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The Central United Methodist Church is located at 23 E Adams (the corner of Woodward Avenue and Adams) in Detroit, Michigan.
[edit] Congregational history[2]
The Central United Methodist Church was first organized in 1802 in a small farming community south of Detroit. The church was the first organized Protestant congregation in what was then the Michigan Territory. The church expanded, and by 1810 was established in Detroit, where the Rev. William Mitchell founded the First Methodist Society. In 1823, The first church building was constructed at the corner of Gratiot and Farmer. This building was replaced in 1833 by a building at Woodward and Congress, and again in 1849 by a building at Woodward and State. A church for a second congregation, at Congress and Randolph, was built in 1846.
[edit] Building history [2]
When the church at Congress and Randolph burned down in 1863, the two congregations consolidated and decided to build a church at Woodward and Adams. The cornerstone of Central Church's sanctuary was laid on July 3, 1867. The original church campus included the sanctuary, a chapel, an office building, and a parsonage on Adams Avenue. The smaller buildings were demolished in 1916, and a six story church house was built in their place.
In 1936, Woodward Avenue was widened. To reconfigure the church, a thirty-foot section of wall on the Adams side was torn down and the west wall and steeple rolled eastward 26 feet, thus shortening the nave. At the same time the sanctuary was remodeled, with a new recessed chancel with an elevated pulpit and lectern, and high altar. The main altar has a 30-ft high reredos carved of Appalachian mountain oak. On the walls surrounding the altar is a mural of the 12 Apostles painted by Detroit artist Thomas Di Lorenzo. Di Lorenzo also painted the ceiling, with 320 panels of symbols of the Christian church. Stained glass windows were installed in 1956.
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