Who We Are
Hope the parish cat is a regular. Every Sunday morning she greets parishioners, one at a time, as they take their places for worship. Popping over the backs of pews to cadge scratches and strokes, she works the room like a seasoned politician. During the service she threads her way through the congregation, deftly avoiding being sat or kneeled upon, until she has visited everyone. She then retires to the parish hall to await coffee hour (and more attention).
Hope came to be the “church cat” when she turned up at the door of the parish hall as a hungry stray. We fed her and named her Hope, with the “hope” that she would find a real home soon. One Sunday morning, however, the altar guild opened the church to find that Hope has been closed inside for two days without making any kind of mess. The grateful parishioners took that as a sign that she was meant for us and from then on she has lived the soft life in the parish hall. She is visited twice a day to be fed and her yearly vet bill is taken care of with donations from the congregation.
The saga of Hope is indicative of the spirit that guides the congregation of this small church. Our total membership hovers around 100, while the number of two-legged regulars is about 30, a number that rises to close to 50 on Christmas and Easter. Several families have multiple generations in attendance and trace their family’s affiliation back over half a century. Within the congregation, however, everyone is treated as family. If you miss a Sunday, everyone notices and inquires about your whereabouts. And, if you have been ill and haven’t called anyone from church, you can expect to hear about it on Sunday.
History
Christ Church Palmyra began life in Riverton when, in 1860, the Reverend H. Hastings Weld of the Moorestown Episcopal Church traveled by horse and buggy to consecrate the small wooden building located at what was then Riverton and Railroad Avenues (Riverton Rd. and Main St. today). It served a congregation of approximately 100 until 1884, when the vestry of Christ Church Riverton voted to give the building to the people of Palmyra, providing that the Palmyra congregation move and maintain the building. The move that began on December 14, 1884, was hampered by bad weather and went slowly. On January 20, 1885, the building was finally placed atop its new foundation in Palmyra.
The physical move was accomplished by placing tree trunks under the building to use as rollers. A team of horses and mules pulled the building for about 20 feet and then the rear roller would be brought to the front and reinserted under the building. Christ Church was raised onto its new foundation on Parry Avenue after more than a month on the move, and after being secured by workman of the Palmyra congregation, was rededicated on May 8, 1885. It remains on that site today. A small church with a big heart. With a small group of regular parishioners, this little church manages to achieve a large presence within the surrounding communities. It opens its parish hall doors, free of charge, to the Girl Scouts, for political meetings, and for rehearsals for a local amateur theatre group. Gifts to Catholic Charities are made weekly and extra food and turkeys are collected for the holidays. Parishioners work on Habitat for Humanity, participate in Breast Cancer Walks and serve as dispatchers and drivers for Fish.
There is always something going on within the congregation. Along with regular services and Bible study, congregants serve on the Altar Guild, St. Agnes Guild, (which offers cake and coffee every Sunday), as acolytes, as choir members, as members of the Council of Churches and as lay ministers who visit the sick. Twice a year Christ Church puts on a much-anticipated soup and baked goods sale open to the wider community. There is a Mother’s Day breakfast (cooked and served by men) and a Father’s Day breakfast (cooked and served by the ladies). We welcome the fall with a picnic and participate in joint weekly Lenten programs with other Episcopal churches in the area. Covered dish suppers and special programs occur during the year.
The Victorian Gothic church building is maintained, primarily, by its family. Plantings are done and maintained by the gardeners in the congregation; repairs are done by skilled volunteers; the grass gets mown when it is needed, and everyone living close cares for Hope. At Christmas time, there is wine and cheese as everyone gathers to decorate the church.
Affiliation
Christ Church will be between priests in the near future and will have a supply priest from the Diocese to celebrate Holy Eucharist on Sunday. The choir does not sing in the summer but joins the congregation as they “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” each Sunday. Multi-level Sunday school classes are available for parish children and the Bible study group meets each Sunday after coffee hour come rain or shine. This is a congregation that cares deeply for each other and for its community. As such, we invite anyone who wants or needs a spiritual family to join Hope and her human family at Christ Episcopal Church in Palmyra, New Jersey. Our doors are always open.
Submitted by Susanne Hudson
