First Congregational Church of Austin

{{short description|Historic church in Illinois, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = First Congregational Church of Austin

| image = First Congregational Church of Austin, 5701 West Midway Park, Chicago (Cook County, Illinois).jpg

| caption = Photo of the church from the Historic American Buildings Survey (the statue was not part of the original design by Drummond)

| location = 5701 W. Midway Place
Chicago, Illinois
USA

| coordinates = {{coord|41|53|19|N|87|46|5|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Chicago#Illinois#USA

| built = 1908

| architect = William Eugene Drummond

| added = November 17, 1977

| area = {{convert|1|acre}}

| refnum = 77000474{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

First Congregational Church of Austin, also known as Greater Holy Temple of God in Christ, is a historic church at 5701 West Midway Place in Chicago, Illinois. The church was built in 1905 for a Congregational assembly; it was later used by Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, and Church of God in Christ congregations. A Chicago building permit was issued on August 15, 1905 according to the Chicago Tribune of August 16, 1905. Architect William Eugene Drummond, a student of Louis Sullivan and a sometime employee of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the church in the Prairie School style; it is an unusual example of a Prairie School church and influenced Wright's Unity Temple which was designed after the original church burned on June 4, 1905.

The one-story building consists of a tall central section with massive piers and a smaller section to either side. The entrance is recessed in the base of the central section; the doorway features lintels and posts that continue the building's rectilinear emphasis. Leaded glass windows are recessed in the spaces between the central section's piers.{{cite web|last1=Beilke|first1=George M.|last2=Sprague|first2=Paul E.|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: First Congregational Church of Austin|url=http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/200703.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415221011/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/200703.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 15, 2016|publisher=Illinois Historic Preservation Agency|access-date=April 3, 2016|date=June 1, 1976}}

The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 17, 1977.