2ND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
1936 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60616
PERFORMANCE TIME: 7:30PM
The American Chamber Opera Company performed La Boheme at the 2nd Presbyterian Church in Chicago on January 6th, 2012.
The community at Second Church is deeply rooted in faith and tradition. In the reading of Scripture, recitations of the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed, the singing of familiar songs, and partaking of communion, we express our fellowship with millions of others.
“Our roots give us the strength to live and grow surrounded by a community dedicated to living within God’s purposes and working out our callings. Second Church recognizes the common and diverse challenges that people face and seeks to provide a base of support, encouragement, and exploration for all. Second Church takes pleasure in helping the South Loop reinvigorate itself. We share a vision of neighborhood growth. But our vision extends further than rebar and concrete. We want people to enjoy wholeness and see the fullness of God’s glory. We invite you to share in the beauty of worship and the enrichment of helping others.Sunday morning has famously been called the most segregated hour in America. This is NOT true at Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago, where people of different colors, cultures, and classes gather to worship and serve. At Second Church, we live out the promise of Christ’s kingdom and the best impulses of our country, practicing the hope of a fair and just society. All truly find a welcome in our multicultural community, and all are more whole because of the experience. Diversity is one of Second Church’s greatest treasures.”
The Gothic Revival building that currently houses Second Presbyterian Church was designed by architect James Renwick and completed in 1874. Renwick is famous for his Gothic architecture and was the designer of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and the Smithsonian Castle in Washington D.C. He had also designed the original building for Second Presbyterian Church, known as the Spotted Church, that stood at the northeast corner of Washington and Wabash Streets in Chicago until it was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. After a fire destroyed the roof and much of the nave of the current church in 1900, it was rebuilt by architect and life-long church member Howard Van Doren Shaw. Shaw collaborated with his friend Frederic Clay Bartlett, a muralist, for the project. Influenced by the English and American Arts and Crafts movement, Shaw and Bartlett gave the church the beautiful design and decoration that it has today.
The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 1977, the City Council of Chicago designated it a Chicago Landmark. Among the artistic works at Second Presbyterian Church are more than twenty stained glass windows by artists such as Louis C. Tiffany, Healy and Millet, William Fair Kline, and Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Second is also fortunate to possess a hand-carved limestone baptismal font, fashioned in Florence, Italy (donated in the 1880s and pictured above), and a bronze Celtic cross, made on the island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland (given in 1957). There are over 175 representations of angels in the church, 13 Pre-Raphaelite murals by Bartlett, and myriad other visual treasures that make Second Presbyterian Church a place of truly remarkable beauty.
1936 S. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
312-225-4951