History:

Although Bordentown was settled in 1682, it was not until December 23, 1833, that the Right Reverend George Washington Doane, second Bishop of New Jersey, held the first Episcopal services here.  Through the ensuing winter, he and three other clergymen held evening services on alternate Mondays in the Methodist church.  On April 23, 1834, the Rev. Holmes of Orange, NJ, held the first Sunday service with services continuing by various clergymen on alternate Sundays.  At that same time, an English clergyman, the Rev. Edwin Arnold, began holding services in a boarding school he had recently opened on the Hilltop.

The Church.  The congregation of Christ Church, organized in 1835 with fifteen members, erected a small brick building in 1837 on the site of the present church and called the first rector, the Rev. Asa S. Colton, in 1838.  The congregation added a sacristy and vestry room in 1841 and a tower and spire in 1855.

Recognizing the need for a larger church, and after twelve years of planning and fund raising, the growing congregation demolished its small building and there erected the present brownstone church at a cost of $15,952.37.  "Long may it stand and be a source of blessing to the generations that come after us," said the Rt. Rev. John Scarborough, D.D., fourth bishop of NJ, as he addressed the congregation and consecrated the church on September 11, 1879.

In space originally used as a Sunday School, the present chapel was created in 1931 and extensively renovated in 1945 with a new altar, pews, stained glass windows, and other furnishings.  During the 1960's, the church purchased and demolished row houses adjoining the church property - known locally as Coconut Hill - providing much needed space for parking for the congregation.  In 2000, with a bequest from Edna Foultz, Willet Studios of Philadelphia designed and installed a new window over the chapel altar depicting the Magnificat.

The Parish House.  In 1931, the congregation erected the Parish House, consisting of an auditorium with stage, kitchen, rooms for church school and meeting rooms, using funds raised over a twenty-year period.  These included a 1911 donation from the Girls Friendly Society and a 1931 bequest from Fannie T. Rosseel.  An addition, built in 1949, provided addition Church School classrooms on the first floor and enlarged the upstairs hall.  In 2004, a ramp and restroom were added to the Parish House to provide better access to our parish facilities for all whose mobility is restricted.

The Rectory.   In 1866 a vestryman, Henry Becket, gave a house located next to the church to be used as a rectory.  Ladies of the congregation raised funds and furnished the rooms.  Later it was demolished to make room for the present rectory, built in 1899.

The Churchyard .  The Parish Churchyard is also steeped in the history of both the church and of Bordentown.  It includes not only the church's original burial ground, planned in 1844, but the burial grounds of the Hopkinson family and the early Quaker, Baptist, and Methodist grounds, all purchased and deeded to Christ Church over the years.  Among the prominent citizens and church members buried here are Joseph Borden, for whom the city is named; Joseph Hopkinson, composer of Hail Columbia and the son of Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; an infant child of Prince Murat, nephew of Joseph Bonaparte; Colonel Joseph Kirkbride, a Revolutionary War patriot and friend of Thomas Paine; Captain Edward McCall, who, as a lieutenant, took command of the USS Enterprise after the mortal wounding of its captain and led the ship in its defeat of HMS Boxer off the coast of Portland during the War of 1812; and Joseph Allen, Warden and vestryman, Colonel of the 9th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, who drowned at Hatteras, North Carolina, during the Civil War.