When it comes to magnificent architecture in the community, it’s hard to beat churches.

For that reason, the Albert Lea Art Center is sponsoring an Art, Architecture & History Tour of Churches on Saturday. Five area churches are included with a 45-minute visit at each one and a guided tour or program. Tickets are available at the Albert Lea Art Center, Addie’s Floral, Ben’s Floral and Doyle’s Hallmark. Cost is $10 per person.

The church visits will begin with coffee at 8:30 a.m. and a 9 a.m. tour at the United Methodist Church on Highway 69 South, then the group will move on to First Lutheran and Christ Episcopal churches in the downtown area, take a short lunch break (on your own), and in the afternoon visit Grace Lutheran and Crossroads Evangelical Free Church on the north side of Albert Lea.

Each church is planning its own program, so the presentations will vary from site to site, some including walking tours and others sitting in the sanctuary.

At First Lutheran, Ione Kelly is leading the tour. She will highlight some of the many symbols found in the church, citing from the book, “The Story of First Lutheran,” published in 1952.

Kelly said when the church was constructed in 1924, it cost $142,000. The lot cost $15,000 and the stained-glass windows $7,000. The parish house, designed by Albert Lea architect LeRoy Gaarder, was dedicated in 1952. This included the chapel, office and Sunday school rooms.

The current organ was installed in 1956 for a cost of $43,750. It includes 49 ranks and more than 3,000 pipes. No two pipes are identical. Some are made of wood, and some of metal, Kelly said. The longest pipe is 16 feet and the smallest, about the size of a pencil. Pipes were blended around the stained-glass windows, she added.

Angels and domes on the outside of the church are repeated around the altar, she said. Symbols of the Trinity can be found throughout the church as well, she said. Pews are carved with the symbol of the Trinity. There are three steps to the altar and three steps to the chancel. The original stained-glass windows are in panels of three.

In 1992, the church constructed a gathering space, including an elevator, which cost more than $1 million. In 2002, the church had enough money in a fund to add stained glass windows to the entrance.

Local artist Eunice Isackson, also a church member, said a committee chose to have the windows use the theme of the “I Am” statements of Jesus. Thus, eight windows include the themes: “I am the vine,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the bread of life,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the door,” “I am the alpha and omega,” “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Isackson worked with the stained-glass company. Representatives there asked that she create watercolors for each statement that they would copy for the windows. She will show these paintings as part of the tour.

Each window incorporates clear, decorative glass. A medallion theme, which can also be found in the stained-glass windows in the narthex, is echoed in the new windows.

The new windows were dedicated on Sunday, March 25, 2005.

Marlene Behle and Bev Jackson Cotter are co-chairwomen of the tour, which is being held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Albert Lea Art Center.

“We’ve had a great time hearing stories of the history of congregations, the hard work and generosity needed for building the edifice, and then touring areas of the church facilities that are normally not included in the member and visitors viewing,” they wrote. “We believe this tour will be an educational opportunity, and also a wonderful, ecumenical experience for all of the visitors.”