[Magdalen] Update (was Prayer request)

[Grace Cangialosi]

Then there was Crab Bottom Presbyterian Church over in Blue Grass, VA.  Now Trinity Episcopal!

> On Jan 7, 2015, at 11:31 AM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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?
>>