A Parish Shaped by Three Centuries on Rectory Street
In the spring of 1706, hopeful Rye families gathered stones from their own properties and cut timber to cart up the hill where they would build a church. A wealthy benefactor contributed nails and iron. Their minister, the Scottish-born Rev. George Muirson, wrote to England begging for "furniture for the Communion table, the pulpit and a bell." Queen Anne sent back a wooden altar, Communion cloths, a silver paten, and a deep bell-mouthed chalice that is still in use. The parish was originally Grace Church; in 1796 it was renamed Christ's Church, and it has not left the corner of Rectory Street and Milton Road since.
Today Christ's Church Rye styles itself "a both/and kind of community - ancient and alive, rooted and relevant." The 32nd rector is the Rev. Matt Stone, a former hospice chaplain who arrived in September 2025 after serving Calvary Episcopal Church in Bastrop, Texas. He is joined by the Rev. Dr. Tommy Watson, who became Associate Rector in July 2026 after a career as a professor of voice and music history, training at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, and ministry at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Wilton, Connecticut. Together they lead a parish of several hundred members, a nursery school that has been part of the campus for decades, a summer camp serving children from neighboring Port Chester, and a youth-led grantmaking board that has distributed tens of thousands of dollars to local nonprofits since 2021.
Two Sunday Services, Two Liturgical Personalities
Sunday worship at Christ's Church centers on two services that differ in tone but share the same Episcopal prayer book.
The 8:00 a.m. service is Rite I, a traditional spoken liturgy using the older Elizabethan language of the Book of Common Prayer. There is no choir, the gathering is smaller, and the service tends to last about 45 minutes. It draws people who value the cadence of ancient prayer and a quieter start to the day.
The 10:00 a.m. service is Rite II, the larger and more lively gathering. The full choir sings, the sermon is preached, and children are present before being dismissed to Sunday School (except on monthly Family Sundays, when they remain for the whole liturgy). Both services conclude with Holy Eucharist, and all are welcome at the altar rail regardless of church background or baptismal status.
Both services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, and bulletins are posted online. Visitors are gently reminded that the liturgy will carry them: stand and sit when others do, follow along in the bulletin, and do not worry about getting it "right."
Nursery Care, Sunday School, and Family Formation
During the 10:00 service, the nursery welcomes children from infancy through age 4. Caregivers are vetted and background-checked. Sunday School begins at age 5 and runs from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m., with drop-off beginning at 9:30. The program serves children from age 3 through sixth grade and uses stories, songs, scripture, and art to introduce the great arc of the Bible and to help children apply what they have learned to daily life.
The Children's and Youth Ministries Coordinator, Tyler James, oversees Confirmation and Pre-Confirmation as well. The Confirmation program spans the eighth and ninth grade years and meets twice a month on Sunday evenings at 5:00 p.m. It includes structured prayer and study, an annual overnight retreat, hikes, service projects, shared meals, and games. The 7th grade year is centered on service: students serve as acolytes, lectors, and Junior Teachers in the Sunday School.
For high school students, the parish offers a Youth Group for grades 8 through 12, gathering after Confirmation class roughly every other week, and the pilgrimage to Taizé, the ecumenical monastic community in Burgundy, France, during mid-winter break each year. The Taizé trip has been a long-standing tradition and is described as "the highlight and anchor" of the youth program. Special events for younger children include the Christmas Pageant, Advent Ornament Making, the Easter Egg Hunt, and the Blessing of the Animals.
Music Programmed for Every Age
Music at Christ's Church is led by Dr. Evelyn DeGraf, the Music Director and Choir Master, whose program runs from young beginners through experienced adults. She is also the founder and artistic director of the internationally acclaimed chamber choir Ghostlight and has taught at Columbia University, the German International School in White Plains, and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich.
The Cherubs, for children from Pre-K through second grade, rehearse on Mondays from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. in the Parish Hall and sing in the 10:00 a.m. service about once a month. The Choristers, an immersive youth choir for singers aged 7 through 18, rehearse on Mondays from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. and build vocal technique, music literacy, and ensemble skills. The adult Christ's Church Choir, made up of experienced singers plus professional section leaders and the most advanced youth members, rehearses on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. and sings every Sunday at the 10:00 service as well as for special services. The repertoire stretches from early vocal polyphony to contemporary composition.
The organ itself is two instruments, one in the Chancel and a larger one in the Gallery, both controlled from an all-electric console. The tonal design follows neo-baroque lines but includes a wider variety of stops. The organ was built in 1964 by Austin Organs of Hartford, Connecticut, a gift of longtime parishioners Mr. and Mrs. John Ellis Knowles.
The Nursery School and Blue Skies: One Campus, Two Childhoods
Christ's Church Nursery School has been part of the parish campus for many years, serving young children during the school week under the direction of Ann Hirsch. Blue Skies, the parish's bilingual summer day camp, occupies the same campus from mid-June through mid-August.
Blue Skies began in July 2020, in the early weeks of the pandemic, as an online offering for children of Port Chester. It quickly became an in-person summer day camp and after-school program hosted by the parish in Rye. Today it serves students in first through sixth grades for eight weeks each summer, open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack provided. The director and senior staff are fully bilingual in English and Spanish.
