Christ Church Episcopal
Chattanooga, TN

423-266-4263

Christ Church was organized in November of 1900 by about 100 members of St. Paul’s parish who desired to see a thriving Episcopal parish on the east end of town. Christ Church boasts one of the finest gothic revival naves in all the South. The building was dedicated on Palm Sunday of 1908. However, more than two decades passed before alterations where made to the building’s interior that reflect the character of the present structure. Enlisting the help of famed New England architect Ralph Adams Cram, Christ Church undertook a remodeling project that would make it one of the most endearing and enduring sacred spaces in Chattanooga .

With an impressive resume that included work on New York City ’s Cathedral of St. John The Divine and Washington ’s National Cathedral, Cram came to Chattanooga highly qualified, a celebrity in the architectural world. The alterations designed by Cram’s hand were begun in March 1930 and were completed nine months later. Included in Cram’s changes were an ornate rose window, two rows of columns and gothic arches, side altars in veneration of St. Mary and St. Joseph , and a choir loft which housed the church’s organ. The organ used during the post-Cram alterations has long since been replaced by a fine tracker organ which was constructed by Richard Fowkes & Co. in 1998.