For over 160 years, Episcopalians in Kent have worshipped in this building. We welcome you to this historic building and to the community of faith that worships here. We think you'll agree with the psalmist, who said:
Episcopal worship in Franklin Mills, now Kent, began with lay services conducted in the home of George DePeyster on Stow Street in 1824. As there were only four ordained clergy in the state of Ohio in 1818, the early church was dependent on lay leadership. The parish was formally organized in 1835 when the Rev. Alvah Sanford met with twenty-five Episcopalians in the village school located on Stow Street. Debate on whether the new parish should be named St. Paul's, St. Peter's, or Christ Church ended when Anson Brewster gave a promissory note of $100 towards the building of a church on the condition that the parish be named Christ Church.
The General Assembly of the State of Ohio passed an act of incorporation in 1836 making Christ Church, Franklin Mills the fourteenth parish in the Diocese of Ohio. Episcopalians were the fourth denomination to organize in the village and followed the Congregationalists (1819), Methodists (1822), and Disciples of Christ (1827).
Christ Episcopal Church, the oldest church building in Kent, dates from 1837 when Lynn Griswold, George DePeyster, and Lee Lattimer formed a committee to select a construction site. The present location on South Mantua Street was chosen, and building began before the end of the year. The foundation stones were given by Zenas Kent along with brick and lime for the chimney. Kent (1785-1865), who moved to Ohio from Connecticut, was one of the most prominent early settlers in Portage County. The famous but short-lived Franklin Silk Co. donated studs and shingles while parishioners contributed money as well as labor for construction.
The original building was a wood frame structure with a bell tower on the front center of the roof and was similar in design to other early Episcopal churches in Ohio. The entrance was at the center of the building into a vestibule. The interior of the Church had pews in a solid block down the center with aisles on either side. A small gallery at the back of the church accommodated the choir. Holy Communion was celebrated using a plain wooden table covered with a linen cloth, according to practices favored by the early bishops. Charles P. McIlvaine, Bishop of Ohio, consecrated the new Church on June 12, 1838.
The Church was remodeled in 1867, 1886, and 1900. As a result of this work, the gallery was removed from the rear of the church to make more seating, the nave was enlarged, a center aisle was created after the purchase of new pews, and a robing room and sacristy were constructed at the front of the building.
Major remodeling of the Church was undertaken in 1926, when the exterior walls were covered with stucco giving the church its present appearance. The entrance was moved from the center to the northeast corner, and the bell tower was placed above the new entrance. Inside the church, the present chancel and sanctuary were added while the undercroft was excavated. The cost of the work was $22,443. The first services in the enlarged building were conducted in January 1927 with a formal dedication the following October.
The education wing of the Church was constructed in 1958. In 1990 damage to a 152 year-old beam led to extensive restoration of the old church building.