The first church in the Episcopal Church designed as a cathedral. The architect was James Renwick, Jr., who also designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C. On August 10, 1979, the cathedral and its guild house were added to the National Register of Historic Places. Our Merciful Saviour was founded by Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple, who is buried beneath the altar. In 1941 St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis was dedicated as the seat of the bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, but the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour retains its status as a full cathedral as well. The Episcopal Church is part of the world-wide Anglican Communion.