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

Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, 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 b ...

) in

Midtown Detroit Midtown Detroit is a List of neighborhoods in Detroit, commercial and residential district located along the east and west side of M-1 (Michigan highway), Woodward Avenue, north of Downtown Detroit, and south of the New Center, Detroit, New Cent ...

, 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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 is an List of international river borders, international river in North America. The river, which forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ont ...

. 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 Chur ...

. 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 known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

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 Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

, with a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a 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/brea ...

ed front gable. Above that are rounded windows with tracery framed by a rounded arch. The church also features a 120-foot

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

with many narrow arcades. The church is topped by an 8-foot copper figure of the Archangel Uriel. The church is patterned after churches found in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) 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 during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. The

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

, which resembles the lower church of St. Francis of Assisi, 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 an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

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 , Auriel ( ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my Flame"; ''Oúriḗl''; ''Ouriēl''; ; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) or Oriel ( ''ʾÓrīʾēl'', "El/God is my Light") is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in Rabbinic tradition ...

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