Immanuel United Church of Christ (Detroit, Mich.)

Church established by German immigrant workers to Detroit. The congregation was formerly associated with the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

Immanuel United Church of Christ (formerly Evangelical and Reformed) was founded in 1893 by German immigrant workers who came from present-day Poland to the new industrial area of southwestern Detroit, just north of Michigan Avenue near the border with Dearborn. A major proportion of the founding members had left the Lutheran Church in a dispute over belonging to non-church organizations (labor unions and the Masonic Lodge). From the beginning, the church maintained a parochial school to perpetuate the language and beliefs of its members.

The next generation of congregants, born in the United States, did not maintain as strong ties to their German roots. In 1925, the parochial school was discontinued. Almost three years later, the congregation adopted English for its main service and in its record keeping, although it continued to hold some services in German for thirty more years.

In late 1929, the congregation approved building an impressive new church complex, that included a sanctuary, parsonage, and wing for youth activities. Despite the Depression, the debt for construction was retired within fourteen years.

In 1955, the church reached its peak in adult communicants at 942. The following year, construction of Interstate-94 bisected its neighborhood and destroyed many of its parishoners' homes, resulting in the loss of congregants to the suburbs. A decline in membership followed, which proved irreversible despite attempts at revitalization. In 1958, the church discontinued all services in German.

Three years later, the church sponsored a major study in an attempt to reverse the decline, but membership continued to drop, partially as a response to the Detroit riot and subsequent court mandated cross-district school busing within the city. By the late 1970s, the church considered consolidating with three neighboring ethnically German congregations. The members of Immanuel voted against the merger, stating that "as long as we are able to hold our own, we wish to stay as we are, till we can no longer carry on" (text of membership petition).

When the Latino community began expanding north of Michigan Avenue, the church agreed to share its facilities with a Spanish Pentecostal group in an attempt to survive. In 1997, Immanuel Church sold its Detroit sanctuary and moved its remaining membership (about 150 people, many of whom are infirm) to a church in Dearborn. At this writing (1997), Immanuel is undecided about whether to merge with the Dearborn U.C.C congregation.