About Christ The King Church
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The Church of Christ the King was established in November of 1948, by Monsignor Alexis L. Hopkins, Pastor of St. Ambrose Church, Endicott, New York.
A building was constructed and the church was incorporated on October 31, 1949 with the Rev. Charles F. Aylesworth as first Pastor. The orginal parish included 262 families.
By 1965, the parish had grown to 900 families. Many families transferred to a new parish about that time as Our Lady of Angels was created in the Northern part of Endwell.
The 1960s also saw the building of Christ the King School and Convent. In 1962, the school opened with 4 grades taught by four members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It was expanded to 8 full grades by 1971, enrollment reached 253. The school was closed less than a decade later in a move to consolidate the Catholic Schools of Broome County.
Father Aylesworth served until 1970, when he was replaced by Monsignor Leonard Fries. Monsignor Fries oversaw many renovations to the church properties, including the restoration of the church sanctuary following a lightning strike in 1973. He served until 1985, when he died while tending his flower garden just outside the church.
Father James Quinn became the next Pastor. In May of 1988, another tragedy struck the church, as a fire nearly destroyed the building. Thanks to the efforts of the Endwell Volunteer Fire Department, the building was saved. Father Quinn worked with a strong and determined parish faith community to restore and enhance the beauty of the church. The sale of the former school and convent provided funds to erect an addition to the church building, which contained a new daily Mass chapel, classrooms for religious education and a new kitchen for the church hall.
Father James Fallon became pastor of Christ the King in the fall of 1991. Under Father Fallon, the Founders' Hall was refurbished and the now famous Lenten Fish Dinners were started.
In 1994, Father Fallon resigned due to health reasons, and was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Hobbes, our present pastor. With Father Hobbes, the parish continues to serve more than 600 people weekly in the Lenten Fish Dinners. Father Hobbes has lead the parish through the recent Heritage Campaign for the Diocese of Syracuse, which raised money for updating church facilities. The plan has already replaced aged windows in the rectory, and will be applied to updates to the church and parking lot in the future.
In November of 1999, the church community marked 50 years as a parish. Bishop James Moynihan visited to celebrate the Anniversary Mass that weekend.
