A Lawrence church’s journey toward becoming a National Historic Site took a giant step forward Saturday.

The Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review voted to include St. Luke AME Church, 900 N.Y., on its list of nominations to receive National Historic Site designation status.

“We’re very excited,” said the Rev. Verdell Taylor, the church’s pastor, who led about 20 church members and supporters who traveled by school bus to the board’s meeting in Topeka. “We started clapping, and we had a great time.”

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for official word from the federal government.

During the meeting, Taylor and others spoke about the importance of the nomination for getting monetary assistance in renovating and preserving the nearly 100-year-old church, which is steeped in historical ties to Lawrence’s black community. Poet and author Langston Hughes attended the church as a child.

A National Historic Site designation will make the church eligible for grant money that can be used to repairs and restoration. The church needs considerable structural work, church leaders have said.

The Rev. Verdell Taylor stands outside St. Luke AME Church, 900 N.Y. The Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review voted to include the church on its list of nominations to be a National Historic Site.

“This just gives us a way to seek grants and qualify for them and help keep the church in good shape,” Taylor said. “It’s being able to preserve these things the people who came before us worked so hard to get.”

Earlier this year, the church received $100,000 in federal funding approved by Congress for restoration efforts. In May, it received $20,000 from a Heritage Trust Fund grant from the state historic site review board.

It’s not known when the federal historic site designation will be made, but state nominations typically make the federal process “a done deal,” Taylor said.

The historic designation and renovation of the church will have special meaning for longtime church member Leonard Monroe. He joined the church 60 years ago at age 14. His parents and other relatives were involved in the church long before him.

“It has been quite an emotional day,” Monroe said.