(pensive music) This year marks the 150th year of the Church of the Messiah, a non-traditional Episcopal church at the corner of East Grand Boulevard in East Lafayette Street in Detroit.

Serving the Islandview community near Belle Isle, the church takes pride in its diverse and young congregation, its community engagement initiatives, and its role as a community resource center.

This is the leader of the Church of the Messiah, Pastor Barry.

- I can't believe the Church of the Messiah is turning 150 years old this year.

The church was in 1874 by Christ Church Detroit, which is on Jefferson of 375.

They created Church of the Messiah.

We were a mission of Church of the Messiah, and then we have a connection to another Episcopal church, the oldest Episcopal church in the state of Michigan and in our diocese is 200 years old this year.

They were originally downtown, that building caught fire after it had been around for about 50 years.

They decided to build a new St. Paul's.

The pastor of Church in Messiah back then went to the diocese and said, "Hey, can I have the leftover pieces of the old St.

Paul?"

And took the leftover pieces of the old St. Paul, and they were shipped from downtown to East Grand Boulevard in Champlain Street.

And we are sitting in the building of Church of the Messiah, which is the leftover pieces of old St. Paul's.

- [Will] Part of our mission at "One Detroit" is to tell stories by getting into the communities we cover with the intention to listen and learn.

The Church of the Messiah let us film and capture a community meeting being held in the basement of the church, leading to a conversation I had back in 2018 with some of the congregation's young men about what life looks like from their perspective.

- Well, a lot of our young people wanted to have a conversation among themselves, so they did not want to older people to be there to tell them how they should feel or why they should feel a certain way.

They just want to be able to address their own concerns about Detroit and what they think the future holds for them.

- [Will] What conversations do you guys have most often, or do you hear coming up a lot that you care about?

- Just how to keep going when you're doing stuff, you trying to do the right thing, and bad stuff still happening.

Like, it'd be the equivalent of standing at like the bottom of a mountain, and everything you needed was at the top.

You can't stay down here, and it's gonna be hard as hell getting up there, but you gotta do it.

- [Will] Throughout the years, "One Detroit" sat in on some of the community conversations held by the church, like those around affordable housing.

- Church of the Messiah's role is to make sure that this city is for everybody.

I'm so grateful that we do affordable housing.

We've been doing affordable housing for 46 years.

- Islandview is one of those key strategic areas in the city for investment.

- Mm-hmm, and something to his rent, and then also now he's gonna start paying his own utilities.

So actually, he's gonna go from paying 600 and something with everything included, to a year later, paying almost 15.

This just happened.

- [Will] The Church of the Messiah has also been foundational to the success of Detroit entrepreneurs.

Nikki's Ginger Tea is a company that started in the church's commercial kitchen that has grown into a successful business, with Nikki's Ginger tea being sold at multiple Michigan Whole Foods and other local markets.

Here's Nikki of Nikki's Ginger Tea talking about the Church of the Messiah.

- I was across the street in my apartment, and then one of my friends said to me, "Well, Nikki, why don't you talk to your church about using the commercial kitchen?"

- [Will] The Church of the Messiah also organizes the Silence the Violence March, an annual event that honors the lives of those lost to gun violence.

Recently, the church has taken in Venezuelan migrants that have landed here in Detroit.

Bill Kubota had the story.

- [Bill] Some new parishioners at the Church of the Messiah on Detroit's east side.

A march Sunday.

- But I am ready to bring it.

God is in the house.

- [Bill] Pastor Barry Randolph presiding.

- We noticed an influx of Latinos in the community.

Everybody in the community told them to come to the church.

They came to the church, and of course, because they were immigrants, they were shipped here, it is believed, from Texas, it was kind of crazy.

So, we immediately jumped into action, making sure that they had the necessities of life.

- [Bill] Jennine Spencer Gilbert leads the church program.

She said more than 60 migrants originally from Venezuela have arrived since December.

They've been placed in a shelter just down the street.

- At Church of Messiah, we made a pantry for, not just for the immigrants, but for people that are in total need.

- [Bill] The church's computer labs turned into a distribution center for other organizations that need help, too.

- Churches from all over, religious organizations, political leaders, activists, all got involved.

So, it's not just church in the Messiah, it's a lot of groups who are really helping to make this happen.

- [Will] On November 1st, the Church of the Messiah will celebrate 150 years with the black-tie event, the Audacity of Faith.

For more stories from the Church of the Messiah and Islandview, visit onedetroitpbs.org.