[Magdalen] Update (was Prayer request)

[Kristin Rollins]

This is in Virginia Beach, on Witchduck Road, just east of Independence
Blvd. The origin of the name appears to be pretty simple. The land for
the church was donated...and eventually it was an old church (the first
use of the phrase, according to a history linked from their web site was
from the 1820s). Old Donation was the first church in Virginia Beach,
and in 2012 celebrated their 375th anniversary with a visit from the
Presiding Bishop.

One of the links to that past is the baptismal font, which is a very
heavy thing that was from the original 17th-century church building. It
was apparently recovered in the early 20th century from the bottom of
the Lynnhaven River. To quote a parish history linked from their web
site: "Broken places remain from the time it served as a boat anchor in
the river. There is great symbolism in a baptismal font going under the
waters and raised to provide new life!"

Nowadays, it is a very active parish, with four services each Sunday
morning, three in the historic church and one in the parish hall  (8:00,
9:15, and two simultaneous services at 10:30). And they are busy through
the week as well. It is the largest parish I have ever attended. I
visited there several times when I was down to see Heather, and we
continued to attend until after I took the job in Portsmouth. In fact,
the last time I was at the Sunday 10:30 service in the historic church
would have been for the blessing of our marriage...it was only a week or
two after I started playing for St John's, because I remember needing to
arrange that Sunday off when I began to work there.

-- 
  Kristin Rollins
  kristin at verumsolum.com
  Portsmouth, VA

On Tue, Jan 6, 2015, at 11:57 PM, Grace Cangialosi wrote:
> "Old Donation"??  I passed a church with that name once a few years ago
> somewhere in Virginia, I think. Strangest church name I've ever heard!
> Only in VA, I thought, where there is also the Robert E. Lee Memorial
> Chapel, also known to the locals as "St. Bobby's"
> Where is your Old Donation Church, Kristin?