Christ Episcopal Church has stood on Military Street in Dearborn since the spring of 1949, but the congregation traces its roots to the early 1860s, when the city was still a farming community on the edge of Detroit. The first regular Episcopal services in Dearborn were held in the carpenter shop of the Detroit Arsenal at Michigan Avenue and Monroe, with Sunday School meeting in the basement of the Commandant's Quarters. The Reverend Rufus Murray led those earliest gatherings, and in 1865 the chaplain at Fort Wayne, the Reverend Chauncey W. Fitch, agreed to become the parish's minister.
Under Dr. Fitch, the parish organized itself and signed Articles of Agreement on December 29, 1866. The Episcopal Diocese of Michigan accepted Christ Church as a parish on June 7, 1867. The first vestry included prominent local farmers - including Henry Ford, an older cousin of the automaker - two storekeepers, a doctor, and the Arsenal Commandant. In November 1870 the cornerstone was laid for a new red-brick English Gothic church on Michigan Avenue, which was consecrated in 1874.
The years after the new building opened were lean. The Arsenal closed in 1872, Dr. Fitch retired in 1874, and in 1886 the parish found itself unable to pay his successor's three-hundred-dollar annual salary. Supply preachers and lay readers kept the doors open until 1893, when regular services resumed with help from the Brotherhood of St. Andrew at St. Peter's Church in Detroit. A new rector in 1896, the Reverend Edward Collins, helped the parish grow and add a parish house, but the village of Dearborn stayed small enough that in 1912 the congregation even considered converting to a mission.
Development around Dearborn changed that. Under three successive rectors between 1916 and 1951, the church grew so much that the 1870 building could no longer hold it. On May 3, 1948, Mrs. Henry Ford broke ground at the new site at Cherry Hill and Military, on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford. The first services in the new building were held on April 10, 1949. The parish's centennial was marked in 1967 with the publication of a 107-page history by Katherine Moore Cushman, which remains available in the Murray Stover Library at the church.
Two Sunday Services in the Chapel
Christ Church gathers for worship on Sunday morning in its Chapel at 8:00 a.m. and again at 10:00 a.m. The earlier service is described as quieter, while the later one is more lively, but both follow the worship rhythms of the Episcopal Church. The 10:00 a.m. service is livestreamed on YouTube, and a printable Sunday bulletin is posted online.
The worship style shifts with the liturgical seasons. Some weeks are formal and traditional; others are casual and lively. In September, the church observes a Season of Creation that ends with a blessing of the animals around the beginning of October. At other points in the year, services draw on American Spirituals or on Taizé music. The summer months are particularly relaxed and include an outdoor service on the Plaza at 9:00 a.m. Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter bring worship in the best of the tradition.
Music is woven into worship throughout the year. Sunday morning organ pieces anchor the liturgy, and a variety of other musicians - vocalists, instrumentalists, and the choir - regularly add to the service. The annual Christmas pageant and the Lenten play, performed on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, give children a place to share their artistic gifts.
A Wide-Reaching Music Ministry
The music program at Christ Church is led by Manuela Blankinship, an accomplished pianist, block flautist, cellist, and organist who provides music for the 10:00 a.m. service and directs the choir. The choir is the spine of the music ministry: several choristers bring experience from other area choirs and play instruments as well. Rehearsals are held every Sunday at 11:30 a.m., and singers of all experience levels - including those who do not read music - are welcome to join.
The program also draws on instrumentalists from the congregation. The church uses a pipe organ, trumpet, hammer dulcimer, piano, harpsichord, cello, guitar, hand bells, and recorders to enrich its services. Solo, duet, and trio performances are regular features. In 2024 the music program hosted an early music concert with five instrumental groups and choirs, along with an organ concert featuring pieces by female contemporary composers.
Beyond Sunday worship, Christ Church hosts a free Summer Concert Series on the South Lawn, typically two to four Friday-evening concerts during July and August open to the neighborhood. Past programs have included singer-songwriters, Chicago Blues, folk artists, and Arabic music. Audiences are invited to bring chairs or blankets, and concerts move into the Sanctuary if the weather turns bad.
For listeners, a Listening Group meets on the second Monday of each month from September through May to share music that has been important to its members. Past sessions have explored Jazz, Classical, Rock, Folk, Blues, and combinations of those styles.
Small Groups and Spiritual Practice
Education and spiritual formation at Christ Church take several forms. A Wednesday Bible Study meets at 6:00 p.m. Adult education programs are offered alongside home groups that use video material from the Episcopal Via Media series to explore what it means to live theologically between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Other ongoing gatherings include a centering prayer group, a Bible study group, and occasional short-term groups.
