First United Methodist Church (Highland Park, Michigan)

In 1868, a frame chapel for interdenominational services was built behind where the First United Methodist Church currently stands.[2] Membership in this church declined in the 1880s, and the structure became an Episcopal chapel in 1885. In 1892, the chapel was sold to the Methodists for $1 (and assumption of the church debt).[2]

The Methodist congregation received financial support from Michigan Senator Thomas Palmer and a retired Great Lakes sea captain, Thomas Stevens. This support allowed then to construct the present Gothic structure, which was built from 1916 to 1917.[2] In 1956, the original frame chapel behind the present church was demolished, and a contemporary educational building was constructed.

Soul Harvest Ministries has occupied the building since 1995.[3]

The church is an Arts and Crafts influenced, Gothic-style structure, constructed from red brick and trimmed with limestone.[2] The church is rectangular in plan, measuring 108 feet by 95 feet.[4] The Woodward Avenue elevation is a three-story gabled facade with banks of leaded windows, unified by projecting brick piers with limestone detailing. A square, flat-roofed tower with a louvered belfry graces the corner of the building. The main entrance, on the Church Street elevation, is sheltered by a broad arch in the base of the tower. The Church Street elevation also has two bays containing Gothic arched windows with gabled dormers. Ornamental brickwork is placed throughout the exterior.[2]

The interior of the church is a modified Akron Plan, with a two-story central nave with sloping floors containing theatre seating. Perimeter spaces contain classrooms and overflow seating. The sanctuary is sightly raised and paneled in dark oak with a pitched beamed ceiling. It contains a carved wood altar, lecturn, and organ.[4] The interior contains tiled floors, Arts and Crafts style oak woodwork, and tapestry brick wainscoting inset with Pewabic tiles throughout.[2]