Salem First United Methodist Church is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

congregation and historic church in Salem,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The church was 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 ...

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

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, 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 Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

churches outside of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, 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. Spire ...

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 (missionary), Jason Lee was ...

moved its headquarters to Salem.

Jason Lee Jason Michael Lee (born April 25, 1970) is an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and former professional skateboarder. He is known for playing Earl Hickey in the television comedy series ''My Name Is Earl'', for which he was nominated for ...

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 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 ...

building at the same location. The brick Gothic Revival-style church was completed in 1878, despite a national depression and other difficulties. Cass Chapman, a Chicago architect who designed a number of buildings at

Cornell College Cornell College is a private liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary (Methodist), the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell Co ...

, 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 Aeolian-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 (1866–1 ...

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

, a

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

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'' wa ...

, 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 Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

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