAHOMA CITY) April 5th 1908. .3.

"St. Luke's Site Purchased." Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) July 2nd 1948. .11.

Lee, Robert. "Groundbreaking Due." Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma CIty) April 12th 1983. , The Oklahoman North sec.8N.

"Coming Down." Daily Oklahoma (Oklahoma City) June 25th 1986. , Business sec.11.