History of the Church of the Nativity in Baltimore, MD

History of Nativity

Cedarcroft's story begins on February 20, 1910 when services were held in private homes in the vicinity of the present church as a missionary effort of the Reverend Charles A. Hensel, rector of the Church of the Redeemer on Charles Street. Later that year, Bishop Paret reserved the name "Chapel of the Nativity" for the new mission. In 1911, land was purchased for the the mission; the first regular service was held on Christmas Eve at the Neighborhood Improvement Club of Govans.

The present church building began life as a chapel for inhabitants of a summer colony of large private estates in Garrett County, Maryland. When the people moved away, W. McCulloh Brown offered the building to the Bishop, who in turn gave it to Nativity Chapel. In September of 1913, the chapel was dismantled and shipped 240 miles and re-erected in the middle of the Nativity lot at a cost of $12,000. Furnishings, all donated by other parishes, were of high quality and many are still in use today.

On Christmas Day, 1913, the first service was held in the still uncompleted church. In January, 1917, the Reverend Thomas Atkinson became the first assistant priest. A new period in Nativity's history began in 1921 with the appointment of Reverend Wesley David Adams as Priest-in-Charge. Adams had the dream of a large parish house, of having the church moved to the York Road side of the property until a church matching the parish house could replace it, and of a rectory on the west end of the property. The replacement church and the rectory never left the drawing board but the Parish House was built in 1923. A portion of the Parish House included a bowling alley (located at the present day library) which was intended to raise funds to repay debts and bring in future funding.

In 1929, the first annual June Fair was held, an event that still continues with the church. In 1947, Nativity was incorporated as a parish and the Reverend George B. Scriven was named it's first rector. During the same year, a non-parish preschool was started, and today the Gentry School is still run by the founder.

Due to the post-war housing boom and subsequent rise in population in the Cedarcroft area, a needed enlargement of the church building was completed in 1954 with additions to both ends of the existing chapel. A passageway was also added to connect the church building with the parish house. Also, due to membership growth, a third family-oriented service was added at Nativity, which lasted until the 1999, when the 9:15 and 11:00 services were consolidated into the 10:00 service.