3748 East Forest Avenue
Your Theatre, Israel Baptist Church, Israel Missionary Baptist Church
Researching this former theatre has been more challenging than similar structures have been in the past. Typically, the primary struggle with theatre research is wading through thousands of newspaper adverts for showtimes to find any relevant information outside of what movie was playing. Because of the name chosen for this theatre, finding anything has been somewhat challenging.
According to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, the Your Theatre was there by 1915. I believe it may have been constructed a few years before that. The structure on the corner, which appears to have been semi-connected to the theatre, was built prior, as it was present in the 1910 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the area. That structure, which had Van Hoffman on the facade, was demolished in 2019 after it began falling in on itself. When it came down, a portion of the theatre’s structure came down, too. Initially, there was a small storefront on the backside of the theatre, between it and the two stores that have now been demolished.
The Cinema Treasures and Water Winder Wonderland websites indicate that the theatre opened in 1913 as the Florence Theatre and was renamed the Your Theatre in 1919. However, the 1915 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map calls the structure “Your Theatre,” so I’m unsure of its validity.
According to Opera House, Nickel Show, and Palace: An Illustrated Inventory of Theater Buildings in the Detroit Area by architecture historian Andrew Craig Morrison, the theatre opened on February 22, 1913, and was renamed the Your Theatre in 1914. His work also includes that it was enlarged in 1919 by Christian W. Brandt. Special thanks to John Lauter for sharing the section on this theatre from the book.
In August 1919, according to the Detroit Free Press, the structure was set for those upgrades, including a new lobby and entrance. The architect for the upgrades was Christian W. Brandt, who designed the Senate Theatre and numerous local homes, factories, etc., around Detroit. The Your Amusement Company owned the structure at that time. The renderings look nothing like how the structure looks today, so I can’t be sure that they happened, or at least on the scale originally planned.
According to early fire insurance maps, the theatre includes 1064-1070 East Forest Avenue, and the storefront attached was 1072 East Forest Avenue. After the citywide address change in 1921, these addresses would become 3716-3740 East Forest. However, today, the address for the church that now occupies the structure is 3748 East Forest. Confusing, right?
I believe that the theatre was in business until the early 1950s. It’s present on the 1949 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, but it was gone by 1956 when a church had moved in. I can’t be sure what year things changed.
Israel Baptist Church was incorporated in 1942; however, I believe the congregation dates back further than that. An article in the paper in 1958 said the church was celebrating its 34th anniversary that year, and there were plenty of mentions of a church with the same name in the Detroit Tribune before its incorporation. According to the newspaper article, the church may have been founded in 1924. At one time, the congregation was in a church at 3900 Riopelle Street at the corner of Leland, which, today, is smack dab in the middle of the Pepsi-Cola Facility.
Looking at more fire insurance maps, you can see that this area was a vibrant neighborhood before it was razed. The Israel Baptist Church appears to have met in a structure behind a storefront. The church is labeled ‘colored’ on the map. In 1921, Mt. Zion Baptist Church met there; however, it appears to have been a different structure.
Regardless of the prior history, Israel Baptist Church had relocated to the Your Theatre by 1956. The congregation had an extensive and prosperous Sunday School program, sometimes featured in the newspaper.
In 1957, the male chorus of the Israel Baptist Church took a trip to Niagara Falls. Many church members and friends of the congregation joined on the journey, and, according to the Detroit Tribune, “All reported to have enjoyed it very much.”
Samuel Spencer Jenkins was pastor of the church for decades, starting in 1942. Reverend Jenkins was born in Winnsboro, South Carolina, and came to Detroit in 1923. According to a Detroit Tribune article in 1958, much of the work done to the former theatre was completed by the pastor himself, including a neon sign that graced the exterior.
Reverend Jenkins was widowed and married another widow, Stella Goldsby-Jenkins. He retired from the church in April 1995, and he and his wife died on the same day in December 1995. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, and she was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Clinton Township.
I haven’t found much information on the church since Reverend Jenkins’ death. However, the church is still open and operational, and the structure, apart from the storefront on the Mt. Elliott side of the building, appears to be in solid shape.
The congregation was renamed Israel Missionary Baptist Church in 1999. Edward L. McCree, Jr., is the current pastor. Detroit doesn’t have many neighborhood theatres left, but most of those that remain are in the hands of churches that have been looking after them for decades. Hopefully, this one can anchor the neighborhood for another century.
