Trinity Episcopal Church is located at 1519 Martin Luther King Boulevard in the

Woodbridge Historic District Woodbridge is a historic neighborhood of primarily Victorian homes located in Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, with later boundary increases in 1997 and 2008. In addition to its his ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. The church was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1979 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1980. It is now known as Spirit of Hope.

History

The Epiphany Reformed Episcopal parish was founded in 1878 as a place where Anglicans not pledged to the Episcopal bishop of Michigan might worship.Trinity Episcopal Church/ Spirit of Hope
from Detroit1701.org In 1880, the congregation built a small frame church, and in 1889 changed their name to Trinity Episcopal.

James E. Scripps James Edmund Scripps (March 19, 1835 – May 28, 1906) was an American newspaper publisher and philanthropist. Early life and education Scripps was born in 1835 in London to James Mogg Scripps and Ellen Mary (Saunders) Scripps. His father was a ...

, owner of

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival '' Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the '' Detroit Tribune'' on Febru ...

, was a member of the Trinity congregation. Scripps was born in London, and developed a fascination with historic English churches. He commissioned sketches of churches in England, and in 1893 put up $55,000 to build the current church building.Historic Building
from Spirit of Hope In 1896, Trinity members voted to unite their church with the Episcopal diocese of Michigan. In 1926, the parish house, which includes a chapel, dining room, gymnasium, offices and classrooms was constructed. As the neighborhood around Trinity changed, the church reached out to new constituents, including the Irish community.
from Spirit of Hope However, the declining population of the surrounding area led to a decline in the congregation. In 2001, the nearby Jeffries Housing Projects were torn down; the Faith Memorial Lutheran Church, founded in 1956 to serve the community, found itself with a drastically reduced congregation. The congregations of Faith Memorial Lutheran and Trinity Episcopal began exploring the concept of merging, and in April 2006, the two joined to become the Spirit of Hope. In 2007, Kathleen Devlin (Tuka) began the Spirit of Hope Urban Farm which was featured in the September/October 2011 '' Natural Home & Garden'' magazine.Greening Detroit: Spirit of Hope Urban Farm Brings Bounty to the Motor City
Kelli B. Kavanaugh, '' Natural Home & Garden'', September/October 2011 (retrieved January 28, 2012).

Architecture

commissioned architects

Mason & Rice George DeWitt Mason (July 4, 1856 – June 3, 1948) was an American architect who practiced in Detroit, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries. Biography George Mason was born in Syracuse, New York, the ...

to design this English Gothic-style church. The floorplan of Trinity Episcopal Church is laid out in a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

pattern. The walls are two feet thick Trenton limestone, and the root is sheathed with copper. Smooth brown limestone used as trim offsets the white limestone used for the bulk of the walls. The central, supported by stone arches and buttresses, tower contains ten bells. The exterior holds over two hundred carvings, including gargoyles that serve as water drains. Inside the sanctuary, ten stone angels supporting the nave beams face inward; several windows contain stained glass, including a

Tiffany Tiffany may refer to: People * Tiffany (given name), list of people with this name * Tiffany (surname), list of people with this surname Known mononymously as "Tiffany": * Tiffany Darwish, (born 1971), an American singer, songwriter, actress kn ...

, a LaFarge, and a window over the altar was created by Franz Mayer & Co. of Germany. A 1200-pipe organ manufactured by the Jardine Company of New York City is also inside.

References

External links

Spirit of Hope website
{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan Churches in Detroit Midtown Detroit Episcopal church buildings in Michigan Churches completed in 1890 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Religious organizations established in 1878 1878 establishments in Michigan Towers in Michigan 1890s architecture in the United States Gothic Revival church buildings in Michigan