Our Mission:
To offer a peaceful, mutually supportive church family, aka faith support group. Our IU parishioners are active, hands-on board members and volunteers in a wide range of non-profits and organizations that focus on education, health, youth, environment and community in all its many incarnations.
Tucked into the rural countryside of Kent County, MD, historic Christ Church IU, Worton, stands on two grassy and woods-banked acres. Its congregation is small – ranging from 10 to 20 any given Sunday – but dedicated.* Our church family, whose members are active in the local community including nearby Washington College, as well as regionally and in some cases nationally, comes to worship and take Eucharist together each Sunday at 9AM in a well-maintained but unprepossessing sanctuary that is little changed from its construction in 1859, (though it does have HVAC and facilities!).
Outreach goes to the community food pantry, the Salvation Army, Samaritan group, The Good Neighbor Fund, which provides support for electricity and heat for resource-challenged people during winter and operates through the Salvation Army and the electric company, The Bishop's Discretionary Fund, Episcopal Relief & Development, Children’s Home Foundation, whose mission is to offer scholarships to students who need financial aid to obtain an associate’s degree or certification in a career or tech area, of course the volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, and more.
While we are completely solvent, our size has meant that we have not had a fulltime rector since actress Katherine Hepburn’s grandfather, Sewall Stavely Hepburn, who was rector at IU for 22 years, died. But through the steady services of supply clergy – currently we're blessed with the services of The Rev. Gretchen Zimmerman and occasionally with The Rev. Frank Crumbaugh and The Rev. Thom Sinnott – we've maintained a weekly service for decades, even gathering and continuing worship throughout the pandemic. Our hope is to welcome more into the church community without changing the peaceful character of our church.
