St. Anne

Detroit has long been known as a city of churches. There are more churches per square mile than any other city in the country. After learning this, I was fascinated. I started to look around and realized there really are very many churches. But more importantly, after taking note of every church I passed, what I realized was that churches don’t have to look like anything in particular. This seems to be especially true in the city of Detroit. These buildings are a reflection of the people here. A reflection of the spirit of Detroit, in both spiritual and secular ways.

Some Detroit churches are spectacular, attempting to be the homage to God and the heavens that European Cathedrals aspired to be. But many churches are more modest. Taking their cues from their bigger, more ostentatious brothers, but toning down to match limited budgets and necessities. Still more are extremely modest, Not being much more than a repurposed cinder block structure. These are the places that truly reminded me of Matthew 18:20 (Googleing required) which says “For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.” This is the true essence of a church. Simply a place to gather for a particular purpose.

I think this is the true spirit of the city of Detroit. The people here do what they can with what they have. Sometimes it is on a grand scale, while other times it gets distilled completely down to the essence of what is necessary. Within that nucleus, greatness is still achieved.

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