At Fort Street Church, Detroit—A Strategic Center

Chapter 7, 1869-1876

In Binghamton, Mr. Pierson learned from practical experience the value of the Word of God as a shield against doubt and as an arsenal from which to draw his spiritual weapons. In Waterford his horizon was broadened to include the world in his vision and his field of service. In Detroit he was to discover more effective methods of reaching men as individuals and in the mass.

The Fort Street Church to which he was called worshipped in a beautiful stone Gothic structure considered one of the “sights” of Detroit. It had been organized in 1849, and the building was completed in 1855. Here Mr. Pierson found a congregation that had recently passed through some trying experiences and needed to be built up in numbers and in spiritual life. Of the two hundred and thirty-eight members on the roll many had drifted away and there were only eighty-two pew holders in a church accommodating eight hundred people.

The field presented some difficulties, but there was an inspiring opportunity for hard, faithful work, and the cordial, united welcome of the people gave promise of abiding and far-reaching results. The new pastor’s first Sunday in the pulpit put his self-possession to a severe test and might have awakened forebodings in anyone of a superstitious temperament. Just as the