In the heart of Chicago lies a gem of architecture – the highest church above ground in the world. Built on a skyscraper, the Methodist Chicago Temple can be easy to miss when walking the city streets, but can be quite astonishing when noticed:
Most services are in their immense sanctuary on the ground floor (which I didn’t see due to construction), but every Thursday they allow a few devoted worshippers to trek up to the top floors to the tiny Chapel in the Sky.
I have a problem being late. I barely make it on time to anything, be they job interview, church services, or trains. But I made it just in time to catch my breath before the Rev. Cheryl Magrini greeted the gathered worshippers to lead them up to the top floors. It was quite a maze. We went from lavish, wood-paneled elevators to a high foyer with keepsakes and stained glass window celebrating John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist movement.
Then, we traversed a locked glass door and up a tiny staircase to another elevator, tiny and unadorned, like a miniscule freight lift. There were only five of us – the pastor, two church members, a tourist, and me – and we barely fit. But after a few floors and another locked door, we arrived:
The Chicago Temple is the oldest church in Chicago, organized in 1831. It wasn’t always in its central location, and has moved due to fires and other issues. In fact, many capitalist forces tried to make the church move out of central Chicago as land values skyrocketed with prosperity. The Chapel in the Sky, dedicated in 1952, is 400 feet above ground level, and was the highest building in Chicago at the time. It’s obviously not now, judging by a view from its windows:
The service was incredibly simple, as it was essentially a meeting for prayer to end a day of work. We sang a few hymns, read a passage each from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the Epistles. Then we prayed for people in our lives, the world, and anything else that came to mind.
The Rev. Magrini expressed a continuous call for peace, which was then echoed in the prayers of those gathered. I noticed that the cross above the altar created a shadow on the wall that resembles the peace sign as well. I have no idea if it was intentional, but it may be. In the carving on this altar Jesus is shown weeping over the city of Chicago because people still do not know “the things that make for peace.” (I managed to take a picture of the shadow, but the altar didn’t turn out well in the low light):
But after the short prayer session, we were entreated to an audio tour of the sixteen stained-glass windows surrounding the circular chapel. Unlike many stained glass windows, these windows don’t shy away from use of modern symbolism, and together form a history of Christianity and the Methodist Church.
The first four depict the Old Testament, and the second four the New Testament, and were quite standard. But in the last eight, Christianity divides – the Roman Catholics split with Eastern Orthodoxy, the Reformation creates the Protestants, and John Wesley creates Methodism, which comes to the New World.
Before I show one of my favorite windows, I should explain a bit about Methodism here. In the 18th century, John Wesley, his brother Charles, and a few other Anglican scholars brought about a new interpretation of a standard of living using intense Bible study as a guide. They were methodical, and thus derogatorily called “Methodists.” (Isn’t it strange how so many faiths end up adopting their pejorative names?)
Like the Quakers before them, Methodists were out to counter perceived apathy in the Church of England. But nevertheless, it wasn’t until after John Wesley’s death that they actually became seen as separate from the Anglican Church.
Methodists acted as traveling preachers, spreading the word and establishing study-centric groups in many towns. They believed that salvation could be attained by faith in Christ alone, which was against many of the other teachigns of the day, which preached pre-destination. But love for Christ also took an important physical form. Wesley took Christ’s second great command “to love your neighbor as you love yourself,” and translated that as avoiding any sins against one’s neighbors, including ignorance and apathy as to their well-being. Methodists thus became early leaders in the fight for prison reform and abolition, being a nagging voice in the ear of the political establishment.
Like many other non-Anglican groups in England at the time, Methodists were attacked in print, assaulted by mobs when they’d preach in the street, and the government was continually trying to disband their groups. So many Methodists moved to America, especially the Midwest, which was the western border of the United States at the time. That’s why there’s so many in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and the surrounding areas.
But anyhow, here’s my favorite window. It depicts the present, the Chapel in the Sky, surrounded by everyday life. I find it breathtaking:
