[Magdalen] Update (was Prayer request)

[Jay Weigel]

That is a strange name! A little out of character for TEC, but not for that
part of Virginia, I guess. Odd/unusual church names in my experience are
more likely to be found in other denominations. In east Tennessee, both
Baptist and especially Methodist churches are often "so-and-so's chapel"
<denomination> <church>. I think those names may stem from whoever gave the
land the church stands on. However, in the county next to the one I lived
in, there are two little Methodist churches that are "Martha's Chapel" and
"Mary's Chapel". I never could find out where those came from! Then there's
the African-American custom of naming churches "greater" this or that. My
favorite is a big Baptist church in Milwaukee, Greater Galilee. They used
to have a really superior choir, don't know if they still do. And in
Knoxville there is a COGIC that is Greater Warner Tabernacle; no idea who
or what Warner is/was.

On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 9:10 AM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, that's the same church! I read the historical marker the day I saw the
> church, but it didn't appear that the church was being used anymore. That
> would have been more than ten years ago...
> I'd forgotten you were in that area.
>
> > On Jan 7, 2015, at 4:55 AM, Kristin Rollins <kristin at verumsolum.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > 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?
> >
>