We spent the weekend starting production on our 2022, two-hour film, Detroit: The City of Churches.
Through sit-down interviews with today’s spiritual leaders of many of Detroit’s most iconic historical churches, many of which were built in the 1800's, we will gain a unique perspective of how the churches and their congregations were deeply a part of every major historical moment in Detroit’s history.
It was exciting to start this journey as we stepped behind the doors of four churches.
Second Baptist Church of Detroit - located literally in the heart of downtown Detroit. Pastor Rev. Lawrence Rodgers shared the impact Second Baptist had on those fleeing slavery from the south. Roughly 5,000 children and families found safety and safe transport through what has become known as the Underground Railroad. In the basement of Second Baptist, the complex system is shown on the walls where it can be viewed as a historical tour.
Mariners' Church - located on Jefferson between Hart Plaza and the towers of GM Renaissance Center. Rev. Jeff Hubbard went into great detail on how the Detroit River was at one time a flourishing harbor filled with sailors and seamen who sailed the Great Lakes. Julia Anderson, the wife of an Army officer, founded the church in 1842 when she realized that these tired sailors had no real place for worship when they were traveling, so she spearheaded the movement to have Mariners’ Church built. In 1976, singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot immortalized Mariners’ Church in his song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
“In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the maritime sailors' cathedral
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald”
In the month of November, Rev. Hubbard and his congregation gather every year to remember all those lost on the waters of the Great Lakes.
Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit - As Monsignor Chuck Kosanke explained in his first sit-down interview, St Anne's has a long rich history in Detroit. On July 24, 1701, twenty-five canoes glided to a stop at the foot of a high bluff which ran along a narrow part of the Detroit River near where Hart Plaza is today. French explorer, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, and his party of fifty artisans, fifty soldiers, and two priests began construction of Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit. Among the first log structures was a tiny chapel which they dedicated on July 26, the feast day of Sainte Anne, mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. The earliest church records were destroyed in a fire, but a new registry has been maintained since 1704, making Ste. Anne de Detroit the second oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in the United States.
Fr. Gabriel Richard was not the first pastor of Ste. Anne Parish, but he was the most well-known. Born and ordained in France, Fr. Richard narrowly escaped persecution in the French Revolution. Leaving the turmoil of France, Fr. Richard eventually arrived in Detroit. Once in the city, he founded schools, established a printing press, and tirelessly worked to overcome ignorance, poverty, and bigotry. The motto for Detroit, “Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus,” (“We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes”) was written by Fr. Richard after the Great Fire of 1805. Fr. Richard’s final resting place is at the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit; his tomb can be visited in the chapel.
On March 1, 2020, Archbishop Vigneron announced that Pope Francis named Ste. Anne Church, a minor basilica. The Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit is one of 89 churches in the United States, and only the third church in Michigan, to hold the title of minor basilica.
Historic Trinity Lutheran Church - located on Gratiot. Rev. Darryl Andrzejewski sat with us and shared a deeper understanding how Trinity Lutheran has borne witness to every major historical moment in Detroit history. For example, the $5 work day that Henry Ford had instituted in January of 1914, which created an urge of immigrants from all over the world to journey to Detroit and build their lives; this included many German families that would then find comfort and community at Trinity Lutheran. With the location of Trinity, many of the businesses, especially meat production plants in the Eastern Market were owned and run by German families.
Historic Trinity Lutheran Church was founded in 1850 as the first Missouri Synod Lutheran Church in Detroit. Historic Trinity Church soon became the Mother Church of Detroit Lutheranism as she began thirteen mission congregations throughout the City of Detroit that eventually grew to 132 different Lutheran parishes. Historic Trinity Church became the early cathedral church for Lutherans as they gathered for special worship services, and to organize such Lutheran institutions as the Lutheran School for the Deaf, the Detroit Lutheran Hour’s radio program, the Lutheran High School Association, Valparaiso University, the Lutheran Cemetery, and the Lutheran Fraternities of America.
Historic Trinity Church began in a wooden frame chapel on Larned St. In 1866, at the present site of Gratiot and Rivard, a large red brick church was dedicated. In 1931, the present architecturally excellent church facility was built with only the finest materials and craftsmanship. The finest in liturgical art can be found in Historic Trinity’s stone, glass, wood, tile and brass. Its style is 16th century Pier and Clerestory Gothic, similar to that seen only in the great cathedrals of Europe.
A very special thank you to Historic Trinity Church for their initial donation which is allowing us to start this production now.