Christ Church Cranbrook

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Christ Church Cranbrook, a congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, was originally founded as part of the Cranbrook Educational Community. Construction of the building was funded through a gift of newspaper publishers and Detroit philanthropists George and Ellen Scripps Booth, upon whose country estate in Bloomfield Hills the multi-faceted Cranbrook Educational Community was founded in 1922. Seeing the need for a church in Bloomfield Hills, the Booths broke ground for Christ Church Cranbrook in July 1925. The cornerstone was laid on June 21, 1926, and the building was consecrated on September 29, 1928. As part of the historic Cranbrook complex, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973; the Cranbrook complex was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Images

Christ Church Cranbrook, front view, 2008

Christ Church Cranbrook, 2008

Christ Church Cranbrook, ca. 1977

Tree, Monochrome, Monochrome photography, Black-and-white

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

After George Gough Booth, publisher of the Detroit News and other newspapers in the Scripps-Booth empire, established the Cranbrook community on his Bloomfield Hills country estate in 1922, he realized that the community needed a church, as local residents had to travel to nearby towns to attend worship services. To address the need, Booth and his wife funded the construction of Christ Church Cranbrook, breaking ground for the new edifice in 1925. The building was designed by the associates of nationally renowned architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, who specialized in the Gothic Revival form. Goodhue had died in 1924, before construction began on the Cranbrook church.

The Detroit Free Press announced in November 1924 that the new church would be an Episcopalian congregation, and its first rector would be Dr. Samuel S. Marquis, who had formerly served the Cathedral Church of St. Paul and St. John's Episcopal Church in Detroit. The first worship services were held in the new sanctuary on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1928, and the building was formally consecrated on September 29, 1928.

The building is adorned with the work of a number of prominent artists, including woodcarver John Kirchmayer, silversmith Arthur Nevill, stained glass artist G. Owen Bonawit, and sculptor Lee Lawrie. A large fresco by Katherine McEwen is featured at the front of the church. A ceramic tile mosaic by Mary Chase Perry Stratton of Detroit's famed Pewabic Pottery decorates the baptistry vault.

A carillon of sixty-two bells was installed in the belfry, comprising four complete musical octaves. The bells were crafted at the Taylor Bell Foundry of Loughborough, England, and were dedicated with a recital given by Anton Brees, bellmaster of the Bok Singing Tower in Florida.

Sources

"Marquis Gets New Church: Magnificent Edifice to be First of its Kind in Bloomfield Hills," Detroit Free Press, November 21, 1924, p.3.

"New Church is $600,000 Gift," Detroit Times, November 21, 1924, p.17.

"Episcopal Church, School Endowed by Mr. and Mrs. Booth," Birmingham Eccentric, November 28, 1924, p.1.

"Work on New Christ Church Cranbrook Starts Next Week," Birmingham Eccentric, July 3, 1925, p.1.

"Bishop Lays Church Stone at Cranbrook," Birmingham Eccentric, June 24, 1926, p.1.

"First Services in Beautiful New Cranbrook Church Sunday," Detroit Times, April 8, 1928, p.11.

"Christ Church Consecrated," Detroit Free Press, September 30, 1928, p.5.

"New Church Consecrated," Detroit Times, September 30, 1928, p.4.

"Christ Church Consecration is Impressive," Birmingham Eccentric, October 4, 1928, p.1.

Thistle. Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. [Bloomfield Hills, Mich.: The Church], 1940.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Dave Parker, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Deborah Larsen (with permission from the Clarence Whitbey family)