Moody Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Moody Church |
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Moody Church
|
|
| 41°54′42″N 87°37′57″W / 41.911654°N 87.632491°W | |
| Location | Chicago. Illinois |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Nondenominational Christianity |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Illinois Street Church, Chicago Avenue Church |
| Founded | December 30, 1864 |
| Founder(s) | Dwight L. Moody |
| Architecture | |
| Completed | November 8, 1925 |
The Moody Church is a famous Christian church in Chicago, Illinois. It's often called Moody Memorial Church after a sign on its side. This church is known for its large size and long history. It is located in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago.
Contents
The Church Building: A Closer Look
The Moody Church building stands at the corners of North Avenue, Clark Street, and LaSalle Street. Architects Fugard and Knapp designed it. Construction started in 1924 and finished just one year later. The church officially opened on November 8, 1925.
Design and Size
The building is huge, covering an area of 140 feet by 225 feet. It mixes styles from Romanesque and Byzantine buildings. It is one of the biggest Romanesque churches in the United States. The church was meant to connect old church styles with newer Protestant designs. It was supposed to be 20 feet longer, but street widening changed the plans. This might be why the choir area is so steep!
The main room, called the auditorium, has no pillars. This makes it the largest space without pillars in Chicago. It can seat 3,740 people. About 2,270 people can sit on the main floor, and 1,470 in the balcony. The curved balcony was built using a special method called cantilevered construction. This means it sticks out without needing supports from below. The whole room is designed so that everyone's eyes are drawn to the pulpit, where the speaker stands.
Amazing Acoustics
The church was built before modern sound systems existed. Because of its design, it has almost perfect acoustics. This means sound travels very well, so you can hear clearly from almost anywhere. The only thing that makes it a little less perfect is the carpet on the floor.
Old Cooling System
Today, the church has a modern air conditioning system. But when it was first built, they had a clever way to keep it cool in summer. They used a large pit in an alley behind the church. Workers would dump huge amounts of ice into this pit. Then, air was blown over the ice and sent through mushroom-shaped vents under the seats. This system could refresh all the air in the church in just six minutes!
Windows and Organ
Around the balcony, there are 36 large stained glass windows. Each window is unique and was given as a memorial to someone. When the church was first built, it didn't have an organ. Later, a large Reuter organ was added. It has 4,400 pipes! The pipes you see in the church are just for decoration. The real organ parts are hidden behind a black screen.
Modern Updates
In 1986, a fire caused $500,000 worth of damage to the pulpit, choir area, and organ. During the repairs, a new audio-visual system was installed. One of the newest features are two very tall "movie" screens. These screens can go up and down and are currently the tallest in the United States.
History of The Moody Church
The Moody Church started because of the hard work of a famous speaker named Dwight L. Moody. He focused on growing his Sunday school in the mid-to-late 1800s. By 1860, over 1,000 children and their parents came every week. It became the biggest and most well-known religious program of its kind. Even President Abraham Lincoln visited one Sunday!
Early Buildings and Fires
Because so many people attended, Moody's group needed a permanent home. They built a church with 1,500 seats at Illinois and Wells Streets. It was called the Illinois Street Church and opened on December 30, 1864.
Sadly, this building was completely destroyed on October 8, 1871, during the Great Chicago Fire. That same year, a temporary building called the North Side Tabernacle was built. A new, much larger church that could hold up to 10,000 people opened in 1876. It was then renamed the Chicago Avenue Church.
Renaming and Tragic Events
Dwight Moody passed away in 1899. In 1908, the church was officially renamed The Moody Church to honor him.
In 1912, a pastor named John Harper from Scotland was traveling to Chicago to speak at the church. He was on the new ship, the Titanic, with his daughter and niece. His daughter and niece were saved, but John Harper died when the ship sank. It's a common story that he was going to be a pastor there, but he was actually just visiting to speak.
Moving and New Leaders
In 1925, the church moved to its current large building. Many well-known pastors have led The Moody Church over the years. Harry A. Ironside was pastor from 1930 to 1948. Then, Alan Redpath from Britain served from 1953 to 1962. Later, George Sweeting was pastor from 1966 to 1971, before he became president of Moody Bible Institute. Warren W. Wiersbe then took his place.
On January 20, 1980, Erwin Lutzer became the 16th senior pastor. He retired in 2016. The current senior pastor, Philip Miller, started in 2020.
New Additions
In 2007, a new three-story building called the Christian Life Center was added to the original church. This addition provides more classroom space for Sunday School and helps with new church activities.
Past Leaders of The Moody Church
Over its history, 17 different men have served as the senior pastor of The Moody Church. Even though Dwight L. Moody founded the church, he was never officially its pastor.
Here is a list of the senior pastors:
- J.H. Harwood (1866–1869)
- Rev. William J. Erdman, D.D. (1876–1878)
- Charles M. Morton (1878–1879)
- George C. Needham (1879–1881)
- Charles F. Goss (1885–1890)
- Charles A. Blanchard (1891-1893)
- Dr. Reuben A. Torrey (1894–1906)
- A.C. Dixon, D.D. (1906–1911)
- Paul Rader (1915–1921)
- Rev. P.W. Philpott, D.D. (1922–1929)
- Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1930–1948)
- S. Franklin Logsdon (1951–1952)
- Alan Redpath (1953–1962)
- George Sweeting (1966–1971)
- Warren W. Wiersbe (1971–1978)
- Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer (1980–2016)
- Philip Miller (2020–Present)
