The First Christian Church was built and designed in 1942 in Columbus, Indiana, by the Finnish-American architect Eliel Saarinen. It was originally known as the Tabernacle Church of Christ. It was one of the first modernist buildings and churches in the United States to be built and designed with an architectural style, different than what churches usually look like. This church was built to accommodate the growing needs of Columbus congregation. Eliel thought that it was time for Gothic and Georgian style churches to be over, and he wanted something that has the fundamentals of Christianity and modern at the same time. The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2001 because it was the most unique church after WW2 and it had a significant impact on church designs. The building has four major divisions: the East wing, where the chapel and auditorium are; the West wing, where the Bible school is; a bridge connecting the two wings and the tower. The church brought attention to Columbus and made it a center of architecture, and made people have faith in modern architecture.