Christ Church is the oldest continuously operating Episcopal Church on the South Cumberland Plateau. “The appointments and surroundings were not all that could be desired, but the people gladly heard the word preached” reads the diary of the Rt. Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, who on August 30, 1868, conducted Christ Church’s first service. The “surroundings” he described was a sawmill shed near the railroad depot.
Worship services continued there until a community structure, Temperance Hall, was built for all denominations. In 1873, area Episcopalians erected their own church under the leadership of Milnor Jones, a seminarian at the University. Jones was followed by The Rev. Henry Easter, the congregation’s first ordained priest who served from 1891 to 1896. A master craftsman, he carved the altar, bishop’s chair and other furnishings. The building was damaged severely by a storm, but miraculously, Easter’s hand-carved works survived. The present church was built in 1925 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
On October 5, 1952, the Father Adamz Memorial Parish House was dedicated to honor the Rev. Alphonso Constantine Adamz, who served Christ Church for two decades. Father Adamz, who was also active with the Boy Scouts of America, has a campground bearing his name near Foster Falls.
In and around Tracy City
Christ Church Episcopal
From a humble start in a woodshed, an enduring legacy