Located in the Main Quad, the Stanford Memorial Church is the physical heart of the campus, replete with stained glass windows, mosaics, and stone carvings. Also referred to informally as MemChu, the church was built during the American Renaissance by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband Leland. Together, Senator and Mrs. Stanford had built the University as a memorial to their son, Leland, Jr.

Designed by architect Charles A. Coolidge, a protégé of Henry Hobson Richardson, the church has been called the University's architectural crown jewel. It was one of the earliest, and is still among the most prominent, interdenominational churches in the West.