Christ Church — known also as Christ Church, Washington Parish or Christ Church on Capitol Hill — is a historic Episcopal church located at 620 G Street SE in Washington, D.C., USA. The church is also called Christ Church, Navy Yard, because of its proximity to the Washington Navy Yard and the nearby U.S. Marine Barracks. Christ Church was established in 1795, one of two congregations envisioned for Washington Parish, created by an act of the Maryland General Assembly in 1794. Initially, worship services were held in a converted tobacco barn. The present structure was built in 1807, the first Episcopal church in the original city of Washington, on land given by William Prout. Through changes to its exterior and interior over the years, the building has been the site of a continuously worshiping community ever since. The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. The Rev. John A. Kellogg is the current rector.

History

Founding of the Parish, 1794

When the District of Columbia was created, there was no Episcopal Church in the city of Washington or Georgetown, although there had been an Episcopal presence. The Church of England had bought land for building an Anglican church in Georgetown in 1769. The Revolutionary War and time needed to establish the new Episcopal Church delayed building, but Anglican services were sometimes held at the Georgetown Presbyterian Church on Bridge St. (now M St.). Services connected to St. John's Broad Creek were held in a renovated tobacco barn on Capitol Hill, possibly as early as the 1780s. Nevertheless, existing Episcopal churches were miles from where population growth was expected, and the Rt. Rev. Thomas Claggett, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and first Episcopal bishop consecrated in the United States, was determined that there should be an Episcopal church in the nation's capital. In 1793, he appointed prominent local businessmen and landed gentry to explore using a lottery to finance building a church there. After that group, including Samuel Blodgett, Uriah Forrest, Benjamin Stoddert, William Deakins, and Anthony Addison, failed to make progress, the bishop pressed on to the Maryland legislature. The Maryland Vestry Act of 1794, drawing boundaries for a new parish in the Diocese of Maryland, made up of Washington and Georgetown, was signed into law on December 26, 1794.

Early Years, 1795-1844

The first meeting establishing Christ Church was held on May 25, 1795. Although Bishop Claggett had voiced his desire to be rector the newly elected vestry called the Rev. George Ralph, who had recently moved from Maryland to start a school in Washington. Many clergy—often the best educated men in the community—ran schools to supplement incomes that otherwise came solely from pew fees. The first vestry, prominent local land owners, speculators, businessmen, and local politicians William Deakins, Jr., John Templeman, Charles Worthington, James Simmons, Joseph Clarke, Thomas Johnson, Jr., and Gustavus Scott, appointed Henry Edwards as registrar, and elected Clotworthy Stevenson and William Prentiss as wardens for one year. In the following year, Thomas Law, General Davidson, and John Crocker were appointed to take the places of Johnson, Clarke, and Simmons, who had left the parish. Few parish records of this first decade survive, but other sources document that worship services were held in the converted tobacco barn and in the hallway of the War Office on Sunday afternoons. When Ralph left after two years to return to Maryland, his assistant, the Rev. Andrew McCormick was left in charge. In 1807, Ralph, still nominally the rector, returned to the city and called a parish meeting. Although in the interim the parish may have been, like the city, as much vision as reality, the meeting resulted in the election of a new vestry: Commodore Thomas Tingey, John Dempsie, Bullveer Cocke, Andrew Way, Thomas H. Gillis, Thomas Washington, Peter Miller, Robert Alexander, and Henry Ingle. Ralph resigned, and the new vestry elected McCormick as rector. It is in 1806, shortly before Ralph's return that vestry minutes begin anew and continue to the present time. During McCormick's tenure the new church was built on land donated by William Prout, a land owner, developer, businessman, and civic leader in the new city. The church was completed in 1807 and dedicated in 1809 by Bishop Claggett. In 1812, the vestry of Christ Church took ownership of a cemetery that had been established in 1807 by men who were also members of Christ Church: George Blagden, Griffith Coombe, John T. Frost, Henry Ingle, Dr. Frederick May, Peter Miller, Samuel Smallwood, and Commodore Tingey. This Washington Parish Burial Ground quickly became known as Congressional Cemetery. During the War of 1812, the community around the church survived the burning of the Washington Navy Yard, just blocks away. The fire was started by Mordecai Booth, another Christ Church vestryman, under orders of Tingey, Commander of the Navy Yard, to prevent the British from capturing a valuable foothold in the nation's capital. Archibald Henderson, longest serving Commandant of the Marine Corps, also played a prominent role in the life of the church and served on its vestry. As the communities around the Capitol and the Navy Yard grew, so did Christ Church, expanding its physical structure in the first of many renovations in 1824. Likewise, the city of Washington was growing. The boundaries of Washington Parish, which had encompassed the original City of Washington and Georgetown, began to contract as new churches formed and parish boundaries were set for them: St. John's Georgetown in 1809, St. John's Lafayette Square in 1816, Trinity Church in 1827 (demolished 1936), Epiphany in 1844, and Ascension in 1845.

