Salem First United Methodist Church is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

congregation and historic church in Salem,

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. The church was 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 artist ...

under its original name, First Methodist Episcopal Church of Salem, in 1983. First United is the oldest Methodist church west of the

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, and is a designated

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

Heritage Landmark. It is one of Oregon's few high-style Gothic Revival churches outside of

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, and has one of the rare tall

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

s left standing in the state.

History

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Salem was established in 1841 when the

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader f ...

moved its headquarters to Salem.

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was one of the 13 charter members of the church, and David Leslie was the first pastor. Initially the church met in a room at the

Oregon Institute The Oregon Institute was an American school located in the Willamette Valley of the Oregon Country during the 19th century. Begun in 1842, it was the first school built for European Americans west of Missouri. Founded by members of the Methodist Mi ...

. After about 10 years, the congregation grew, and in 1853 they were able to build a small wooden frame building at the southeast corner of Church and State streets. By 1870, the congregation had outgrown this building and they began construction of the current

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 s ...

building at the same location. The brick Gothic Revival-style church was completed in 1878, despite a national depression and other difficulties.

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, a Chicago architect who designed a number of buildings at

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, supplied the plans, which were reduced in scale by one-eighth in order to lower building costs. Local architect Wilbur F. Boothby supervised the construction. Additions to the building in 1935 and 1967 were designed to harmonize with the original building's Gothic style. The original 185-foot wooden spire, which makes the church the tallest building in Salem, was replaced in 1984. The sanctuary was remodeled in 1953 to add an

Aeolian-Skinner Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866– ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''rank ...

, a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window ...

, new altar, pulpit, and pews. Additional renovations to the interior occurred in 1981 and 1988. In 2000, the organ acquired its full rank of pipes. First United purchased the historic Salem

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soc ...

building adjacent to the church in 1992 and renamed it MICAH (Methodist Inner-city Community Activities House). The building houses a youth center, the United Methodist Archives for the Oregon-Idaho Conference, an area for informal worship services, and several community outreach organizations.

References

External links

*{{Oregon Encyclopedia, first_methodist_church_salem_, First Methodist Church (Salem), author=Wallace, Charlie
Historic images of Salem First United Methodist Church
from Salem Public Library
Historic images of the MICAH Building
from Salem Public Library 1878 establishments in Oregon 19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Churches completed in 1878 Churches in Marion County, Oregon Buildings and structures in Salem, Oregon Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Gothic Revival church buildings in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Oregon United Methodist churches in Oregon Methodist Episcopal churches in the United States

History

See also

References

External links