We all get different things from religion. Rarely is it an appreciation for history and architecture, even though the places we gather tend to offer a wealth of both. Come with us as we take an inside look at what makes five of the city’s oldest houses of worship each one-of-a-kind.

Buffalo Presbyterian Church

Built: 1827 Architecture: American Colonial

Established in 1756, Buffalo Presbyterian Church was one of the area’s first churches. Likewise, its current sanctuary, built in 1827,  is one of the oldest — if not the oldest — local religious structures. 

“It’s really a shame we can’t keep any older documents here,” says church historian Brandt Bechtold of the many church records that have been lost to history, “but we’d need to have a climate-controlled environment to preserve them.”

What remains are mysteries. A brick on the building’s right side, for instance, has a paw print in it. Why did the builder — Jacob Albright, a farmer and church member — leave it facing out? Inside, a 1920 renovation concealed a balcony that hosted slaves for worship. Bechtold says one church employee believes the railing is hidden within the wall, but no known photographs of the place before 1920 exist. 
Perhaps the most intriguing questions linger in the cemetery, where gravesites date back to the 1700s. 

Why are there no visible graves in the northwest corner? Bechtold says one theory is that slaves were buried there, and their gravestones have simply vanished over time. 

Even clearly marked graves have questions. Albright’s grave, for instance, lies under an extension to the church added in 1956. His gravestone is now literally part of a wall. Why did the church build atop it? All Bechtold can do is wonder with the rest of us.

West Market Street United Methodist Church

Built: 1893 Architecture: Romanesque Revival

The designers and decision-makers who helped build West Market Street United Methodist Church in 1893 had great expectations. At a time when Greensboro’s population hovered around 3,500, the new church had a flexible design that could hold 2,000. 

The interior of West Market Street follows the Akron Plan, a layout that features a large open space surrounded by smaller classrooms on one or two levels. The classrooms open onto the rotunda via folding or pocket doors, creating one gathering space. 

“When this church was renovated in 1957, they removed a lot of the pocket doors around the periphery,” says Scott Nowland, West Market Street’s pastor of administration. “The way the church was modified made it extremely rigid and not very user-friendly.” Thankfully, the 75 original stained-glass windows — purchased by church members at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair — were left mostly alone. 

An extensive renovation from 1998 to 2001 put almost everything back to the way it was, with elegant glass and wood pocket doors again skirting the perimeter of the sanctuary space. The pews — all original because, says Nowland, their curved and sloped design was too difficult to replace — were stripped of paint to let the natural wood grain shine through. 

Now the stained-glass windows cast a glow on a sanctuary that looks much like the original, again giving the congregation plenty of room to grow. stions. Albright’s grave, for instance, lies under an extension to the church added in 1956. His gravestone is now literally part of a wall in that extension. Why did the church choose to build atop it? 

All Bechtold can do is shrug his shoulders and wonder with the rest of us.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

Built: 1922 Architecture: Neo-Gothic

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church is a good neighbor for Fisher Park. Not only do the low and graceful lines of its buildings match the feel of the neighborhood, but the church also renovated three homes on the block to use for a music school, bookstore, and meeting space. 

The original chapel — built in 1922 to accommodate about 80 people — is at the center of what is now a U-shaped complex. Holy Trinity completed a larger chapel — which seats about 450 — in 1951, and nine years later it added an education building. All are connected by a rustic slate roof.  “I just love the intimate feel of the church itself,” says the Reverend Timothy J. Patterson, who has been with Holy Trinity since 1989. 

The mood inside both chapels is set by the numerous intricate woodcarvings that appear throughout, from the railing to the pulpit to the symbols on the sides of the pews. The original chapel features a painstakingly detailed carving of The Last Supper, which took 1,600 hours to complete. 

Many of the carvings were done by Sidney Small Paine, a church member in the 1940s and ’50s who taught himself the craft and became so good at it that he eventually taught woodworking classes at the church. Naturally, the carvings that Paine didn’t do were completed by one of his devoted students — defining the act of tithing one’s talents. 

Temple Emanuel

Built: 1925 Architecture: Neo-Gothic

Temple Emanuel was the first of three Greensboro churches designed by architect Hobart Upjohn, who also did First Presbyterian Church and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Of the three, the temple is the most humble. 

Except for the Star of David above the portico — which is whitewashed against a white background — the Neo-Gothic building shows no sign of it being a Jewish temple. Brenda Henley, director of congregational services, says that may reflect the low-key attitude of the congregation at the turn of the century. The leadership at that time, she says, didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, preferring to blend with the culture around them. 

Still, there is no mistaking the simple elegance of the building. The design eschews stained glass for grand windows fitted with panes of wavy hand-blown glass, which fill the worship hall with soft, filtered sunlight. Upjohn’s design also included a recreation hall, where a line in the flooring shows that the room was expanded to include an elevated stage. 

Emotional ties to the building are strong. When the Temple relocated to Jefferson Road in 2002, several members formed a corporation to buy the old temple. They now rent it back to Temple Emanuel for a nominal fee on the condition that the first Friday service of every month is held there.

Temple Emanuel’s new facility may be larger and more ornate than its old temple downtown, but history and warm memories keep the latter alive.

First Presbyterian Church

Built: 1929 Architecture: Fortress Gothic

First Presbyterian Church is a virtual labyrinth of six buildings of varying ages gathered at the edge of picturesque Fisher Park. 

But the oldest — and the one most closely associated with the church — 
is the massive sanctuary at the corner of North Greene Street and Fisher Park Circle. 

Its majesty is even more remarkable given the social and economic climate during which it was built. The sanctuary was dedicated on October 6, 1929, on the eve of the country’s Great Depression. 

“I imagine people were able to come here and see this place as a symbol of hope,” says the Reverend Dolly Hunt, associate pastor for discipleship at First Presbyterian. “They could 
see there were still beautiful things in the world.”

Then, like now, the cavernous sanctuary is awe-inspiring. Visitors and regulars tend to look up when they get inside. The 85-foot ceilings feature intricate hand-stenciled designs. Hand-carved angels serve as brackets at the ends of the trusses and appear to hold the 12 chandeliers that represent the 12 apostles. 

Subtler design cues include a stained-glass window facing Temple Emanuel across Greene Street. Its design includes a Star of David, likely a nod to the temple. 

“I’ve been here for five-and-a-half years,” Hunt notes, “and every time at worship I notice something new.”