Christ Church Timeline

Christ Church Timeline. Selected events in the history of the Church and the 1702 Bell. , 1695-96 Founding of Christ Church and the first church building, 1702 Bell commissioned for Christ Church from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London, England,

The ceiling… she could touch with her lifted hands. The bell, to call the poeople, was hung in the crotch of a tree nearby. , Recollections of Alice of Dunk's Ferry, 1801

, 1727-54 Building of the current church; peal of bells commissioned from London installed in tower in 1754, c. 1761 1702 Bell sent to St. Peter's Church at 3rd and Pine Streets, July 8, 1776 First public reading of the Declaration of Independence; Christ Church bells along with the Pennsylvania State House Bell (Liberty Bell) and other bells in the city, 1777-78 Church bells and State House Bell (Liberty Bell) removed from Philadelphia for safekeeping during the American Revolution, 1785 The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America established during a convention held at Christ Church, 1787 The Rev. William White, rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, consecrated as Bishop of Pennsylvania, later served as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (1789, 1795-1836), 1802 Ordination of The Rev. Absalom Jones at Christ Church; first Black Episcopal priest and founder of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, c. 1842 1702 Bell moved to Christ Church Hospital at 308 Cherry Street, founded in 1772 to support poor and widowed women, 1856-61 Christ Church Hospital and the 1702 Bell moved to a new building near Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, 1911-12 Christ Church Neighborhood House opened to serve residents of industrial Old City, 1947 Addition of two bells to tower, commissioned by the Christ Church Neighborhood Businessmen's Association and cast from weapons captured during World War II,

And now, two bells are added to the eight , Which rang in concert with the Bell of Liberty… , Now two bells more will sing , A hymn of grave thanksgiving that we still , Are free, a prayer that all the suffering , With which these bells were made to be not in vain. , , "The Bells of Christ Church," poem for the 1947 bell dedication by Anne Hunter

, 1953 Paccard Bell Foundry in France cast the final bell for the belfry; also recast three bells to retune them, 2011 1702 Bell returned to Christ Church from the former Christ Church Hospital (then the Kearsley Home)