When Bishop Richard Stanley Merrill Emrich, at 38 years old, was elected to be the seventh diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Michigan in 1948, he inherited a diocese poised to appreciate a post-World War II economic boom and an auto industry at its zenith. By the midway point of his 25-year tenure, Emrich was leading the largest and by some accounts the most influential diocese in the Episcopal Church.

A year before that election, while Emrich was bishop suffragan (1946-48), the 36-year-old John Jacob Weaver arrived in Detroit as sixth dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Like the new bishop, the young dean inherited a robust church history and could anticipate prosperous years ahead.

Emrich and Weaver shared another inheritance: a pair of 19th century buildings that seemed inadequate for the post-war growth of the Episcopal Church. Before long, the bishop and the dean embarked on a decade-long joint construction project that resulted in what is now known by the nomenclature “4800.” The Diocesan Cathedral House, completed in 1961 just before the General Convention was held in Detroit, literally and figuratively raised the profile of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Michigan.

Histories intertwined

The histories of the Diocese of Michigan and St. Paul’s were deeply intertwined since the founding of each 125 years earlier. Accounts of the Diocese of Michigan rightly refer to St. Paul’s as “the cradle of the Episcopal Church in Michigan.”

The Detroit parish had been the mother church of the Diocese of Michigan since its formation in 1824. Eight years later, St. Paul’s joined with five other parishes to form the diocese and then sought and seated the first bishop, Samuel Allen McCoskry, in 1835. Simultaneously, St. Paul’s elected McCoskry as church rector—and paid his entire salary for 27 years. However, while successors to the first bishop also bore the distinction of church rector, St. Paul’s Parish, which moved through three sites near the Detroit River, was not referred to as the cathedral for its first 80 years.

Near the end of the 19th century, St. Paul’s relocated to the northern suburbs of Detroit. According to A History of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 1824-1976, by Diane Norton, “The arrival of a cluster of railroad lines between St. Paul’s and the river quickened the transformation of the once gracious, quiet neighborhood into a densely populated industrial, commercial complex ... In 1892, a lot 77 feet by 250 feet at the corner of Woodward and Hancock Avenues was purchased.

”The Eaton Memorial Chapel was built on the new site in 1896 by Theodore Eaton, longtime senior warden and benefactor of St. Paul’s, and dedicated to his mother Anne Eliza Eaton. The chapel, which seated 300, served as St. Paul’s church building until soon after Charles David Williams became bishop in 1905. St. Paul’s offered the new bishop St. Paul’s for use as his cathedral. While the offer may have riled a few Episcopal churches that had cropped up along Woodward Avenue, Williams accepted the invitation with a few stipulations: St. Paul’s would merge with St. Joseph’s—a church within eyesight of the proposed cathedral; each would put forth $5,000 for future property to re-establish St. Joseph’s at a later date; and St. Joseph’s Rector Samuel S. Marquis would be elected first Cathedral dean.

Nearby Grace Church also merged into St. Paul’s at the end of 1908. At its closing, it bequeathed its sacred memorials which helped to establish Grace Chapel inside the new cathedral building.

On May 17, 1911, the neo-Gothic cut-stone cathedral—a Ralph Adams Cram architectural masterpiece, still attached to the Eaton Chapel and without a steeple—was dedicated.

“It is our earnest hope that this Cathedral may be of service to you and to the whole Diocese which you have so faithfully served in the years you have been with us, and with our brethren throughout the Church. We pray that you may be given life and health to carry on to the fullest achievement the high ideals which you have set before us ...”

In behalf of the Warden and vestrymen,

The name of the church was changed to St. Paul’s Cathedral, but it must be noted that the transition during Williams’s episcopacy (1905-23) technically created a pro-cathedral, which is a parish church that functions as a cathedral temporarily or as long as the bishop’s seat is there. If the bishop departs, so goes the distinction of being a cathedral.

The sudden death of Bishop Williams on Ash Wednesday in 1923, and, more profoundly, the Great Depression at the end of the decade deferred further expansion of St. Paul’s Cathedral, including the construction of the cathedral tower.