The Civil War Era, 1844-1870

The Episcopal Church as a whole and the Diocese of Maryland were not particularly progressive on the issue of slavery. A number of early Christ Church leaders were enslavers. While both free and enslaved African Americans appear to have been baptized, confirmed, and married at and communicants of Christ Church from at least 1805, their numbers were few and seating was segregated, with one of the balconies reserved for enslaved persons. Christ Church allowed African Americans to be buried in its cemetery but not in the original enclosed portion of the burial ground. Before the war, Christ Church called an anti-slavery rector in the Rev. Julius Morsell and after the war, a southern sympathizer in the Rev. Charles Hansford Shield. In 1858 Christ Church hired Theophilus Howard, an African American, as sexton. During the war Union forces used its tower to observe the area across the Potomac. In 1865 it counted among its members David Herold, one of the Lincoln assassination co-conspirators. A member of the parish, Dr. Samuel McKim, spoke in Herold's defense at his trial, and the rector of the parish, the Rev. Marcus Olds, was at the scaffold with Herold, as were other clergy with the other co-conspirators. Except for expressed relief that the church building was not commandeered for the war efforts and an authorization to drape the bell tower in black after Lincoln's assassination, there is little mention of the issue of slavery or the effects of war in the vestry proceedings of the time.

The Gilded Age, 1870-1900

If hard use during the war battered Capitol Hill's roads and existing buildings, it also brought new residences, schools and military and civic buildings, and the local population grew after the 1883 Pendelton Civil Service Reform Act gave federal workers greater job security and regular wages. Christ Church mirrored this pattern, growing from 147 communicants in 1870 to 532 in 1895. The best known Christ Church member is John Philip Sousa, the famous March King and head of the Marine Corps Band from 1880-1892. He was born at 636 G St., SE, just three doors east of Christ Church and had a lifelong association with the parish. Sousa referred to Christ Church in a novel he wrote set in the Pipetown neighborhood east of the Marine Barracks. Christ Church was stable enough to establish a parochial chapel, St. Matthew's, at Half and M Streets, SE, in 1892. St. Matthew's added a parish hall in 1914. During this time Christ Church was known for its music program. A Hook & Hastings organ was installed in 1880, and there were a boys' choir and sponsored musical events. The church celebrated its centennial on May 25, 1895. That year saw the establishment of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which split the District of Columbia and nearby Maryland counties from the Diocese of Maryland. The end of the 19th century gave the church the dubious distinction that former rector the Rev. Gilbert Fearing Williams was the first clergyman in the newly formed Diocese of Washington to be tried for misconduct. Having been found guilty, Williams was deposed by Bishop Satterlee in 1898, but was reinstated in 1914 by Bishop Harding when new evidence came to light.

World Wars, 1900-1946

The neighborhood was relatively stable during the first half of the 20th century, even during the Depression, in part on the strength of federal government employment, particularly in the Navy Yard. Parish leadership similarly saw stability, with the Rev. Arthur Shaaf Johns beginning his 20-year service as rector in 1897. Johns, son of the Rt. Rev. John Johns, Bishop of Virginia, was also a Confederate veteran. In 1903, Christ Church built a chapel at Congressional Cemetery. During World War I, while the Rev. David Covell was rector, the church hosted dinners for armed service members. In the 1920s, the church had the resources to undertake a major interior redesign, changing the look from heavy Victorian ornamentation to imitation stone, more in keeping with the neo-Gothic appearance of the exterior. The longest-serving rector after Johns was the Rev. Edward Gabler, whose tenure reached 18 years. In 1930 parish by-laws were changed so that women members of the congregation could vote in parish elections. Gabler assisted at the funeral of John Philip Sousa in 1932. In 1938 the church purchased a Hammond electric organ with a full accompaniment of chimes that Gabler loved to play. When Gabler left, the congregation had remained relatively stable in size for 50 years, but the neighborhood was starting to show signs of stress and disrepair.

