Christ Church was incorporated in Fitchburg, MA in 1863 during a time when several Protestant parishes of other denominations were starting up. Large donations from Alvah Crocker in 1864 and after were instrumental in obtaining the land on Main Street and building materials for the church. George Fay, his business partner and brother-in-law, also contributed heavily to the church, as did Augustus Whitman, a businessman and banker. The generosity of these men, their families, and others contributed to the building of this beautiful church.

As one of our rectors stated in 1887, “The parish is not an end, but a means; it does not exist for itself, but for others. It was organized to do something, and its value depends upon the extent to which it does it well…We are members of The Church, that is, God’s great family…who are his children whether they know it or not, and because some of us do know this, we have our parish, which is only a small, visible working section of the great whole, a little company of people who believe that they can gain more for themselves and do better work for God by working together than they could do as separate individual(s)…”

From the early days of Christ Church, its parishioners involved themselves in activities and supported causes that they thought would make the world they lived in better. The church’s founding happened in the middle of the country’s Civil War, and it is evident from historical records that Fitchburg had many citizens who were against slavery and for the emancipation of those enslaved. According to his biographer, Alvah Crocker, the church’s benefactor and first warden, had called Southern slavery “pestilential” and “licentious”, and had actually gone to England to convince the British not to back the Southern war effort. Memorial Park, in the next block up Main Street from the church, honors those from Fitchburg who died serving in the Civil War.

As time went on, many groups were formed in the church to carry on work for the community and for people in other states and countries. The Ladies’ Aid Society was an early group that prepared boxes for missionaries. When “Great Fires” happened in 1871, they got together to sew clothing for those made destitute. When the economy turned down and parishioners were having a hard time financially, they provided Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas dinners, made clothing, and delivered groceries and coal to those in need. By the 1880s there were clubs or social groups for women, men, young women and young men, as well as groups for missions in domestic locations, for Indians and Freedmen, for Mexico and Haiti, and for other foreign locations. Sunday school became an important activity as well. In 1886 the Girls Friendly Society started at the church, a group that still operates today, offering college scholarships to deserving students.

In addition to their importance within the parish for leadership of various organizations, women played important roles as benefactors to the parish and as leaders in the community. Interestingly, in 1895, the word “male” was stricken from the constitutional requirements for parish membership. Parishioner Eleanor Norcross started the Fitchburg Art Museum and Helen Stratton started the first community theater group. Helen and other women of the parish were also early supporters of women’s suffrage. Both the art museum and the theater group are still thriving today. In fact, the Stratton Players currently rent the church’s Guild Hall for their productions.