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Spirit of Hope Church, Detroit, Michigan

20 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by Sean in Uncategorized

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Anglican, Anglican Communion, Detroit Churches, Detroit MI, Detroit Michigan, Episcopal, Faith Memorial Lutheran church, gargoyles, gothic, Grand River Avenue, historic churches, inclusive churches, liberal churches, Lutheran, Protestant, Protestant churches, Spirit of Hope Church Detroit, Trinity Episcopal Church, Trumbull Street

My business Friday necessitated that I make a stop along Trumbull Avenue before returning to my cozy office in the suburbs.  I figured I would explore Trumbull a bit by driving north.  The plan was to hit Grand River and take that to I-96 and back home.  I knew I’d see beautiful buildings and dilapidated buildings that were once proud, graceful, like the city.  Fortunately I ran across Spirit of Hope Church, at the corner of Trumbull Street and Grand River Avenue, on a nice, sunny autumn day.

The church’s gothic architecture grabbed me.  I first saw the tower at the rear of the church and it reminded me of an old castle.  After taking a closer look, I was enthralled to find gargoyles and carved men watching over God’s house.

By history, this church is a combination of Faith Memorial Lutheran and Trinity Episcopal Churches.  Like many urban churches of this kind, it has a history of feeding and meeting the needs of the hungry and disadvantaged.

In the late 1990s the congregations of Faith Memorial Lutheran and Trinity Episcopal Churches, located just blocks from one another, began exploring what it would mean to do ministry together and share a pastor.  Times had changed since the congregations’ founding.

Faith Memorial Lutheran Church, founded at the corner of Trumbull Avenue and Alexandrine Street in 1956, was established by the Lutheran Church to serve residents of the Jeffries Housing Projects.  The church became well known as a place of refuge for the hungry, homeless or those who were in anyway feeling rejected because of their income, race or class.  When most of the Jeffries was imploded in 2001, a very large percentage of the church’s constituency left or was forced to leave the neighborhood.

Trinity Episcopal Church, founded at the corner of Trumbull Avenue and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. (formerly Myrtle Avenue) in the 1880s, Trinity was established as a neighborhood congregation that reached out first to the local Irish contingency, and then to others as the neighborhood changed over the decades.  Trinity became known as the local home of the Police Athletic League, Sunshine Community Preschool and numerous food programs.  The declining population of the neighborhood led to the declining population of the congregation.

After years of deliberation and prayer, Trinity and most active members of Faith Memorial took a leap of faith in April of 2006 and began worshipping together as one congregation, since known as Spirit of Hope.  Today we worship God in everything that we are, blessed followers of Jesus Christ.

Reflecting a more liberal theology or approach to Christianity, Spirit of Hope seeks “empower all races, genders and gender expressions, sexual orientations, physical abilities, denominational or religious backgrounds, to serve one another as God has gifted us to do.”

Abundant Life Christian Center, 8240 Grand River, Detroit, Michigan

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Sean in Uncategorized

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abandoned church, Abundant Life Christian Center Detroit, Abundant Life Christian Center Redford, Christian churches, church, churches, Detroit Churches, Detroit MI, Detroit Michigan, Grand River Avenue, Protestant church, stained glass

Abundant Life Christian Center, side

I see this building from the expressway (I-96) every time I venture into Detroit.  It was a beautiful fall day so I knew I had to go out of my way to see this once special place that is little more than ruins.  It was open, so I was able to walk around.  I had no idea when I went through the open front door, and up the stairs into the sanctuary, whether I would encounter a bunch of drug addicts, whether I’d startle a homeless person, or step on a dirty nail.  The worst I saw in there were a few half pints of cheap vodka.

Abundant Life Christian Center, from Grand River, looking northwest

Abundant Life Christian Center, from Grand River

I’m not the poetic of figurative type too often, but this church is one (of tens of thousands) of reminders of the past glory of the City of Detroit.  As the city has gone, so have places like this.  I don’t know whether churches, theaters, businesses, schools and other important places in the community fell completely apart because her people did, or her people fell apart because such places were allowed to lapse into complete and total decay.  As bad of shape as the building is in, I literally had a rush walking around inside it.  I’d like to go back and explore it more thoroughly someday.  Sure, it’s probably trespassing, but I didn’t see any signs, and there were certainly no attempts made to keep people or the elements out.

Abundant Life sanctuary

Abundant Life sanctuary, facing northwest

Given it’s current state, “Abundant Life” couldn’t be a more ironic name for this house of worship.

Abundant Life, stained glass

Abundant Life, stained glass (Memorial to a former pastor)

There are several “Abundant Life Christian Center” churches in the area, one in Detroit, the other in Redford.  I cannot tell whether either of these places was formally located in this particular building.  Oddly enough, though, this abandoned church is still listed in the Yellow Pages online.  My best guess is that the phone there no longer works.

http://yellowpages.totallylocal.com/abundant+life+christian+center.9.5175440p.home.html

Grace to Grace Christian Fellowship, Detroit, Michigan

14 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Sean in Uncategorized

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churches in Detroit, Corktown, Corktown Detroit, Detroit Churches, Detroit MI, Detroit Michigan, gothic, Grace to Grace Christian Fellowship, Grace to Grace Detroit, Lutheran churches, Michigan Avenue, Michigan Central Station, non-denominational churches, southwest Detroit, stained glass, steeple

Grace to Grace Christian Fellowship church stands at the corner of 17th and Rose streets in Detroit, in the shadows of the old Michigan Central Station.  Looking at the steeple, one would assume the place is dilapidated and abandoned but, actually, the building is somewhat well-kept (at least functionally) and seems to house an existing congregation.

I have only found one website with information about this church.  The information seems unsubstantiated but, of course, that does not make it untrue.  This site also give the date on the cornerstone as 1870.  On my photo, it looks like 18_2.  Judge for yourselves.

http://detroit1701.org/Grace%20to%20Grace.html

Grace to Grace Christian Fellowship, Detroit, Michigan, 17th and Rose Streets

Grace to Grace front door

Grace to Grace steeple

Grace to Grace cornerstone, 18_2 (?)

Grace to Grace stained glass

 

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