Notice of Public Meeting: Kalamazoo Public Library Board of Trustees | March 18th| 5 pm | Central Library/Board Room. The packet of information for the meeting can be found on the library’s website

Updates on the Alma Powell Branch Library can be found on kpl.gov/pow

Religion

African American Churches

List includes both active and inactive congregations Ministerial Alliance of Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1969 Allen Chapel A.M.E., founded in 1855 Bible Baptist Church, founded in 1968 First United Baptist Church, founded…

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Early Years Founded in 1855 by a handful of members, the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church is the oldest black church in Kalamazoo. Prior to 1855, members met for prayer meetings…

Cathedral of Christ the King

Popularly known as ‘The Castle’, the Diocese of Western Michigan Episcopal Church voted to build the imposing structure at its spring convention in 1965. The diocese’s goal was to locate…

Congregation of Moses Synagogue

431 E. South Street, Photo: Ryan Gage One of the oldest buildings along E. South Street to have escaped the bulldozer was the home of the synagogue of the Congregation…

First Baptist Church

The history of the Baptists in Kalamazoo begins in the spring of 1826 when the Reverend Leonard Slater preached many sermons in a spot that is today...

First Church of Christ, Scientist

The Christian Scientists in Kalamazoo trace their beginnings to 1896 when four people came together to learn more about this religion, which began in the United States in 1879. Two years later the group had expanded to fifty, legally organizing...

First Congregational Church

The Congregational form of faith is deeply rooted in the history of Kalamazoo. The steady influx of Easterners seeking opportunity in Michigan Territory brought many to the village of Bronson, which would become Kalamazoo, for whom...

First Methodist Church

The First United Methodist Church of Kalamazoo is the oldest congregation in the city. The church traces its origins to James T. Robe, a young Methodist circuit rider, who came to Kalamazoo in 1830 as part of a missionary effort known as the...

First Presbyterian Church

Records of the early First Presbyterian Church have been lost. What is known is that the church had its beginnings in 1834 when Titus Bronson, the founder of Kalamazoo, and his wife Sally began meeting with 12 other residents in a schoolhouse on...

First Reformed Church

Though not one of the oldest churches in the city, the story of the First Reformed Church in Kalamazoo reflects the development of Kalamazoo from a village to a city and the influence on the progress of that city and the church by Dutch immigrants...

Kalamazoo's First Church Building

In 1836 the thriving village of Bronson, which would become Kalamazoo, had nearly 1,000 inhabitants. The Michigan Statesman listed it as containing sixty frame buildings, six stores, three “public houses,” nearly 40 people in the building trades...

People's Church

The People's Church, affiliated with the Unitarian-Universalist Association, took root in Kalamazoo almost in spite of itself. In 1855, when missionary Rev. D. A. Russell rode in on horseback to conduct services in Fireman's Hall and the...

St. Augustine's

After Kalamazoo was organized and chartered in 1829, it took three years before the first Catholic mass was said in the home of Dennis Talbot, who was the first Catholic to settle in this region. He hardly settled in an area that tolerated...

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

St. Luke's Episcopal Church was formed the same year that President Andrew Jackson converted the Territory of Michigan into the State of Michigan, 1837. That was only eight years after...

Temple B'nai Israel

Kalamazoo’s Congregation B’nai Israel was officially organized by a group of twenty Jewish families in 1865. After acquiring land for a burial ground on property adjoining Mountain Home Cemetery, by-laws…

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