By MARSHA
MERCER
When my
church in Alexandria made the news, I knew it would be a bumpy ride.
The historic
Episcopal church, after months of soul-searching, announced Oct. 26 it would
relocate from the sanctuary two marble plaques memorializing George Washington
and Robert E. Lee, its most famous members.
It may not
surprise you that some media reports overly simplified and exaggerated the turn
of events.
Headlines
trumpeted: “Cultural terrorism comes to Christ Church in Alexandria” and
“George Washington’s church to tear down memorial honoring first president.”
Blogs
referred to “ripping out” the memorial to Washington the church now finds
“offensive.”
Asked about
the plaques in a TV interview, John Kelly, President Donald Trump’s chief of
staff, criticized the decision and praised Lee as an honorable man.
Corey
Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of Supervisors and a Republican
candidate for Senate next year, and others decried political correctness.
“The next
thing . . . is that they would take the name Christ off the name of this
church,” Stewart declared in a news conference outside the church.
Let’s take a
breath here.
After Christ
Church opened in 1773, Washington was one of the early worshippers and had a family
pew. His adopted son, George Washington Parke Custis, gave the church one of Washington’s
Bibles after he died.
Lee could
walk to church from his boyhood home a few blocks away. He and two of his
daughters were confirmed in the church in 1853, and Lee attended Sunday morning
services April 21, 1861, after he resigned his commission in the U.S. Army.
His eldest
daughter, Mary Custis Lee, left the church $10,000 for its endowment when she
died in 1918.
The church installed
the two plaques -- “In Memory of George Washington” and “In Memory of Robert
Edward Lee” – on either side of the altar two months after Lee died in October 1870.
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill saw the plaques when
they worshipped on New Year’s Day 1942. Over the years, so did Presidents Eisenhower,
Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan and both Bushes when they visited.
In the
decade I’ve been a member, there’s been a growing uneasiness among the largely
white parish that the prominent Lee plaque discourages black people from
becoming part of the church.
Then, white
nationalist Richard Spencer moved to Old Town Alexandria, and the horrible events
in Charlottesville last summer brought the matter to a head.
The vestry unanimously
decided “the plaques create a distraction in our worship space and may create
an obstacle to our identity as a welcoming church . . . Accordingly the plaques
will be relocated no later than the summer of 2018.”
Emily Bryan,
senior warden of the church, told parishioners last Sunday: “Today, the legacy
of slavery and of the Confederacy is understood differently than it was in
1870. For some, Lee symbolizes the attempt to overthrow the Union and to
preserve slavery . . . The plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence
feel unsafe or unwelcome.”
Where my
church stumbled was in not having a new location already chosen, so outsiders would
see we aren’t trying to hide our history. A committee will decide where on the
church campus to put the plaques.
Remaining
unchanged in the sanctuary will be Washington’s box pew, the plaque marking his
funeral, silver markers for Washington and Lee on the pews and communion rail,
and other references to the two men.
In the churchyard,
Confederate soldiers in a mass grave will remain undisturbed.
So, maybe
you’re saying, OK, I get why they’re moving the Lee plaque – but why Washington
too?
Because the
two plaques were installed at the same time and “visually balance each other,
maintaining the symmetry of our sanctuary,” church leaders decided they should move
together.
I hope the new
location balances respect for history with modern -- and timeless --
values.
I like the
way Noelle York-Simmons, Christ Church rector, explained the situation to
reporters the other day.
“We are the
church of George Washington, of Robert E. Lee, but most importantly we are the
church of Jesus Christ,” she said. Amen.
©2017 Marsha
Mercer. All rights reserved.
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