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Duke Memorial United Methodist Church is a historic Methodist church at 504 W. Chapel Hill Street in Durham, North Carolina. It was originally established in 1886. The congregation’s growth paralleled Durham’s growth as a manufacturing center in the textile and tobacco industries and has maintained a close connection with Duke University (formerly Trinity College). From its beginning, the church has counted among its members many of Durham’s educational and industrial elite. It is named in honor of tobacco magnate and philanthropist Washington Duke and his sons, who were instrumental in the building of the church. == Main Street Church == What would become Duke Memorial United Methodist Church grew out of the original Methodist congregation in Durham. Members of the Durham Methodist church, soon to be renamed “Trinity Methodist Church,” saw the need for new churches to serve the growing east and west sides of the city. Durham’s population was swelling thanks to the rapid growth of cotton and tobacco manufacture in the city. Tobacco firms like Washington Duke, Sons & Co, and W.T. Blackwell & Co. as well as thriving cotton firms like that of Julian Carr were bringing throngs of new workers to the edges of the city. J.J. Ward wrote of Durham in 1884, “I never saw nor heard tell of a town thriving any faster than Durham.” 〔Letter from J.J. Ward, March 13, 1884, c. 1, box 1, Blackwood-Lloyd Papers, Rubenstein Rare Book Library, Duke University〕 Maude Wilkerson Dunn, daughter of Durham builder Albert Wilkerson, recalled a meeting between her father and Washington Duke: “Mr. Washington Duke was at our house one day and he said…“We’ve got to build another Church.” The factory was just beginning to go and people were moving in here. From just a mere nothing but a store or two beside the road, it was beginning to become quite a town. So Pap said, “We have Trinity Church.” Mr. Duke said, “Yes, but we’ve got to have one for the masses.” So they began, and Main Street Church was built.” Industrialists like Washington Duke and Julian Carr did not want Durham to be only a wealthy city; they hoped that Durham would grow into a city which also had culture. Durham at this point was an economic boom-town, with the potential to become a rowdy and unorganized industrial city like many others in the American south and west.〔''Durham, a self-portrait.'' DVD. Directed by Steven Channing. 2007; Durham, NC: VideoDialog, 2007.〕 Thus they encouraged the founding of institutions of civilized society, like churches and institutions of higher education, to accompany Durham’s material growth. The establishment of Trinity College in Durham and the building of this church are two primary examples. However, Durham’s elite were not the only religiously excited members of the community. During the latter half of the 1880’s, a series of camp-style revival services were held in and around Durham. They drew very large crowds. Sam Jones, a famous evangelist of the day, publicly converted Durham tobacco magnate William T. Blackwell at one such revival. And, although the vast majority of the community remained Protestant, the first Roman Catholic congregation in Durham was established in 1887. The people of Durham, regardless of social or economic standing, were by all measures very religiously active at this time. In 1885, a few members of Durham Methodist Church formed a building committee to make plans for this “church for the masses,” which was already being called the “West End Church.” The committee included businessmen Washington Duke and J.H. Southgate among others. They approved the establishment of the church and secured some pledges for its construction. In 1885 The Rev. Amos Gregson was appointed pastor of the West End Church and its companion in the east side of town. The West End Church did not yet have a building, but on May 2, 1886 Gregson conducted the first services at Washington Duke, Sons & Co Tobacco Factory.〔〔Pamphlet, ''Manual of Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1889'', c. 1, Rubenstein Rare Book Library, Duke University.〕 This new congregation also established the Bethany Sunday School, which became a very successful and well-attended group. Many of Durham’s businessmen, like B.N. Duke and C.C. Taylor were active leaders in the Sunday School. Most members of the congregation worked in the factory, but not all; Washington Duke himself and Mr. and Mrs. Brodie L. Duke transferred their membership to the new church. On October 10, 1886 the Sunday school officially relocated to the new church. The building, measuring 40 × 70 feet and made of red brick, was located on the southeast corner of Main and Gregson Streets. The land was donated by Washington Duke’s oldest son, Brodie L. Duke. On April 24 of the following year the Main Street Methodist Church was dedicated with Bishop Charles B. Calloway present for the service. Settled in its new space, the church continued to add members. The church directory from 1889 reports that in that year alone 138 members were added, 29 by certificate of transfer from other congregations and 109 by making first-time professions of faith.〔 1892 was a momentous year for both the church and Durham. Trinity College, formerly located in Randolph County, North Carolina, was brought to Durham largely thanks to Washington Duke and Julian Carr. Not long after the college’s arrival in Durham, it became tightly linked to the Main Street Church. Many of Trinity College’s professors were active members of the congregation. Dr. W. I. Cranford, a very well-liked professor of psychology and philosophy, drew many students and church members to his Sunday school class. Professors J.S. Bassett and R.L. Flowers were active members and Sunday School teachers. Dr. John Carlisle Kilgo, a Methodist minister and member of the Church, became president of the college in 1894. He was a frequent guest preacher and served as a bishop in the Methodist Church beginning in 1910. For the next ten years, the church continued to grow. By 1904, membership was at 640. The church board conducted the business of the church with monthly meetings in the office of W. Duke, Sons & Co. until Washington Duke became too ill to attend. Duke had been instrumental in the visioning and planning for the new church and had remained thoroughly involved until his death in 1905. In many instances when church debt became burdensome, Washington Duke would write a personal check to liquidate the debt rather than have the congregation solicited.〔 The Main Street congregation began a good library for the use of its members. J.P Breedlove, the Trinity College librarian, helped select and purchase books of all kinds with funds from sympathetic members. A room in the back of the church was outfitted with bookshelves, but soon there was not enough room. As the congregation ran out of space for its books, so too did it run out of space for its members. As Durham’s population rose, church and Sunday school attendance followed. Sunday school classes were overcrowded and the sanctuary could not fit all attendees comfortably. It soon became clear that the Main Street Church building, after only twenty years of service, was no longer able to accommodate its growing congregation. The building was purchased by the Durham Christian Church in 1906. The sanctuary was demolished in 1967, but part of a Sunday school building was maintained for some years as an office building. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Duke Memorial United Methodist Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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