The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago is one of the largest congregations of the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

, located in the

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neighborhood of

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, directly across Michigan Avenue from the

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History

The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago was formed on February 12, 1871, by the merger of Westminster Presbyterian Church and North Presbyterian Church. The combined congregation dedicated a new church building on Sunday, October 8, 1871. The

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

began later that day and destroyed the young congregation's new sanctuary. The congregation subsequently built a second building, located at the corner of Rush Street and Superior Street, which it dedicated February 1874. After nearly 40 years at that location, in 1912, the congregation decided to construct a new building on Pine Street (now North Michigan Avenue), which was then a fairly undeveloped part of the city. The congregation employed

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Ralph Adams Cram to create a Gothic Revival building. Cram, who also designed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, worked on both churches silmutaneously during 1912. Only Fourth Presbyterian was completed, however, and was dedicated in 1914. In contrast, St. John the Divine is still officially unfinished and is considered a work in progress. Cram designed and built the sanctuary however the parish house, cloister, manse, and garth, which lie to the south along Michigan Avenue, were designed by

Howard Van Doren Shaw Howard Van Doren Shaw AIA (May 7, 1869 – May 7, 1926) was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Shaw was a leader in the American Craftsman movement, best exemplified in his 1900 remodel of Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He designe ...

. The church building is the oldest structure on

North Michigan Avenue Michigan Avenue is a north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east on the Chicago grid. The northern end of the street is at Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Lake Michigan in the Gold Coast Historic District. The street's southern ter ...

, with the exception of the

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, and is 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 artistic ...

. In 1884, the congregation worked with

Rush Medical College Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, a ...

to establish the city's Presbyterian Hospital

Statistics

According to the PC(USA), in 2013 Fourth Church had 5,540 members, the second-largest Presbyterian congregation in the United States. In 2015 at Fourth Church,

Quimby Pipe Organs {{No footnotes, date=December 2021 Quimby Pipe Organs, Inc. is an American builder of pipe organs, based in Warrensburg, Missouri. The firm was founded in 1970 by Michael Quimby, President and Tonal Director, and incorporated in the State of Misso ...

installed a three-million-dollar instrument with five manuals, 143 ranks, and 8,343 pipes, the largest in the midwestern United States.

Pastors

Shortly before the turn of the 19th century, Rev. M. Woolsey Stryker (1885-1892), a widely quoted pundit as well as prolific hymnwriter, served as pastor but left Chicago to become President of his alma mater,

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...

, in upstate New York. Reverend John Buchanan, who held the post of senior pastor for 25 years, retired as of January 31, 2012. In March 2014, Fourth Presbyterian's members voted at a congregational meeting for the Reverend Shannon Johnson Kershner to lead the church as its next pastor commencing on May 1, 2014.

References

External links

*
Fourth Presbyterian Church
{{Coord, 41, 53, 55.5, N, 87, 37, 29, W, type:landmark_region:US-IL_dim:160_source:GoogleEarth, display=title 20th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Churches in Chicago Gothic Revival church buildings in Illinois Howard Van Doren Shaw church buildings Presbyterian Church (USA) churches Presbyterian churches in Illinois Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Ralph Adams Cram church buildings Churches completed in 1914 Religious organizations established in 1871 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 1914 establishments in Illinois