This article is about Christ Church Episcopal (Savannah, Georgia). For the Anglican Church in North America congregation in Savannah with a similar name, see Christ Church Anglican (Savannah, Georgia).
On February 12, 1733, colonists from England established the city of Savannah as the first city in the newly chartered Province of Georgia.[1] Henry Herbert, a priest in the Church of England, was with them, establishing a mission in the city under the auspices of the Bishop of London.[1][2] While a lot for a church building had been plotted by James Oglethorpe, the first services for the parish were open air and, after its construction in 1736, held in the city's courthouse.[3][4][5] Following Herbert's departure from Georgia in late 1733, several missionaries would serve in the new colony, most notably John Wesley, who served in the city from February 1736 to December of the following year.[6] While there, Wesley founded one of the first Sunday schools in the United States and held services at his house (which he would later cite as being an important moment in the creation of the Methodist movement), but difficulties in evangelizing the Native Americans in the region and friction between Wesley and residents of the city led to his departure less than two years later.[6][7]
In 2006, the church underwent a schism regarding the Episcopal Church's stance on homosexuality.[17] In March 2006, a majority of the congregation of Christ Church voted to break ties with the Episcopal Church.[18] Following a September 2007 vote to leave the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia,[19] this breakaway group continued to hold services at the historic church building while parishioners who wished to remain with the Episcopal Church met at another nearby Episcopal church.[18] The breakaway group vacated the historic building in December 2011 and began holding services at Independent Presbyterian Church.[18] This was after the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the historic building was the property of Christ Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.[19] The case also ruled that the church held the rights to "Christ Church, Savannah" and "the Mother Church of Georgia", with the breakaway group taking the name "Christ Church Anglican" to differentiate from the Episcopal congregation (sometimes referred to as "Christ Church Episcopal").[19] Both churches maintain the same history from 1733 to the split.[19]
In 2010, Christ Church Episcopal unveiled a new seal designed by local artist Louise Huntington Shipps, wife of Bishop Harry W. Shipps. [20]
Timeline of notable events
1733 - On February 12, the Colony of Georgia and Christ Church, a mission of the Church of England under the ecclesiastical authority of the Bishop of London, are founded.[2]
1736 - The Rev. John Wesley becomes the minister. While here, he starts America's first Sunday school and publishes the first English hymnal for use in America.[21]
1968 - City-wide memorial service held in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr at Christ Church.[23]
1969 - G. Paul Reeves is consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of Georgia in Christ Church.[21]
1973 - The funeral of Albert Rhett Stuart, sixth Bishop of Georgia, is held on Holy Saturday at Christ Church.[24]
1973 - The Bishop of London attends the Sesquicentennial of the Diocese of Georgia and dedicates the new organ at Christ Church.[21]
1976 - Johnny Mercer, American songwriter and winner of four Academy Awards, dies and is buried from Christ Church.[2]
1980 - The Rev. Charles L. Hoskins, then Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Savannah, and author of Black Episcopalians in Georgia: Strife, Struggle, and Salvation, baptizes ten children at Christ Church on July 7 using the same rite of baptism from 1750.[22]
1984 - Harry W. Shipps is consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of Georgia on the Feast of the Epiphany in Christ Church.[23]
1984 - Francis Bland Tucker, our thirty-seventh Rector, dies and is buried from Christ Church.[24]
1985 - Susan W. Harrison is ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons, the first woman to hold this position in the Diocese of Georgia, by the Rt. Rev. Harry W. Shipps.[22]
1998 - Roger K. Warlick, author of As Grain Once Scattered: The History of Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia, 1733-1983, dies and is buried in Christ Church.[23]
2001 - Malcolm R. Maclean, Mayor of Savannah from 1960-66 and former Diocesan Chancellor, dies and is buried in Christ Church.[24]
2007 - On September 30, the rector, vestry, and several members of Christ Church vote to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church and align with the Church of Uganda, but they refuse to relinquish the real and personal property of Christ Church. The Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit defrocks the rector and appoints The Rev. Canon H. Neal Phelps as the priest in charge for the remaining Episcopalians who must now worship at St. Michael and All Angel's Episcopal Church on Washington Avenue.[24]
2007 - The Diocese of Georgia, the Episcopal Church, and Christ Church Episcopal file a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Chatham County to regain control of the Christ Church property.[24]
2008 - On July 1, Michael S. White becomes Christ Church Episcopal's forty-first Rector. The Rev. Stuart Kenworthy, rector of Christ Church, Georgetown, Washington, D.C., is the preacher.[2]
2008 - Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church, preaches and celebrates at Christ Church Episcopal (worshiping at St. Michael and All Angel's Episcopal Church) on September 14, Holy Cross Day.[2]
2011 - On November 21, the Georgia Supreme Court rules 6-1 that all real and personal property of Christ Church is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia as provided for in the Constitution and Canons of the Church and the Diocese. On December 18, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Episcopalians hold their first service in Christ Church since being forced to leave on September 30, 2007.[2]
2012 - On February 18, The Rev. Julia Sierra Reyes is ordained to the priesthood at Christ Church by The Rt. Rev. Scott Anson Benhase, the tenth Bishop of Georgia. The Rev. Reyes becomes the first woman and the first African-American priest in the history of the parish.[2]
2012 - On May 29, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, posthumously awards the presidential Medal of Freedom to Juliette Gordon Low to honor her founding the Girl Scouts in 1912. Dick Platt, “Daisy” Low’s great nephew and member of the parish, accepts the award on her behalf.[23]
2020 - On May 30, The Rt. Rev. Frank Logue was ordained and consecrated as the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia at Christ Church. The Rt. Rev. Scott Benhase, 10th bishop of Georgia served as the chief consecrator. The Rev. Julia Sierra Reyes is the preacher.[25]
^Wheeler, Mary Bray (1993). Eugenia Price's South: A Guide to the People and Places of Her Beloved Region. Longstreet Press. p. 144. ISBN9781563520716.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrsWarlick, Roger K. (1987). As Grain Once Scattered: The History of Christ Church, Savannah, GA, 1733-1983. Columbia, SC: The State Printing Company. p. 181. ISBN0-9619270-0-3.
^ abc"History". Christ Church Savannah. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
^ abcde"History". Christ Church Savannah. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
^ abcdef"History". Christ Church Savannah. Retrieved June 7, 2020.