A Gothic Cathedral in the Heart of Midtown
The Cathedral Church of St. Paul stands on the southeast corner of Woodward and Warren Avenues in Detroit's Cultural Center, across from Wayne State University and within walking distance of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Medical Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. The parish's three-word motto - Diverse People, Daily Relevance, Inspiring Space - sums up what makes this Episcopal cathedral a particular kind of congregation: a citywide church whose Sunday morning sees both longtime Detroit Episcopalians and first-time visitors sitting beneath one of the oldest unbroken choirs of men and boys in the United States.
For two hundred years, St. Paul's has served as the mother church of the Diocese of Michigan, the seat of its bishops, and a center of worship, music, and civic life in southeast Michigan. The Very Reverend Joseph C. Alsay, the cathedral's eleventh dean, welcomed visitors with the Pauline phrase from Romans 15:7 - "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God."
From the Indian Council House to Woodward Avenue
St. Paul's Parish holds the distinction of being the first organized Episcopal parish in the Northwest Territory. It was instituted on November 22, 1824, and chartered by the Michigan Territory on June 30, 1825. Its earliest worship took place in the Indian Council House on Jefferson Avenue, near Randolph Street, and at the fort. Within three years the congregation built the first Gothic church in Michigan on Woodward Avenue, laying the cornerstone on August 10, 1827, with the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York, presiding.
The first church was enlarged in 1834 and eventually sold, after which a second church was built at the corner of Congress and Shelby streets; the cornerstone was laid on August 13, 1851. By 1892 the parish had again outgrown its building, and a lot 250 by 177 feet at Woodward and Hancock was purchased for a structure intended to stand for centuries. The present cathedral, in the English 15th-century Gothic style with French Gothic inspirations in the west front, was designed in collaboration with a building committee and consecrated as the seat of the diocese in 1911. Its cruciform plan stretches 208 feet in length and 90 feet across the transepts, with an oak roof bearing the heraldically colored arms of the dioceses of the Anglican Communion. The original Pewabic Tile flooring survives throughout the nave and aisles.
The cathedral's history is intertwined with the city of Detroit. Henry Porter Baldwin, a vestryman of St. Paul's from 1843 to 1859, served two terms as Governor of Michigan and then a term in the United States Senate. His resolutions of mourning from the rector, wardens, and vestrymen of the parish in 1893 are preserved in the cathedral's archive. Today the Mayson Memorial Garden and the cathedral's archive keep the memory of the parish's earliest days alive, including the brief tenure of the Rev. Alanson W. Welton, who arrived in Detroit in 1821 and died the following year at age 34.
Sunday Worship on Woodward Avenue
Sunday is the cathedral's fullest day. Four distinct services are offered in person, and the two principal ones are also livestreamed on YouTube:
- 7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer, a spoken service held in Nativity Chapel at the front right side of the church. It is often entirely led by lay readers and is offered in person only.
- 8:15 a.m. Spoken Holy Eucharist with Hymns, also in Nativity Chapel, in person only. Communion is distributed at the Great Crossing.
- 11:00 a.m. Sung Holy Eucharist in the Nave, the principal Sunday liturgy, sung by the Cathedral Choirs and accompanied by the chancel organ. It is offered in person and livestreamed.
- 4:00 p.m. Choral Evensong, sung by the choirs, held from September through May in the Nave and livestreamed. The service takes its hiatus during the summer months.
The Book of Common Prayer 1979 guides all services, with the New Revised Standard Version used for the lessons. The Revised Common Lectionary shapes the Sunday readings, and the cathedral follows the church calendar's seasons and saints' days. Healing prayer with the laying on of hands is offered at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and communion is distributed in both kinds - bread and wine. A barrier-free communion station is available in Grace Chapel, and at the 11:00 service communion is distributed from the high altar. Ushers pass the offering plates during the Eucharistic services; a touchless electronic giving option is available for those who prefer it.
Visitors are warmly welcomed. The cathedral's own guidance is simple: "Come as you are!" Dress at the 11:00 service ranges from jeans to Sunday best, and the doors on Cathedral Lane and Woodward Avenue are both open on Sunday mornings.
Weekday Worship and the Daily Office
Beyond Sunday morning, the cathedral keeps a steady rhythm of prayer across the week. A spoken Holy Eucharist is celebrated at 12:15 p.m. every Wednesday in Grace Chapel. A short Lenten addition - Stations of the Cross on Fridays during Lent at 12:10 p.m. - has historically been offered in person and via livestream. The office of Compline, the prayers at the close of day, is sung each evening at 8:00 p.m. on Facebook Live, where it has been a steady offering since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020; Compline is not offered on Wednesdays in Lent.