Blue Skies works with a long list of local partners, including the Rye Nature Center, Rye Town Park, the Rye Free Reading Room, The First Tee, the Rye Arts Center, Edith Read Wildlife Sanctuary, the Clay Art Center, the Jay Heritage Center, Sheldrake Environmental Center, and the Bruce Museum. Weekly outings, donated golf and literacy programs, clay workshops, nature and gardening programming, and healthy snacks from Snack Riot fill out the schedule. Older campers serve as Junior Teachers and tutors; rising ninth through twelfth graders can volunteer alongside paid senior staff. The program is funded by Christ's Church, Episcopal Charities of New York, the Carver Center in Port Chester, the Bruce Museum, the Junior League of Westchester on the Sound, and Meals on Main.
The Youth Grantmaking Board: Teens Make the Grants
Since 2021 the parish has hosted a Youth Grantmaking Board (YGB), in which high school students study local issues, set funding priorities, conduct site visits, and award grants to Port Chester nonprofit organizations. Each spring the YGB develops a Call for Proposals, releases it to local agencies in May, visits applicants in June, and announces awards before the end of the school year.
The current cycle will award $12,000 in grants, with a maximum single award of $8,000. Funding priorities are Immigrant Support and Food Insecurity, though the board welcomes other proposals that meet needs in Port Chester. After grants are funded, board members conduct impact assessments and follow-up visits each fall. Past grantees include Project Morry, Food2GrowOn, Volunteer New York, Open Door Family Medical Center, 5 Steps to Five, Meals on Main Street, The Sharing Shelf, the Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library, Don Bosco Community Center, the Salvation Army of Port Chester, the Port Chester Historical Society, La Plaza de Paulo, and The New Guard. Applications are accepted in English or Spanish.
Adult Formation: Compline, Bible Study, and Groups for Men and Women
For adults, the parish runs a steady rhythm of small groups and classes.
Compline, the church's brief night prayer service, takes place every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on Google Meets. Roots of Faith, a weekly interfaith Bible study co-led by parish clergy and Rabbi Daniel Gropper of the Rye Community Synagogue, meets in person at the synagogue and on Zoom each Thursday morning at 10:00. The Saturday Men's Bible Study gathers on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month at 7:40 a.m. for a light breakfast and a walk through the upcoming Sunday readings.
There are also two monthly gatherings. Theology on Tap is a lay-led men's monthly conversation that meets at the Columbarium Garden on the first Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Women, Wine, and Word is a women's prayer and study group that meets every other Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. beginning in late September.
Sacraments, Weddings, Funerals, and the Columbarium
Baptism, one of the two main sacraments of the Episcopal Church (the other being Holy Eucharist), is customarily celebrated at the primary Sunday morning service in the presence of the whole congregation. A preparation class is required for parents and godparents; the sacrament is open to people of any age, and the parish welcomes inquiries from those interested in baptism for themselves or their children.
Confirmation is offered each year for eighth-graders, with classes meeting twice monthly on Sunday evenings from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and concluding with a spring service celebrated by one of the parish's bishops. The sacrament of Holy Matrimony is offered to members after a series of conversations with the clergy; non-members are asked to participate in several Sunday services before a wedding date can be discussed. The parish also offers burial rites and keeps a Columbarium on the grounds; lanterns in the wooden arches left and right of the center aisle hang in memory of twelve parishioners who died in World War II.
An Outreach Network Across Port Chester and Westchester
Beyond the building on Rectory Street, Christ's Church maintains partnerships with a wide range of community organizations. Current community partners include Meals on Main Street, which has been serving hot meals in Port Chester since 1995; Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, which links incarcerated students to college courses; and Port Chester Immigrant Defense, which educates, empowers, and assists immigrants in the village. Additional outreach partners are Kairos Outside NYC, a faith-based ministry supporting women whose lives have been touched by incarceration; Homefront, a volunteer-driven home repair program for low-income homeowners; 5 Steps to Five, which coaches Port Chester parents on early childhood development; SPRYE, a neighborhood aging-in-place initiative; and Helping Hands, which has purchased and donated food, clothing, and school supplies for more than 25 years.
The Building, the Doors, and the Welcome
The church sits on the corner of Rectory Street and Milton Road. The Main Church Doors and the South Glass Doors face Rectory Street, with the handicap ramp between them. The Parish Hall Doors and the North Glass Doors open off the parking lot, which is entered from Milton Road opposite Palisade Drive. During school hours most doors are kept locked, but a video doorbell is available at both the North and South Glass Doors.
Visitors driving in will find two guest parking spots in the half-circle on Rectory Street near the church entrance, with the main lot just off the traffic circle and additional street parking on Milton Road and Rectory Street. Newcomers are welcome to call the parish office, email Jannine Moran, the Business Operations Manager, or reach out to Fr. Matt directly to set up a conversation before a first visit. As for what to wear, the parish is clear: "whatever you're comfortable in."
Giving, Stewardship, and the 1695 Circle
Stewardship is supported through a fall campaign each year (the 2026 theme is "Rekindle. Rejoice. Renew."), online giving through the parish's giving portal, text-to-give at 833-315-0725, Venmo at @ChristsChurch-Rye, and donations of securities coordinated with the bookkeeper Vickie Cox. The 1695 Circle recognizes members who have remembered the parish in their estate plans; its members' bequests are invested immediately in the endowment to sustain the mission of the parish into perpetuity.
Through everything - the chalice still in use, the lanterns for the war dead, the choir on Wednesday nights, the choir room full of young singers on Monday afternoons, the camp in the parking lot each summer, and the high school students writing checks to local nonprofits - Christ's Church continues to gather people on the hill where its founders carted stone more than three hundred years ago.