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The Metropolitan United Methodist Church is a church in Detroit Michigan, located at 8000 Woodward Avenue (at Chandler). It was constructed in 1926.
[edit] History
In 1901, two Detroit Methodist congregations, the Woodward Avenue Methodist Episcopal (founded in 1885) and the Oakland Avenue Church (founded in 1886), merged to form the North Woodward Avenue Methodist Church.[2] Two years later, Dr. Charles Bronson Allen became pastor and convinced the congregation to build a building at Woodward and Melbourne; unfortunatley, the new building burned down in 1916.[2] The congregation decided to rebuild grander than ever. One of the congregants, Sebastian S. Kresge (who lived nearby in Boston-Edison), donated land at Woodward and Chandler for a new building as well as offering substiantial financial support.[2] Another congregant, William E. N. Hunter, designed the building.[2] Unfortunately, World War I delayed the start of construction, due to scarcity of building materials.[3] However, the cornerstone was laid in 1922, and the church completed in 1926. By the mid-1930's, the congregation was the largest local church in the Methodist world. Church membership peaked in 1943 at 7,300 members.[3]
[edit] Building
The church is a very large structure in the English Gothic style, built from a distinctive ochre granite from Massachusetts.[2] It is built in a traditional cruciform design buttressed with several low side wings and a gabled roof.
[edit] References
[edit] External Sites
