A Brief History

“Oh, how good and pleasant it is when kindred live in unity.”  Psalm 133

 

A merged congregation

Christ Church, one of the largest churches in the Diocese of Iowa with approximately 620 members, is still very young.  We celebrated our tenth anniversary as a merged church in 2007.  Christ Church was formed as the offspring of Episcopal churches in Cedar Rapids.  Our Christ Church family tree is rooted in Grace Episcopal Church,20the oldest Episcopal Church in Cedar Rapids.  In 1910, St. John’s Episcopal Church grew from the trunk of Grace Church forming a sturdy branch, and in 1958, a new branch, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, grew from St. John’s.  Then in 1997, Christ Episcopal Church was formed through the grafting together of St. John’s and St. Michael’s.

Before the merger, St. John’s and St. Michael’s entered into a long, listening discernment process to explore the potential for consolidation of these two churches.  St. John’s older facility was in a built-up residential area of Cedar Rapids, and had a growing congregation facing the challenges of limited on-street parking, major facility maintenance and repair issues, and the realization that to make the building handicapped accessible meant lessening vital classroom space.  St. Michael’s, whose rector had just retired, had a newer facility, including a recently completed accessible addition to accommodate classroom needs, and had an eye toward doubling its parish membership. 

A deeper history

Christ Episcopal Church, although technically 10+ years old, has a history that is 100+ years old!  In order to preserve our heritage, items from both parishes are used in our worship services.  These include an altar cross, a baptismal font and a small altar.  As we began to learn more about each other, we created new friendships and programs, and continued some old ones, such as herbal bread buttering, the softball team & St. Siskal’s Guild, within our newly blended congregation.  In recent months, our parish life has been shaped by the devastating floods of June 2008, as we house Arc of East Central Iowa, a young parish family and out-of-town flood recovery teams, and respond/coordinate calls for assistance in cleanup, feeding, recovery work and continued Outreach to agencies and families throughout our communinity.

Baptismal ministry

We are focused on living our baptismal covenant through active participation in vibrant worship, education programs and a range of small groups.  Youth pilgrimages and urban immersion experiences are fully supported through the Journey to Adulthood program.  Godly Play has an increasingly vital role for all ages.  Christ Church has an active healing ministry, prayer shawl ministry, Bible study groups, fun gatherings for women, men, couples and families, and has expanded the relational concept of outreach in our community and within our parish.  Two new in-reach ministry teams have been formed; one is aimed at our older parishioners and the other focuses on young families.  Music peals forth from a growing range of groups: children’s & adult choirs, bell choir, organ/piano recitals and instrumental ensembles. 

Beyond our community

Christ Church (and previously both St. John’s and St. Michael’s) have sent two representatives of the diocese to General Convention for many decades.  A number of Christ Church members are active at the diocesan level, including the Diocesan Jubilee Officer; the Diocesan Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission Chairperson; the Diocesan Global Missioner; the Diocesan United Thank Offering (UTO) coordinator; two members of the Diocesan Commission on Ministry; and an Assisting Coordinator for the newly created Diocesan Office of Flood Relief and Recovery. 

Because Christ Church quickly became one of the largest churches in the diocese, we realized that we had a new responsibility for leadership in the diocese. Our vestry has pledged 0.7% of our budget toward the Millennium Development Goals.  Our diocesan relationship with the Diocese of Swaziland has been re-invigorated, and our Jubilee Center, established over ten years ago, has actively grown through varied and valuable ministries initiated by members of our parish.  We are learning about justice and our role as individuals and as a parish, as we celebrate our varied and rich gifts within Christ Church and throughout our community, diocese and across the world.

 

This page revised September, 2008

 

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