Founded traditionally in 1672 on the banks of what was then known as Shipping Creek, Christ Church is one of the Chesapeake Bay areas original water churches. These date to a time when roads were few and rough and the bay and its estuaries provided the principle means of transportation. The English crown levied taxes on the colony payable on the feast day of St Michael, September 29th, and the river and eventually the settlement which grew up around its harbor a thriving center for shipbuilding and shipping of local commodities notably furs timber and tobacco became known as St Michael's.
The 1672 date derives from the church's earliest baptismal records kept in Maryland’s State archives in Annapolis. Additionally Talbot County Land records include a 1672 deed of gift from Andrew Skinner to James Clayland, the church's first rector toward maintaining the Church of Christ in St Michael's. This is the first use of the name Christ Church.
The earliest records (vestry minutes and wills) show that there was a church building on this site before 1709 and that this building of wooden clapboard construction was added onto in the additions completed in 1762. The lot on which this structure was located included much of what is now Downtown St Michael's and extended to the harbors edge. Parishioners could anchor their boats at the back of the churchyard where Church Cove Park is now located next to the Old Town Firehouse, both constructed on filled land.
Founded as a proprietary under the Catholic Calverts, the Lords Baltimore, Maryland became a royal colony when Protestant William and Mary ascended the throne in 1689 and the church of England formerly tolerated by the Calverts became the established church of the colony. It was supported by taxes often payable in tobacco, the principle local commodity. When the Diocese of Maryland was established in 1692, St Michael's was one of three parishes created in Talbot County taking its name from the river. When the town was laid out in 1778, it was officially given the name of the parish.
As settlement in the area spread out, many parishioners lived some miles from St Michael's so that Chapels of Ease were established during the 18th and 19th centuries. Four chapels of which we have records were The Chapel At Dundee, in a remote corner of the parish near the Eastern Bay, early 1700s to late 1700s; St John's Chapel just across the Miles River Bridge, then a ferry, 1835 to 1892, St Paul's Chapel Royal Oak, 1859 to 1910, Holy Innocence Claiborne, 1886 to late 1920s.The ruins of St John's can be seen to the right of the bridge. The Cornerstone of St Paul's is displayed near the security case by the side entrance. Holy Innocence was used for several years by the Methodists and later burned. The Good Shepherd window over the small altar on the cast side of the church was originally in Holy Innocence and was installed when the new sacristy was completed.
The original frame building and its addition were replaced in 1814 by a simple brick building which may be seen in a photograph in the archives case by the main entrance. As the parish continued to grow this church was replaced in its turn by the present stone and brick building completed in 1878. Church records give the cost of the 1878 building of wood brick and granite barged down the bay from Port Deposit, Maryland as $11,500. Carpenters wages were entered at 25 cents an hour.
In 1987 the vestry determined that this building, like it's predecessors was losing its underpinnings thanks in part to the high water table. In addition the slate roof was leaking and the entire building was in serious structural decay. The services were held in the parish house while a major reconstruction and restoration were underway.
The restoration followed detailed plans of the original building which was called a small Masterpiece of high Victorian Gothic architecture. It was designed by Henry Martyn Congdon, a well-known New York architect who also designed Trinity Church in Elkton, Maryland.
There were three phases of the Gothic Revival in the 19th century American Church architecture. The third and the last phase high Victorian, drew on both English and Continental elements and integrated designs with forms of worship prevailing at the time. The basic floor plan of Christ Church in St Michael's is that of an English medieval Parish church with nave chancel tower and porch but the combination of brick, wood, and stone and many disconcerting and even playful juxtapositions of design and materials are characteristically high Victorian Gothic examples are a belt frame course along the exterior chancel walls which collides with a window frame in the nave and a council window with a square top.
Visitors interested in church architecture are referred to study a Congdon and his relationship to the Gothic Revival by Anne Pettit, a member of St Michael's Parish. A copy of this is filed in the church office.
Most of the woodwork of the church interior is long leaf yellow pine. The pews are a combination of oak and black walnut. The first two choir stalls on either side of the aisle leading up to the main altar are originals made before the 1878 church was built.
Below the pulpit is the baptismal font, a gift from Queen Anne shortly after she ascended the throne in 1702. Under its handsome wooden base is the tree trunk which originally supported it. Another larger memorial font is located near the entrance to the church.
Communion silver, also a gift of Queen Anne may be seen in the security case near the side porch door. Also in this case are four pieces from St John's Chapel made in the early 1800s by AE. Warner of Baltimore, a noted silversmith. The stained glass windows above the main altar were installed when the church was built as a memorial to a former rector, the Rev. Dr. Joseph Spencer. They depict Christ as the Lamb of God with the banner of triumph and the four Gospel writers, each with his identifying symbol.
The needlework kneelers at the altar rail were designed and worked by members of the parish and completed in time for the rededication. A separate pamphlet on the kneelers is available, explaining their designs, which incorporate both religious and local symbols.
On the wall at the rear of the church, near the main entrance, are tombstone plaques, copies of originals on graves in the crypt beneath the church where two early rectors and several parishioners are buried, with 1721 the earliest dating. Note the humble language composed for himself by the Rev. Henry Nicols, the fourth rector, who served St. Michael's for 41 years. A list of Christ Church's rectors, from its founding to the present, may be seen in the artifact case.
Leaving or entering the church by the side porch, note the memorial stained glass windows made by the Willet Studios of Philadelphia in 1966. They depict the commandments of Christ as recorded by St. Matthew. For example, the commandment to feed the hungry is symbolized by a knife cutting a loaf of bread, that to clothe the naked, by a coat.
Burials have been made in the churchyard ever since the time of the first church in 1672. However, the oldest of the 125 graves whose markers can be seen is dated 1855. Wooden markers on the oldest graves, dug at a time when stone was unavailable in this area, have long since rotted away. The columbarium, constructed in 1972, contains 147 slots in the north and east walls, and was extended to the south wall in 1994.
Two very large trees on the north and south sides of the churchyard are bald cypress, usually found in groves growing in swamps. The tree on the south lawn near the post office is the fourth largest in the state. The lych gate in the east wall and the flowering trees in the churchyard are memorials.
This is the table, not of the Church, but of the Lord. It is made ready for those who seek God, those who love God, and those who want to love God more. So come, you who have much faith, and you who have little, or are questioning faith. Come, you who have been here often, and you who have not been for a long time or ever before. Come, you who have tried to follow and you who have failed. Come, not because the Church invites you; it is Christ who invites you to be known, to be fed, to be loved here.
