Local
Honoring 175 years after La Crosse’s first Christan service on Grandad’s Bluff
On top of Grandad Bluff, near the shelter, you can see a plaque commemorating the first Christian religious service in La Crosse history.
It was held on the bluff in June of 1850 — 175 years ago, this week.
To honor that occasion, the Christ Episcopal Church of La Crosse held its Sunday service in the same spot.
The bishop of Wisconsin’s Episcopal Church, Rev. Matthew Gunter, took part in the special service, along with an Episcopal archbishop from Africa, who’s visiting the Midwest.
Gunter asked the congregation to imagine La Crosse as a “foreign, strange place,” as missionary James Lloyd Breck would have seen it upon his arrival.
Breck led that first Christian church service in the city.
For the anniversary service, members took a bus up the bluff, then back down to the church after the service was over.
About 50 attended Sunday’s service, on a morning when winds on the bluff were gusty.
