Discover Christ Episcopal Church

   Christ Church Central City, began when a missionary, The Rev. Henry Shaw, came "on the cars" from Grand Island to the settlement of Lone Tree, Nebraska. It was not the first contact the area had had with the Episcopal Church; in Grand Island, St. Stephen's was a couple of years old.

   The oldest church of any denomination in Merrick County was St. Stephen's Silver Creek, founded in 1865, also by Fr. Shaw. The missionary arrived in Lone Tree on December 16, 1872 and made arrangements to return two weeks later on the 29th, the Sunday after Christmas. About 25 attended this service. Fortnightly appointments were accordingly made from that evening.

   On August 3, 1873, Bishop Clarkson (first Bishop of Nebraska) visited Lone Tree with the missionary and preached the a very large congregation, some of the people say it was one of the largest audiences ever congregated together in Lone Tree.

   On August 10, 1873, a Sunday School was organized and held in the Union Pacific Depot waiting room.