Standing at 318 East Fourth Street in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, Christ Church Cathedral is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio and one of the oldest houses of worship in the city. The building has been a continuous presence in the neighborhood since the early nineteenth century, but its ministry now reaches well beyond the walls of the nave. The cathedral describes itself with a simple line that captures its dual identity: "A Cathedral for the City with the Heart of a Parish." Visitors arriving for the first time will find a congregation that takes its Anglican heritage seriously, sings and preaches with energy, opens its doors to people often turned away elsewhere, and runs several of the city's most quietly steady food and housing ministries.
Worship on Sundays and Saturdays
Three Sunday services and a Saturday evening Eucharist give the cathedral a weeklong rhythm of prayer.
The earliest Sunday gathering takes place at 8:00 AM in the Centennial Chapel. It is a quiet, traditional Episcopal service that uses traditional language and offers a shorter liturgy with Holy Communion. Music is provided on a recently installed organ, and worshipers stay afterward for fellowship, coffee, and donuts at Community Coffee Hour.
At 10:00 AM, the cathedral gathers in the main Nave for a full liturgy from the Anglican cathedral tradition. The congregational choir and instrumentalists give voice to a wide emotional range, from exuberant praise to deep lament. Dean Owen Thompson preaches and leads the liturgy. After the service, the same Community Coffee Hour continues in the Library.
At noon, the cathedral offers a third service in the Centennial Chapel called the Noon Service. It is a modern liturgical expression built around acoustic folk-style music, call-and-response prayer, and facilitated discussion. People who come describe it as intimate and conversational, marked by both reverence and playfulness. A Community Lunch follows the service.
Two lectionary Bible studies meet on Sunday mornings as part of the cathedral's "Disciple's Way" formation, at 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM. The groups read the day's Scripture readings alongside the Book of Common Prayer, taking a snack break and welcoming anyone who wants to dig deeper into the texts appointed for worship.
On Saturdays at 5:00 PM, the Saturday Night Eucharist gathers in the Centennial Chapel for a shorter, spoken worship service with Holy Communion. A Friday midday service at 12:10 PM rounds out the weekly schedule.
What to expect on a Sunday morning
- Sunday services are at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, and 12:00 PM, with lectionary Bible studies at 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM.
- All baptized Christians are welcome to receive Holy Communion at any service.
- The Children's Room is open and staffed during the 10:00 AM service for children from birth through age 10. The mixed-age space draws on Waldorf and Montessori early-childhood approaches, with circle time around seasonal Scripture, songs, and a snack made together.
- Free and paid street parking is available around the cathedral. The Queen City Garage, located across the street at the Great American Building, is the closest garage, and the cathedral offers parking validations for Sunday services and many Cathedral events.
- The 10:00 AM Sunday service is livestreamed each week, and bulletins are posted online for those worshiping from home.
Two Centuries on East Fourth Street
Christ Church was founded in 1817 by the missionary priest Philander Chase, who later became a bishop and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. For most of its life it was a parish church serving the spiritual and physical needs of a growing river city. In 1993, the congregation was consecrated as the cathedral for the Diocese of Southern Ohio, taking on a diocesan role in addition to its parish identity.
That transition shapes the cathedral's self-understanding. The Very Rev. Owen C. Thompson, who became the first African American Dean of the cathedral in 2021, has spoken of the institution's need to grow into its newer responsibilities while preserving the legacy of two hundred years of worship and service. Today the cathedral's vision is to "empower people of peace to reconcile, liberate, heal, and serve the world by living out the way of love." Its mission, in its own words, is "to be Christ's prophetic presence in the city, offer sanctuary to all people, awaken them to their belovedness in God, and lead the way in making Cincinnati a more just and equitable place - one neighborhood, one person, one moment at a time."
Parishioners who come today can trace that history through a timeline that runs from the cathedral's founding through periods of social change and civic growth on the Ohio River. The thread running through it is a congregation that has consistently tried to read the Gospel against the grain of its own era.
A Liberating Theology
Christ Church Cathedral is part of the Episcopal Church, a denomination it describes as striving "imperfectly and sincerely to offer Jesus' radical hospitality to all." The cathedral's teaching takes its cue from the wider Episcopal Church's emphasis on a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Worship follows the Book of Common Prayer. During a typical Sunday morning service, the congregation hears at least three readings from Scripture, and much of the liturgy is drawn directly from the prayer book. The cathedral teaches that the Bible is of extraordinary importance to Episcopal worship and that the community reads Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The cathedral also belongs to what the wider Episcopal Church calls the Jesus Movement - the ongoing community of people centering their lives on Jesus and following him into loving, liberating, and life-giving relationship with God, each other, and creation. In practice, that means the cathedral sees prayer, worship, teaching, preaching, gathering, healing, action, family life, work, play, and rest all as parts of discipleship.
