Christ Episcopal Church
"For two centuries of service progress and inspiration, Christ Episcopal Church has held an important place, literally and figuratively, in the heart of New Bern, second oldest town in North Carolina.

"Its spire, pointing skyward, higher than anything else in the city, is rimmed with a large crown, symbolic of everlasting life, not only for the Church triumphant but also for those stalwart Christians who try to further the Kingdom of God on earth.

"The Twenty-six rectors, the assistant ministers and many members have exercised a vital influence on the history of the region. To a great extent the history of the local Church is a history of the community.

"These patriots of the Cross have bequeathed a priceless heritage for the Church and Church members of today and tomorrow - a tower of strength during the past, a beacon of light in the present, and a guiding star for the future."

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the Crown of Life."-Revelations 2:10.

The first church on these grounds was completed in 1750. The site of this church has been preserved by the construction of a brick wall over the original foundations and now serves as an open-air chapel. Early morning services are held here in summer, weather permitting. Named pavers in the floor of the chapel mark burial plots for the cremated remains of parishioners.


Cedar Grove Cemetery was opened by Christ Church Parish in 1800 to provide burial plots for yellow fever victims, and some tombstones in the churchyard were moved to these new grounds on Queen Street. Cedar Grove Cemetery was later deeded to the City of New Bern.

The present sanctuary, usually called the third church, was consecrated in 1875 and is entered on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is actually a combination of two buildings. The earlier one, consecrated in 1824, burned in 1871. However the fine Flemish-bond brick walls with their pointed-arch window openings remained and were used in the reconstruction. Aside from greatly embellishing the subdued gothic detailing of the 1824 structure, the buildings are almost identical.
The Gothic Revival bell tower and spire of the present church, which soars 150 feet above the city, has dominated the skyline of the city of New Bern for more than 125 years. The spire, embellished with a golden crown, was a prominent landmark on the charts of mariners in the nineteenth century. The Bell Tower contains a relatively new carillon (1996) that rings out over downtown New Bern twice a day.

Their silver communion service, Bible, and Book of Common Prayer, presented to the parish by King George II in 1752, are displayed in a wall case behind the font.
The 1752 communion service, in regular use today, is composed of a chalice, paten, two large flagons, and a large basin. Each piece bears the Royal Arms of Great Britain, which includes the initials of the King and hallmarks for the maker (MF - Mordecai Fox), the date (the letter R superimposed on a shield), the town mark of London (a crowned leopard's head); and an assay mark guaranteeing the purity of the silver to be 92.5% (a "lion passant gardant").

The Bible, printed in Oxford in 1717, also is inscribed with the Royal Coat of Arms. It is one of a number of Bibles known as The Vinegar Bible. In these bibles, the heading for the 20th chapter of Luke, which should read "Parable of the Vineyard," instead reads "Parable of the Vinegar".

The Prayer Book, again inscribed with the Royal Coat of Arms, was printed in Cambridge in 1752 and is used periodically for historic services held in the church.


The churchyard, shaded by a variety of venerable trees, stretches to either side of the main sanctuary (with the Parish Hall to the right and the education wing to the left). In the eighteenth century it served as a burial ground. In the aftermath of several yellow fever epidemics, the churchyard had filled with graves and was closed by 1799.