First Presbyterian
Church of Kirkwood

100 East Adams Avenue
Kirkwood, Missouri 63122
www.kirkwoodpres.org

Two weeks after the Missouri Pacific Railroad arrived, the Kirkwood Association platted a new town on May 31, 1853, naming it for James Kirkwood, the railroad’s chief engineer. The impetus came from Hiram Leffingwell, who also proposed Grand Boulevard and Forest Park. Kirkwood became the first planned commuter suburb in St. Louis County. It incorporated in 1865, the second legal municipality in the County after Florissant.

The First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood organized on September 24, 1854. In 1857, the Kirkwood Association contributed the present site, and a plain brick building was erected, probably by founding member Henry Singleton, the first architect of the Old Courthouse. Dr. John R. Warner arrived as the first full-time pastor in 1867. His granddaughter, the poet Marianne Moore, was born in the manse next to the church on November 15, 1887. The next year the brick church was replaced by a larger stone one designed by J.G. Cairns.

As the church grew, additions were made in 1929 and 1951. Then in 1956-57 Fisher & Campbell designed an entirely new sanctuary to seat almost 1,000 on the site of the old manse. Robert Fisher and Will Campbell were both recent graduates of Washington University and members of the congregation. Campbell later recalled how they retreated to Colorado for five weeks to work on their plans, inspired by the mountains. Other inspirations included the post-war churches of Germany and Scandinavia. The resulting building is a traditional space with modern detailing. The tall columns define side aisles arched by internal flying buttresses. Joseph Meyer of Jacoby Art Glass Company designed the 13 towering stained glass windows for the apse and 74 small windows for the east wall. Jesus is depicted between authors of the Old Testament on the left (Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, David and Daniel) and authors of the New Testament on the right (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and Paul), each with two quotations and related scenes below. The many symbols in the east windows include the winged creatures of the four Evangelists and above them attributes of the Apostles (such as the X-shaped cross for Andrew). Outside, an arcade of wide arches along Adams Avenue screened the earlier education wings.

The 1888 building was demolished in 1979, leaving the tower in a park-like setting. Then in 2003 the award-winning firm of Powers-Bowersox designed a new replacement for the 1929 and 1951 wings. From the street, the main change was that the arcade was glazed, enclosing the memorial courtyard and creating a long reception area that leads to the new Tree of Life Chapel close to the old tower. Donated by members Peg and Blanton Whitmire, the chapel features a window wall depicting four trees in four seasons. The windows’ designer, Brother Martin Espamer of St. Meinrad’s Abbey in Indiana, and fabricator, Emil Frei, Inc., of Kirkwood, have achieved one of the most important stained glass creations in St. Louis in recent decades, a fitting counterpart to the great apse windows in the sanctuary.

November 9, 2003 marked the Chamber Chorus’ first performance here.

Notes by Esley Hamilton and Philip Barnes
Photos by Roger Hill