The Luther Rose and Original Church Building

This lobby window near the Chapel entrance shows the Luther Rose and the original building occupied by Christ’s Lutheran Church on Plymouth Ave. CLC was founded in January 1903 and originally located on Plymouth Avenue in Oreland. In 1953 moved to its current Pennsylvania Avenue location.

The Luther Rose

The symbolism of the Luther rose goes back to the 1520s. Luther explained that the red heart with the black cross at the center should remind us that the righteous live by faith in Christ the Crucified. The heart rests on a white rose to show that faith gives joy, comfort and peace. The rose is white, not red, because white is the color of heavenly spirits and angels. The white rose stands in a field of blue, the color of heaven, to show that joy in the spirit and in faith in this life is only the beginning of future heavenly joy. Surrounding the sky-blue field is a gold ring to show that happiness and joy in heaven has no end but lasts forever, just as gold is the highest, most noble and precious metal.