![\"File:Central](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/15\/Central_United_Methodist_Church_-_Detroit_Michigan.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis is the church of the first Methodist congregation in Michigan.\u00a0 Indeed, I believe this is the oldest Protestant congregation in Michigan.\u00a0 It waqs founded in 1810.\u00a0 The British took control of Detroit from the French in autumn 1860 but there were few English setters.\u00a0 Primarily, Detroit was a lightly fortified military outpost with, typically, fewer than 100 British soldiers.\u00a0 Between 1760 and 1796 when the American replaced the British, no Church of England parish was establisherd in Detroit.\u00a0 Territorial Governor Lewis Cass approved the charter for Centraol Methodist in 1822, less than a\u00a0\u00a0 century after John Wesley founded the Methodist reform movement in Savannah.\u00a0\u00a0 In the early 1860s, this congregation had to make a decision about building\u00a0\u00a0 a new church since their wooden structure at Woodward and State was razed by\u00a0\u00a0 fire.<\/span><\/p>\n DR. WMDAWE<\/p><\/div>\n They selected Gordon Lloyd as their architect,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 an architect\u00a0 whose imprint in Detroit is still large because of the churches\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 he built. Lloyd\u00a0\u00a0 was born in England but raised in Sherbrooke, Quebec and then returned to England\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 for his training. He traveled extensively in northern Europe, developing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 an appreciation\u00a0\u00a0 of northern Gothic cathedrals before migrating to Detroit in 1858 where he quickly won commissions. Not far from Central Methodist is Christ Church<\/a> on East Jefferson, a structure Lloyd designed just before designing the church you see pictured here. Lloyd eventually designed about three dozen church throughout the Midwest including the very attractive St. James Episcopal on Grosse Ile <\/span><\/p>\n Episcopalian congregations at this time had\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fixed ideas about\u00a0 the structure of a church, but Methodists were more flexible,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 so Lloyd could\u00a0\u00a0 be imaginative when he designed this beautiful structure. He specialized in\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gothic structures, so he built a light gray, rock-faced limestone church\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 with\u00a0\u00a0 dark stone trim. If you walk around this church and examine it, you will see\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the skills of Gordon Lloyd illustrate themselves almost a century and a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 half\u00a0\u00a0 after he completed the building. You might note the impressive clock in the tower of the church. It has been in operation since 1867. You might also compare this Gothic church\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to\u00a0 the Gothic-influenced Fyfe Shoe Building<\/a> directly\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 across Woodward. The original\u00a0\u00a0 stained glass windows in Central Methodist were imported from England, but\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 they deteriorated so the congregation, in 1955, commissioned the Willet Studios\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of\u00a0\u00a0 Philadelphia to replace the windows with new stained glass resembling windows\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 found in the Gothic cathedrals of medieval England and France. All of the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 windows\u00a0\u00a0 focus upon the life and teachings of Christ applied to contemporary issue,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 so the Statue of Liberty and the United Nations Building are included in\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 stained\u00a0\u00a0 glass windows.<\/span><\/p>\n In 1936, Woodward Avenue was widened and the length of the\u00a0\u00a0 church was cut by 28 feet. The steeple was moved 26 feet to the east. That is, the church was reduced in size and the steeple moved back from what had been Woodward.<\/span><\/p>\n The six story parish house to the east of the church was designed by Smith, Hyinchyman and Grylls and completed at the time of World War I. In the early years of this new century, the leaders of this church announced plans to construct a residential building on property adjoining the church that they owned. Presumably, this will be an investment property for the parish as they seek to capitalize upon the increasing popularity of living in downtown Detroit.<\/span><\/p>\n Very informative pictures of this church are presented in the 2012 book cited below.<\/span><\/p>\n Architect: Gordon Lloyd \u00a0 Style: Gothic Revival \u00a0 Date of Completion: 1867 \u00a0 Use in 2013: Eccelastical building \u00a0 For additional information, see:\u00a0 Marla O. Collum, Barbara E. Krueger and Dorothy Kostuch, Detroit’s Historic Places of Worship (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2012) \u00a0 Website for church: http:\/\/www.centralumchurch.com\/\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Photo: R. Farley, April 2002\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>State Historical Register: P25042, Listed June 6, 1977 \u00a0 State Historical Marker: Erected: June 19, 1979 \u00a0 National Historical Register: Listed August 3, 1982.<\/span><\/a>