St. Luke’s Episcopal is more than just a church.

“It’s a living organism that breathes, grows and changes,” said Lisa Nunlist, a St. Luke’s congregation member since 1979. “We always respect its history.”

People passing the corner of North Fifth Street and Wallace Avenue near downtown Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday may have noticed a paint-bucket-and-ladder-laden yard surrounding the church. What has stood since 1892 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, volunteers have been applying gallons of whisper white paint to the facade of this notable landmark.

According to Dr. David Gortner, reverend and rector of St. Luke’s, a $10,000 matching grant given by Idaho Heritage Trust is helping restore the church’s outer panels on its west elevation and south side. It also hopes to secure another grant to finish restoring its east side.

The place of worship also looks to update its front steps and ramp, landscaping and columbarium.

“There’s a lot of loving care in this place,” he said of St. Luke’s growth. “It’s for the sake of worship of this community and we live as disciples of Christ.” 

Just before temperatures sprang past 90 degrees Wednesday morning, volunteer and congregation member David St. Amand’s hands and jeans were already covered in blotches of dry paint. 

Speaking on its history, St. Amand said the antiquated building, likely first situated among farmland in what's now called the Garden District, was once surrounded by a fence to “keep livestock out.” As Coeur d’Alene’s population grew, the structure experienced four add-ons.

By the early 1960s, aluminum paneling was purchased and completely covered the historic building’s old shiplap wooden veneer. The metallic paneling, however, deteriorated over the years, prompting a call for restoration.

“It’s very important to maintain the historical aspect of the church in the setting that it was built,” St. Amand said. “It’s timeless and tireless.”

According to its history, Episcopalians from Fort Coeur d’Alene (now called Fort Sherman), built in the 19th century amid westward expansion, met at the fort’s chapel for prayer book services. This early congregation eventually led to the creation of St. Luke’s at the corner of Fifth Street and Wallace Avenue, which held its first indoor service March 13, 1892.

“It was pretty much one of the first anchors. It really stimulated growth of that residential area to the north,” Restoration Project Manager Lauren McCroskey said of the Garden District. “It was frontier still at that time.”

St. Luke’s distinctive Gothic Revival architecture borrows from Richard Upjohn's style. According to historical sources, the English cabinetmaker-turned-architect wanted the church design to inspire “awe and mystery” via his interest in the medieval period.

Now, many of these Upjohn-designed churches are found across the Western U.S. St. Luke’s was originally designed in part by Reverend George W. G. Winkle, who designed churches across southern Idaho.

Two services commence every Sunday morning at St. Luke’s. Meneely Bell Foundry, established in 1826 in West Troy, N.Y., created the church bell ringing them in. It created over 65,000 bells before closing in 1952. 

St. Luke’s restoration project also includes rebuilding the bell tower with help from Rick Seigmund, a Coeur d’Alene resident who specializes in historic building preservation. 

“A squirrel decided to make it a family home,” volunteer and parishioner Bill Kral joked of the bell tower.

New paint on the old wooden panels isn’t the only new addition to St. Luke’s. In March, they added two stained-glass windows to the doors between the narthex and the nave. Gortner also said the church will dedicate a new cross in its interior sanctuary.

As of Wednesday, the volunteers had already applied seven gallons of whisper white to the church’s outer walls.

“It’s part of our community. It’s part of the faith community,” said restoration volunteer and congregation member Ian Hicks. “It’s seeing the church coming back into the physical glory that it should be. It’s priceless.”

    David St. Amand loads a brush during a project to repaint the St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday.
  

    Bill Kral works on restoring St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday.