FAITH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

FAITH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. Philip Miller, possibly the first evangelist in Dubuque, came to the city in 1855. Other ministers visited the city, and at a revival meeting held in 1859 at a schoolhouse near EAGLE POINT many conversions were reported. This meeting began regular Sunday services in the school.

A small frame church was built, and prayer meetings were moved from private homes to the church in 1864. Five years later the church was moved from an alley to the street front and remodeled into a two-story building. A parsonage was built the same year facing 17th Street.

The need for space led the congregation in 1873 to build a brick church. The frame church was moved several blocks and used for services while the new church was being constructed. The cornerstone of "The Zions Church of the German Evangelical Association" was laid on August 17, 1873.

On December 14, 1873, the brick church, sixty by forty feet with a tower and spire ninety feet high, was dedicated. A parsonage with four rooms was created in the east end of the basement. The opposite end was used for prayer meetings and Sunday School. In 1891 a separate parsonage was built at the rear of the church. The buildings were made adjoining to save expense.

First Evangelical Church

In 1923 the congregation voted to relocate and build a new church on the corner of 25th and Jackson STREETS with a separate parsonage. The new church was incorporated as First Evangelical Church on May 19, 1923. The building was dedicated on December 16, 1923. The cost of the church and parsonage was approximately $42,000.

Between 1923 and 1941, the church was a mission church that received annual financial help from the conference. In 1953 the church became self-supporting.

In 1946 with the merger of the former Evangelical and United Brethren in Christ denominations the church was renamed First Evangelical United Brethren Church. (1) In 1968 a second merger was carried out with the Methodist denomination. This created Faith United Methodist Church.

Instead of celebrating its 150th birthday in 2006, Faith United Methodist Church shut its doors for good at 25th and Jackson. The congregation of thirty to forty active members most of whom were in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, could not keep their church alive.

Church records were entrusted to ST. LUKE'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, but Faith's members were free to choose their new church homes. The church and parsonage were sold, and worship artifacts were given away to other churches or to members' families. Proceeds from the sales helped fund the Global Goods fair-trade store next to St. Luke's. Kingdom Ministries, led by the Rev. Cecilia Lott, moved into the former Faith church building.

The 1987 through 1993 Dubuque City Directory listed 2501 Jackson.

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Source:

1. "Church Merger Changes Name of Local Body," Telegraph-Herald, January 5, 1947, p. 13

Nevans-Pederson, Mary. "Deconstructing a Church," Telegraph Herald, November 29, 2009