Category: Thursday’s Doors

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

At the beginning of the month I met two friends in Phoenix, AZ for a long week-end to photograph Sedona and a little bit of South Rim Grand Canyon.  I was the first to arrive but, my friends weren’t due in for 3+ hours. So, with a lot of time on my hands I picked up the rental car then headed toward downtown and some lunch.

I got lucky and found a Subway and Starbucks right next door to each other so headed there. After lunch I thought I’d go deeper into downtown and see if I spotted anything interesting.

Well, I didn’t get all the way into town when these doors caught my eye.

I made a right turn then circled around the block looking for a place to park.  I found parking in the church parking lot.

A woman who worked at the church came out and I asked for permission to photograph the doors, and she said, “sure!”. Then let me know it was also a school which was in session so don’t go in the classrooms.  No worries there! I assured her. I wasn’t interested in that or the kids just the doors. 🙂

The inner courtyard is lovely.

and there’s a large grassy area. That’s a classroom wing.

looking at the Bell Tower from the courtyard,

It was about this time that a man came walking thorough the courtyard with his lunch and asked what I was doing, so as I was I telling him all about Thursday Doors, and my quest for doors another woman came out of the office so, he introduced me and told her what I was doing. I gave them both my “calling card”, and invited them to look me up on the blog and see what I photograph and look at other Thursday Door posts.  The woman asked me if I wanted to see the inside of the Chapel?  She didn’t need to ask me twice!

The Pulpit, Organ pipes, and Stained Glass Window,

What the Reverend sees, well mostly 🙂

the inside of the front doors,

In the hall near the door is a stone plaque from the original church building.

FOR THE HISTORY BUFFS:

“After the 1870 Los Angeles Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, a lone circuit rider headed east across the hot and barren Mohave Desert, then into the Sonoran Desert … his destination, the few isolated settlements that dotted the vast Arizona Territory.

One hundred and forty three years later we look back with gratitude for the courage, vision, and faith of that lonely rider, Alexander Groves, and the small but hardy group of men and women who welcomed him to their humble community on the banks of the Salt River in the middle of the desert. That fledgling group began gathering regularly for worship under the spiritual leadership of Rev. Groves, and was the inception of what we now know as Central United Methodist Church.” ~www.centralumc.com/history

In the beginning they gathered for worship on the banks of the Salt River under a grove of Mesquite trees. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

They moved to the County Courtroom in the Hancock Monihon Building where the first public school classes were being held. Later when the Adobe School house was built the congregation met there.

Construction on Central United Methodist Church’s first permanent home, a 28 X 32 foot adobe structure was completed in 1872.

By 1904 they had grown so much that they moved into its second permanent structure; a brick building. In 1909 the first pipe organ was installed.

They continued to grow so erected a more spacious white columned building in 1926. In 1946 the congregation purchased 4 1/2 acres on the outskirts of Phoenix at Central and Palms Lanes for $44,900. The present Mission Style structure was dedicated in 1950. ~http://www.centralumc.com/history/

I walked across the street to make an image of the whole front of the Church,

There’s an electric train that runs up and down Central so there are wires all the way across the view. I used artistic license and cloned them out.

Here are some other doors, and a window gleaned from my walk around the church,

They were so nice to let me inside to see their beautiful chapel, and allow me to wander around the grounds.

Before I knew it it was time to return to the airport to pick up my friends.

O/T: Today is Thanksgiving here in the United States, and I like to wish all my blogging friends in the States a very Happy Thanksgiving!

To all of you in other places around the globe I wish you a wonderful day, and wish everyone a wonderful week-end.

I’m very thankful for you all. You lift me up, and inspire me daily. Thank you!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 17-35mm| Turkey image made in 2011 in Amador County

This post is part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors.  If you love doors and would like to see the doors others are posting, or post doors you’ve photographed and join other door lovers from around the world click here.

At the end of Norm’s latest Thursday Door post is a little Blue Link-up/View button click it to be taken to a page with all the links to view all the posts, and add your own if you’re a door enthusiast too.

More to come…