 In 1883, Church was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1885.He also worked for various commercial companies, for example illustrating the almanac of the Elgin Watch Company and producing an 1881 Christmas Card for Louis Prang & Company.His career was helped along by several devoted patrons, among them William T. Evans, John Gellatly, the banker Grant B. Schley, and the railroad-car manufacturer Charles Lang Freer, the founder of Washington, D.C.'s Freer Gallery.