The cathedral encourages members and visitors to pray the Daily Office - Morning Prayer, Prayers at Noonday, Evening Prayer, and Compline - as part of their daily lives. Model recordings of Morning Prayer and Noonday Prayer are available online, as are short Daily Devotions led by clergy for morning, noon, early evening, and close of day. Forward Day by Day devotionals are stocked in the rack by the elevator in the gallery, and the Daily Office Lectionary provides a two-year cycle of readings.
The Cathedral Choirs and the Choir School
Music has been central to the cathedral since 1831, when the parish purchased its first organ - the second such instrument in Detroit. The Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys was founded in 1884, making it one of the longest unbroken choirs of its kind in the United States. The Girls' and Women's Choirs followed in 1917, and a third ensemble, the Schola Cantorum, was added in 2001 as a small auditioned chamber choir.
Jeremy David Tarrant, Canon Precentor and Organist and Choirmaster, has shaped the cathedral's musical life since 1994, when he joined as Assistant Organist. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, he is the founding director of the Cathedral Choir School of Metropolitan Detroit and a frequent recitalist. Dāvids (David) Heinze, the Associate Organist and Succentor, joined the staff after serving as Director of Music and Organist at Christ Church in Bronxville, New York. A native of Grand Rapids and a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Hope College, and the University of Cambridge, where he was Graduate Organ Scholar at Selwyn College, Heinze holds the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists and has won prizes in national organ competitions.
The Cathedral Choir School of Metropolitan Detroit is a tuition-free, extra-curricular program for boys and girls that teaches vocal technique, musicianship, and choral singing through weekly rehearsals, private lessons, and regular choral services and concerts. Open to children of all faiths, the program has been the launching pad for generations of young singers; choristers sing the morning choral service on the first and third Sundays of the month and Choral Evensong on the fourth Sunday. They also sing the Advent Procession, Noel Night, Nine Lessons and Carols, Christmas Eve, the midwinter concert, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Day. Each summer the program gathers for an on-site day camp in August, and choristers with strong commitment are eligible for reduced-tuition piano lessons and summer music-camp scholarships. The choirs are affiliated with the Royal School of Church Music in America and have toured domestically and internationally, with recent trips to Chichester, Canterbury, Southwark, Ely, and St. Alban's Cathedrals in England.
The Pilzecker Organs and the Music at Mid-Day Series
Two organs by D.F. Pilzecker and Company of Toledo, Ohio, anchor the cathedral's musical resources. The chancel organ, the firm's 23rd opus, has 77 speaking stops, 103 ranks, and 5,204 pipes; it incorporates several stops from the cathedral's earlier 1923 Austin and 1951 Casvant organs, rescaled and revoiced. The instrument is divided into four manuals - Great, Swell, Positiv, and Bombarde - with a 32-note pedal, and follows historic design principles while offering a tonal palette suited to a wide repertoire. A gallery organ awaits completion and provides four stops with seven ranks from a South-German-style case. Both organs are maintained by Renaissance Pipe Organ Company of Ann Arbor.
On the second and fourth Fridays of most months from September through June, the cathedral presents Music @ Mid-Day, a free 30-minute recital at 12:30 p.m. featuring its own organists as well as guest artists from across the region and beyond. The concerts are offered in person and livestreamed on YouTube. Recent and upcoming performers include James Kibbie, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan; Wesley Fishwick, a Detroit-based pianist; John Sherer of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Rochester, New York; and organ students from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. During Lent, the resident organists offer short meditations before the weekly Stations of the Cross.
Open Cathedral and Tours
On Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Woodward Avenue doors are open for Open Cathedral. Docents welcome visitors, lead tours, and answer questions about the architecture, the organs, the stained glass, and the history. On second and fourth Fridays during the academic year, Music at Mid-Day gives visitors the chance to hear the cathedral organ as part of their visit. Self-guided and docent-led tours on other days can be arranged by calling the cathedral office. There is no admission cost, though donations to support the cathedral's ministry are welcome.
