St. Philip’s Episcopal Church was organized as a mission on November 12, 1911, and held services in the Odd Fellows Hall located across from the current location. It was admitted to the Convention of the Diocese of Western Michigan in 1912. The first services in the present church were held on December 30, 1923. Bishop McCormick, assisted by Bishop Whittemore, consecrated the church on October 25, 1936. From 1934 to 1938, John M. Burgess of Grand Rapids, whose mother helped to found St. Philip’s, was Priest-in-Charge. Bishop Burgess was the first African American Bishop and former Bishop of Massachusetts.