Wesley United Methodist Church

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The church was built! The new church cost $150,000 and was free of debt at the time of its dedication.  The architect was Warren Howard Hayes (1847-1899).  Wesley was the largest sanctuary he designed and has the typical Hayes features including tall towers, red stone exterior, and sanctuary stairway from the balcony to the main floor. 

The Romanesque exterior was built of pink granite from St. Cloud, along with Luverne jasper with brownstone trim from near Lake Superior, Wisconsin.  The height of the original tower was 137 feet, the tallest in the city at the time.

The Methodists of the time wanted to differentiate their building from those of the Roman Catholics and Lutherans. The building boasts a huge auditorium with an immense circular domed light in the ceiling.  There are skylights and 32 stained glass windows in the auditorium. The stained glass windows are Tiffany style (made by the Tiffany company) without the usual religious drawings, but not devoid of Christian symbols. The interior of the auditorium is a modified Akron design—named for a church design first introduced in Akron, Ohio—with curved pews and a thrust stage in the corner. Interior walls are decorated with oak, maple, and cherry wood. The original stage was pulpit centric, because it was felt the teaching of The Word was central to the faith.  This was later modified to an altar centric arrangement with the pulpit moved slightly to the side (as seen in the picture). Behind the stage is the facade for the pipe organ. The auditorium was the first in the city to be heated by forced air.

The classrooms surrounded a large hall adjacent to the auditorium. The hall was named Lillibridge Hall in recognition of H. F. Lillibridge's contributions to the construction of the new building.  The hall and auditorium are connected by huge counter-balanced cherry-wood doors that open to connect the two rooms.  Just before the turn of the century, a German architect visited the church and said it was the finest church auditorium in the West. (See the Wesley Photo Album). The auditorium seats 1,000 - 1,200 people, and with the doors to Lillibrigde Hall open, can seat close to 2,000 people.

The original organ had a tracker action and was installed in 1891.  The large facade of pipes of the present instrument was part of that first organ.  A new electro-pneumatic tracker organ was built by the Estey Company in 1922.  It was the first use of electricity to control the air and action of the pipes in the United State. The organ was rebuilt in 1969 and again in 1981 and retains much of the 1922 organ (refer to the History of the Wesley Pipe Organ).

Because of a time limit on the service of a pastor in the Methodist Church, the early years of the Little White Church, Centenary, and Wesley saw many pastors.  This limit was later removed. 

The Wesley congregation has always been a congregation to stand up for justice for all people.  Centenary was the first Methodist churches to send a woman to the General Conference or the Methodist Church.  In 1888, Mary C. Nind was elected to the General Conference by the Minnesota Conference, along with Francis Willard of Illinois and three other women.  After a ruling by the bishops that only men were eligible for election, all five were refused their seats.  Wesley has many notable firsts in its history, including being the first Reconciling Congregation in Minnesota.

Wesley was the first church to have a horse as an envelope-holding participant.   Marion Savage, along with the famous race horse, Dan Patch, were members at Wesley (read the Dan Patch Story).

In July and August, 1908, Wesley was refurbished and renewed.  Although Wesley had been built only 17 years before, electricity was very new to the city. When the wiring was uncovered by removal of flooring, it was found in such condition that both the city inspector and the insurance inspector condemned it.  The wiring was replaced and major redecorating, including complete replacement of the plumbing, was completed.  One of the greatest improvements was the new carpet for the auditorium and the Sunday School rooms. A committee of women had the task of selecting and buying 1,400 yards of Wilton velvet carpet, of best quality and a beautiful pattern, harmonizing with the pews and church fittings.

Dr. Frank Lee Roberts came in 1922 and served until 1928.  He had spirituality and magnetism, and drew large crowds into the church to hear his message.  He took many new, active members into the church during his pastorate.  He had the vision of beautifying the locality and making Wesley a great religious center, with a temple as its central force—a mission of Christ. 

Dr. George Mecklenburg came to Wesley in 1928 and remained until 1949. Many of our older members remember Dr. Mecklenburg and under his leadership Wesley grew to meet Dr. Roberts vision.  During his first seven years at Wesley, the congregation grew from 600 to 2, 500 members.  His Sunday evening congregation was the largest of any kind in the country.  Not infrequently he would have to repeat his sermons on Monday night for those who could not get in on Sunday.

During his early ministry, Wesley Church built the Wesley Temple Office Building, which was planned by Rev. Roberts.  The Wesley Temple was the first skyscraper church building west of Chicago.  During this time, Wesley Church broadcast its services on WTCN, located on the top floor of the Temple building.  Dr. Mecklenburg also gave time and energy to cleaning up the city politics. He made investigations into alleged vice conditions, and checked on the activities of public officials, appearing numerous times before Grand Juries.  Dr. Mecklenburg was also a world traveler, having crossed the Atlantic 33 times.  However, because of his vocal position on politics he was refused entry into Germany in 1939.

On two occasions, bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church were ordained at Wesley's altar.   Once in 1912 during the General Conference held at Wesley, and in 1944 when Wesley hosted the North Central Jurisdictional Conference.

In 1949 Wesley Church lost part of the facing on the tower.  It was ripped away in a wind storm that hit Minneapolis about the first week of October.  The church found the repair of the tower too expensive, so the upper part of the tower was removed and a cross was installed.

The Wesley congregation celebrated their 100th Anniversary on June 2, 1952, at the Nicollet Hotel.  The celebration centered the city's attention on Wesley's record of service and leadership in downtown Minneapolis. 

In 1956, the chancel area was remodeled, transforming Wesley from a pulpit-centric into an altar-centric chancel.  The choir loft was lowered and split into two sections, and a dossal curtain structure was added.

In 1968, the Methodist Episcopal Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethern Church to form the United Methodist Church. The official name of Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church was changed to Wesley United Methodist Church.

In 1985, Wesley Church was placed on the National Registry.  A popular legend tells the story that the church was saved from the wrecking ball by only one or two weeks, to make way for the Minneapolis Convention Center.  While this makes for a great story, it is not true.  In 1985, the plans for the Convention Center had not yet been started by the architect, and the architect was well aware of the effort to list Wesley on the National Registry, since one of the executives of the company was instrumental in helping Wesley obtain historic status. It is interesting that the Convention Center is built with pink granite from the same St. Cloud quarry, and that the architects seemed to mirror Wesley's domed ceiling in their auditoriums.

In the 1980s, Wesley started a restoration campaign.  Today, many of the windows have been releaded, cleaned, and restored.  The mechanical works of the church have been repaired or replaced.  In 1999 the sanctuary, and Lillibridge Hall were restored to their original beauty.  The summer of 1999 will see a new roof on this old building.

Wesley's history continues.  It is a church for today, with a legacy of leadership and justice for all people.  In 2002, Wesley will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the congregation--a congregation that started in 1852 on the west side of the river.

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