Christian Formation for All Ages
Education is taken seriously at St. Paul's. A Sunday Bible study meets at 9:30 a.m. between the early and late services to discuss the readings appointed for the 11:00 a.m. liturgy. Children are encouraged to attend worship with their families; a Soft Play area is available for the youngest members and visitors, and a children's bulletin is offered at the information desk in the gallery.
Education for Ministry (EfM), the four-year program developed by the School of Theology at Sewanee, gathers participants into small groups for theological study, reflection, and conversation about faithful living. Groups meet in person and online and are led locally by Deacon Tim Spannaus. The cathedral also hosts the All.together Campus Ministry, a partnership with Wayne State University, Henry Ford College, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn, under the direction of the Rev. Ben Adams. The campus ministry operates as a separate community with its own newsletter, Instagram presence, and Facebook page.
Outreach and the Wider Community
The cathedral's neighborhood includes Plymouth Congregational Church, Bethel A.M.E., Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church, and First Congregational Church, and the cathedral is an active member of both the Detroit Historic Churches Association and Midtown Detroit, Inc. The Cathedral Foundation and Community Services, Inc., a nonprofit subsidiary, oversees Williams Pavilion, an apartment house built to provide quality housing for low-income seniors and operated in partnership with the Village Green Management Company since 1985.
The Community Homeless Interprofessional Program (CHIP), founded at the cathedral in March 2014 in partnership with Wayne State University, places medical, pharmacy, and social work students in monthly service to homeless neighbors. Held on the third Sunday of each month, CHIP provides basic health screenings, pharmacy evaluation, and referrals to community resources under faculty supervision. A two-year $15,068 grant from the Detroit Medical Center Foundation in 2015 helped supply basic equipment and medications for the program.
Crossroads of Michigan, the social services agency that began at St. Paul's under the leadership of the Reverend Canon James A. McLaren, has long outgrown its original home. The current executive director is Canon McLaren's daughter, Mary Honsel; in 2008 the agency moved to West Grand Boulevard with assistance from the cathedral.
The Cathedral Crafters, who meet the first and third Tuesdays of the month from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., knit and crochet hats, scarves, mittens, and other warm items that are distributed each December through Crossroads, Williams Pavilion, St. Anne's Mead, the Ruth Ellis Center, Detroit Orthodox Outreach, the Development Centers PATH Program, and the New Year's Feast community dinner. An Alcoholics Anonymous chapter meets at the cathedral on Monday evenings at 5:00 p.m. Each December, in partnership with UCCA/Midtown Detroit Inc., the cathedral participates in Noel Night, the annual Midtown holiday festival, welcoming thousands of visitors to view the building and the music.
The Church in the World Forums
Several times each year, the cathedral hosts a forum called The Church in the World, in which members gather to learn and pray about public issues facing the community. Recent topics have included prejudice and Pride, end gun violence (in partnership with End Gun Violence Michigan), Veterans' Day, climate change, and a "prayerful response" series following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision on abortion. Resource pages on each topic remain available for continued study.
Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals
Holy Baptism is celebrated several times each year at the cathedral - on the Feast of Our Lord's Baptism, the Great Vigil of Easter, Pentecost, the Bishop's Visit in September, and All Saints' Sunday in November - typically at either the 8:15 or 11:00 service. Baptismal preparation is required and is generally held on the Saturday morning before the baptism. Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation take place at the Great Vigil of Easter, presided over by a bishop; the Rt. Rev. Bonnie A. Perry is the current Bishop of the Diocese of Michigan.
The Episcopal Church teaches that marriage is a sacrament rightly experienced in the midst of a community of faith, and so the cathedral is not a public wedding chapel. At least one member of the couple is expected to be baptized, and premarital preparation is required. Couples who are not members are warmly welcomed to worship with the cathedral and to explore whether the cathedral community is their spiritual home; members of other Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Michigan may also arrange a cathedral wedding with the Dean's approval and at the request of their own clergy. A couple celebrating a wedding at the cathedral is expected to have been a regular part of the worshiping community for at least six months and to be current in their pledge.
Funerals and memorial services follow the liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer 1979, with music generally drawn from the Hymnal 1982. Clergy are available to walk families through the planning process.
The Cathedral Partnership
The Detroit Church Partnership is a clergy-sharing arrangement among three parishes: All Saints' Episcopal Church on Seven Mile Road, St. Matthew's and St. Joseph's Episcopal Church on Woodward Avenue, and the cathedral itself. The Rev. Deacon Mike Stutso serves the partnership. The arrangement is intended to deepen spiritual engagement, expand worship and education opportunities, and develop new ways of reaching into the city to share Christ's love.