By the end of the Depression and World War II, Emrich and Weaver correctly sensed and seized an opportunity to upgrade both the buildings they inherited as well as the ecclesiastical relationship between them.

Pointing to “constricted and archaic conditions,” The Cathedral News, the tabloid-style newspaper for St. Paul’s Cathedral that pre-dated The Record, stated in February 1950, “Diocesan Headquarters are presently in an old converted residence on Hancock avenue. They are inadequate, shabby and utterly lacking in dignity.”

For mail call, incoming diocesan mail was put into a basket on the ground floor and lifted by rope to the third floor of the building.

“It is, furthermore, probably not safe,” added Emrich in comments to The Record at a later date (but decades before wary attorneys might weigh in on the articulation of such liability hazards). “It is not good for this Diocese to have that kind of an office. It is not worthy! It is not dignified! It is not decent!”

While not as frail as the Diocesan House, St. Paul’s stone parish house—the old Eaton Chapel—was an architectural and administrative relic of a bygone era as well.

In 1951, St. Paul’s acquired the Spellman property on the northern border of its Woodward Avenue property and in the fall of 1952, Weaver and the St. Paul’s vestry appointed a building committee to explore replacing the 56-year-old annex.

When another connecting parcel of land became available in the fall of 1953, the pace of cathedral expansion and redevelopment quickened. Emrich’s imagination stirred.

The bishop appointed a diocesan building committee, which had to address anxiety within the cathedral and beyond that a joint building project would lead to financial conflicts between the two entities. There was also concern that St. Paul’s had foisted the plan onto the diocese and through it, would become a burden on the diocese.

In a letter to the chair of the diocesan building committee, who had some reservations himself, Emrich outlined his vision for a joint project in the clearest possible terms.

“It has so happened that both the Cathedral and the diocesan office need to build at the same time. We are impossibly crowded, and the Cathedral parish house is close to being condemned as a fire hazard.”  (See the complete letter HERE.)

On December 8, 1954, the Diocese of Michigan Executive Council approved a resolution for the “development of a Diocesan Cathedral organization—the purpose of this being to make it possible to develop joint building plans immediately.”

St. Paul’s vestry recognized the significance of the change in status and the topic became the major point of discussion as the building project moved forward. The parish newspaper further outlined:

“This proposal is a challenge to each and every member of St. Paul’s Cathedral to give serious consideration. As a ‘Pro’-Cathedral, St. Paul’s serves as the Bishop’s Church and the heart of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. As a ‘Full’ or ‘True’ Cathedral, St. Paul’s would become a more integral part of the Diocese. In part, it would continue as a Cathedral Parish with some legalistic and administrative changes.”

At its annual meeting in January 1955, St. Paul’s approved a resolution to concur in principle with the plan to constitute St. Paul’s Cathedral as a full diocesan cathedral while guaranteeing its autonomy in the conduct of its local affairs and in the management of its properties, endowment funds and finances.

Emrich appointed two committees to explore the legal issues and the building proposals. From the beginning of the planning, the diocese underscored that there would be a single unit of cathedral government with the members of the St. Paul’s worshipping congregation retaining the authority over present property of the parish and the St. Paul’s vestry continuing to care for the day-to-day matters of the congregation. Any new building for joint use, the committees concluded, would be in the name of the proposed new corporation.

The new unit of government, called the Cathedral Chapter, would be composed of 30 lay members—10 would be the St. Paul’s elected vestry, 10 appointed by the bishop, and 10 elected by Diocesan Convention from nominations made by the initial 20 members. The 10 members of the governing unit elected by St. Paul’s congregation would constitute the vestry of the cathedral with the dean serving the same administrative position regarding the day-to-day affairs of the congregation, “but subject to the overall authority of the single unit of cathedral government.”

The name would change from St. Paul’s Cathedral to St. Paul’s Cathedral of the Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Michigan.

Bishop Emrich outlined his vision again and explained how the Chapter would function in a letter to the vestry of St. Paul's Cathedral in February 1956 (Read the entire letter HERE).

