Christ
Church Parish was organized on January 7, 1747, at a meeting held in the town-house, Norwich, to arrange for the
erection of an edifice “for the service of Almighty God, according to the Liturgies of the Church of England”.
The
first building was completed in 1749, on the site occupied by Christ Church today. This building was removed in 1789 to a site on Main Street, and re-constructed in 1791. A new two-story gray stone church
was built in 1829, and used until 1849. It was destroyed by fire in 1978. The original Christ Church building
was sold in 1830 to the Episcopal congregation of Salem, Conn., and served
as its church until it was purchased by the town and used since as the Salem Town Hall.
The
cornerstone of the present and third Christ Church (designed by architect Richard Upjohn, renowned for his work in the English Gothic
style) was laid by Bishop Lee of Delaware (himself a Christ Church boy, and afterwards Presiding Bishop) on August 31, 1846. It was consecrated by Bishop Brownell, third Bishop of Connecticut, in April, 1849. In 1999 the parishes of Christ Church and the Church of the Resurrection (Norwich) merged. This merger formed the current parish, which was then renamed “Christ Episcopal
Church”.
