St. Luke’s University Health Network has purchased the former St. John’s Windish Evangelical Lutheran Church in south Bethlehem with the intent of using it to expand its community health services.
St. Luke’s bought the property at 617 E. Fourth St. from Lehigh University, which purchased it in 2023 along with two other churches for $3.75 million. While it tried to figure out what to do with the property long term, Lehigh used the building as an elections polling place and as a temporary location for the Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem’s summer camp.
Rajika E. Reed, St. Luke’s vice president of community health, said the site will allow St. Luke’s to build upon its partnership with the Hispanic Center and Star Community Health centers and to promote community health initiatives in south Bethlehem. The network has no plans to demolish the building and will instead repurpose it, St. Luke’s spokesperson Sam Kennedy said. However, he offered no timeline or further information about how.
Lehigh spokesperson Tracey King said after the church was acquired, the university convened representatives from the Bethlehem, Bethlehem Area School District and St. Luke’s to discuss its future use, and the possibility of the property’s serving as a center for community health programming was recognized early on.
Christine E. Cook, vice president for administration and finance at Lehigh, said the university is happy to sell the property to St. Luke’s.
“The sale to St. Luke’s ensures that this location will continue to serve the south Bethlehem community in a meaningful way, allowing us to fulfill our initial vision for these properties,” Cook said.
Lehigh bought the former St. John Windish church property and adjacent parking lot, along with St. Peter’s Church on Vine Street and Light of Christ Church on Worthington Avenue, after the three congregations merged into a single congregation, Blessed Trinity at Rosemont, on West Broad Street.
The sale generated controversy, with Bethlehem officials urging the congregations to accept a competing bid from the city and, at one point, the Bethlehem Parking Authority threatening to seize the St. John parking lot through eminent domain to keep it available for public parking in south Bethlehem.
After buying the properties, Lehigh met with Bethlehem officials, along with the school district and St. Luke’s to discuss community needs.
“From the beginning, it has been important to the City and its residents that this property remain a community space,” Bethlehem Mayor J. Williams Reynolds said in a news release. “Through collaboration and conversation among community partners, we are happy that Lehigh and St. Luke’s were able to ensure the preservation of this building that is an important part of South Bethlehem’s history while also addressing a community need by committing to its future use as a health services center.”
Of the other two churches, the Pennsylvania Youth Theatre purchased the former Light of Christ Lutheran Church at 2020 Worthington Ave. in November 2024, and the other at 474 Vine St. serves as a collaboration hub for Lehigh’s Office of Entrepreneurship, Office of Creative Inquiry, and Office of Educational Innovation and Assessment, Lehigh said. The university has no plans to sell the latter church, King said.
