Christ Episcopal Church has gathered on Church Square at the corner of South State and Water Streets in downtown Dover since 1734. Its greeting is "Everyone is welcome," and its stated motto is "As Christ Does, We Will." Sunday worship is offered at 8:00 and 10:00 AM, with adult and children's education at 9:00 AM between them, and a midday healing service on Wednesdays at 12:10 PM.
Three Hundred Years on Church Square
The parish's story begins a generation before the brick church was raised. On August 30, 1703, twenty-two Kent County residents signed a petition to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts in London, asking for a priest of the Church of England. The Reverend Thomas Crawford arrived in 1704, the first of nine SPG missionaries to serve the Delaware congregation. When William Penn's surveyors laid out Dover in 1717, they set aside two religious squares - Meeting House Square for Presbyterians (called "Dissenters" in the original deed) and Church Square for the Church of England. After an earlier worship site southwest of the present square, the parish relocated to its current location in 1734, and the central portion of the present church was built on the new square that year.
Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a parishioner and vestryman of Christ Church. A monument to him stands in the churchyard, though he is buried elsewhere. The main and original portion of the church has been in continuous use since 1734. The building is on the National Register of Historic Sites and is a participant in First State Heritage Park at Dover.
The Sacred Yew Tree, the Labyrinth, and a Self-Guided Tour
The churchyard holds an ancient English yew, a mature evergreen that is treated as part of the parish's living history. Photographs of the tree fill a dedicated page, inviting visitors to come see it in person and trace its centuries-old growth. Beyond the yew, the grounds include a prayer labyrinth and a small cemetery in which generations of parishioners are buried.
Christ Church offers a series of brochures that turn the property into a self-guided pilgrimage: a history of Christ Church, a cemetery walking tour, an interior walking tour, a guide to the labyrinth, a guide to the yew, the churchyard's policies and procedures, and a current ministry brochure. The Cemetery Committee cleans markers and headstones, maintains cemetery maps and burial records, places American flags on veterans' graves for Memorial Day and removes them after Veterans Day in November, and researches the lives of those who rest in the cemetery. The committee's work overlaps with a separate Research and History Committee, which keeps historic records organized and develops research projects in line with the interests of its members.
The Yard Crew meets twice a year to clean up and weed the grounds. In between, the crew plants annuals, tends flower pots, clears sticks and limbs from the lawn, and looks after the plantings that frame the church.
Worship on Sundays and Wednesdays
Two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist are offered each Sunday morning, at 8:00 and 10:00 AM. Both services use the Book of Common Prayer, the historic prayer book of the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion. Acolytes of all ages - children, teenagers, and adults - serve in the procession and at the altar. Ushers greet worshippers at the door, hand out bulletins, help newcomers find seats, and see them out at the end of the service. Members of the Altar Guild prepare the sanctuary beforehand; the Flower Ministry arranges altar flowers and, after the service, delivers the arrangement to a parishioner who needs thanks, encouragement, or quiet acknowledgement.
"Some folks like to dress up for church, some come in shorts, and some in between," the parish writes for newcomers. "We rejoice that you have found your way to our door." Holy Eucharist is central to each Sunday gathering, with the prayers of confession, scripture readings, the sermon, the exchange of the peace, the Eucharistic prayer, and the sharing of bread and wine. All services are in English.
On Wednesdays at 12:10 PM, the parish holds a shorter service of worship and healing prayers. The Wednesday gathering gives downtown workers, retirees, and stay-at-home neighbors a quiet midday pause, and it is offered both in person and through livestream. Sunday services and Wednesday services are livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube, and bulletins are posted as PDF files for those worshipping online. A link to the Book of Common Prayer online sits alongside the livestream links.
An Education Hour Between the Services
Between the two Sunday services, at 9:00 AM, the parish gathers for adult and children's education. Classes for both age groups meet in the parish house during the same hour, allowing families with children of different ages to attend together. Sunday School participation flows naturally into wider parish life: children who are old enough are invited to become acolytes, with training and a regular schedule arranged through the parish office.
Music, Choir, and the Glorify Practice
Music at Christ Church is led by Choir and Music Director Donald Robinson. The chancel choir supports the liturgy of the Sunday services, providing hymns, anthems, and choral settings of the mass throughout the church year. A designated Bill and Addie Webb Music Fund supports the music program in honor of two beloved choir members whose names remain on the parish's musical life.
For a less formal musical style, a praise ensemble called Glorify rehearses in the parish house, drawing singers and instrumentalists who enjoy contemporary worship music. The two streams together serve the parish's range of tastes. The choir especially prepares for the great feasts of the year - a Longest Night liturgy on the winter solstice, Christmas Eve services, and the demanding music of Holy Week and Easter.
Outreach: Blessing Box, Matthew 25 Bags, and Brown Bag Lunches
Outreach touches nearly every corner of parish life. The Blessing Box is a small weatherproof pantry on the parish grounds facing State Street, stocked with non-perishable food and basic hygiene supplies. The Outreach Group keeps the box full, and a printed list of needed items hangs in the vestibule for visitors who want to drop something off.
Named for the verse "Whatever you do for the least of your brothers, you do unto me," Matthew 25 Bags are drawstring sacks filled with deodorant, socks, snacks, and other essentials. Parishioners fill the bags at home and the parish hands them out to neighbors experiencing homelessness. A separate list of needed toiletries is available in the parish office.
