First Baptist Congregational Church
First Baptist Congregational Church is a United Church of Christ and Baptist congregation currently located at 60 N. Ashland Blvd. in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The church building is an Illinois Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was designed by architect Gurdon P. Randall for the Union Park Congregational Church, founded in 1860, and was built between 1869 and 1871. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Mayor's Office, City Council, and General Relief Committee of Chicago were temporarily headquartered in the church. In 1910, the building of nearby First Congregational Church (founded in 1851) burnt down. Union Park Congregational then merged with First Congregational to form (New) First Congregational Church. Two other congregations would eventually merge into the new First Congregational Church: Leavitt Street Congregational Church (founded in 1868) in 1917 and Bethany Congregational Church in the 1920s.
On August 6, 1944, the Mozart Baptist Church was founded at 114 N. Mozart Street in Chicago. In 1951, the growing congregation moved to a building at 2900 W. Adams Street. In 1970, the majority-black Mozart Baptist merged with First Congregational to form First Congregational Baptist Church. The merged congregation continued to meet in the First Congregational building.
The Lemont limestone building, which has a slate roof, is nearly square in plan except for shallow transepts barely a few feet deep at the north and south sides. The interior was designed by Randall in amphitheater style, with a nod to the sermon-centered Congregational service. Randall is often credited with originating this seating design, which has been widely imitated over the years.[1] Immediately adjacent to the south is the smaller Carpenter Chapel, a long rectangular space with a simpler plastered and wood-trimmed interior; its exterior is also of Lemont limestone and is built in a similar style.[2] The Carpenter Chapel's spire, the church's thin south spire, and the steeple together form a line of increasing height from left to right, visually joining the two structures. Part of the main church building's roof and interior were severely damaged in the February 2, 2011 blizzard.[3]
The church is highlighted in many books on church architecture, among them, "Chicago Churches: A Photographic Essay" by Elizabeth Johnson (Uppercase Books Inc, 1999) as well as "Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage" by George A. Lane, SJ and Algimantas Kezys, SJ (Loyola Press, 1982). The building is an Illinois Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on January 21, 1982.[4]
Notes
- ^ Lane, George A. and Kezys, Algimantas, "Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage," Loyola Press, Chicago: 1982, pp. 30-31.
- ^ "First Baptist Congregational Church - Physical Description". 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ Rhodes, Dawn. "Blizzard damage to historic church put at $1M". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-10-26. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
- ^ "First Baptist Congregational Church". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
External links
- Official website
- v
- t
- e
National Register of Historic Places /
Chicago Landmark
- Second Presbyterian Church
Chicago Landmark
- Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral and Rectory
- Kenwood Evangelical Church
- Pilgrim Baptist Church
- Quinn Chapel
- Church of the Epiphany
- Episcopal Church of the Atonement and Parish House
- Epworth United Methodist Church
- First Congregational Church of Austin
- Fourth Presbyterian Church
- Holy Name Cathedral
- Notre Dame de Chicago
- Old St. Patrick's Church
- St. Thomas the Apostle Church
- All Saints Episcopal Church
- Canaan Baptist Church of Christ Building
- Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church
- Eighth Church of Christ, Scientist
- First Baptist Congregational Church
- First Church of Deliverance
- KAM Isaiah Israel
- Madonna Della Strada Chapel
- Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church Building
- Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church
- Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ Building
- Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
- St. Gelasius Church Building
- Third Unitarian Church Building
- Truevine Missionary Baptist Church Building