For lack of a better word to describe them, A-frame churches can be spotted popping up around the St. Louis region after World War II. Two of the most interesting are in the Florissant area. The first one, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church on Graham Road, is perhaps the tallest and largest.

While I can certainly see the tall and vertical lines reminiscent of the Gothic Revival, at the same time windows are kept to a minimum, and light is tightly controlled with stained glass.

The church opened in 1964 according to designs by architects Robert L. Fisher and Associates. The tall spire reminds me of French cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Paris with its towering flèche over the crossing (which of course is in the process of being rebuilt after the fire).

There is a classroom and fellowship wing off to the right.

Let’s look at another nearby church.

Technically across the border into Ferguson, St. Peter’s United Church of Christ likewise possesses a steeply pitched gabled roof with small stained glass windows on the ends. However, here there is a tall campanile separated from the main church structure.