The church invites visitors and newcomers who have questions about faith, spirituality, prayer, or how the community might be a healing, hopeful place to reach out to the priest.
Feeding the Community in Body, Mind, and Spirit
"You are here to be fed in mind, body and Spirit" is the church's tagline, and food ministry is one of its primary passions. A monthly food pantry at the church serves thirty families and individuals. Christ Church is also the storage and packing hub for Blessings in a Backpack in Dearborn, a program that sends weekend food home with more than 200 Dearborn Public Schools students each week. Parishioner Chris Burkhalter serves as program coordinator, and the food is purchased at a discount from Meijer and supplemented through donation drives and grants. A typical backpack contains granola bars, fruit cups, instant oatmeal, canned tuna, canned soup, and macaroni and cheese, packed by dozens of volunteers from area churches, PTAs, scout troops, and community groups. Distribution partners include Long, McDonald, Nowlin, River Oaks, Whitmore-Bolles, and William Ford Elementary Schools.
Beyond feeding programs, the building is open to many outside groups. Christ Church hosts AA, Boy Scouts, the League of Women Voters of Dearborn-Dearborn Heights, Sakena's Fund, a martial arts and AIS stretching class, a bridge group, a Saturday morning Arabic class for children, the New Beginnings Quilters, the Intercultural Community Center in Dearborn, and a Bible study hosted by Grace Presbyterian Church. Piano and voice lessons are offered through Sonneman Studio, which also uses space in the building.
Justice, Diversity, and Creation Care
The church's social justice work begins with its stated baptismal promises - to love God and neighbor, to work for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being - and applies them broadly. Christ Church describes itself as a creative, energetic community, and the parish openly works for equality for LGBTQ people, people of color, and women, and for economic and environmental justice.
In January 2011 the vestry passed a resolution defining Christ Church as an intentionally "Open, Welcoming, and Affirming" community of faith. The parish has celebrated same-gender blessings since 2011 and same-gender marriages since 2015. Christ Church also works actively to recognize and dismantle the systemic and institutional racism present in its own life and in the wider community, holding periodic forums and discussions on race.
Environmental stewardship is a parish priority. A water reclamation project gathers rainwater from the roof and channels it through pipes to fill tanks used to drip-irrigate the community garden. Recycling bins for paper, plastic, glass, and styrofoam are placed at the Chapel entrance and open to the public. The congregation tries to use only fair-trade coffee at church events.
Grounds Open to the Neighborhood
The Christ Church campus includes a Labyrinth and Pet Memorial Garden that is open to the public during daylight hours. The labyrinth is intended as a form of walking prayer: visitors follow the winding circular path to the center and back out again in silence, prayer, or simple reflection, with benches set around the path for sitting, reading, or resting. The semi-circular brick raised bed holds the pet memorial garden, where the ashes of beloved pets can be interred.
An award-winning Community Garden offers 10-by-10 and a few 10-by-20 organic plots to the public as space allows. Plots become available in late winter or early spring and are irrigated through the same drip system that draws on rainwater from the roof. The Plaza, a newer addition at the church entrance, includes sitting walls and a drinking fountain for both people and dogs and serves as the setting for the outdoor summer concert series and the receiving line at weddings and funerals. An elevator and ramp make the church accessible.
A Partnership with Mother of the Savior
Christ Church shares its building with Mother of the Savior, an English- and Arabic-speaking Christian congregation that is the only one of its kind in the immediate area. Mother of the Savior brings together ethnic Arabs - Iraqis, Jordanians, Lebanese, Palestinians, and Syrians - with interdenominational Christians from Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant traditions, working with the host parish through a covenant called a Partnership in Faith.
Mother of the Savior offers an Arabic and English Mass each Sunday at noon, a children's Arabic class on Saturdays, Sunday School on Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and Sundays at noon, twice-monthly youth meetings, and an adult Bible study each Thursday at 5:00 p.m. The two congregations intentionally share worship, social events, and formation opportunities as they grow into deeper relationships across culture and language.
Leadership and Affiliation
Christ Episcopal Church is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan within The Episcopal Church. The Reverend Halim Shukair serves as Priest-In-Charge, and Manuela Blankinship directs Music Ministries. Stephanie Mulkern is Senior Warden of the vestry and Margaret Green is Junior Warden. The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Giving is accepted online as well as by mail.