Packer Memorial Church rises in the heart of Lehigh’s Asa Packer campus.

The church, built between 1885 and 1887, was a gift from Mary Packer Cummings in memory of her parents, Lehigh founder Asa Packer and his wife, Mary.  Designed by prominent Philadelphia architect Addison Hutton, the Gothic Revival style church is made of quarried gray quartzite stone with sandstone accents. In 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Author W. Ross Yates wrote that Lehigh students initially opposed the church’s construction because they saw more of a need for new dorms on campus. The students, however, were eventually won over by then-President Robert Lamberton, who turned a student protest into a groundbreaking ceremony for the church.

Originally an Episcopalian Church, Packer Memorial Church is now an interfaith space, where Sunday services, weddings and campus events are held. Lehigh’s Founder’s Day ceremonies and the Baccalaureate Service also are held there.