Christ Episcopal Church stands on Old Branch Avenue in Clinton, Maryland, where it has gathered Anglicans and served the surrounding neighborhoods for more than 150 years. The parish's own motto, "With God, Nothing is Impossible," frames a ministry built around weekly worship, hands-on outreach, and a community life that ranges from a Saturday morning food pantry to a Sunday afternoon jazz concert series. The congregation belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and is part of the wider Anglican tradition.
150 Years on Old Branch Avenue
The first wooden church on this Clinton property was built in 1875. A brick sanctuary replaced it in 1928, and that brick building still anchors the campus today. The congregation marked its 150th anniversary with a renewed invitation to the neighborhood to "come for a visit, and find a family." Christ Church sees itself as a historic parish with an ongoing call to serve, and its ministries reflect both the weight of that long history and the practical needs of its neighbors.
The anniversary celebrations highlight the parish's identity as a community hub rather than a relic. The page that introduces the milestone also lists the programs that define the church today: a Sunday worship gathering, a Sunday afternoon jazz series, spaghetti dinners open to the public, a food pantry, a thrift shop, the Daughters of the King, and the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. Each of those is rooted in the same campus on Old Branch Avenue that has been a Clinton landmark for a century and a half.
Sunday Worship at 9 AM
The principal Sunday service takes place at 9:00 AM in the church sanctuary. Most weeks the congregation gathers for a Service of Holy Eucharist; on other Sundays, the order of service is Morning Prayer. Both follow the Book of Common Prayer and the patterns of the Episcopal tradition, so visitors arriving from other Episcopal parishes will find the rhythms familiar.
For those who cannot be in the sanctuary, the same 9 AM service is offered on Zoom. Worshippers can join by computer or smartphone, or they can dial in by phone at 301-715-8592 with meeting ID 849 8775 4393 and passcode 601866, followed by the pound sign. Bulletins for the services are posted in advance, and a Sermon and Homily archive runs back through recent months of services.
The parish's vision statement captures the heart of the call. "Christ Church invites all to join us in seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, study and service. Our goal is to spread the Good News, using our diverse gifts, our facilities and resources, to the advancement of God's kingdom." Its vision for the future is "a vibrant church actively ministering to one another and to the broader community… a diverse and growing membership engaged in continuing development of their spiritual life."
Worship at Christ Church follows the church year. The bulletins posted on the parish calendar include services of Holy Eucharist, services of Morning Prayer, a Maundy Thursday celebration with foot washing, a Good Friday service with the Stations of the Cross, the Great Vigil of Easter, Easter Sunday morning, and a "Holy Humor Sunday" on the Second Sunday of Easter. Christmas brings a Christmas Pageant staged by the children, and the year closes with a Christmas Bazaar on the parish grounds.
A Sanctuary for Music
Music is a quiet pillar of parish life at Christ Church. The congregation supports an adult choir and a Children and Youth Choir, with weekly rehearsals on Saturdays and a music library that the choir director maintains. Worship is led from the organ and piano, with soloists and instrumentalists added as the church year calls for them.
The sanctuary also opens its doors to the wider community through a Sunday afternoon jazz series. Each concert in the season is held on a Sunday afternoon, includes dinner and on-site parking, and asks for a $20 donation at the door, with children admitted free. The series has featured regional artists playing blues, straight-ahead jazz, and Afro-Cuban jazz. Recent programs have included the Vibe Collective, with Steward Bernard III on bass, Rod Hamilton on vibraphone, Sam "Seguito" Turner on percussion, and Jason Walker on congas. The ensemble draws on mambo, rumba, samba, calypso, timba, jazz, and Afro-Beat, and their repertoire ranges from Cal Tjader and Miles Davis to Horace Silver, Tito Puente, and Mongo Santamaria.
For the parish, the concerts are a way to use its historic sanctuary for the wider arts life of the region. "The classic and original arrangements of Afro-Cuban jazz by the Vibe Collective will inject some summer into your soul," the parish writes, "whether you're kicked back with a cool beverage or heating it up on the dance floor."
Spaghetti Suppers and a Saturday Food Pantry
Feeding people, both body and soul, is one of the clearest expressions of Christ Church's ministry to its neighbors.
The Spaghetti Suppers are an all-you-can-eat tradition held several Saturdays a year in the parish hall, with spaghetti, salad, bread, beverages, and dessert on the menu. Adults pay $12, seniors and children ages 6 to 12 pay $10, and children under 6 eat free. Jim and Judy Williams chair the spaghetti committee, and the parish advertises that "our homemade sauce is so good you'll lick the platter clean." The suppers are both a fundraiser and a gathering, drawing longtime parishioners together with newcomers and neighbors from around Clinton.
