Our Parish History ​       
Christ Episcopal church was founded by a Guilford native, The Rev. Dr. Samuel, Johnson, in 1744 as a missionary outpost of the Church of England. There were eight founding families who met in each other's homes, with itinerant missionaries leading the worship. Six years later, the first church building was erected, a small wooden structure on the east side of the town Green. Dr. Johnson, who went on to become the president of King's College (now Columbia University), delivered the dedication sermon. 

The original structure had no pews or window glass, and sheep and goats wandered through the congregation. During the first 13 years of its existence, Christ Church had no priest, and services were led by lay readers. By 1764, the congregation had grown large enough to call its first rector, The Rev. Bela Hubbard. Money was raised for pew, windows, and a pulpit for the new minister. 
During the Revolutionary War, the building suffered from lawless violence. The lead from the window sashes is said to have been melted down for bullets to be fired at King George's soldiers.

​In 1834, the vestry decided to abandon the original building and over the next two years raised $8,000 to construct a new church. The present stone church faces the Green, almost directly opposite from where the original building stood. It was dedicated on December 12, 1838. Built in 1820, the adjacent rectory was bequeathed to Christ Church in 1889 by The Rev. Lorenzo Bennett.