The Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church is a church located at 8501
Woodward Avenue
A woodward is a warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to:
Places
;United States
* Woodward, Iowa
* Woodward, Oklahoma
* Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place
* Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which bisects th ...
in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
. Built in 1911 in the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style, the architect was
Sidney Badgley. It was used for some time as the Abyssinia Church of God in Christ.
[Abyssinia Church of God in Christ](_blank)
from Model D The building 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 artistic ...
in 1982.
History
By 1908, the Presbyterians in Detroit recognized the need for a church to serve congregants located in what was then the "north" Woodward area.
Meetings were held and the congregation was organized by the
presbytery on March 17, 1908.
The church had 163 members.
Rev. Sherman L. Divine was installed as the congregation's first minister, and he embarked on an ambitious building project, envisioning a sanctuary that would cost about $100,000 ($ in dollars ).
The church enlisted new members and new funding. Tracy and Katherine McGregor donated a lot along Woodward, and the cornerstone for the church was laid on January 1, 1910.
Construction began, based on a design by
Sidney Rose Badgley. The church was dedicated on June 23 of the next year.
Membership surpassed 2200 by 1921. However, by the 1950s, many members were leaving Detroit for the northern suburbs.
Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church began to struggle, with fewer than 1000 members in 1961 and only 404 in 1971. In 1981, Woodward Avenue Presbyterian merged with Covenant Church. The combined churches still had fewer than 500 members, and by 1991 there were only 210. In 1993, the congregation split from the Presbyterian church, eventually becoming the Abyssinia Interdenominational Church. The church closed on the death of the pastor in 2005. Woodward Avenue Presbyterian was abandoned, and has fallen into disrepair.
Owners changed hands several times but none had the finances to keep up such a large property.
[Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church](_blank)
from Detroiturbex.com The building then was bought at a foreclosure sale by an information technology company that had also purchased an adjacent building. In a 2018 television interview the company's executive outlined plans to restore the building for the community. As of January 2019 the company had replaced the roof and were in the process of interior cleanup and structural stabilization. However in July the technology company was
debared from doing business with the city until 2026 after bribing a city official for business contracts. As of 2020 there was no update on any further repairs.
Architecture
Woodward Avenue Presbyterian is an English Gothic-style church, faced with rough rock and trimmed with a contrasting limestone, and measuring 184 feet long by 104 feet wide.
The Woodward Avenue façade boasts a massive carved-stone entrance with a traceried stained glass window set above; two square towers flank the center entrance. Along the side, gabled transepts contain full-height traceried windows. A two-story educational wing, built at the same time as the main church building, abuts the rear.
A lantern dome, raised above the roofline, lights the auditorium.
Gallery
File:Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church auxiliary sanctuary.jpg, auxiliary seating, separated from the sanctuary by a sliding panel
File:Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church view from balcony detail on seating.jpg
File:Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church view from balcony.jpg
File:Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church pipe organ.jpg,
References
Further reading
*
External links
Detroiturbex.com: Woodward Avenue Presbyteria ChurchFlickr.com: Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church images
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Churches in Detroit
Presbyterian churches in Michigan
Woodward Avenue
Christian organizations established in 1908
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Historic district contributing properties in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
Unused buildings in Detroit
20th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States
1900s architecture in the United States
1908 establishments in Michigan
Gothic Revival church buildings in Michigan