On the first Monday of each month the congregation donates fifty brown-bag lunches to the Resource Center at the Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing, each bag slipped with a handwritten note of welcome. On Saturday mornings at 8:30 AM a small crew called Neighbors at the Table prepares breakfast sandwiches in the Parish Hall. Redner's grocery receipts turned in at the church office or left in a marked box on the church porch are submitted monthly to support DIMH. The parish was active in DIMH's founding in 2008 and has served meals to residents, helped at the Resource Center, and hosted the shelter's overflow program, "Cold Purple," for years. The parish also runs an Angel Tree program and an annual school supply drive for the Murphey School, an organization serving foster children and orphans; parishioners shop for individual gifts and help the children shop for their own shoes. A "Feed the Troops" program, started by one of the parish's own members, cooks for service members in central Delaware.
Three Centuries of Partnership in Dover
The relationship between Christ Church and the city of Dover runs deep - more than three centuries, by the parish's own count. In recent decades, the partnership has taken specific shape through a handful of organizations. The Murphey School receives Christmas presents through the parish's annual Angel Tree drive and ongoing school supply support. The parish sends representatives to the monthly meeting of the Central Delaware Interfaith Alliance, and has provided meals and hands-on help at the Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing for years. The Music School of Delaware uses parish buildings during the school year for music lessons, an arrangement that brings professional arts instruction into downtown Dover. Other civic groups, including the League of Women Voters and the local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, have also used parish property for meetings and programs in the past year.
Pastoral Care, the Daughters of the King, and Eucharistic Visitors
"Caring for one another as we face the ups and downs of life is a vital part of being the Church," the parish writes, and several ministries carry that work. Compassionate Hearts is a monthly gathering for anyone grieving or feeling a loss. It meets on the first Saturday of each month at 10:00 AM in the parish common room, led by Verna Thompson, and it is open to anyone in the wider community who needs a place to talk.
The Daughters of the King is an international order of Episcopal women dedicated to prayer, study, and social justice. The Christ Church chapter meets once a month and sends prayer cards to every member of the congregation. Lay Eucharistic Visitors are licensed by the Episcopal Church in Delaware to bring the consecrated bread and wine from a Sunday Eucharist to parishioners who are ill or homebound - a designated ministry that requires the candidate to be a confirmed adult member in good standing and a licensed Lay Eucharistic Minister, with special encouragement for those who already have a ministry of visitation or pastoral care. Pastoral Care coordination, flower deliveries to parishioners, and ongoing visitation round out the parish's lay and ordained ministries of presence.
Twelve-Step Recovery at the Lower Level
The lower level meeting room of the parish house hosts a steady program of twelve-step recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous meets there on Tuesdays at 6:00 PM and Fridays at 6:00 PM. Al-Anon meets there on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM and on Saturday mornings at 9:00 AM. The parish considers hosting these groups a ministry of its own - a quiet, steady welcoming of people who come through the doors seeking recovery, regardless of church membership.
A Monthly Service at Westminster Assisted Living
On the second Thursday of each month the parish sends clergy to Westminster Assisted Living for a 10:00 AM service. Residents gather for the Holy Eucharist and prayer in their residence - one more way the parish carries worship beyond the walls of the historic church and into the lives of neighbors who cannot easily come to State Street.
Parish Life: Pancakes, Pasta, Movies, and Trivia
The Parish Life Committee keeps the calendar full of reasons to show up. Each Shrove Tuesday the parish hosts a Pancake Supper that begins at 5:00 PM. Oktoberfest, the Pentecost Picnic, the Super Bowl Chili cook-off, the Soup and Cornbread Contest, and an annual St. Patrick's Day Luncheon fill out the year. Friday movie nights pair a potluck supper with a featured film; Black History Month movie Fridays do the same each February. Trivia nights and a cemetery scavenger hunt have brought new faces onto the grounds. On Sunday mornings the Sunday Fellowship Team makes sure coffee hour follows the later service, providing food and snacks for a congregation that, the parish notes with some pride, "eats well" together.
Lent, the Longest Night, and Christmas
The great rhythms of the church year receive their own attention. Lent, Holy Week, and Easter bring additional services, music, and devotional offerings. The Longest Night service, held on the winter solstice at 11:00 PM in the church, names the grief and quiet of the year's darkest hour. Christmas brings a Family Service at 4:00 PM on Christmas Eve, carols at 10:30 PM, and a candlelit liturgy at 11:00 PM, followed by a 10:00 AM service on Christmas Day. The Bulletin for the Wednesday worship is posted in advance as a PDF, and online bulletins are posted for each Sunday service as well.
Stewardship and Giving
Annual giving at Christ Church supports the operating budget, building maintenance, the music and outreach programs, and the many partnerships described above. Online giving is available through PayPal from the parish's We Give page. The Bill and Addie Webb Music Fund is one of several designated funds; the parish also holds endowment funds for long-term support of its ministry, and parishioners may remember the church in their estate plans. Stewardship is treated as a year-round conversation rather than a single annual campaign.
Beliefs and Identity
Christ Church worships as a parish of the Episcopal Church and is part of the Diocese of Delaware, within the worldwide Anglican Communion. Worship follows the Book of Common Prayer, with the Holy Eucharist at the center of Sunday gathering. Lay ministries - lectors, acolytes, the Daughters of the King, licensed Eucharistic Visitors, the chancel choir, and a music director - surround the ordained ministry of the rector, the Reverend John Tober.
"As Christ Does, We Will" appears beneath the church's name on the parish's own communications, and the parish describes its calling in four words: welcome, support, growth, and compassion. Three centuries after twenty-two Kent County residents asked London for a priest, the parish that grew from that petition still worships on the same green it did in 1734. It still feeds Dover through brown bag lunches, blessing boxes, and decades-old outreach partnerships. It still gathers on Wednesdays at 12:10 PM for healing prayers and on Sundays at 8 and 10 for the Eucharist. The motto on the parish's communications is, simply, what the parish does.