Our History

The Beginning

Christ Church had its birth in the hey-day of the silver boom. Christ Methodist Episcopal Church, as it was then known, was established as a congregation in 1881.  Its first church building was erected in 1886 at the corner of Second and Bleeker Streets in the West End, where a contemporary private residence now stands.

After the silver market crashed in 1893, the boomtown atmosphere waned, and the community of Aspen changed rapidly. The population – which had been as high as 15,000 at the peak of the silver boom – gradually dwindled to fewer than 1,000 souls.  As the population of the town shrank, so too, did the numbers of Episcopalians. Due to the disappearance of its remaining congregation after World War I, Christ Church was soon closed, as was the second Episcopal church in Aspen, St. John’s, which had been located on the east side of the old town.

The actual church building itself was moved to the town of Marble nearly 60 miles away and renamed St. Paul’s.  Now the Marble Community Church, it still stands today albeit with significant additions.

The Modern Era
Just before the beginning of World War II, Aspen had been “discovered” as a getaway by a band of European, ex pat, pioneer skiers, a few Hollywood stars, and some Chicago business leaders.  After the war, those surviving “new pioneers” returned with a vengeance. Good times did come again, and the reminted utopian city of Aspen was inundated with an influx of new permanent and part-time residents, including many Episcopalians, as the church was now called.   A handful of the long-time faithful – including Marian Rubey and Peggy Rowland – were determined to re-establish an Episcopal Church in Aspen.

A mission congregation was organized in 1956 under the short-lived tutelage of the Rev. Donald Shissler, and in 1959 the newly ordained Rev. Richard R. Palmer arrived to take over the fledgling church. A house on Hopkins Street downtown became the place of worship until the first church building was erected on property donated by the Rowland family at the corner of Fifth and West North Streets in 1961-62, where the church is still located today.

1962 to 2004

About the time the church building was being built, Father Palmer was succeeded by the Rev. William Shannon who remained as vicar until 1976. He was then followed by Christ Church’s longest serving rector, the gregarious Robert J. (“Bob”) Babb. A community-minded pastor, Fr. Bob became known to everyone in town and enjoyed a long and fruitful ministry in Aspen.

Under his leadership, Christ Church grew in both their congregation and their facilities. A rectory was built on West North Street adjacent to the church in 1981, and in 1984 Fr. Babb became the first rector of the “new” Christ Church as the congregation was promoted from mission to parish status. With Fr. Babb’s guidance, in 1989 Christ Church also established St. Peter’s of the Valley, a
parochial mission in Basalt. Around 1998, after initiating a fundraising campaign to purchase the new congregation its own building, Fr. Babb departed to accept a call to Trinity Church, Longview, TX..

The amiable and reassuring Rev. Eugene Todd took over for 18 months as interim rector until the Rev. Jeffrey Fouts was called in 2000.  Calm and full of stories, Fr. Gene was the perfect hand to steady the ship after the departure of such a beloved and long- serving presence as Bob Babb.  Fr. Jeff, in contrast, was hot tempered and driven, and his tenure was controversial and short.   He resigned unexpectedly a week before Christmas 2002.

The Rev. Geoffrey C. Gwynne from Parker, Co. stepped in to the rescue with three days’ notice, and after preaching Christmas Eve, ended up staying on for another 18 months as priest in charge. Father Geoff ultimately declined the invitation to become rector, leaving for CT. in pursuit of his original calling as a church planter. Before he left, however, Fr. Geoff, had the prescience to recommend Christ Church consider his old friend and former ministry colleague, Rev. Bruce McNab as a candidate in the new minister search.

After a short “search”, Fr. Bruce was called to be Christ Church Aspen’s third rector, and he and his wife Joan, an ordained Deacon in her own right, arrived in 2004.

2004 to 2011

Having been a preacher for 32 years, Fr. Bruce provided the seasoned spiritual leadership Christ Church needed following a tumultuous span which saw it endure 4 priests over 5 years! He was well-experienced in congregational stewardship and helped Christ Church move from budget deficits and a loss of parishioners to actual growth and expansion.

In 2007 the church initiated a wide-ranging renovation and expansion of their 45 year old building.  The project broke ground in 2008 and took 13 months to complete. During the reconstruction the congregation enjoyed the hospitality of the historic Aspen Community United Methodist Church, who generously shared their even older building with the Episcopal congregation. Christ Church finally celebrated “Homecoming Sunday,” on August 21, 2009, and in 2010 and 2011 the new church building actually received three Colorado and one national architectural awards!

In July in 2011, Fr. Bruce retired from active ministry, although, for the sake of stability, he was able to remain until a new rector was called.

For the remainder of the summer of 2011, Christ Church enjoyed the brief interim ministry of Fr. Andrew Cooley from Telluride until the newly called Reverend Jonathan Brice, his American wife, and two teen- aged children arrived from England in September 2011.

2011-2016

The Brice family’s arrival brought a great new energy to the church.  It was exactly what the church wanted at the time.  Whereas Fr. Bruce vitalized the 30-40 somethings of the church, for years many of those slightly older adults yearned for some sort of program for their children who were rapidly aging out of Sunday school.  That void had caused those families to drift away.

During his first 5 years Christ Church experienced a whole new young adult and family movement. Fr. Brice conducted weekly family suppers, a high school youth group, “Elevations”, and with his wife, Fr. Jonathan oversaw a successful program partnering high school seniors with the church’s actual seniors called “Senior to Senior”. The church even ran a small ministry recognizing its graduating high school students and sending care packages to them in college.