I just got back from two great days in historic Virginia. On Tuesday night I spoke at historic Christ Church in Weems, Virginia. Thanks to Karen Hart of the Mary Ball Washington Museum and Camille Bennett of Historic Christ Church for the invitation.
On Wednesday afternoon I returned to Christ Church to get a private tour of the church with Camille, the executive director of the historical site. Christ Church was built in 1735 with funds provided by Robert “King” Carter, colonial Virginia’s most powerful planter. This church has been described as the “most finely crafted Anglican parish in all of colonial Virginia” and perhaps all of colonial America. I can’t disagree. It is an architectural wonder.
I have been to a lot of eighteenth-century churches, but none of them have the kind of public history presentation or visitor center that Christ Church has. Camille leads a full-time staff of four people who have designed a small museum on the site. It includes state of the art exhibits, touchscreen displays, a movie narrated by Roger Mudd, and all kinds of artifacts. If you are in the Northern Neck of Virginia, this site is definitely worth your time– a real hidden historical treasure! I want to bring students here.
On Wednesday night I was back in Colonial Williamsburg where I gave lectures on the topic of “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation” at the Hennage Auditorium in the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Art Museum. There was a nice turnout of folks who were very engaged with the subject.
I met a Glenn Beck follower who wanted my opinion about “social justice” and the “collective.” (And was dissatisfied with my answer). I also met a local pastor who lived in Africa with one of my college roommates. And there was even a married couple there who knew Arthur Climenhaga, a former president of Messiah College. I also got to meet Christopher Jones, a reader of this blog and a fellow blogger at Religion in American History. Christopher is about to embark on what I am sure will be a great dissertation on early Methodism under the direction of Chris Grasso at the College of William and Mary.
Thanks to Linda Rowe for the invitation to speak at Colonial Williamsburg’s “Religion Month.”
For those of you in the New York metropolitan area, I will be at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in lower Manhattan tonight for a 6:30 lecture. Hope to see some readers there.
It was great to meet you and chat for a few minutes, John, and I enjoyed the lecture (even if I was the only one under the age of 65 in the auditorium). 🙂