Fourth Presbyterian Church (Chicago)

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Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
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Fourth Presbyterian Church front facade facing Michigan Avenue, Chicago
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Location126 East Chestnut Street
Chicago, Illinois
Built1912
Architect Ralph Adams Cram, Howard Van Doren Shaw
Architectural style Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No. 75000648
Added to NRHPSeptember 5, 1975

The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago is one of the largest congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), located in the Magnificent Mile neighborhood of Chicago, directly across Michigan Avenue from the John Hancock Center.

Contents

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Interior

History

The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago was formed on February 12, 1871, by the merger of Westminster Presbyterian Church and North Presbyterian Church. [1] The combined congregation dedicated a new church building on Sunday, October 8, 1871. The Great Chicago Fire began later that day and destroyed the young congregation's new sanctuary.

The congregation subsequently built a second building, located at the corner of Rush Street and Superior Street, which it dedicated February 1874. [2]

After nearly 40 years at that location, in 1912, the congregation built a new building on Pine Street (now North Michigan Avenue), which was then a fairly undeveloped part of the city. The congregation employed architect Ralph Adams Cram to create a Gothic Revival building of dressed limestone. Cram, who also designed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, worked on both churches simultaneously during 1912. Only Fourth Presbyterian was completed, however, and was dedicated in 1914. [2] In contrast, St. John the Divine is still officially unfinished and is considered a work in progress.

Cram designed and built the sanctuary however the parish house, cloister, manse, and garth, which lie to the south along Michigan Avenue, were designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw. [3] The church building is the oldest structure on North Michigan Avenue, with the exception of the Chicago Water Tower, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [2]

In 1884, the congregation worked with Rush Medical College to establish the city's Presbyterian Hospital [4] [5]

Statistics

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The church in 1914

According to the PC (USA), in 2013 Fourth Church had 5,540 members, the second-largest Presbyterian congregation in the United States. [6]

In 2015 at Fourth Church, Quimby Pipe Organs installed a three-million-dollar instrument with five manuals, 143 ranks, and 8,343 pipes, the largest in the midwestern United States. [7]

Pastors

Shortly before the turn of the 19th century, Rev. M. Woolsey Stryker (1885–1892), a widely quoted pundit as well as prolific hymnwriter, served as pastor but left Chicago to become President of his alma mater, Hamilton College, in upstate New York. Reverend John Buchanan, who held the post of senior pastor for 25 years, retired as of January 31, 2012. In March 2014, Fourth Presbyterian's members voted at a congregational meeting for the Reverend Shannon Johnson Kershner to lead the church as its next pastor commencing on May 1, 2014. [8] [9]

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Shannon Johnson Kershner is the current pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. Succeeding John Buchanan as Fourth's pastor, Kershner was voted to lead the congregation on March 2, 2014. She began serving the community on May 1 of that year, and gave her first sermon to the congregation on May 18. Kershner has previously worked as pastor at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in Black Mountain, North Carolina; and for Woodhaven Presbyterian Church in Irving, Texas. She graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas with a Bachelor of Arts degree before going on to receive a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary. While studying at Columbia, Kershner served as a Pastoral Intern in Texas and Georgia, most prominently at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Shannon has a husband named Greg Kershner, and two children, Hannah Kershner and Ryan Kershner. Greg is a Financial Advisor at Raymond James and went to Baylor University before he attended Columbia Theological Seminary. Hannah is 20 and Ryan is 17.

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References

  1. ↑ "Fourth Presbyterian Church: Governing Boards of Fourth Presbyterian Church".
  2. 1 2 3 "History of Fourth Presbyterian Church". Fourth Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  3. ↑ "Fourth Presbyterian Church". ChicagoArchitecture.Info. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  4. ↑ Moore, R. Jonathan (October 2004). Fourth Presbyterian Church. Encyclopedia of Chicago . Chicago Historical Society . Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  5. ↑ "Rush History". Rush University Medical Center. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  6. ↑ "2013 Comparative Statistics of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)" (PDF). 2014. p. 10. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Fourth Church Pipe Organ". Fourth Presbyterian Church. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  8. ↑ Brachear, Manya A. (10 May 2010). "Pastor retiring from Magnificent Mile church". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  9. ↑ "Biography of Reverend Shannon Johnson Kershner". Fourth Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 2014-05-18.

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