Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati

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The Parish House (centre) and Christ Church Cathedral (to the left) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, United States.

[edit] History

Christ Church was founded in 1817 by William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, Dr. Daniel Drake and other early settlers of Cincinnati. In 1820, the church was formally incorporated in the State of Ohio; the first building was on East Sixth Street.

In 1835, the church moved to its present location at 318 East Fourth Street.

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.

The Romanesque-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 1835 building, deemed unsafe, was replaced in 1957 with the current building, designed in a bold modern style by David Briggs Maxwell. 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 1993, Christ Church was consecrated the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. 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.

[edit] Christ Church Cathedral today

Christ Church continues its history of service to the community that goes back over a century. The present Dean, since January 23, 2000, is the Very Revd. James A. Diamond.