BUILDING THE CHURCH
Soon, there was no longer room to increase the size of the congregation at Barker’s Hall, and plans for a building were donated by Mr. T.W. Richards, an architect from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Property on the corner of John and Hugunin Streets was provided, believed to have been purchased from Alden and Laura Barker. Soon the foundation had been laid, brick for the structure was on site, but funds were getting low. A plea for financial help appeared in the “Gospel Messenger” stressing the need for a church in this popular resort area. In October, the first district convocation was held and the offering at that first meeting, $44.72, was given to Christ Church. At the June 1871 convocation of the first district, Christ Church was given $570.00 from the diocesan fund for missions. Mr. Lockwood transferred out of the area in 1873.
On July 21 1871, the exterior of the new church was completed and in use, but the interior was only temporarily ready with few furnishings, and the church was in debt. Services were held in an unfinished interior until 1875, when some people felt that the building should be finished. The vestry passed a resolution that, if the debt could be removed, they would “hire” money and finish the church building. Means were provided, including donations from Episcopal churches in Auburn, Carthage, Utica, and Watertown. The building was completed with a mortgage of $2,000.00. In 1879, the parish’s seventh priest, A.A. Brockway, took charge with a determination to pay off the debt. Two years later he had accomplished this with help from Trinity, Watertown and St. Paul’s, Syracuse. Bishop Huntington, Bishop of the Diocese of
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Original Church Facade, 1871
Central New York, consecrated Christ Church on February 9, 1882. In 1883-1889, a rectory was built on Hugunin Street next door to the church. The deeds to the property were conveyed to the diocese in 1883.