Moody Church
Encyclopedia
The Moody Church is a historic Protestant (Christian
) church in the Lincoln Park
neighborhood of Chicago
, Illinois
.
and Byzantine
architecture, and is one of the largest Romanesque churches in the US. Visually, it was intended to bridge the gap between the traditional Roman Catholic cathedral
and the typical Protestant church buildings of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The building was originally intended to be 20 feet longer, but due to widening of LaSalle Street, the layout had to be altered; this is believed by some to be the reason for the unusually steep choir loft. From floor to the false acoustic ceiling is 68 feet, and the structural ceiling is 10 to 15 feet above that.
The resulting building remains the largest non-pillared auditorium in the Chicago area, and has permanent seating for 3,740 people, 2,270 on the main floor, with an additional 1,470 in the balcony. The curved balcony was one of the earliest examples of cantilevered construction, and its curvature – as well as the rest of the layout of the auditorium – was designed so that all lines focus on the pulpit. Designed in an era before modern sound systems, the building has almost-perfect acoustics, and it is reported that the only element detracting from this aspect is the floor carpet.
Although a modern environmental system has been installed, when the church was originally built, summer cooling was provided by means of a large pit in an alley in back of the building, where large loads of ice would be dumped. Air was then blown over the ice and out of mushroom-shaped vents under the auditorium seats. The system could recirculate the church’s air in six minutes.
The large chandeliers that hang in the auditorium are traditionally believed to have been produced by Tiffany
, although they are unsigned and there are no records to confirm or deny this. Above the balcony, around the perimeter of the building, are 36 large stained glass
windows, no two of which are alike. All were donated as memorials.
When originally built, the church did not have an organ, but later a 4-manual Reuter
organ with 4,400 pipes in 54 ranks was added. The pipes visible in the sanctuary are merely decorative, the actual instruments being hidden behind a black curtain.
In January, 1986, a fire in the front of the church caused $500,000 damage to the pulpit, choir loft and organ. During the rebuilding, a modern audio-visual system was installed. One of the newest additions to the sanctuary are a pair of "movie" screens. These ascending screens are currently the tallest in the US.
in the mid-to-late-19th century. Moody concentrated his efforts on promoting his Sunday school, and by 1860, over 1,000 children and their parents attended each week. It had become the largest and most well-known religious outreach of its kind, with the result that President Abraham Lincoln
visited the meeting one Sunday. Needing a permanent home, Moody’s ministry built a 1,500-seat church at the corner of Illinois and Wells Streets, called the Illinois Street Church, which was formally dedicated December 30, 1864.
That building was completely destroyed on Sunday, October 8, 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire
swept the area. The congregation immediately raised the money to rebuild, this time locating at the corner of Chicago Avenue and LaSalle Street (currently the location of Moody Bible Institute
’s women’s dorm, Houghton Hall). The Chicago Avenue Church, which could hold up to 10,000 people, was dedicated in June, 1876. Attendance continued to climb, and on one particular Sunday, the auditorium was filled to capacity, with an additional 6,000 people standing outside the church’s doors.
Dwight Moody died after an illness in 1899, and in 1908, the church was formally renamed “The Moody Church” in his honor. A.C. Dixon
took over as pastor in 1906 and he stayed until 1911. In 1912, John Harper
of Scotland
was called to be the pastor after speaking there in a series of meetings, but tragedy overtook him before he could return to formally take up the pastorate. Returning from Scotland with his daughter and niece, Harper booked passage on the White Star Line
’s new ocean liner Titanic. Although his daughter and niece were rescued, Harper was killed in the sinking.
In 1925, the congregation moved to the Church’s current location. In 1930, well-known evangelist Harry A. Ironside
became the pastor, serving until his wife’s death in 1948. In 1953, popular British evangelist Alan Redpath
was appointed pastor, and served until 1962. From 1966 to 1971, George Sweeting served as pastor, before leaving to become the President of Moody Bible Institute
, with his place being taken by Warren W. Wiersbe
. On January 20, 1980, the current Senior Pastor, Erwin Lutzer
, was installed as the 17th Senior Pastor of The Moody Church.
The Church has an extensive radio ministry, with three programs broadcast nationally:
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
) church in the Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
neighborhood of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Building
The Moody Church building is located at the corners of North Avenue, North Clark and LaSalle Street. Construction on the building, designed by architects Fugard and Knapp, was begun in 1924 and completed a year later. The formal dedication was held on November 8, 1925. Covering an area of 140 feet by 225 feet, The Moody Church melds features of both RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
and Byzantine
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
architecture, and is one of the largest Romanesque churches in the US. Visually, it was intended to bridge the gap between the traditional Roman Catholic cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and the typical Protestant church buildings of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The building was originally intended to be 20 feet longer, but due to widening of LaSalle Street, the layout had to be altered; this is believed by some to be the reason for the unusually steep choir loft. From floor to the false acoustic ceiling is 68 feet, and the structural ceiling is 10 to 15 feet above that.
The resulting building remains the largest non-pillared auditorium in the Chicago area, and has permanent seating for 3,740 people, 2,270 on the main floor, with an additional 1,470 in the balcony. The curved balcony was one of the earliest examples of cantilevered construction, and its curvature – as well as the rest of the layout of the auditorium – was designed so that all lines focus on the pulpit. Designed in an era before modern sound systems, the building has almost-perfect acoustics, and it is reported that the only element detracting from this aspect is the floor carpet.
