An 181-Year Beacon on Jefferson Avenue
Christ Church Detroit stands at 960 East Jefferson Avenue, just east of the Renaissance Center and a short walk from the Detroit RiverWalk. Founded in May 1845 on what is now the oldest continuously used Protestant religious site in the city, the parish has spent 181 years shaping, and being shaped by, downtown Detroit. A number of Detroit's founding families established the church, including Henry N. Walker, owner and editor of the Detroit Free Press, and banker Charles Christopher Trowbridge, whose descendants still worship here, along with names well known in Detroit history such as Sibley, Brush, and Campau. The parish describes itself as a beacon of hope in the heart of Detroit, a phrase that became the title of a published history and a recurring theme across ministries from a Sunday bag lunch program to refugee resettlement.
The mission of Christ Church is to be a diverse, inclusive community which, through its lively worship of Jesus Christ and witness in His name, serves the Christ in all persons and shines a beacon of hope throughout the heart of Detroit. Members describe the parish as a contemporary, open and affirming, multi-racial, multi-ethnic congregation that includes straight and LGBTQIA+ members, single, married, divorced, and remarried, with and without children. Some were born into the Episcopal Church, others were received as adults, and many are exploring Anglican Christianity for the first time. The congregation is a neighborhood parish for city residents and a destination church for those from surrounding areas and across the Canadian border.
A Stone Sanctuary from the Civil War Era
The current sanctuary is a stone example of Gothic Revival architecture, with diverse stained glass windows, golden ceilings, and a graceful center aisle. Its cornerstone was laid in 1861 under Rector Benjamin Paddock, and construction, including the bell tower, was completed in 1864. The main sanctuary seats 280 to 300, with capacity for more than 300 in concert configuration. It does not have air conditioning, a fact the parish notes when helping couples plan wedding dates.
Around the sanctuary, the campus grew with the needs of the neighborhood. Christ Church House on Woodbridge Street was built in 1884 and hosted community groups of every kind. Ledyard Hall followed in 1924 as a gymnasium; church lore holds that a young Joe Louis may have trained or taken violin lessons there, very possible since he lived nearby. Sibley House, adjacent on Jefferson Avenue, houses offices and meeting rooms. After a $100,000 grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places, one of only sixteen awarded nationwide, the parish is investing in long-term preservation of these historic buildings.
Sunday Mornings: Two Eucharists, One Welcome
Worship at Christ Church follows the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer and the lectionary. Each Sunday brings two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist: a spoken service at 8:15 a.m. and a larger Eucharist with full choir at 10:30 a.m. The 10:30 service is livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook for those unable to attend in person. From September through early June, the Christ Church Choir musically leads the 10:30 liturgy, with rehearsals beforehand at 9 a.m. During summer, the same hour features music without the full choir.
On the second Sunday of each month, healing prayer is offered at both services in a side chapel, where anyone may come forward for prayer in mind, body, or spirit. The worship itself is a team effort: acolytes young and old serve at the altar, lectors read scripture, lay eucharistic ministers lead the Prayers of the People and assist at communion, ushers guide visitors through the service, and greeters offer a welcoming presence at the doors. Following the 10:30 service, coffee hour in the atrium is a lively ritual for newcomers and longtime members alike.
A Choir at the Heart of Worship
About fifty singers and ringers take part in the Christ Church Choir, Handbell Choir, Youth Choir, and Beginner Bell Choir. Their repertoire ranges from classical and early music to spirituals and newly commissioned works, and they sing at roughly sixty worship services a year. The Choir rehearses Sundays from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and sings at services throughout the program year; participation is open by audition. The Handbell Choir rehearses most Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Youth Choir gathers Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and presents music several times each year, culminating in the Christmas Eve Pageant. A newly refurbished Children's Bell and a Beginner Bell Choir welcome children and adults new to music.
Christ Church is also the rehearsal and performance home for three city ensembles: the Community Chorus of Detroit, the Detroit Women's Chorus, and the Crossroads Project, a Detroit vocal ensemble that explores the connections between people and places. Director of Music Dr. Edward Maki-Schramm, who joined the staff in 2016, leads both the Christ Church music program and the Community Chorus of Detroit. A Steinway grand piano now sits in Ledyard Hall alongside two other instruments, opening the church's main concert space to a steady calendar of recitals, choruses, and candlelight concerts throughout the year.
Formation for Every Age
Christian formation takes place on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. during the program year. The nursery, staffed by young adult caregivers, is open year-round for infants through preschoolers and includes a display screen so families can follow the livestream. Godly Play, a Montessori-based curriculum that opened its dedicated room in January 2024, serves children ages 3 to 12 with storytelling, wonder, and a shared feast, inviting young children into sacred space at their own pace.
Older youth move through two signature programs. Rite 13 (ages 11 to 14) is a two-year journey that celebrates the transition from childhood to adulthood, with parallels to the Jewish bar and bat mitzvah. Journey to Adulthood, or J2A (ages 14 to 17), is a two-to-three-year program of Bible study, outreach, and mentorship that culminates in a spiritual pilgrimage, beginning with a local weekend trip and ending in a weeklong international journey. Children and youth are also invited into the Acolyte Program as crucifers, torch bearers, Gospel servers, and ribbon bearers, and they help lead a Family Service once each program year.
