Our Church
Christ Episcopal Church traces its beginnings to 1856, as the first settlers came to Bayfield expecting to build a great inland seaport. The church building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The mission of the church, which belongs to the Diocese of Eau Claire, is to witness through liturgy, music, and outreach to the community. Contact the church to arrange a wedding, a christening or a memorial service in the chapel or outside in the garden. We welcome visitors. If the church building is not open please feel free to walk around to view the lovely Carpenter Gothic exterior. Sit on a bench in the garden and enjoy the peace.
We acknowledge the Anishinaabe people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we are worshiping today. We celebrate their continuing contributions to the life of this region. We therefore ask God’s blessing upon all the Native American People of the Lake Superior Chippewa.
1857
C. B. Rittenhouse donated land for the church. Prosperity came to Bayfield with the outbreak of the Civil War, creating a demand for the area’s lumber.
1870
The nave was erected from local white pine lumber and the mission was formally organized in the Diocese of Wisconsin under Bishop Jackson Kemper. Later diocesan reorganizations put Christ Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Fond du Lac and then, currently in the Diocese of Eau Claire.1893
A bell tower, apse, chancel and high altar were added to the building. The original hand-hewn pews are still in use. Tiffany-style stained glass windows make the apse particularly charming.1893
The harmonium was built by Story and Clark of Chicago. It is in excellent condition. (Temporarily housed at Bayfield Presbyterian Church.)1996
The high altar was renovated and the tabernacle door was opened and fashioned with an antique lock. A hanging sacrament lamp, which burns perpetually, indicates that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle. The original altar from circa 1873 was found and placed free standing in the chancel and is now used for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.1996
On August 15, a beautiful hand-painted Icon of Our Lady of Walsingham was consecrated by Bishop Wantland. The icon was painted by artist Christine Pohuly and is unique in that in addition to the figures of Mary and the Christ Child, symbols of the region, Bayfield and Native American art surround them. A permanent Shrine for the icon was erected at the back of the church.
In 1974, this photograph was submitted to the National Park Service along with a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places.
The nomination stated that:
“The diminutive Christ Episcopal Church is one of the finest remaining examples of a mid-nineteenth-century Carpenter’s Gothic church in Wisconsin. It is second only, perhaps, to St. John Chrysostom Church, Delafield, and equals or surpasses St. Peter’s Church, Ripon. Unlike the latter structure, Christ Episcopal remains to this day unaltered by remodelings or the removal of parts, though sensitive tower and apse additions have changed the original form. With its vertical boards and battens, its steeply-pitched gable roof, and its scroll bargeboards it conveys the essence of Carpenter’s Gothic in a striking but humbly-proportioned church.”
The nomination was approved and Christ Church Bayfield entered the National Register of Historic Places on December 27, 1974.
Photo credit: Jeffrey M. Dean/State Historical Society of Wisconsin