Father Pitt

Two Lutheran churches about a block apart—but different kinds of Lutherans, of course.

First is St. John’s, which was designed by the phenomenally successful J. C. Fulton of Uniontown.¹ A 1926 Sanborn map shows it with a wooden octagonal dome, one of Fulton’s favorite details; the dome was later replaced with whatever we call the thing that replaced it. The building is now in use as the Restoration Community Church.

The smaller Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church was built for a Missouri Synod congregation in 1929. The charming and timeless design was by Fisher & Schmertz.² This church was most recently occupied by the New Covenant Christian Fellowship, but that congregation seems to have dissolved.

Every time old Pa Pitt sees a bell still dangling in a belfry, he wants to hear it ring.

1. Pittsburg Press, February 6, 1906: “The St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran congregation of Swissvale is having plans made by J. C. Fulton, of Uniontown.” ↩︎
2. “Break Ground for Church Tomorrow,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, August 10, 1929, p. 5. ↩︎

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