Mr. Moore asks some important and useful questions. We have been debating this issue largely in ignorance of the actual history of the building, and especially of the chapel. When was it consecrated? If before disestablishment, which is certainly possible, then what were the consequences of disestablishment (most of the property of the Church of England was secularized as a consequence of successful lawsuits by Baptists and Presbyterians in the late 1790s and early 1800s)? Was the Chapel an "occasional" chapel? If the Chapel is sacred space now, when was it last regularly used by an Episcopalian priest? Of which parish is it a part? Does anyone here know the answers to these questions? Without knowing them, how are we to assess the historical significance of the chapel? All best, Kevin ---- Original message ---- >Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:17:45 -0500 >From: "Donald W. Moore" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: Wren cross at W&M >To: [log in to unmask] > >The Wren Chapel, not to mention the Wren Building, is historical. Why >should we sacrifice our history for political correctness? Why not >donate the Wren facility to Colonial Williamsburg and let it be >interpreted in historical context? > >___________________ >Donald W. Moore >Virginia Beach, Virginia > > >To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions >at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D. Department of History James Madison University To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html