Lansing Central United Methodist Church: 136 Years Old

Another of Lansing’s historical landmarks is the Lansing Central United Methodist Church, located at 215 North Capitol Avenue in downtown Lansing.

In 1861, the congregation of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in North Lansing found a suitable corner lot which now is known as Ottawa and Washington. Their new offshoot church was completed in 1863 but soon couldn’t handle the ever-growing congregation.

A new, larger church was needed, so in 1882 they purchased another lot – this time on the corner of Ottawa and Capitol. H.W. Coddington of Kalamazoo was hired as architect, which was a wise choice: he also was architect for the Michigan State Capitol.

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Construction took another seven years just to get started, completing the church in 1890.

32 years later, a four-story temple house was added that included an auditorium, banquet hall, basketball court, bowling alley, dormitory, lounge, offices, recreation hall and teaching rooms.

In 1968 a name change was implemented - with only a minor change, the Lansing Central Methodist Episcopal Church became Lansing Central United Methodist Church.

This historic Lansing church has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980 as the Central Methodist Episcopal Church. Photos are below.