From Downtown to Hamilton, serving Baltimore for 138 years...

The Church of the Messiah was founded in 1872 in the old Christ Church building at Fayette and Gay Streets after Christ Church relocated uptown.

In 1904, Messiah was the only church building to be destroyed in the Great Baltimore Fire (see The Great Fire.)  One year later, a new cornerstone was laid at the same location and the first service was held in the rebuilt church on October 15, 1905.

The fire had caused parishioners to relocate and the rebuild downtown district became increasingly commercialized, causing the parish to decide in 1920 to relocate to Hamilton.  The Episcopal congregation that had been meeting on Glenmore Avenue, Saint Andrew's Chapel, approached Messiah and the congregations agreed to merge.

The two communities began worshipping together in a movie theater on Hamilton Avenue in April 1920 while the new church was being built.  On October 15, 1922, the first services were held in our current building on Harford Road at White Avenue.  The Tiffany Christ window over the altar, the pews, the eagle lectern and many other furnishings were moved from the rebuilt downtown building to Hamilton.