Christ Church - Detroit

A hand-knitted prayer shawl or lap robe may be selected, blessed, and given to one who is ill or undergoing medical treatment. It’s a tangible sign that our faith community is holding them in love and prayer. For more information (including If you knit or crochet and would like to join this ministry), please contact the office at officestaff@christcd.org.

 A social service outreach agency of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, Crossroads supports the community by providing emergency assistance and advocating for the poor and homeless. Each week, Christ Church gathers in canned and boxed items to help stock Crossroads’ food pantry. In addition, we sponsor an “Advent Diaper Drive” for Crossroads clients. In Advent 2019, we supplied over 26,000 diapers, and packaged them for distribution at Crossroads parenting classes. Contact: Eileen MacDonald

This food bank distributes food to individuals, community organizations, soup kitchens, and churches in Detroit. Several times each year, Christ Church parishioners spend a Saturday morning volunteering at Gleaners, preparing boxes of food that will meet the needs of those who are food insecure. Contact: Seth Lloyd

The Green Team identifies ways for the church and its members to be good stewards of God’s creation. For example, we have banished Styrofoam cups from our coffee hour in favor of ceramic cups and mugs, supported a service to bless Detroit’s urban gardens, and set up recycling bins in the church for recyclables, including plastic bags. We are exploring solar panels. If you have ideas, questions, or comments, please contact Jim Treece.

For more than 25 years, Christ Church has housed about 40 homeless men and women for one week, as part of the rotating shelter program sponsored by Cass Community Social Services. This project involves almost 100 church members who prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plan activities, and strive to provide our guests with a measure of dignity and hope. The date for the next Shelter Week will be November, 2020. Contact: Genet Barthwell or Seth Lloyd

Christ Church has been for many years a distribution center for the holiday Meals on Wheels program. On Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter mornings, parishioners gather with others in the wider community to distribute meals to seniors in our area of Detroit. Contact: Margo Norris

At least once a month, Christ Church members serve breakfast at the Pope Francis Center located at Saints Peter & Paul Jesuit Church, nearby on Jefferson Avenue. Contact Seth Lloyd if you’d like to join a shift.

In cooperation with the Reconstructionist Congregation of Detroit (a Jewish congregation that meets in our building) and under the guidance of Samaritas, Christ Church sponsored a Syrian refugee family in the fall of 2016. Members organized furniture for the family’s new home, stocked it with food, and welcomed the group of five, who later expanded to eight. Parishioners and members of the RCD continue to provide support as the family becomes acclimated to their new environment. We rejoice that an Episcopal parish and a Jewish congregation together welcomed and housed a Muslim refugee family. Contact: Edwina Simpson at edwinamsimpson@gmail.com.

Gamblers Anonymous meets each Saturday at 10:00 am in Cary Lounge, and Alcoholics Anonymous meets each Saturday at 10:30 am in Ledyard Hall. Contact the church office for more information.