Decline and Revitalization, 1947-1983

In the 1950s, during the terms of the Revs. John H. Stipe and Ivan E. Merrick, Jr., the alley dwellings behind the church were cleared, replaced by a parking lot and playground, and the church building underwent a major renovation. Historic preservation efforts also began to shape the Capitol Hill neighborhood around the church. In the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court decision desegregating D.C. public schools (Bolling v. Sharpe), racial demographic shifts across the city accelerated, and the Rev. Donald A. Seaton, called as rector in 1965, advocated efforts to attract young people and foster racial integration. However, the pace and nature of his changes provoked some members of the congregation, and Seaton resigned by 1968. Despite the parish's diminished membership and resources, efforts to connect with the Capitol Hill community, begun by Seaton and continued by the rectors who followed, resulted in Christ Church's support for the founding of a day school, a social services agency, and a community arts organization. The parish day school begun in the early 1960s, joined with the Lutheran Church of the Reformation to eventually become the Capitol Hill Day School. It was led by Bessie Wood Cramer, the parish's first female vestry member, who had been responsible for managing D.C. public school desegregation in the 1950s. Christ Church participated in the establishment of Capitol Hill Group Ministry, a coalition of Capitol Hill churches responding to the racial tensions and social needs of an increasingly diverse Capitol Hill population. Capitol Hill Group Ministry incorporated as a 504(c)(3) nonprofit provider of social services in 1967, and today is known as Everyone Home DC, a community provider of services to prevent and ameliorate homelessness. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop began a long relationship with Christ Church in 1972, holding many classes and staging shows in the parish hall until it secured dedicated space at 7th and G Streets, SE, in the early 1980s. On May 25, 1969, the Rev. David Dunning presided over the church's 175th anniversary celebration. The U.S. Marine Band presented a concert on the lawn, G Street was closed to traffic, and an Interior Department official added Christ Church to the National Register of Historic Places. Picketers stood just outside the church fence, protesting the presence of General William Westmoreland, a commander of American forces in Vietnam, who had been invited along with other dignitaries. After the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women to the priesthood in 1976, the Rev. Carole A. Crumley, ordained at Washington National Cathedral in January 1977, was called as the parish's first female priest, serving as assistant rector and as interim rector during 1977-1979.

1985-Present

In the mid-1980s, the parish was active in the AIDS crisis, hosting educational sessions for the parish and the community and raising funds. The church helped establish the Diocesan program, Episcopal Caring Response to AIDS (ECRA), and with other Diocesan churches, it sponsored a group home for individuals with AIDS, staffed by the Whitman-Walker clinic. Christ Church celebrated its bicentennial in 1994 with the Rev. Robert Tate as rector. The Rev. Judith Davis, the church's first female rector, followed Tate in 1996. While the Rev. Cara Spaccarelli was rector (2009-2018), solar panels were installed on the parish hall roof, the parish hall was renovated, and a new organ was installed, Opus 3914 of Casavant Frères. Built expressly for the worship space, the organ replaced an instrument in place since 1972, which was a composite based on a 1901 Hook & Hastings organ purchased from St. Cyprian's Roman Catholic Church. Spaccarelli was a Capitol Hill Community Achievement Award honoree in 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the church called the Rev. John Kellogg as its 29th rector.

Architecture

Construction

Setting, Size, Design, Layout, Materials, & Features

The church was centered on two plots of land (Lots 6 & 7, Square 877) on G Street, SE, given by William Prout. The building was set back approximately 100 feet from and about 4 feet above G Street, which had been cut west to east across the gently sloping hill. Steps led up from the unpaved roadway to a walkway (probably brick) centered on the building. The design has been incorrectly attributed to Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the Capitol and innumerable other buildings in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Records point to Robert Alexander, a protégé of Latrobe, as the original designer of the church. Correspondence by Latrobe's son incorrectly attributes Christ Church Capitol Hill to Latrobe, which may be the genesis of the misattribution. According to the vestry's request for proposals published in The National Intelligencer (May 28, 30, June 4–13, 1806), the church was constructed of brick.

Subsequent Additions and Modifications

The many changes of the past 225 years in the church building and parish hall have reflected growth in membership as well as changes in liturgical practice and liturgical taste of the Episcopal Church and the parish. Unlike many historic churches which have either maintained their original features or have had them restored, Christ Church is a blend of the architectural styles and tastes in vogue over its lifetime.

Rectors

The 29 rectors of Christ Church Washington Parish, their tenures and theological education are listed below. In the early years of the Episcopal Church, individuals seeking ordination did not always go to theological schools but often studied under the direction of a Bishop or other clergy. In those cases, the ordaining bishop is listed. This list does not include interim and associate rectors who have served the parish on a temporary basis or under the direction of the called rector.