Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, is the cathedral church of the

Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over 40 counties in southern Ohio. It is one of 15 dioceses that make up the Province of the Midwest (Province 5). The ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

Christ Church was founded in 1817 by then missionary Rev. (future Bishop and Presiding Bishop)

Philander Chase Philander Chase (December 14, 1775 – September 20, 1852) was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier, especially in Ohio and Illinois. Early life and family Born in Cornish, New Hampshire, t ...

, and prominent early settlers of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

including

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

(who became the ninth president of the United States) and Dr.

Daniel Drake Daniel Drake (October 20, 1785 – November 5, 1852) was a pioneering American physician and prolific writer. Early life Drake was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, to Isaac Drake and Elizabeth Shotwell. He was the elder brother of Benjamin ...

. In 1820, the church was formally incorporated in the State of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

; the first building was on East Sixth Street. In 1835, the church moved to its present location at 318 East Fourth Street. The red-brick structure of 1835 was modeled after the old Stepney church St. Dunstan's in London. The

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

-style Parish House was built in 1907, which today provides office space, rooms for classes and meetings, a gymnasium, the cathedral library and the cathedral shop. The Centennial Chapel, located north of the present cathedral, was erected in 1917 to commemorate the church's centennial anniversary, and provides a setting for smaller worship services and concerts as well as a still space for individual prayer and meditation. It may have been designed by prominent Cincinnati architect Frederick W. Garber's firm. The 1835 building, deemed unsafe, was replaced in 1957 with the current building, designed in a bold modern style by David Briggs Maxfield. Although it incorporates features such as the stained glass windows from the original church erected in 1835, the building is in stark contrast to the older buildings in the cathedral complex. It was extensively remodeled in the 1980s and then again in the 1990s. On

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

1993, Christ Church was consecrated the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, succeeding the former St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral, Cincinnati. The following year, the largest renovation project in the history of Christ Church began, involving the church and the entire church complex, and the cathedral was rededicated in 1998. There are three written histories that tell the story of Christ Church from different perspectives and time periods. They are: * Venable, W. H. (1918). ''A Centennial History of Christ Church, Cincinnati, 1817-1917''. Stewart & Kidd. * Morris, J. W. (1967). ''Christ Church, Cincinnati, 1817-1967''. Episcopal Society of Christ Church. * Väth, K. W. (2024). ''Pathways to Grace and Healing: The History of Cincinnati’s Christ Church and Its Journey Toward Social Justice''. Crown Publishing.

Christ Church Cathedral today

Christ Church continues its history of service to the community that extends back two centuries. In 2021, the Very Reverend Owen C. Thompson became the first African American dean of the cathedral. Rev. Thompson is the son of The Right Reverend Herbert Thompson, Jr., who served as the Diocesan Bishop of the

from 1992 to 2005. That same year, a Richard, Fowkes & Co. Opus 24 organ was installed in the cathedral at the back of the cathedral's sanctuary.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Episcopal cathedrals in Ohio Episcopal churches in Cincinnati Modernist architecture in Ohio Presidential churches in the United States

History

Christ Church Cathedral today

See also

References

External links