Urban Grace Church

Urban Grace Church, formerly First Baptist Church, was built in a Gothic Revival style in 1924 by Heath, Gove and Bell (see Frederick Heath) in Tacoma, Washington. The building's 53 rooms include an auditorium with 1,250 seats, a 500-seat banquet hall with stage, a kitchen, nursery room, small chapel, choir rooms, and the pastor's study. It is believed to be the oldest continuously used location for Christian religious services in the city.[1] The congregation remains active.[1] The church was originally Baptist, but is now interdenominational, combining Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Lutheran practices.

The Rialto mural by the Fab-5 graffiti artist group

Urban Grace Church, 2011

Urban Grace Church and the City of Tacoma sponsor a poet laureate program and a poetry series in Tacoma. The "Soul of the City Poetry Series" event has featured Poet Laureate of Tacoma, William Kupinse.[2] The church has also sponsored civil rights events.[3] The church partnered with Trinity Presbyterian Church to hold a trade craft sale in 2008.[4] The mural on the back of Tacoma's Rialto Theater was first proposed by the church in 2009, with design elements of "both street graffiti and Islamic mosaic pattern in a pleasingly aesthetic way that reflects the church's commitment to religious diversity."[5] Although both the graffiti aspects and the Islamic motif were controversial, the mural was completed in 2010.[6]