The large chandeliers that hang in the auditorium are traditionally believed to have been produced by Tiffany
Charles Lewis Tiffany
Charles Lewis Tiffany founded Tiffany & Co. in New York City in 1837. A leader in the American jewelry trade in the nineteenth century, he was known for his jewelry expertise, created the country's first retail catalog, and, in 1851, he introduced the English standard of sterling silver.His son,...
, although they are unsigned and there are no records to confirm or deny this. Above the balcony, around the perimeter of the building, are 36 large stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows, no two of which are alike. All were donated as memorials.
When originally built, the church did not have an organ, but later a 4-manual Reuter
Reuter Organ Company
Reuter Organ Company is a pipe organ builder located in Lawrence, Kansas.- Establishment :The Reuter Organ Company was founded in 1917 by A.C. Reuter, Earl Schwartz and Henry Jost as the Reuter-Schwartz Organ Company in Trenton, Illinois....
organ with 4,400 pipes in 54 ranks was added. The pipes visible in the sanctuary are merely decorative, the actual instruments being hidden behind a black curtain.
In January, 1986, a fire in the front of the church caused $500,000 damage to the pulpit, choir loft and organ. During the rebuilding, a modern audio-visual system was installed. One of the newest additions to the sanctuary are a pair of "movie" screens. These ascending screens are currently the tallest in the US.
History
The church originally was the result of the aggressive work of famed evangelist Dwight L. MoodyDwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
in the mid-to-late-19th century. Moody concentrated his efforts on promoting his Sunday school, and by 1860, over 1,000 children and their parents attended each week. It had become the largest and most well-known religious outreach of its kind, with the result that President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
visited the meeting one Sunday. Needing a permanent home, Moody’s ministry built a 1,500-seat church at the corner of Illinois and Wells Streets, called the Illinois Street Church, which was formally dedicated December 30, 1864.
That building was completely destroyed on Sunday, October 8, 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
swept the area. The congregation immediately raised the money to rebuild, this time locating at the corner of Chicago Avenue and LaSalle Street (currently the location of Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute is a Christian institution of higher education and related ministries that was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Since its founding, MBI's main campus has been located in the Near North Side of Chicago. MBI's primary ministries are education,...
’s women’s dorm, Houghton Hall). The Chicago Avenue Church, which could hold up to 10,000 people, was dedicated in June, 1876. Attendance continued to climb, and on one particular Sunday, the auditorium was filled to capacity, with an additional 6,000 people standing outside the church’s doors.
Dwight Moody died after an illness in 1899, and in 1908, the church was formally renamed “The Moody Church” in his honor. A.C. Dixon
Amzi Dixon
Amzi Clarence Dixon was a well-known pastor, Bible expositor and evangelist, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With R.A. Torrey he helped edit the influential journal The Fundamentals which helped give fundamentalist Christianity its name...
took over as pastor in 1906 and he stayed until 1911. In 1912, John Harper
John Harper (pastor)
John Harper was a Baptist pastor from Great Britain who died in the Titanic disaster on the North Atlantic.Harper was born in the village of Houston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1872. He personally embraced his parents' Christian faith at age 14 and began preaching at 18...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
was called to be the pastor after speaking there in a series of meetings, but tragedy overtook him before he could return to formally take up the pastorate. Returning from Scotland with his daughter and niece, Harper booked passage on the White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
’s new ocean liner Titanic. Although his daughter and niece were rescued, Harper was killed in the sinking.
In 1925, the congregation moved to the Church’s current location. In 1930, well-known evangelist Harry A. Ironside
Harry A. Ironside
Henry Allen "Harry" Ironside was a Canadian-American Bible teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author.-Biography:...
became the pastor, serving until his wife’s death in 1948. In 1953, popular British evangelist Alan Redpath
Alan Redpath
Alan Redpath , was a well-known British evangelist, pastor and author.-Biography:Alan Redpath was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the only son of James and Christina Redpath. He went to Durham School, and then studied to be chartered accountant in Newcastle, completing this in 1928. He then worked as...
was appointed pastor, and served until 1962. From 1966 to 1971, George Sweeting served as pastor, before leaving to become the President of Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute
Moody Bible Institute is a Christian institution of higher education and related ministries that was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Since its founding, MBI's main campus has been located in the Near North Side of Chicago. MBI's primary ministries are education,...
, with his place being taken by Warren W. Wiersbe
Warren W. Wiersbe
Warren Wendel Wiersbe is an American pastor, Bible teacher, conference speaker and a prolific writer of Christian literature and theological works. Born on May 16, 1929 in East Chicago, Indiana, Wiersbe is perhaps best known for his series of 50 books in the "BE" series: Be Real, Be Rich, Be...
. On January 20, 1980, the current Senior Pastor, Erwin Lutzer
Erwin Lutzer
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer is an evangelical Christian pastor, teacher and author. He is currently the senior pastor of Moody Church, in Chicago, Illinois.- Career :...
, was installed as the 17th Senior Pastor of The Moody Church.
The Moody Church today
During Dr. Lutzer's pastorate, the church and its ministries have grown considerably. Construction was recently completed on a three-story Christian Life Center addition to the current 1915 building, intended to provide sufficient Sunday School classroom space and accommodate new and growing ministries. A street-level entry and elevators provide better access for those with disabilities. The facility also offers subterranean parking for 21 cars and a rooftop deck for gatherings of up to 300 people.The Church has an extensive radio ministry, with three programs broadcast nationally:
- Moody Church Hour – the Sunday morning worship service
- Running to Win – a daily 25-minute (or 15-minute in some areas) instructional program by Dr. Lutzer
- Songs in the Night – started in 1946, a 30-minute Sunday evening program combining music and a meditation by Dr. Lutzer.