Christ Church, Newton
| Christ Church, Newton | |
|---|---|
Christ Church, Newton, seen from across Main Street
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| Coordinates: 41°03′25″N 74°45′14″W / 41.0570582°N 74.7539363°W | |
| Location | 62–66 Main Street, Newton, New Jersey |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Episcopalian |
| Website | christchurchnewton |
| History | |
| Founded | 28 December 1769 |
| Consecrated | 20 October 1869 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Jonathan V. Nichols |
| Style | Gothic Revival (Broken Ashlar, Rustic Mode) |
| Years built | 1868–1869 |
| Groundbreaking | 21 August 1868 (cornerstone laid) |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Native blue limestone, Newark Sandstone trimmings |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Episcopal Diocese of Newark |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | The Rev'd Robert T. Griner |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Joseph H. Mello |
| Organist(s) | S. Gregory Shaffer |
Christ Church, Newton, also known as Christ Episcopal Church, is a Christian house of worship located on the corner of Church Street and Main Street (U.S. Route 206) in Newton, New Jersey. It is a parish overseen by the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The congregation first met on 28 December 1769 and was granted a charter by New Jersey's last Royal Governor William Franklin on behalf of Britain's King George III. Christ Church is the oldest church in Newton and the third oldest parish in the Diocese of Newark.
The current church building, erected in 1868–1869, is the second structure built at the site, and is an example of the Broken Ashlar or Rustic mode of Gothic Revival architecture patterned after medieval English parish churches. The interior nave features several stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the life of Jesus of Nazareth fabricated by J&R Lamb Studios. On 24 September 1992, Christ Church, Newton was included on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places as part of the Newton Town Plot Historic District which was approved and entered on the National Register of Historic Places on 12 November 1992.
In a 1770 letter, the Rev'd Dr Thomas B. Chandler, rector of St John's Church in the provincial capital Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), reported that he had visited Sussex County in the northwestern part of the province of New Jersey in November 1769 and found that there were 50 families belonging to the Church of England in the region. Chandler reported that "they frequently assemble in private houses and read the Liturgy" and that an Anglican clergyman "had never been in those parts before." Many of these families met at Newton, the county seat of Sussex County, on 28 December 1769, to establish an Anglican parish.
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