Sunday, November 26, 2006

First Congregational Church of Dundee

Nine people gathered in a small schoolhouse 165 years ago in Dundee, Illinois to worship. They formed the First Congregational Church, which eventually grew into a large brick building on Main Street complete with two sets of cathedral-style windows, provided by the financial assistance of several families in the congregation.

Last spring, the church decided it needed to build a new facility and began construction on Illinois Route 31. Now nearing completion, the structure combines modern design with traditional touches; the cathedral windows made the move from the old building to the new structure and a new copper-plated steeple is a reminder of what many of the other century-old church steeples in Dundee and Elgin looked like when they were new.

These photos were taken about a half hour after sunset last evening. The frenzy of activity from day-after-Thanksgiving shopping had subsided, the smell of burning leaves hung thickly in the air. This is one solution to finding photographic subjects in the in-between days of late autumn and early winter – find an interesting building at an interesting time of day.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photographs © 2006 James Jordan.

4 comments:

Dave said...

This would make a nice Christmas card. Whats the position regarding your copyright. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

The lighting is beautiful and it is a really gorgeous church. V. Schroeder

Anonymous said...

The new website for this church is fccdundee.com.

Stop by and say hi!

Anonymous said...

Hi, all,

I'm actually the Senior Pastor at First Congregational Church of Dundee. What an incredible picture - stop in any time for a tour.

Peace,

Aaron James