[ April 24, 2024 ]
George Washington may have been one of the founding members of Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. But his memorial is no longer welcome at the structure.
Church officials say Washington is too divisive — and therefore, mention of his ties to the structure must be removed.
Specifically, the church is removing a plague that recognizes the contributions and influences of America’s first president.
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Talk about political correctness.
The Washington Times has more:
George Washington was one of the founding members of Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, buying pew No. 5 when the church opened in 1773 and attending for more than two decades whenever he rode north from Mount Vernon to do business in town.
This weekend, the church announced it was pulling down a memorial plaque to its onetime vestryman and the country’s first president, saying he and another famous parishioner, Robert E. Lee, have become so controversial that they are chasing away would-be parishioners.
While acknowledging “friction” over the decision, the church’s leadership said both plaques, which are attached to the front wall on either side of the altar, are relics of another era and have no business in a church that proclaims its motto as “All are welcome — no exceptions.”
“The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome. Some visitors and guests who worship with us choose not to return because they receive an unintended message from the prominent presence of the plaques,” the church leaders said in a letter to the congregation that went out last week.
The decision was also announced to parishioners on Sunday.
The backlash was swift, with the church’s Facebook page turning into a battleground. Some supporters praised the church for a “courageous” stand, while critics compared leaders at the Episcopal church leaders to the Taliban or the Islamic State.
Church leaders said they debated for a long time, and the Rev. Noelle York-Simmons, the rector, said in an email to The Washington Times that the vote by the vestry was unanimous. The plaques will come down by next summer, when leadership determines another place for them.
For now, the Lee memorial, about the size of a grave marker, stands to the right of the altar, reading in gold lettering, “In Memory of Robert Edward Lee.” The Washington plaque to the left says: “In memory of George Washington.”
They were erected in 1870, just months after Lee’s death, and were a bit of a sensation at the time, earning mentions in newspapers from Massachusetts to San Francisco. The accounts said the memorials were paid for by subscription of citizens of Alexandria.
The church also has small metal markers on the Washington family pew and at the location where Lee was confirmed, but there is no other information or comment posted on the two men’s lives in the church.
Lack of other details was part of the problem for leaders, who said the memorials didn’t explain the two famous parishioners’ memorial presence.
“Because the sanctuary is a worship space, not a museum, there is no appropriate way to inform visitors about the history of the plaques or to provide additional context except for the in-person tours provided by our docents,” the church leaders said.
It’s not clear that the church could divorce itself from Washington even if it wanted to. The website touts itself as “a church where George Washington worshipped” and displays a picture of its famous patron.
As an original benefactor, Washington bought pew No. 5 when the church opened in 1773. He was a vestryman and contributed to the church throughout his life, according to the Washington Papers project. His family considered the church important enough to him that it donated one of his Bibles after his death.
Lee attended Christ Church beginning at age 3, when he moved from Stratford to Alexandria. The church was so integral to his family that Mary Custis Lee, his daughter, left the church $10,000 in her will upon her death in 1918. That money was used to begin the church’s endowment.
Church leaders did not say whether they will attempt to return the $10,000 gift from Lee’s daughter.
The church’s senior and junior wardens didn’t answer questions about the decision, and neither did Ms. York-Simmons, the rector.
Instead, she emailed a brief statement saying the decision was by “unanimous vote” of the vestry.
“The new display location will be determined by a parish committee. That location will provide a place for our parish to offer a fuller narrative of our rich history, including the influence of these two powerful men on our church and our country,” she said in the email. “We look forward to this opportunity to continue to learn more about our own history and find new ways to introduce it to the wider community.”
In recent years Lee monuments have been under scrutiny. Violence broke out in Charlottesville this year surrounding a Lee statue that the city is trying to take down.
In the wake of those clashes, a church Lee attended in Lexington, Virginia, where he spent his last years, voted to change its name from R.E. Lee Memorial Church to Grace Episcopal Church.
And the Washington National Cathedral removed a stained-glass window with an image of Lee.
Washington memorials had been spared such recriminations.
Christ Church, though, said the two men were inextricably linked in history and had to be considered together, since they were erected together and visually balance each other.
In their letter to parishioners, the church’s leadership praised Washington as “the visionary who not only refused to be king but also gave up power after eight years, and a symbol of our democracy.” Lee was described in less-glowing terms, as a longtime parishioner who for some “symbolizes the attempt to overthrow the Union and to preserve slavery.”
“Today our country is trying once again to come to grips with the history of slavery and the subsequent disenfranchisement of people of color,” the leaders wrote.
Despite his generosity to Christ Church, Washington was a more regular attendant at Pohick Church, which stands south of Mount Vernon. A staffer at Pohick said they have no plans to delete Washington from their church.
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53 Comments
6 years ago
If Washington name is so divisive, perhaps it is time for all those Negro using his name to change it as well? Ridiculousness of the left knows no borders!
6 years ago
Reply to
Voytek Gagalka
What about Washington and Lee University? Change the name to Obama and Clinton?
