A brief history of Grace Church...

THEN
The first Episcopal service in Madison was conducted on July 29, 1838 by the famous missionary bishop Jackson Kemper. A year later, sixteen people signed a declaration of intention to form a parish. In the spring of  1840 the parish was formally established. The Wardens and Vestry were selected from a "group of citizens" who had convened for organizing a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Services were held only occasionally in the next four years when missionary priests passed through the area.

This still unnamed parish called its first permanent priest, the Rev. Stephen McHugh, in December 1845. Under his direction the parish was formally organized as Grace Church in January 1845. It was the only Episcopal Church in Madison for nearly 70 years.

In that same year the women of the parish organized the Ladies' Benevolent Society, the predecessor of the present Episcopal Church Women. By making and selling small articles they raised $150 to purchase property on which the church buildings now stand. The property was deeded to the Wardens and Vestry of Grace Church on November 11, 1847. On Christmas Day of 1850 the first service was held in a small brick building that served the church for eight years.

As the city grew, so did the membership of the church and by 1858 there were 450 members, 118 communicants, 12 Sunday School teachers and 100 pupils. To accommodate this large congregation a new church was built and in 1858 the present building was dedicated. It took twelve more years to finish the basement, add the tower and spire, and install the pipe organ. Grace Church has established itself as one of the important parishes in the diocese and began to establish missions in the surrounding area.

In 1894 a rectory was built where the present Education Wing is and the Vilas Guild Hall was erected. The parish had used the house still standing at 304 W. Washington as the rectory for the first 20 years.

In the nave of Grace Church there are 12 large stained glass windows of unusual beauty. The first of these memorial windows was installed in 1887 and the last in 1967. The series illustrates the birth, death, and resurrection and continuing ministry of Christ and his Body. Perhaps the most famous of these art treasures is the Baptistery Window at the rear of the left aisle of the nave; this window was installed by the Tiffany Art Glass studio in 1899.

During the 1940's this parish became one of the first in the country to move the altar forward so that the clergy could face the congregation. Part of the purpose for making this change was to realize parish life centered on the regular celebration of the Eucharist shared fully by the priest and people.

In the 1980's dedicated needle workers were organized to needlepoint 16 altar rail cushions, the design for which were inspired by the stained glass windows. In addition 12 cushions were executed for the chapel based on the symbols of the disciples.

The first pipe organ in Madison was dedicated in this building on Easter Sunday, 1869. The Hook organ was located in the pulpit side of the nave. Air to supply the organ was provided by people willing to work the bellows. As early as 1873 an ingenious bellows arrangement powered by the city's water system - a water mill - provided the necessary air. A Kimball organ replaced this organ in 1926. The console stood behind the rood screen and the pipes in chambers throughout the church. The current instrument is a Casavant Freres Opus 3639. Like the Hook organ, it is a "tracker" organ; that is, a mechanical action connects the keys directly by wooden strips (the trackers) to the 1902 pipes. This organ was installed in 1987 as part of a major renovation.

NOW

During the last twenty years outreach projects have been centered in the parish. The first was the establishment of the food pantry in 1979 to feed the hungry of the city. This pantry continues to serve about 1,000 persons each month through donated food and donations of time and money from parishioners and the community. Around eighteen volunteers staff the pantry five days a week. The second major outreach of the parish is done through "the ministry of space" by inviting the men's homeless shelter to operate in the lower level of the Education Wing. In 1997, after 19 years of operation, and no end of a need in sight, the area was renovated to bring it up to city code and make better use of the space. The shelter houses up to 60 men and feeds up to 150 men each night of the year. In the summer of 2007 the men's shelter celebrated it's 20th anniversary at grace.