Affirmation of LGBTQ+ people is part of the cathedral's stated identity. Christ Church Cathedral describes itself as a welcoming and affirming church and notes that women and men serve as bishops, priests, and deacons in the Episcopal Church, with laypeople and clergy cooperating as leaders at every level. Marriage equality is celebrated at the cathedral, including for same-sex couples.
Dean Owen Thompson and the Cathedral Clergy
The dean of Christ Church Cathedral is The Very Rev. Owen C. Thompson. A lifelong Episcopalian, he was ordained to the priesthood in 2003 at Christ Church Cathedral and has spent more than two decades in parish ministry in the Diocese of Long Island, New York City, and the Diocese of Southern Ohio. In addition to his work in the Church, he is also a community activist.
Six clergy form the cathedral's senior team:
- The Rev. Canon Joanna DeHaan Unangst, Associate Dean
- The Rev. Canon Liesebet Gravley, Canon for New Communities and Youth and Family Ministries
- The Rev. Canon Brian Blayer, Canon for Outreach
- The Rev. Canon Dr. George Hill, Canon for Development
- The Rev. Canon Bill Scrivener, Canon for Pastoral Care
- Canon Dr. Stephan Casurella, Canon Precentor and Director of Music
The full staff also includes an Associate Director of Music, a Music Administrator, an Associate Musician and Sacred Arts Coordinator, a Children's, Youth and Family Minister, a Director of Marketing and Communications, an Events and Hospitality Manager who serves as Chef in Residence, a Chief of Staff and Executive Assistant to the Dean, and others who keep the cathedral running. The staff includes an ASL interpreter, supporting the cathedral's ministry to deaf and hard-of-hearing members and visitors.
The cathedral is governed by a vestry, whose responsibilities include helping define and articulate the mission of the congregation, supporting the church's mission by word and deed, selecting the rector, ensuring effective organization and planning, and managing resources and finances.
Music, Concerts, and a Free Lunchtime Series
Music is woven into almost everything the cathedral does. The 10:00 AM Sunday liturgy is built around the congregational choir and a range of instrumentalists, drawing on literature from the Anglican cathedral tradition. The cathedral maintains multiple choirs and ensembles in residence and is home to the Cathedral Choir.
Each Tuesday at 12:10 PM, the cathedral opens its doors for Music Live at Lunch, a free weekly concert series now in its fifty-fifth season. Local artists perform a wide variety of music, from classical and chamber works to folk, jazz, gospel, and choirs. Visitors are invited to bring their own lunch or buy one at the cathedral. In its current season, Music Live at Lunch operates as a benefit series, with donations from each performance going to charities around the city.
Music extends into formation as well. The cathedral runs a Summer Music Camp for children ages 8 to 14, who sing, play instruments, create art, explore faith, and even construct a playable pipe organ over the course of a week, with an afternoon concert for families at the end.
The Arts, the Sycamore Gardens, and a Heart Space
Beyond music, the cathedral has built a public-facing arts and contemplative life under three overlapping banners.
The Arts program hosts large-scale public art murals and curated exhibitions in the Christ Church Cathedral Gallery, home to the Liturgical Arts Collective. The collective's purpose is to inspire through creativity, joy, and improvisation.
Spirituality + Imagination gathers the cathedral's work in contemplative ministry. The Sycamore Gardens offer a quiet outdoor space, and passages and poetry are read aloud from a heart space for prayer. The cathedral describes this work as an invitation to "explore deeper roots and contemplative ministries."
Conversations is a third platform that opens the cathedral's life to the wider city. The cathedral hosts public forums and community events and produces podcasts on matters of faith, public life, and neighborhood concern. A Community Issues Forum series launched in late September with a panel discussion of critical public matters, and a Healthcare Forum series explores subjects like mental health in plain, accessible language.
Children, Youth, and Family Formation
The cathedral takes a hands-on approach to formation for younger members. Peaceable Kingdom is the Sunday morning children's program for children from birth through age 10, also called the Children's Room. The classroom is mixed-age and Waldorf-inspired, centered on experiential and creative work, movement, and song. During the morning the children make bread together, gather for a seasonally appropriate Bible story drawn from the lectionary, sing with "Mr. Jason," share tea, and reflect on the story. Children are welcome to arrive at 10:00 AM and stay until noon, giving parents space to attend coffee hour or brunch before the Noon Service.
