Grace Episcopal Church, Galena, IL is the oldest church in continual use in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, and indeed, predates the Diocese.

 

Episcopalians first gathered for prayer when Captain Hezekiah Gear and his wife Charlotte Gear (both cradle to grave Episcopalians) moved to Galena in 1820s. Every Sunday Hezekiah gathered a community to read Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer and Charlotte, a trained teacher, taught Sunday School. Each had a brother ordained a priest in the church.

 

Grace church was formally organized in 1835. On June 15 we will have available our bound history booklet if you are interested in reading more.

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Historic Service - The service that day uses the Book of Common Prayer dated 1789, the Authorized King James Version of the Bible, and we will be singing music which would have been available to Anglicans at the time, accompanied on our recently renovated Erben Organ which dates to 1838.

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Guest Preacher​ - The Rev’d Dr. D. Jonathan Grieser has been Rector of Grace Episcopal Church, Madison, WI since 2009. He holds M.Div and ThD (History of Christianity) degrees from Harvard Divinity School. His research and writing focused on religious conflict and religious identity in 16th and 17th century Europe. Before transitioning into full-time parish ministry, he taught Religious Studies at Sewanee (The University of the South) and Furman University. At Grace-Madison, he has been active in advocacy around issues related to unhoused people, serving on the Board of Directors of the Dane County Homeless Services Consortium. He has also been active ecumenically in the Wisconsin Council of Churches, most recently serving as President of the Board of Directors of that organization.

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Building Tours - Self-guided with guide sheets and volunteers available to answer questions. Running before and after the historic service and the organ recital.

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Luncheon featuring Historic Recipes - The luncheon will follow the historic service. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to gracesec@gracegalena.org by Thursday, June 5th.

 

Organ Recitalist - Dr. Charles "Chuck" Barland is a Professor of Music and University Organist at the Universisty of Dubuque. In addition to his duties at the University of Dubuque, Dr. Barland is director of music for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, organist and choir director at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, and a member of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra Board, serving on the artistic advisory and education committees. An active member of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and The Organ Historical Society, he is the immediate past dean of the River Valley Chapter of the AGO, as well as a past officer of the Topeka and Dubuque Chapters of the AGO.