The First Congregational Church is located at 33 East Forest Avenue (on the corner of Forest and

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which bisects th ...

) in

Midtown Detroit Midtown Detroit is a mixed-use area consisting of a business district, cultural center, a major research university, and several residential neighborhoods; it is located along the east and west side of M-1 (Michigan highway), Woodward Avenue, nor ...

, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1979.

History

The First Congregational Church of Detroit was established on December 25, 1844. Two church buildings were built near the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

. The third building was constructed at the present site in 1891, and was designed by architect

John Lyman Faxon John Lyman Faxon (1851-1918) was an American architect practicing in Boston, Massachusetts, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Three of his buildings, the First Baptist Church in Newton (Massachusetts), First Baptist Church ...

. An addition to the church, known as the Angel's Wing, was constructed in 1921 by Albert Kahn.First Congregational Church of Detroit
History page Gaius Glenn Atkins served twice as minister of the church in the early 20th century.

Architecture

The church is designed in a blend of the Romanesque and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

styles,Tutag, Nola Huse, & Hamilton, Lucy (1987)
''Discovering Stained Glass in Detroit''
p. 57. Wayne State University Press. using rough-hewn, warm red limestone. The Woodward facade has a five-bay

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

, with a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

ed front gable. Above that are rounded windows with tracery framed by a rounded arch. The church also features a 120-foot campanile with many narrow arcades. The church is topped by an 8-foot copper figure of the

Archangel Uriel Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is mentio ...

. The church is patterned after churches found in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

. The

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

, which resembles the lower church of

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

, boasts carved wood, ceiling portraits, rose windows and sumptuous colors. The interior murals were designed and executed by Lyle Durgin, completed in December, 1891.

Living Museum

The church offers exhibits about the historical and architectural aspects of the church, its buildings and activities. Visitors can go on self-guided tours of the historic facilities and buildings. The church also hosts the Underground Railroad Living Museum, a storytelling simulation of the original

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

Gallery

Image:First Congregational Church Detroit MI 1899.jpg, First Congregational Church, c. 1899 Image:First Congregational Church 1903.jpg, First Congregational Church, c. 1903 Image:First Congregational Church (Detroit, Michigan).jpg, First Congregational Church in 2008 Image:First Congregational Church Angel.jpg, The angel

Uriel Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is menti ...

atop the First Congregational Church

References

Bibliography

External links

Official First Congregational Church websiteUnderground Railroad Living Museum
{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan, state=collapsed Churches in Detroit Congregational churches in Michigan Midtown Detroit Woodward Avenue History museums in Michigan Museums in Detroit Religious museums in Michigan Churches completed in 1891 19th-century churches in the United States Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Historic district contributing properties in Michigan Religious organizations established in 1844 1844 establishments in Michigan Congregational organizations established in the 19th century 19th-century Protestant churches Churches on the Underground Railroad Uriel