Anglican worship in Ivy began in the 1840s with the original settlers. Services were held in homes, in the log schoolhouse and in the Orange Hall. In 1863, a log church was built on the present site. A choir gallery in the east end housed the organ that was sent from Ireland, former home of many settlers. The current chancel windows were in the original building.
Itinerant preachers arriving on horseback, sleigh or cutter served many villages, including the parish of St. Jude’s, Thornton, which had been built 10 years earlier.
The 1900s brought changes to the church building, such as a centre aisle, stained glass windows and a basement dug by hand and a team of horses with a scoop, now used as the church hall.
St. Kevin’s, a sister church in Angus, closed its temporary building and joined Christ Church in Ivy. In the mid-1980s, St. Jude’s, Thornton closed and brought its congregation, its stained glass windows and its name to Ivy – thus the hyphenated name of Christ Church-St. Jude’s.
While the building and form of worship have undergone many changes since the 1800s, the people and clergy have remained diligent and faithful. Their many talents continue to contribute to an active Anglican church for Ivy and the surrounding area.