The cornerstone of the church was laid on St. Luke's Day, October 18, 1879 by Bishop Howe. The church was built in 1880. It was designed by New York architect Henry Martyn Congdon (1834–1922) in the Ruskinian gothic style.[2] It was paid for by iron baron Robert Habersham Coleman and dedicated in memory of J. Lillie Coleman (née Clark), his recently deceased wife.[3]
The building is in the form of a Latin Cross and constructed of native bluestone and sandstone.[2] It measures 116 feet (35 m) long and 75 feet (23 m) wide, and features a square, 85-foot (26 m) tower with an octagonal turret.[2] The roof is covered in rows of blue and red slate.[4]
The church was originally incorporated as "Christ Church, of Lebanon, Pa." in 1859, and admitted that year to the Convention of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. The name of the church was changed in 1865 to the current name, "St. Luke's".