The St. Paul’s vestry made some modest revisions, reaffirming that St Paul’s status as a parish in union with the diocese would not change. St. Paul’s also suggested that the vestry would select its 10 Chapter representatives from the 15-man vestry but that its unique vestry would continue to exercise parochial authority.

Furthermore, St. Paul’s was concerned about property and endowment issues and asserted, “The personal property of the cathedral and the real property, which comprises the cathedral site consisting of a parcel fronting 177 feet on Woodward Avenue and 250 feet on Hancock Avenue, will be controlled and administered exclusively by the cathedral parish. The remaining real properties now owned by the cathedral will be controlled and administered by the new Chapter.”

St. Paul’s clarified, “The Chapter will have no authority to obligate the cathedral Parish or congregation to any financial matter without the prior consent of the vestry and/or congregation of the cathedral parish.”

The revisions were sent to the Executive Council of the diocese where they were approved in April 1956.

For final approval, St. Paul’s called a special parish meeting for May 14, 1956, and a letter from the dean and bishop was published in The Cathedral News.

“As the Cathedral now stands, it is incomplete, and in some ways a poor symbol of that unity. It is not now a true Cathedral, but a Parish Church named as the Cathedral. If we move it to full Cathedral status, complete it, and place here our Diocesan headquarters, it will truly express the unity of the Diocese ... If we plan wisely, and in a big manner, St. Paul’s can become a central Church for the whole City, and a great House of Prayer for all people. A magnificent tower has been promised, with a peal of bells, and this, plus the plans which we have for a new Parish Hall and Diocesan Office, can give us some glimpse of the greatness of what we together will build.” (Read entire letter HERE).

The congregation of St. Paul’s approved the overarching project by a vote of 179-1, which was the final step in a long process of review and approval. St. Paul’s named its first 10 members from the vestry to the Chapter in January 1957.

When the full Chapter met for the first time a few weeks later, The Cathedral News summarized the significance of the long journey.

“Future generations may never know—surely they will never be able to imagine the effort and dedication which was so evident that night in the Cathedral chancel. Together with their bishop, these Chapter members have marked a most significant page in the annals of the Episcopal Church in Michigan.”

Two years would pass before the groundbreaking for the new building, time that Emrich and Weaver used to sell the idea and raise the funds for the project. Both men had already been reserving funds for the new development. Emrich had over $100,000 put away for the project and St. Paul’s turned over $240,000 to the Chapter.

Under Emrich’s guidance, the Chapter launched the Diocese of Michigan Development Fund in February 1958 with a goal of raising $1.5 million. Each parish was asked to contribute and 95 of 170 parishes exceeded what was requested of them. St. Paul’s pledged an additional $65,000 in the every parish campaign.

Emrich’s funding campaign also circulated a room-by-room rendering of the architectural design with an invitation to make memorial gifts for every office—and many memorial gifts poured in. The campaign was an enormous success. In November 1959, Emrich and Weaver broke ground. Construction was completed before General Convention in 1961.

Five decades later, what is harder to measure than the success of a former funding campaign, and clearly less tangible than the building itself that now stands at 4800 Woodward Avenue, is the energy and the passion that went into the ministry of the Chapter in the early years—although historical records bear it out. Most meetings were attended by three bishops—one serving as chair and two as vice chairs. Discussions were energetic and engaged by the movers and shakers (although mostly men) of the Diocese of Michigan. The Diocesan Cathedral House was a new thing and the Chapter managed a budget that, while smaller than the diocesan annual budget, carried with it important discernment about ministry, not merely the maintenance of a building.

History also records the toll of time. As the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan has closed or merged half of its 1950s-era churches in Detroit, and as the city itself recedes from the growth and promise of the post-war years, the Diocesan Cathedral House and its governor—the Chapter—has lost a certain charm.

Stirring interest in serving on the administrative body is now a challenge—and even addressing “What does Chapter do?” escapes easy description. In fact, many of the memorial plaques in the second floor offices have dropped from the walls, a sad symbol of the fading memory of what it took to erect them.