Children may also come for just the circle time during the sermon at the 10:00 service, or worship with their families in the nave and visit the Children's Room for the rest of the morning.
Older students and adults are served by The Climb, an evening formation program that meets on Wednesdays. Two tracks run in rotation: The Climb Basecamp, an introduction for newcomers that explores familiar Bible stories as adults, and The Climb Slope, a more advanced series for those who have grown up in other Christian traditions and want to examine inherited readings more critically. A typical evening starts at 6:00 PM with dinner, followed by formation from 6:30 to 7:30 PM. Registration is requested for hospitality planning.
Confirmation at the cathedral uses a six-week curriculum called "I Will with God's Help," built around the Baptismal Covenant from the Book of Common Prayer. The cathedral describes it as "a 6-week course that encourages youth and adults to enter into a uniquely Episcopal - yet profoundly Christian - faith journey."
The 5000 Club and the Food Ministry
For nearly two decades, the cathedral has run one of the most reliable weekly hot-meal ministries in the city. The 5000 Club, founded in 2006, gathers every Tuesday at 5:00 PM to serve a hot meal to approximately 175 people. The kitchen is staffed by volunteers who order food, pick up and deliver supplies, set up tables and the serving line, sign in guests, and clean up afterward. The cathedral is open to new volunteers, and training can happen on any Tuesday.
The 5000 Club sits inside a broader network of food and hospitality work. The cathedral also supports a Community Grants Program that funds partner organizations working to house, feed, and clothe people in need, and that also supports mentoring and educational programs aimed at breaking cycles of poverty. The Hearts and Hands Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the third Saturday of each month at 9:30 AM (with a second-Saturday schedule in April and December) to knit and crochet prayer shawls, scarves, hats, and small gifts for members and friends of the community. No prior experience is necessary.
Blessing Bags on Saturday Mornings
Each Saturday morning, a separate crew meets at the cathedral to pack sandwiches and snacks into "Blessing Bags." Twenty-five bags are delivered to the Church of the Advent, and about one hundred more are handed out in person or taken out onto the street by volunteers. Distribution takes place from 10:00 to 11:00 AM in the Narthex, with volunteers asked to arrive by 9:00 AM.
Blessing Bags is a simple, direct ministry: a sandwich, a snack, a kind word. The cathedral considers it one of the most concrete ways the congregation meets its neighbors where they are.
Housing Stability: PlumbLine and Jubilee
Two cathedral programs focus specifically on keeping families in their homes. PlumbLine Ministry partners with St. Vincent de Paul to prevent evictions on a one-time emergency basis. Each year the program serves more than 250 people and commits more than $150,000 to these efforts. Volunteers staff PlumbLine for about four hours a month, meeting with clients in person at the church after training with an experienced volunteer.
The Jubilee Debt Forgiveness Program takes a different approach. It partners with local agencies serving families at risk of or experiencing homelessness and pays down old utility, housing, or medical bills that have become barriers to regaining housing stability. Partner agencies apply to the program on behalf of the families they serve.
Together, PlumbLine and Jubilee represent the cathedral's longer-term commitment to housing stability in Cincinnati, complementing the immediate food ministries with deeper financial relief.
The Native American Ministry Council
Since 1984, Christ Church Cathedral has hosted a Native American Ministry Council, made possible by a bequest from Nina F. Lansley to the Episcopal Society of Christ Church Cathedral. The Council's work focuses on three priorities:
- Providing hands-on outreach by witnessing for and building awareness of the contemporary needs, values, and traditions of Native American cultures in the United States and Canada.
- Contributing to the education and theological development of leadership within Native American communities.
- Supporting initiatives that empower Native American societies and ministries related to life needs, cultural sustainability, and spiritual growth within Native American values.
The Council meets on the second Saturday of each month in the Vestry Room, and newcomers are welcome. It also organizes seasonal observances such as Orange Shirt Day in late September and an Indigenous Peoples Celebration in October, often featuring Native flute, drum, and choral music from Native composers.
LGBTQ+ Alliance and the Wider Diocese
The cathedral's affirmation of LGBTQ+ people runs through both its parish life and a broader diocesan effort. The DSO LGBTQ+ Alliance is a network of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies who are Christians or curious about their faith. It exists to build community, affirm and celebrate unique gifts, and share the Good News of Christ's love within the Episcopal Church. The Alliance welcomes LGBTQ+ people facing exclusion from their families and faith communities, offering spaces of inclusion, belonging, and hope.
