The First Presbyterian Church of Evanston has a long and storied history involving many prominent architects over the decades. After two wood and brick churches succumbed to fires on the site across from the township’s Raymond Park, First Presbyterian’s congregation invested in a new more permanent structure. The current incarnation of the church was designed in 1894 by Evanstonian architect Daniel Burnham, the famous Director of Works for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Burnham envisioned a reserved edifice in Lemont limestone with inviting red tiles and a 120-foot high belfry. A renowned designer in the Beaux-Arts style, Burnham’s new Italianate church with Gothic elements spread out the church footprint across a main sanctuary with room to hold over 1,000 congregants. A smaller chapel and rectory was designed for the back on the building’s east side. The church with its high cross-gables aptly framed the immense stained glass windows to the north and south, and a rose window over the main entrance. The new church structure was dedicated and opened its doors in 1895.

Over the decades, the church has undergone several major capital improvements and refurbishments, including the first major renovations of the main church starting in 1940. This restoration included the refurbishment of the 45-year-old organ, which was rebuilt and rededicated as the Barnes Memorial Organ. Like many Presbyterian churches, the architectural layout showcased the organ behind and over the altar area and above a choir pit with a seating area and screen. The instrument with its array of pipes can be seen facing the congregation seated in the sanctuary.

Miller hired his brother Frank to help create the carved wood elements for First Presbyterian Church. Frank Miller arrived in Chicago in 1929 to help his brother on the Carl Street and Wells Street artist colony buildings with Sol Kogen and Jesús Torres. Woodcarving in particular was Frank’s specialty. Since the project incorporated replicable imagery—such as the angel design for the choir screen—it is likely that Edgar made the initial models and Frank subsequently replicated them. Edgar and Frank leaned into decorative motifs of grape and grain, alluding to the Christian symbols of bread and wine. The brotherly artists each carved their initials beneath the altar surface.

Miller’s hand-carved details in the figurative design for the choir screen, lectern, and altar piece can be seen below:

Miller also designed stained glass windows in a smaller chapel, attached to the main sanctuary building just to the east. This chapel and parish house addition included a corner room with an array of original stained glass designs by Miller. These windows frame medallion-shaped stained glass designs, with each window representing the icon of a major saint. Miller’s pattern work and recognizable typography are on beautiful display in the old chapel room. The windows also showcase a quintessential Miller-developed technique of creating a soft, smoky layer over individual panes. The church also hired Connick Studios to design monumental stained glass windows in the main sanctuary with original art depicting Old and New Testament figures. Completed in 1947, these windows also incorporated abundant floral and plant motifs along with goblets and wine, continuing the theme throughout the rest of the sanctuary’s new woodwork by the Millers.

With the addition of a new chapel to the south of the main building in 1961, the church underwent another major renovation project. The sanctuary’s organ was refurbished once more, this time by Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. in 1955. It was rededicated in 1958. The new Walker Chapel, designed by established local architect Benjamin Franklin Olson, repurposed the old parish house incorporating it into the associated nursery and school. The chapel that housed Edgar’s windows was turned into a new music room. Virtually all of the Millers’ original artwork at First Presbyterian Church appears to be well-preserved and intact almost a century later.