Idlewild Presbyterian Church

Idlewild was one of the few Memphis churches to hold racially integrated worship services during the civil rights era, and after King's assassination it helped found the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, which now serves about 50,000 people a year in West Tennessee. It ordained its first women deacons in 1968 and had a female associate minister by 1974. Its bell tower was finished in 1999, and the bells together weigh nearly 27,000 pounds. The Gothic Revival sanctuary resembles nearby Rhodes College, and during the pandemic the church served as a mobile food bank site for families in need.

What the plaque says

Idlewild Presbyterian Church A series of prayer meetings organized by James S. Davant in 1890 resulted in a Presbyterian Church organized in the suburb of Idlewild. From Peabody Avenue the congregation moved to the southwest corner of Union Avenue and McLean Boulevard, then in 1926 to the present building, known as "the South's Cathedral of Presbyterianism" and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Clergy and members of the church have been leaders in the denomination, the neighborhood, and the wider community, including the founding of the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association. Architect George Awsumb designed the Gothic Revival sanctuary, including stone figures on the tower representing workers for God, wood carvings in the sanctuary representing figure of the Protestant Reformation, and various Christian symbols in the windows. A 1960s addition including education and recreation facilities was designed by his sons, Wells and Richard Awsumb. The Trippeer Chapel, consecrated in 1961, features modern faceted stained glass. The carillon of 48 bells was added in 1982.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Elmwood Cemetery — 1.7 mi
  Memphis's oldest active cemetery, a rural garden cemetery of about 1,500 trees opened in 1852, with Black civic leaders, yellow fever victims and the city's whole history in its lots.
• Sun Studio — 1.9 mi
  The small Union Avenue room where Sam Phillips recorded Rocket 88, Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley and the Million Dollar Quartet, now a National Historic Landmark.
• Stax Museum of American Soul Music — 2.1 mi
  A rebuilt Stax studio on the site of the old Capitol Theatre, with a replica of the sloped-floor Studio A, Isaac Hayes's Cadillac and the story of an integrated soul label.
• Beale Street — 2.7 mi
  The street that became the center of Black Memphis after the Civil War, home to Church's Park, W. C. Handy, Ida B. Wells and the blues, now a National Historic Landmark district.

More markers nearby

• St. John's United Methodist Church — 1.0 mi
• Pigeon Roost Road — 1.3 mi
• Rhodes College — 1.3 mi
• Russwood Park — 1.5 mi