Getting to the Cathedral
The cathedral sits on Woodward Avenue between Warren and Hancock, opposite Wayne State University. A lighted and monitored parking lot behind the Diocesan-Cathedral Center is reached from the one-way Cathedral Lane, which runs east off Warren just past the Woodward intersection. From the west or northwest, drivers come east on I-94 to the Lodge southbound exit, then leave at Forest/Warren, follow the service drive north to Warren, and turn right. From the east via I-94, drivers take the Brush/Woodward exit, work south on John R to Warren, and turn right. From the north or south on I-75, drivers exit at Warren Avenue and turn west, then make a left onto Cathedral Lane just before the Woodward intersection.
Entry from the parking lot is barrier-free. Handicap parking spaces are marked along Cathedral Lane. Within the cathedral, several pews have extra space in the nave, and communion is offered barrier-free at the Great Crossing. The Pewabic Tile flooring, original to the building, is slightly uneven in places. Restrooms, including a large private facility on the first floor, are available. An elevator serves classrooms, offices, and rehearsal space in the Diocesan-Cathedral Center.
Leadership
The cathedral is led by the Very Rev. Joseph C. Alsay, the eleventh dean, who was seated in February 2026 and whose official start was Sunday, November 30, 2025, the First Sunday of Advent. A graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Dean Alsay previously served as Rector of St. Augustine of Canterbury in Oklahoma City, where he led the congregation from mission to parish status. He is the cathedral's first Black dean and came to Detroit with his wife, Cecelia, and their three children, Zoe, Zipporah, and Caleb.
The Rt. Rev. Bonnie A. Perry, Bishop of the Diocese of Michigan, was elected on June 1, 2019, becoming the first woman and the first lesbian priest elected bishop in the diocese's 185-year history. A biologist by training and a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Union Theological Seminary, Bishop Perry holds a Doctor of Ministry from Seabury Western Theological Seminary and is also an internationally recognized sea kayak coach and guide.
Jeremy David Tarrant, Canon Precentor, Organist and Choirmaster, joined the cathedral staff in 1994 and has served as Organist and Choirmaster since 2000. He is the founding director of the Cathedral Choir School. Dāvids (David) Heinze, Associate Organist and Succentor, joined the staff from Christ Church in Bronxville, New York. The Rev. Deacon Mike Stutso serves the Detroit Church Partnership. Erin McClellan is the Parish Coordinator, and Meriem Lanseur is the Financial Administrator; both bring deep personal ties to the cathedral's musical and civic life.
Supporting the Cathedral
Giving is part of the cathedral's life of stewardship. Pledges are blessed each year as part of the Sunday liturgy. Online giving is administered through the Ministry Brands Amplify platform; bank transfer is encouraged over credit card to reduce processing fees. The Cathedral Music Society supports the concert series, provides extra chorister education opportunities, sponsors summer camps through the Royal School of Church Music, and underwrites instrumentalists for special services. Members may give at the Friend ($99), Sponsor ($100-$249), Patron ($250-$499), Benefactor ($500-$999), and Grand Benefactor ($1,000+) levels. The Stewardship Committee's 2026 theme, drawn from Tobit 4:6-11, is "Rooted in Righteousness: Giving That Endures."
Living Stones and the Wider Conversation
The cathedral's weekly e-newsletter, Living Stones, keeps members and friends informed about worship, music, formation, and outreach. It is published every Friday and is the principal channel for parish announcements. The cathedral is active on Instagram (@stpaulsdetroit), Facebook (facebook.com/stpaulsdetroit), YouTube (Cathedral Church of St Paul Detroit), and Pinterest (stpaulsdetroit). The Choir School maintains its own social channels at @detroitcathedralchoirschool, and a SoundCloud account hosts choir recordings. The cathedral's Choir has released two recordings, Nowell Sing We and Evensong for All Saints Day, both led by Canon Tarrant.
From the 1824 charter granted by the Michigan Territory to the daily rhythm of Compline online, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul continues to describe itself in three words: diverse people, daily relevance, inspiring space. Whether one comes for the 7:30 Morning Prayer, the 11:00 Choral Eucharist, a Friday Organ recital, or the Wednesday noon Eucharist in Grace Chapel, the cathedral remains what it has been for two centuries - a place of Christian hospitality in the heart of Detroit.