Congregation at 1st Christian Church in Construction

Datec. 1918

MediumPaper

ClassificationsDocumentary Artifact

Terms

Catalog number1987.1.350

DescriptionA large group of people pause for a photo at the site of a brick building that is under construction. The building is the 1st Christian Church at the northeast corner of Forest Avenue and 8th Street (University Drive). This church building was built in the summer/early fall of 1918 to replace the wood-frame building previously used (which had been referred to as Tempe’s Tabernacle). The Tabernacle was torn down to make way for this new building at the same location.

One man leans through a window frame of what will be the building’s southernmost room space. Most of the people are standing either at the ground level around the outside of the building, or within what will become the steps and foyer entryway of the church. The curved brick wall at the back of the photo is the wall space between the two entryway doors into these room spaces of the church. There appear to be nearly 40 people in the photo, some may be part of a work crew, however it seems likely that most of the people are members of the congregation who are viewing the progress of work on the church. Most of the women in the photo wear summer dresses and large hats, while many of the men are in shirtsleeves. The main group near the center left of the photo is clustered around the cornerstone plaque. It reads “Christian / Church / 1884 – 1918” and is attached to brickwork.

It is likely that Reverend J. R. Rountree is in the photo – he was the minister of the church during this period. (In 1920, he left to minister to a church in Long Beach, California.)
An article in the Arizona Republican newspaper of July 17, 1918 has this to say about the new church:
"The new building has been designed to meet the requirements of modern ideas of religious education and that feature of the church work will be stressed, rather than the idea of an auditorium for public gatherings. It will be of brick and pebble dashed and will be 88 feet front, facing on Eighth street. There will be separate departmental divisions to accommodate a completely graded Bible school, with provisions for social gatherings and special work."

Status

Not on view