6 years ago
The first step in turning the church into a mosque. Remove the commemorative plaques, put them in a museum that show respect and knowledge of history. Then roundly abuse the clergy and supporters of this sacrilege against democracy. Get some clergy in that have the first idea of how Christianity is part of America’s success. Enough of those insipid luke warm camp followers, whores and hangers on of Christianity. Political correctness has no place in Christianity.
6 years ago
Reply to
Janet
Thanks, they are all in my file which is open. Hope you are feeling better and can join us.
6 years ago
“saying he (Washington), and another famous parishioner, Robert E. Lee, have become so
controversial that they are chasing away would-be parishioners.” Those would be parishioners would not be worth having in the church. What’s next, renaming the capital?
6 years ago
Reply to
Hook
Well, renaming DC should only follow … caving in everywhere else. Washington state? Hmmm. What can it be now? What hip hop star can we name the state for? And on and on it goes.
6 years ago
Reply to
Michael Buley
They will rename it to Clintonton or Obozoton.
Why not?
Though they also had the slaves – Us.
6 years ago
Reply to
Hook
There’s a madness sweeping the USA and it’s being led by faceless NEW PURITANS and like the puritans from centuries before in England they want to purge and destroy all that was before. Who are these parish committees? The leaders of them need to be named and investigated as to find their true motives.
It looks as if it’s a madness generated by guilt on one side and hatred/resentment on the other. If this hate cancer is left to it’s conclusion it will destroy American history and replace it with what?
God bless America
6 years ago
This latest assault upon a treasured relic of American history is to me at least a clear indication of what the left are doing {and so far getting away with} on both sides of the pond.
In the USofA standard bearers of the political populist right are now openly attacked, ridiculed, their work disparaged and ignored, institutions closed to them so debates cannot be held or opinions sounded, invitations to appear on MSM decline as do invitations of substance anywhere, cultural icons dismantled and removed from where they’ve been viewed for decades or centuries together with accepted behavioral norms and customs valued by people for many years. The fact that all these things served as societies “glue” through good and bad times no longer matters to the commissars of the new left in the same way classical civilisation relics mattered little to ISIS.
In the UK, students press for statues or busts of renowned founders of collages to be removed because their record is being judged by contemporary standards and not the standards of the day, police find money from “pinched” budgets to escort festivals enjoyed by ethnic minorities but somehow cannot find cash for road closures to enable parades of service veterans on Remembrance Sunday . TV programmes show how the settled native may change his or her appearance and lifestyle to look {and eat} more like the newcomers.
These comparisons can go on and on but the trend is clear, the PC political left in Europe and America are engaged on the same project – societal destruction {as we know it} followed by reconstruction by force in the image of the PC anti white, anti capitalist intolerant hard left .
This is continuing without check from the U.S. constitution, the MSM, politicians from the “Conservative” wing or the high priests of academia, {instead they’re leading the destruction teams}. All our values and traditions are now open to be judged, but notice, never the other sides, for they are sacrosanct.
We on the populist right have yet to come up with answers to this assault, our checks and balances are failing to preserve what we value, we are all being unpicked from within, the enemy is everywhere and he comes supported by those who look and sound like us, same problem, different locations, that’s all.
6 years ago
Reply to
Poppey
Great post! Loved the comparison to what ISIS is doing in the Middle East. Destroying anything Christian. How very sad.
6 years ago
Come to grips with the history of slavery in this country, and ban the Democratic party.
6 years ago
Reply to
Michael Buley
Hopefully, we can get rid of some of them, including the Republican establishment, at the ballot box.
6 years ago
Rev. Noelle York-Simmons – the name says it all!
I also hope that they return the $10,000, in what it would be worth in today’s dollars. A century ago, $10, 000 was real money!
6 years ago
shame. shame. shame. what has become of america?!
6 years ago
Reply to
bev
The demented Left that’s what. They hate America and it’s values. The professors in the colleges are teaching our young people to hate their country and everything it stands for along with anything and anybody conservative.
6 years ago
One more small but well paid activists group is attacking the will of the majority with their destructive agenda. Will it ever end before we are all a bunch of apathetic zombies?
6 years ago
I detest peopl;e and places that cower to the fear of the progressive liberal demoncrap Commies, I will never cower to their Political Incorrectness. I would rather just take them down,
6 years ago
The church needs to erect a new monument to the Prophet Mohammad one of the world’s largest former slave owners in history that makes President George Washington look like a real amateur in the use of torture and rape to convert slaves to Islam!
6 years ago
Rev. Noelle York-Simmons and the Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia is preaching to the collection plate and not the Bible. When you meet God I suspect it will not be a pleasant outcome. The time we spend here on Earth is short compared to where we will spend eternity. Think about this.
6 years ago
DO NOT tear it down. Instead post a story of the Civil War where we FREED the Negro from the tyranny of slavery forever.
BUT Demoncraps could never let go of their booty of Negroes. Today they still enslave Negroes but in a worser way. They enslave them spiritually and culturally so Negroes can NEVER let go of their past by stripping them of their dignity and filling it with HATE and RESENTMENT instead of gratefulness and appreciation.
So instead of tasting sweet victory we have bitter Negroes.
