City Methodist Church Ruins - Gary, Indiana

[slworking2]

Enjoy exploring this place while you can. Rumor has is that the new mayor of Gary wants to secure this and other abandoned buildings.

[harwoodtv]

What a structure!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome



[awsomemommy71]

My aunt (friend of family) got married here yrs agi......I was 8 I believe.

[1electrongreen]

this is so sad, what a waste of history

[jadedheart30]

what ahppened here

[slworking2]

@jadedheart30 High unemployment. The church's congregation could no longer afford to maintain the place, pay the electric bill, etc. Taking care of a massive building like this cost a LOT of money.

[slworking2]

Awesome vid. I'm heading back to Gary for another photo/video shoot in late June.

[williamnolencom]

@slworking2 - How easy is it to get in the church? I am planning coming up there this weekend. Thanks for your reply!!!

[slworking2]

@williamnolencom The church is wide open.  There's a chain link fence around some of it, but the fence is knocked down in several places. Just stroll right in. :-)

[95civex]

WHITE FLIGHT!

[styrdonyi]

i love taking pictures here!

[nonsenseman1]

I am a pastor who has a colleague who was a member of this church. My current church seems to be heading toward this same end because, the congregation seems to feel that the building more than its mission to show Christ's love in the world. It's not the economy...it's that we (and frankly, lots of other churches of all denominations) have lost our way. The worst part - for me - is that in this broken world, there are so many that need what a faithful (to the gospel) church has to offer.

[linzie78]

Heartbreaking. This reminds me of a Methodist church I attended once many years ago. I'd hate to think it could end up with a similiar fate, but I'm amazed, especially n these economic times that I don't see more of this.

[muta157]

I pulled off the freeway into Gary once, but I saw a lot of unfriendly faces. People gave me dirty looks and I didn't feel safe at all. You don't think it was because they are racist do you?

[laddy819]

@muta157 I'm black and I'm sure because I'm a stranger, I'd get the same dirty looks. If people are on drugs or just outright EVIL you get bad treatment no matter what your race/color.

[mizzjrose12]

@muta157 thats pretty sad.my mom has been there once a long long time ago and she told me the same thing

[laddy819]

I'm from Columbus, OH and am so obsessed with this church that I had to stop by and tour it on my way to Chicago on Labor Day weekend. When I arrived there I was amazed by the number of sight seers I found in there taking pictures. There was even a photo shoot going on in the sanctuary with these scantily clad ladies.

On my way back to Ohio I stopped in there for a 2nd time to take pics with my cell phone camera. I'm surprised more pics of the basement haven't been taken.

[Jacobus180670]

am a stranger to both the USA and Indiana, but I really enjoyed watching this. It's good to see other people from far away places with interests similar to your own :D

[perkypr]

You can find a great music video shot there two years ago. Go to dwaynecolemanmusic .

It captures the church in such beauty.

[23kidmoney]

shidd i was in dis building but like 2 years after i was born they moved to grant street 

[LauraBeachnut]

@ValterraBlue72

"Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode ?

[slworking2]

Awesome slideshow. I just explored this place - and Gary, Indiana for that matter - for the first time just a few days ago.

[fastfoodclowns]

@slworking2 >is it safe to go into Gary these days? I'm Caucasian from Chicago, would I get mugged?

[slworking2]

@fastfoodclowns My friends and I (all Caucasian and g33ks - not bodybuilders) did just fine in Gary. Now we didn't explore the entire city - and there may still be some really bad neighborhoods that we didn't visit - but we felt safe the whole time. The locals we encountered were actually friendly people. I think all the talk of Gary being some major gang-infested hellhole is a bit overblown. There's lots of decay and poverty, but the locals were nice to us.

[8232135]

@fastfoodclowns no you are unlikely to get mugged but be careful, i go through gary all the time and even explore the ruins. I have seen some bad s tuff go down

[BoyScout1960]

Heartbreaking.

Looking at these pictures, I was reminded of a Methodist church I attended as a child, but which is still in use. What hurts is to think of the baptisms and weddings celebrated there, and the dead mourned at their funerals.

And now the people are gone and the Gary church sits crumbling and forelorn. It is like something that has lost all hope.

[shariys1]

So sad ... but the music is perfect for this ...

[stonerumble]

america is too big for iself..this things happen when you think too BIG. all th emoney is spendt on war..

[metaloco]

Gary, IN is in its horrible state not because of war. In fact war would actually be good for them, because then they would have to produce more steel (more steel = more jobs = more residents = occupied building). its because U.S. Steel was the only source for jobs for Gary, but now because of foreign competition U.S. Steel has laid off so many people and is a shadow of it's former self . )no jobs = small population = empty buildings). the real problem is lack of foresight from the city of Gary

[1Maniatis]

I was born and raised in Gary, and have a good memory of the Methodist Church and other beautiful buildings throughout the city. The Methodist Church is a small example of an entire city that has been ruined.

[junkdeal]

In about 1992, on a bitter winter day, I took welding cylinders (for compressed air) and an air chisel into the corridor behind the cornerstone on the outside, and tried to blast my way into the cavity for the tin box hidden inside. That wall was 4 feet thick! At the same time, other junkers were working in another part of the church, and the fire they had for heat drew the fire department, and that ended the party. I just never went back. Go there now, and you could see the hole I was making!

[patagiarius]

Oh dear. America is a rich country. But this city and also many other in the US look like in a Third World country or some shabby cities in former communist countries of Eastern Europe looked twenty years ago.

[EmpressOfWyoming58]

You're looking at America turning into a second world country.

[EmpressOfWyoming58]

Most Americans are not rich. Not all of America's cities are like this. And not all big city neighborhoods are like that

[roguefullyyours]

It'd be nice to restore it and make a homeout of it!

[EclipseProductions89]

@roguefullyyours good luck living in gary

[hunkapi]

in this building was also the home of the Gary Community Players. i was part of it, it was community theater. we did plays and musicals there. i was in Oliver and others....sad to see it sit like this...

[Djsonofthedevil666]

i have heard of ice being in the basement.

In the middle of may!

also my roomate swore he saw a hand sticking out of the ice.

[EclipseProductions89]

@Djsonofthedevil666 ive seen the ice

[methodistgirl]

What a beautiful church in ruins like

that.  I almost cried when I watched

this video. I'm a Methodist myself.

methodistgirl

[Kawaiineko997]

OMG! I live in Indiana... I had know idea that was there. =/ I find it a little depressing that it's in ruins!

[ryanbaxterphotograph]

This a photographers dream location....wow..it is amazing inside.

[awelliott]

That's not quite true. The church reached out to blacks and some blacks did attend there. However, as white families fled Gary, the overall population of the church dropped to the point where they couldn't maintain the building. They were unable to find a seller, so they closed the building in late 1975...

[Choirgurly]

I was blessed to attend this church in my childhood where I enjoyed the most wonderful and memorable times of my life. More importantly though, the church was annointed with God's Holy Spirt and is the reason why myself and so many others can be proud to say we are Christians today. Amen.

[camillesoleil]

choirgurly,

my family also attended city church in the 60's and 70's. we sang in the choir with dwight. who are you?

[AthensAnna]

AMEN! :)

[BenEFranks]

I never knew what that church looked like inside...wow

[stlgtrace]

Fascinating, thought-provoking and tragic.

[northvilletunnels]

Excellent Video