Justice, Grants, and Reconciliation Work
The cathedral frames its justice work as part of being "Christ's prophetic presence in the city." Through its Community Grants Program and the Community Grants Committee, it funds and supports organizations that help those who cannot help themselves and that walk with the cathedral in promoting reconciliation, social justice, and advocacy. Grant dollars go to organizations that house, feed, and clothe the poor, and the cathedral also invests in mentoring and educational programs aimed at breaking cycles of poverty.
Grant applications open seasonally, with deadlines and notification dates posted to the cathedral's outreach page. The Justice page on the cathedral's site spells out the goals: leading the response to racial inequity, economic disparity, and creation care, and seeking to bring equity into the cathedral's own neighborhood and across the wider city.
Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals
Christ Church Cathedral hosts the three great liturgical rites of passage in the Episcopal Church.
Holy Baptism is the formal entrance into the congregation and the wider Church. The cathedral follows the standard Episcopal practice of celebrating baptism on four occasions in the church year: the Sunday after Epiphany, the Easter Vigil, Pentecost, and the Sunday after All Saints' Day. Additional baptisms may take place at the discretion of the dean at the 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, or noon services. Adults are encouraged to prepare through the Catechumenate and to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. Infants and small children require preparation with the cathedral clergy, and all candidates must be attendees or members of the church for a period of one to three months before baptism.
Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows are pastoral rites that complement baptism. Confirmation is described in the Book of Common Prayer as "a mature public affirmation of faith and commitment to the responsibilities of Baptism." At the cathedral, confirmation typically takes place once a year, usually on the Day of Pentecost or whenever the bishop is scheduled to be present.
Weddings at the cathedral are described as a celebration of "the sacred commitment of two people who choose to make marriage a part of their mutual faith journey." The cathedral is proud to be an affirming church that celebrates marriage equality for all people, including LGBTQ+ persons. Couples planning a wedding can request a marriage intake form from the cathedral office.
Funerals at the cathedral are understood as both a celebration of the Easter promise and a time to walk together through grief and loss. The cathedral's teaching is that "for God's faithful, in death, life is changed, not ended." Families may inquire about holding a funeral at the cathedral or request a meeting with the clergy staff to plan a funeral in advance.
The Building, Parking, and Getting Around
The cathedral's downtown block at 318 East Fourth Street places it within walking distance of Fountain Square and the riverfront. Inside, three spaces are central to cathedral life: the Cathedral Nave, where the 10:00 AM Sunday liturgy takes place; the Centennial Chapel, home to the 8:00 AM and noon Sunday services and the Saturday evening Eucharist; and Sycamore Commons, a flexible gathering space with an adjoining chapel used for receptions and quiet reflection. The Narthex is the entry space where Saturday Blessing Bags are distributed, the Vestry Room hosts council meetings, and the Library is the setting for the post-10:00 AM coffee hour.
Outside, the Sycamore Gardens provide a contemplative green space. The cathedral's contact information is straightforward: 318 East 4th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202; phone 513-621-1817; email hello@cccath.org. Office hours run Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Saturday from 8:00 AM to noon, and Sunday from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
For drivers, free and paid street parking is available around the cathedral. The Queen City Garage, across the street at the Great American Building, is the closest garage option, and the cathedral offers parking validations for Sunday services and many Cathedral events. The cathedral also maintains a livestream of the 10:00 AM Sunday service on YouTube and posts service bulletins and Prayers of the People online for those who cannot attend in person. Giving is accepted online through the cathedral's Realm portal.
A Cathedral in the Middle of the City
What distinguishes Christ Church Cathedral is less the size of its building than the density of life around it. In a single week, the cathedral's calendar may include three Sunday liturgies, a Saturday night Eucharist, two lectionary Bible studies, a free Tuesday lunchtime concert, a Tuesday evening meal for 175 neighbors, a Saturday morning packing of more than a hundred Blessing Bags, a Wednesday night Climb formation session with dinner, a second-Saturday Native American Ministry Council meeting, a monthly prayer shawl gathering, occasional lecture and panel events, and a Sunday afternoon Arts opening or chamber concert.
The cathedral describes itself with a phrase that has become its unofficial motto: "We make safe spaces for all and create possibilities." Across two centuries on East Fourth Street, that work has taken many forms - feeding the hungry, sheltering the displaced, opening its doors to those turned away elsewhere, singing the liturgy, painting the walls, training new clergy, and giving away more than a hundred sack lunches every Saturday morning. The cathedral's daily life continues in that same tradition.