6 years ago
In October of ’61, the Communist Party Congress approved an unanimous declaration to remove Josef Stalin from Lenin’s tomb. So, who might be removed from Arlington National Cemetery, or have I spoken too soon?
6 years ago
This is such BS! Let’s just tear down all the statues of our founding fathers and anyone else that offends these idiots. I read the other day one of these groups was whining that President Lincoln owned slaves. Wrong you morons! They just want to keep on erasing our history. Get over it! History wasn’t always pretty but it is our history. Guess they want the next generation to be a bunch of dumbasses.This just burns me!
6 years ago
This gives the word DESPICABLE a whole new meaning.
GENERAL George Washington spent considerable TIME IN HELL to free the COLONIES from British TYRANNY.If not for him,there would be NO United States of America.
If a plaque HONORING him in the church he attended offends you,then a strongly suggest you pack your trash and hit the bricks,Cuba is nearby,or head over to Africa and help put in an electrical grid and running water to start with.
Perhaps Venezuela may be more appealing to your delicate sensibilities.
As for myself,if tomorrow was judgement day and that was the LAST and ONLY church on the planet,[I live in Virginia] I would NOT care to either enter it or have such a moron preacher do any intercession on my behalf.It’s pretty obvious that God has left the room………..and the current leftard in charge is ONLY interested in the Soros/ayers contribution he’s getting for this sellout.
Semper Fi
http://www.silverbulletgunoil.net
6 years ago
You church leaders are true AssHoles, your church does not deserve to have anyone as parishioners. Removing any plaque will only remove me from your almost church.
6 years ago
This is one of the reasons many Christians have given up on churches and just worship God on their own for the churches have become weak politically correct and hollow. They will not stand up for half of what the Bible stands for! If the congregation had some backbone they would boycott the church.
6 years ago
This is NOT George Washington’s church. It is the building, but it is property of The Episcopal Church (TEC). This so called church is post christian, the promote abortion as a blessing, queer marriage, queer ordination and any other act that is against the Bible. Of course they want to remove any vestige of Christianity. They would celebrate ANTIFA as “freedom fighters” and gladly turn the US into a socialist hell.
6 years ago
Reply to
drummie
This answers my question(s). Thanks !!!
Most sad, by the way, what has happened to both the church and our nation.
6 years ago
You have an Episcopal Church with 2 female pastors , which brings them outside the teaching of the bible . As a pastor one must be the husband of one wife .
6 years ago
Go elsewhere if you need to go to church. Sabbath means rest. Jesus is our Passover, high Sabbath, 1Corinthians 5:7. And the Lord’s day is the millennium, keep it holy by remembering we are in the last days and keep vigilant and do not be deceived. Keep to God’s word not man’s traditions.
6 years ago
Amazing how someone can become “too controversial” 200 years after their death.
6 years ago
The only example being set by this church is one of Left, cowardice! So un-American, so pathetic. Washington would have pulled his support. One more move to divide America. Ideally this church will lose all parishioners for the betrayal to President Washington.
6 years ago
George Washington once said, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” I wonder why it is so divisive? Hmmm. How America has fallen!
6 years ago
The plaques are not in memory of slavery.
Not everything is in memory of slavery.
The Civil War was about States Rights.
That issue has been settled.
Get over it.
6 years ago
The plaque should be defended, what is the Second Amendment for?
If it is taken down it should be stored safely and reintroduced when political correctness and cultural marxism have been disposed of. The young people who are in favour of this do not instil confidence in older people like myself for the future of the United States.
6 years ago
‘people’ today are so foolish
6 years ago
George Washington and Robert E Lee both attended semons at that church! So what now? Tear down the church?
Parishioners are offended by the two plaques? History, in certain era’s, has been offensive to all races and creeds!
So, if certain people are offended by history, the answer is to tear it down and get rid of it?! Sounds like what ISIS is going to the historical artifacts in the middle-east!
Historians will look back at our times as being the “Age of the idiots”!
6 years ago
The congregants should not stand for this!…..If they are sitting in that church, then they are as guilty as those that removed it!……Will they next, stop preaching the word of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so as not to offend anyone?
6 years ago
Ridiculous!
6 years ago
The actions of the vestry at Christ Church, Alexandria doesn’t surprise me. I’m sad to admit that the leadership of the Episcopal Church has been taking the PC road for many years now. The National Cathedral in DC is Episcopalian and yet they have allowed Muslims to worship Islam in the sancturary.
6 years ago
Muslims are absolutely convinced that Christianity must be eradicated, and that Islam and Muslims will prevail over all other religions and all other people. If Christians, and all Americans, don’t find that their balls, and find this same resolve about themselves, they will lose their religion and their country. They must stand up and sweep this filth away while they can, or they will end up like Europistan. And they better do it soon. It’s very simple: When one group feels ashamed of who they are, and another group is convinced that they are the best of all people and must destroy the other, who do you think will win? Wake up!
6 years ago
The left is indeed still running the country. They’ve been rewriting history and changing the structure of American society down to the very roots of our republic. Do we even care what they’re transforming us into?