The Food Pantry operates on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 9:00 to 11:00 AM. It is run by the Daughters of the King, Phebe Chapter, who serve as pantry managers. Children in the parish have brought donations to stock the shelves, and the pantry is a quiet but reliable presence in the lives of nearby families who need a hand. For many in the area, the twice-monthly Saturday hours are a steady rhythm they can count on.
Connie's Corner Thrift Shop
Just off the main church building, the Christ Church Thrift Shop is nicknamed Connie's Corner, in memory of Connie Russell, one of its founders. Connie worked at Connie's Corner for a decade. Even after age 90 made the stairs too much for her, she continued to price items at home and served as the shop's treasurer. She passed away in 2020 at the age of 92, but her legacy lives on in the shop's name and its welcoming atmosphere.
The shop operates on the first and third Saturdays of each month from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and it is also open most Tuesdays from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM while staff are working. Prices are deliberately modest: most items are marked at one-quarter to one-third of current retail, and the shop uses a graduated discount system, with merchandise marked down 25%, 50%, and 75% off depending on how long it has been on the floor. The longer an item sits, the lower the price. The shop has earned praise for its organized layout, its welcoming staff, and what regulars call "the best deals in town." Roseanna Brine manages the shop today.
Connie's Corner is more than a fundraiser. It is a place where regulars catch up over a rack of clothes, where bargain hunters meet volunteers, and where the parish extends a small kindness to anyone who walks in.
Sunday School, Christmas Pageant, and Easter Egg Hunt
Children and youth are woven through the life of the parish. Sunday School meets on Sunday mornings, and the children participate in two of the congregation's most visible annual events: a Christmas Pageant each Advent and an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday morning. The pageant gives the youngest members of the parish a chance to take center in the sanctuary and retell the Nativity story for their families and friends.
Older youth are invited into service projects as well. The parish's Youth Group has organized an Earth Day cleanup in the surrounding neighborhood, taking on the practical work of caring for the streets around Old Branch Avenue. Young adults from the parish also gather for fellowship events such as a Paint 'n' Sip evening hosted by Rachael Appold. These programs give the parish's teenagers and twenty-somethings a way to build friendships and serve alongside one another.
Daughters of the King, Brotherhood of St. Andrew, and Episcopal Church Women
Two of the well-known Episcopal devotional organizations are active at the parish. The Daughters of the King is an order of women committed to prayer, service, and evangelism. At Christ Church, the Daughters form the Phebe Chapter and manage the Saturday Food Pantry. They are the ones who set the schedule, stock the shelves, and welcome neighbors who come through the door on a Saturday morning.
The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is a fellowship of men in the Episcopal Church dedicated to prayer, study, and service. The Brotherhood at Christ Church gathers men of the parish for mutual support and outreach, continuing a tradition that runs back more than a century across the Anglican Communion.
In addition, the Episcopal Church Women bring women of the parish together for fellowship and ministry across the year, and the parish holds regular Vestry meetings for its lay leadership. Rosemary Greenaway serves as the parish's Volunteer Administrator, and the Vestry, led by Senior Warden Cedric Kirton, guides the life and mission of the congregation. Co-Treasurers Bill Hicks and Jean Henry, along with Vestry members Martina Beck, Luan George, Marvise Middleton, and Art Taylor, share in the oversight of the parish's operations.
Joining the Life of the Parish
Christ Church relies on the gifts of time, talent, and treasure from its members and supporters. Donations can be made by Zelle, a direct, fee-free transfer, and undesignated gifts go to the General Operating Account. The parish maintains a set of dedicated funds for Building and Grounds, County Property Fees, the Fellowship Picnic Grove, the Fuel Fund, Insurance, Organ and Piano Maintenance, the Parking Lot, the Rector's Discretionary Fund, the Sanctuary Air Conditioning, and a Scholarship Fund.
Visitors who want to attend a service, drop off a donation at Connie's Corner Thrift Shop, or help at the Food Pantry are warmly welcomed. Anyone who wants to deepen their involvement can connect through the parish office, where the staff will introduce newcomers to the rhythms of the parish, from the Sunday 9 AM worship to the Saturday morning food pantry and the Sunday afternoon jazz series.
Christ Church stands on Old Branch Avenue in Clinton, a historic brick sanctuary surrounded by the ministries that have defined this congregation for a century and a half. For 150 more years, the parish's prayer is the same one that has shaped it since 1875: that, in this place, with God, nothing is impossible.