photographs of abandoned places #39

St. Mark United Presbyterian

 

This is a Google street view foto from August 2009. There were others available, this one had the best light. Have been past this church many times, yesterday was the first time i stopped. The property north, and north east is a library. I had a book to drop off.

My foto, 10 October 2022. Front doors boarded up, last year they were not.

This side faces Superior.  Weed tree has grown high, and much ivy covers most of the window. Perhaps there is a scene in the center, not visible now from the outside. Tree took years to get this high, must have been there while church was in use. When a church passes ownership from an established denomination, and congregation that built it, to another that sees a building that is worth much more than the going price, maintenance is often deferred or ignored. As neighbourhoods in America decline, and overall church attendance decreases, and an established congregation quits a location, the new organisation is too weak, small, and/or poor to last long. Also, to ruffle feathers, the character of the leadership of such enterprises is not always capable, or ethical. Someone dreams to be a religious leader, and gives himself a title, and often has not had formal study or training, wants a building. Sometimes the object is to be an entrepreneur. What sort of identifying term would the religious enterprise be called? independent? non-denominational? Often, that means Baptist or Pentecostal.

There is glass, and stone tracery underneath  the ivy.

The side of the church opposite the side that faces Superior, has an apartment building a few feet away, and gets less light for vegetation growth.

High up that side of the church, Jesus carrying a lantern is visible. Jesus, the Light of the World, was a popular subject a century plus ago.

Above that window, there is a partial collapse. I read Famicos Foundation wanted to remodel the building as St. Marks Family Center. Do not know if that is a go, or possible now. There is missing brick elsewhere, missing mortar, compromised windows (probably by prior tenants for air conditioners, or hoses, or vents).

So much of the corner stone has chipped away, that there is no clue to the church's original name. It was St. Mark United Presbyterian, built in 1911 at 1319 East Boulevard; before the Cultural Gardens, before World War I. No clue to subsequent owners either.

The last occupant, Community Garden of Prayer [Pentecostal], posts are there, sign is not.