Faith Lutheran Church of Golden, Colorado
Nixon & Jones, 1962

Faith Lutheran Church, original building, 1962 Photo by Robert L. Vogel

Submitted and written by Richard J. Gardner, Historian, Golden Landmarks Association

When Faith Lutheran Church of Golden, Colorado was dedicated upon its completion in 1962, the Denver Post used the above words to describe the place this congregation was built.  Since that time, Faith has not only remained a noteworthy architectural landmark, but one important to America's Lutheran history as well.  Today, as Goldenites investigate what should be preserved of their younger landmarks, the original building of this church comes high to their attention as a pearl of great price from their recent past.

Less than two years before this building was dedicated the American Lutheran Church sent out newly ordained pastor Robert L. Vogel to found a new Lutheran church in Golden.  Golden's Lutheran community had existed longer than anywhere else in Colorado and possibly the Rocky Mountains, since 1871, but an enduring organization was elusive.  Within 6 months of arriving Vogel had organized Golden's largest new congregation to date, which eagerly sought to build a church building of its own.

In their search the modernistic architecture of the Boulder firm of Nixon & Jones caught the eye of the fledgling congregation.  Vogel and church leaders were captivated by the designs of Lincoln Jones, who liked to use woodwork in his designs, made liberal use of glass and light, used exposed structural elements, and made dramatic cantilevered projections.  Quickly they commissioned Jones to design the new Faith Lutheran Church, to be built on 5 acres on the southwest slopes of South Table Mountain.

The young partners Tom Nixon (33) and Lincoln Jones (36), working together since 1957, had built their firm to become one of the prominent creators of public building architecture in Colorado.  Nixon & Jones had already designed the Fremont County Courthouse (1960) and more than 15 church buildings and additions, including Tom Nixon's highly noted First Christian Church in Boulder (1960).   The firm was known for design using more natural materials of wood, brick and stone, consciously making an effort to design each of their buildings to fit with the site and area in which they were constructed.  Nixon and Jones considered themselves very Colorado-conscious, and felt it was the responsibility of Colorado architects to help the state develop a specific culture of its own through building design.

Jones and the Faith congregation were of like mind in agreeing to implement these design principles into the building of Faith Lutheran Church.  But then their direction turned towards a different approach from the highly modernistic designs Nixon and Jones usually offered.  Faith Lutheran became a traditionalist modern design, using the form of a Latin cross with traditional brick and wood to house Jones's modern composition.  Using wood and brick as a conscious alternative to more Modernist materials turned Faith into a decidedly countermodernist design.  Each end of the transept and half of the east end of the nave were Constructivist walls of clear and opaque cathedral glass, interspersing smaller panes of red, yellow and blue among larger clear panes separated by fir mullions.  The western, windward side was largely enclosed but used two smaller window arrangements in this style.  Drawing on Usonian design the building was horizontally oriented, using ribbon windows on the sides of the nave, cubist volumes and corner windows.  With white stucco bases, high roof pitches and liberal use of wood the building was given a Modern Alpine appearance, purposely to meld it with its setting, while its liberal use of glass, light, cross shape and vertical reach were reminiscent of Gothic design.  Faith Lutheran was a work of art drawing on the past and looking to the future.

The congregation broke ground on its first anniversary of organization on February 4, 1962.  They hired Trico Builders of Arvada to construct it, and Faith was built into the elevated slope, giving it a commanding position overlooking the surrounding area.  True to Jones's form, the building used a great amount of wood and glass, and the cantilevered southern transept projected dramatically over the hillside.  Inside, the sanctuary was framed by an exposed roof beam structure of laminated oak beams finished in a light golden color.  The walls below were of broad cedar boards finished in a rich golden color, with a white ceiling between the beams, all giving the whole a warm, light, airy appearance.  Jones also designed the sanctuary furniture, creating everything to go together but using different types and colors of wood effectively.  The pews matched the beams in color, and the clergy benches in front matched the pews.  The altar candelabras matched the pulpit and lectern with little squares of red stained glass projecting, matching the larger red glass in the windows.  The altar, baptismal font and flower holders matched each other in wood and design; the lectern, pulpit, and candlesticks on the altar were of differing wood and color, with contrasting light and dark finishes, with differing finishes framing the others like was done with the sanctuary itself.  The communion rail added a finishing touch of rich, dark, deep contrast to the lighter golden shades of the rest of the building.

On April 22, 1962 the congregation was treated to a dramatic Easter sunrise service in the newly-framed, unfinished building, whose east and west walls did not yet substantially exist, offering terrific views.  On July 29 the building was officially dedicated and its doors opened to all.  Within a year a new freestanding bell tower, called for in the original plans, was added to the southeast, with a bell from an historic Minnesota schoolhouse donated by church member Calvin Kelley.  However, within a short time it was discovered the building was not quite suited to the Colorado elements.  The sunlight beat down on the choir who sat in the southern transept, while high west winds shook its cantilevered edge and the west windows.  Jones solved the sunlight problem by changing several of the larger window panes in the southern transept to blue, yellow and red, which greatly enhanced the vertical reach already evident in the color patterns.

Faith's overall plans called for eventually adding buildings to the complex, and the first companion was added to the east in 1976.  Unfortunately neither it nor any subsequent additions to the church complex were designed by Jones, and they missed the philosophy and artistry of the original.  However, the original building was left well-preserved and autonomous, linked only by a short flat-roofed connection of a kind Jones himself once pondered for a narthex.  To correct the remaining design flaws a small southwestern projection was built to brace the cantilevered end from the winds, while the west window areas were reduced in size to protect from them blowing in.  The interior woodwork was darkened in color, and most of the original furniture, save for a pew and the flower holders, has been replaced over time.  However, despite these changes, the original Faith Lutheran Church retains a high degree of its architectural integrity and remains faithful to the congregation's original vision.

Faith Lutheran Church, over time, has attained a high amount of historical significance as well.  After being noticed for his youth work here, Pastor Vogel was called in 1965 to become the Midwestern Youth Director of the American Lutheran Church, and ultimately went on to serve as President of his own alma mater of Wartburg College (1980-1996), and interim president of Grand View College (2001).  In 1978 Faith installed Colorado's first woman pastor here, when they called the newly-ordained Patrice Helland Von Stroh to serve as Assistant Pastor.  Von Stroh  was also the first woman pastor of the Central District of the American Lutheran Church, an area covering beyond Colorado.  In 1975-1976 April Ulring Larson served as a student pastor in this building with her husband Judd, as part of a new program designed to give seminary students valuable hands-on experience.  From this beginning April Larson went on to become the first woman Lutheran Bishop in America, and the second in the world, heading the Wisconsin Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  According to her husband their time in service at Faith Lutheran was "a very significant year" that has helped shape their ministry to this day.

Today, the original building of Faith Lutheran Church, located at 17701 West 16^th Avenue in Golden, remains a well-preserved example of the unique modern work of its architect, an acknowledged modern master in Colorado.  It is also remains as an enduring testament to Lutheran history, helping open the doors to women in clergy and ministers prominent in America.  It is a landmark of the recent past worth telling about and protecting far into the future.

 By Richard J. Gardner, Historian, Golden Landmarks Association

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