The Community Christian Church in Kansas City is the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in Missouri and one of the most unusual in his oeuvre. Wright designed the church in 1940, but construction was repeatedly delayed due to cost. After Wright died in 1959, the congregation persisted with his original design, and the building finally opened in 1994. The long delay means the church looks anachronistic — a boldly geometric structure that seems both very old and very contemporary at once.
The exterior is striking: a blocky, low-profile form with Wright's characteristic horizontal emphasis and signature geometric ornamentation. Interior tours are available and reveal the theatrical sanctuary, lit dramatically from above. The church is in the Brookside neighborhood, not far from the Country Club Plaza, and can be combined easily with a visit to both. Wright fans doing a Midwest tour should note that Kansas City has no other Wright buildings — this is the one.