The first services of the Episcopal Church in Warwick were held during April 1854 in the Methodist Church and were conducted by The Rev. William H. Carter, rector of St. Thomas' Church, Vernon, NJ. In 1857 a thousand dollars was raised to build a church. A lot was purchased at the corner of Main and Church Streets. Trenches for the foundation were dug, but for an unknown reason, the effort was abandoned.
The beginning years of the parish were uncertain and difficult. No services were held from 1859-1862. Services resumed on July 4, 1862 under The Rev. George Gray. He remained only until the second Sunday in Advent that year. Services ceased once again until July 17, 1864 when they resumed under The Rev. Nicholas F. Ludlum, rector of St. Thomas' Church, Vernon. Father Ludlum held services in the morning in Vernon, and in the afternoon in Warwick, where the congregation averaged forty souls.
On September 23, 1865 a meeting was held to incorporate the parish and a building committee was appointed. The property at the corner of South and Second Streets was purchased and construction began. The "carpenter gothic" church, designed by Mr. Jardine of New York, was built by Henry McElroy for about $9,000 including the cost of the land. The cornerstone was laid on July 17, 1866 and the building was completed in December. The first services were held on the fourth Sunday in Advent, December 23, 1866. On a very warm July 3, 1867, the building was consecrated by The Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, Bishop of the Diocese of New York. The church maintained a strong role in the community throughout the nineteenth century.
Early in the twentieth century, the church built the present rectory on an open lot at 5 Second Street. Before that, the dwelling just west of it had served in this capacity. In the 1940s, the Drew House, adjacent to the church, was purchased for use as a parish house. In 1964, this was torn down and the present parish house was erected. On April 5, 1975 this building suffered a disastrous fire. It was rebuilt and rededicated on May 23, 1976 by The Rt. Rev. Harold L. Wright.
In 1988 the exterior of the church building was preserved and in 1992 a new pipe organ was installed. The Peragallo Organ Company built the organ, which contains eleven ranks of pipe work and 726 speaking pipes. It was dedicated at an evening ceremony and concert on November 29, 1992. In 1996 our tech-savvy rector, The Rev. Mark Cyr, was early to register the now much sought-after domain name christchurch.org and put us here on the worldwide web.
In 2001 the congregation and the community came together to restore and preserve the rectory. The floors and woodwork were restored, the kitchen was enlarged and modernized, wiring was upgraded, appliances were replaced with energy efficient ones and the entire building was painted inside and out. The rectory was rededicated at a special service on November 11, 2001 by interim pastor, Ralph E. Peterson D.D.
We celebrated our 150th year in 2004, with former rectors Father Mitchell, Father Harbort, and Father Cyr joining our current rector Father Barker for a celebratory service. In October 2004, the 1866 time capsule was located in the foundations of the church and removed. The contents were perfectly preserved. Those documents and pictures were copied, archived and replaced in the capsule. On All Saints' Day 2006 the 1866 time capsule was reinterred with a new time capsule filled with mementos and family histories from present time; the location is marked by a plaque in the northern exterior wall of the church.
On June 4, 2011 our rector, Fr. J. Scott Barker, was elected the 11th Bishop of Nebraska. He celebrated his last mass on Wednesday evening Aug. 31, after the Sunday services of Aug. 28 were cancelled due to the passing of hurricane Irene.
