Exploring a untouched church (with everything inside it)
Like a lot of early Detroit Churches, Church of the Covenant was started in 1863 as a mission Sunday school led by Zebulon Reed Brockway, then head of the Detroit house of correction. For a short time, classes were held in the basement of Bishop school until a small frame structure was built in 1864 on Russell and Napoleon Streets. The Sunday school proved to be so popular that a dedicated structure was built in 1869. In 1875 the mission was formally organized as Union Presbyterian Church, a name it kept until 1889, when it was renamed Church of the Covenant and moved into a new building on the same location that seated over 1,200.
The large size of the building proved to be problematic for the church, which struggled to maintain financial solvency after its membership began moving into surrounding neighborhoods. The area around Russell Street and Gratiot Avenue had become more commercial, filling up with stores and plants that would eventually become part of the Eastern Market. In 1906 the church started a mission in a storefront on Mack Avenue near East Grand Boulevard, finding a large Presbyterian population in the rapidly growing neighborhood. By September it had been decided to sell the old church and relocate.
00:00 - intro
00:32 - basment
01:37 - upstairs
02:50 - chapel
06:00 - second floor chapel
07:30 - church shop
08:20 - main entrance
10:13 - rooms
10:50 - library
12:30 - library 2
13:47 - stain glass
14:11 - piano
14:34 - huge window
15:00 - ending