Parish History

The history of Christ Episcopal Church in St. Marys can be traced to a founding congregation in 1843. The congregation originally met in a building on Conyers Street until the Vestrymen of the church acquired the present property in 1844.

A church building was constructed under the supervision of Israel Geer in 1845 - 1846. It was a wooden structure with a steeple, and was plastered and whitewashed on the interior. There were also blinds and an organ present. The church was small but quaint and James Silva, in his writings of St. Marys in the 1840’s, referred to it as “the pretty little church in a grove on Wheeler street."

Christ Church entered the Diocese of Georgia as a mission in 1848, and in two years had a congregation of 25 people. The church’s first minister was The Reverend Joseph A. Shanklin who, as a circuit-riding priest, “...ministered acceptably to a small congregation.” (James Silva). The first wardens of the church were Miller Hallowes and P.M. Nightingale, the son-in-law General Nathaniel Greene’s widow.

NAME CHANGE

Originally, Christ Church, St. Marys, bore the name The Church of the Messiah. This was the name of the parish during the nineteenth and on into the twentieth century. It was not until the early 1930’s that the name Christ Church began to establish itself, possibly as a tribute to the Reverend Dodge, Jr. for his support of the rural congregations during his lifetime.

PARISH STATUS

Christ Church was granted Parish status in March 1988, while The Reverend John Harris Harper was priest. In February 1989, The Reverend William F. "Mac" Flowers was instituted as the church’s first Rector during a Centennial Celebration. Deacon Thom McPherson was installed as the church's first deacon in November 1998. The first deacon ever ordained at Christ Church (in September of 2006) was the Rev. Deacon Jennifer Highsmith.

History provided by Ralph Alan Pearson.

THE CIVIL WAR ERA

The town of St. Marys suffered terribly during the Civil War. A union gunboat shelled the town’s riverfront. To escape the ravages of war, many of St. Marys’ citizens fled the county. The Federal commander, Major Thomas Higginson, ordered the burning of numerous buildings, including Christ Church.

After the war, Vestryman Francis Adams made a strong effort to get Northern aid to rebuild the church, but failed. It was not until 1885 that services began anew for Christ Church, under the auspices of The Reverend Anson Greene Phelps Dodge, Jr. of Christ Church, St. Simons Island. In January 1889, Bishop John W. Beckwith consecrated the present church building.

Bishop Beckwith considered The Reverend Dodge, Jr. to be an apostolic man, because the young minister gave generously of his time and personal fortune to finance the mission buildings and stipends paid to the priests who ministered to these small, rural Episcopal congregations.