The Soul Harvest Ministries is located at 16300 Woodward Avenue in Highland Park

Highland Park, Michigan

- Geography :According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 16,746 people, 6,199 households, and 3,521 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,622.9 per square mile . There were 7,249...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. It was built in 1916 as the First United Methodist Church and listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1982.

History

In 1868, a frame chapel for interdenominational services was built behind where the First United Methodist Church currently stands. 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).

The Methodist congregation received financial support from Michigan Senator Thomas Palmer

Thomas W. Palmer

Thomas Witherell Palmer was a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. He is considered to be one of the most significant figures in the history of Detroit, Michigan....

 and a retired Great Lakes sea captain, Thomas Stevens

Thomas Stevens

Thomas Stevens or Thomas Stephens may refer to:*Thomas Stevens , abbot of Netley Abbey and Beaulieu Abbey, English renaissance clergyman and Cistercian monk*Thomas Stevens , inaugural bishop of Barking...

. This support allowed then to construct the present Gothic structure, which was built from 1916 to 1917. 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.

Architecture

The church is an Arts and Crafts influenced, Gothic-style structure, constructed from red brick and trimmed with limestone. The Woodward Avenue facade has gables and 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 is sheltered by a broad arch in the base of the tower. Throughout the interior of the church are tiled floors, Arts and Crafts style oak woodwork, and tapestry brick wainscoting inset with Pewabic tiles.