Adults have multiple entry points. Sunday morning Adult Bible Study meets at 9:30 a.m. for in-depth discussion of scripture. On Tuesdays at noon, the Preparing for Sunday group gathers in Cary Lounge to read and reflect on the upcoming lectionary. On Tuesdays at 1 p.m. on Zoom, Creation Continues is a virtual art fellowship that teaches a new watercolor exercise each week, no experience required. Festive traditions run through the year: Blessing of the Animals, Shrove Tuesday pancakes, palm crosses, the Easter lily procession, and the Easter Egg Hunt.
Centering Prayer and the Spiritual Life
A Centering Prayer group meets on Thursdays at 11 a.m., mostly on Zoom. The hour gathers for an opening, twenty minutes of shared silence, prayer, a brief reading, informal sharing, and a closing. Participants describe the practice as a way to slow down and sit quietly in God's presence, and the group also prays for the world, for personal needs, and for the written requests left in the Prayer Request Box in the atrium. The Prayer Shawl and Lap Robe Ministry knits and crochets shawls that are blessed and delivered by Lay Eucharistic Visitors to those who are ill or undergoing medical treatment.
The spiritual life also extends through pastoral care. Lay Healing Ministers are called and trained to pray with those seeking healing on second Sundays and at other times by request. Lay Eucharistic Visitors, specially trained and licensed by the diocese, take communion to those who are homebound. The parish keeps a prayer list of those who are ill or grieving, and the names are chanted aloud during the Prayers of the People on Sundays.
A Free Lunch Every Sunday
Each Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Christ Church offers a free bagged lunch through the Jefferson door. Sandwiches, fruit, snacks, and bottled water are distributed while supplies last; the program is one of only two or three meal programs open in Detroit on Sundays. Volunteers, including church members, neighbors, families, and students seeking service hours, shop for groceries, pack the bags, greet guests, and clean up. Many tasks are kid-friendly, and the kitchen is a natural place to meet new people while doing something tangible for the neighborhood.
The parish also organizes regular volunteer outings to Gleaners Food Bank and the Pope Francis Center, supports Crossroads of Michigan (a social service agency of the Episcopal Diocese) by collecting canned and boxed food for its pantry, and runs an annual Advent Diaper Drive. Each year Christ Church gathers as a parish to support one of these and other outreach priorities chosen by the Outreach Committee.
Thirty Years of Shelter Week and a Syrian Refugee Family
For more than thirty years, Christ Church has hosted one week of Cass Community Social Services' rotating shelter program. About forty homeless men and women are housed in the church, with nearly one hundred parishioners helping to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plan activities, and offer a measure of dignity and hope. The program has shifted with the pandemic and continues in whatever form Cass Community's leadership identifies as most helpful. On Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings, the parish also serves as a distribution site for the holiday Meals on Wheels program.
In 2016, the Outreach Committee partnered with the Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit, a Jewish congregation that meets in the church building, and with Samaritas, to sponsor a Syrian refugee family of five. Parishioners quickly furnished a home and provided daily support; three more relatives later joined the family. The arrangement, an Episcopal parish and a Jewish congregation together welcoming and housing a Muslim refugee family, brought the parish history full circle: in 1884, Christ Church House had welcomed Syrian immigrants for English language and American customs lessons, and in 1914 the parish baptized its first Syrian members.
Recovery Groups Meeting in the Building
Christ Church hosts several twelve-step recovery groups each week as part of its ministry of hospitality. Joys of Recovery, one of Detroit's oldest Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, gathers on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. with a hybrid Zoom option. Gamblers Anonymous meets in person on Saturdays at 11 a.m. Overeaters Anonymous meets in person on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. All are open to anyone seeking support.
Weddings, Baptisms, Funerals, and Membership
The parish celebrates all the major sacraments of the Episcopal Church. Weddings take place in the Gothic Revival sanctuary throughout the year except during Lent and the third weekend of October; same-sex couples are joyfully welcomed, and at least one member of the couple must be a baptized Christian. Baptisms are scheduled around four great feast days of the Christian year, the Baptism of our Lord, Easter, Pentecost, and All Saints', and are offered without charge, though donations are welcome.
Funerals are supported by clergy and staff for parishioners, neighbors, and friends, with pre-planning available. The columbarium, lining the walls of the original baptistry in a small marble-tiled room beside the sanctuary, holds the remains of the faithful departed; an historic stained glass window fills the room with light at sunset. New members join through Confirmation, Reception, or Reaffirmation by the diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Bonnie A. Perry, who in 2020 became the first woman and first lesbian bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
The Building as Community Resource
Christ Church rents its spaces to outside groups for meetings, concerts, and special events. The historic sanctuary, with its Steinway grand piano, has hosted candlelight concerts, choral performances, and recitals. Ledyard Hall seats up to 150 and accommodates large meetings, receptions, and afterglows. Cary Lounge is a conference room for up to thirty, equipped for hybrid meetings. Several rooms in the adjacent Sibley House are also available, including a parlor for small gatherings and a second-floor office suitable for counseling. A new commercial kitchen in Ledyard Hall came online in spring 2026, opening up expanded possibilities for community meals and catered events. Parking for 150 cars is available on site.
The Capital Campaign and the Next Chapter
The parish recently completed a $2.7 million Renew, Restore, Rejoice capital campaign that funded the kitchen renovation and other building priorities. The campaign followed a feasibility study by Partners for Sacred Places, the national nonprofit that supports congregations of historic sacred places, and a $100,000 grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places. With its historic buildings refreshed and its downtown neighborhood growing, hundreds of new apartments and townhouses are within walking distance, and the riverfront a short stroll away, Christ Church continues to describe itself the same way it has for almost two centuries: a diverse, inclusive community, lively in worship, generous in service, and steadfast as a beacon of hope in the heart of Detroit.