A celebration including a church service will take place Sunday morning at Bruce’s Beach which will mark a special moment for the Bruce family.

The pastor leading the church service at Bruce’s Beach says it is a celebration not only for the fact that the Bruce family got the land back that belonged to them but also that the city finally did the right thing.

The church service will mark the historic fact that for the first time in nearly a century that a member of the Bruce family owns the land that was taken from them.

The church service will begin at 11 a.m. followed by lunch and games from noon to 4 p.m.

It was in 1924 that the city of Manhattan Beach took the land from the family through eminent domain as a result of years of racism and harassment.

Two years ago a movement began to restore the beach to its rightful owner. It was a complicated legislative process to make that happen. It was culminated in a ceremony last month that marked the official return of the land to the Bruce family.

“In a time when our country is very divisive and everyone is argumentative and there’s a lack of love we need something that brings us together,” said Dr. Carthel Towns the pastor leading the church service.