St. George’s History comprises individual articles, documents and collections around the 300 year history of St. George’s Episcopal Church, located in Fredericksburg Virginia. This site is unrelated to St. George's main website.
Supplementing them are a category-based search, a content index and a timeline. We have two tour documents - a building summary and a 15 minute walking tour you can take in the church.
If this is your first visit, check out the 2 tours - building summary and a 15 minute walking tour.
Recent articles
The Nave Renovation movie 2007-2009
Ralph Powell took all of the Nave Renovation pictures and combined them into a movie that covers the physical changes during the Nave Renovation from 2007-2009. The movie was split into two parts. Part 1 12 minutes Part 2 5 minutes
The Changing Place of the Reredos
The reredos appeared in the 1870’s, changed position in 1925, removed completely 1954, refinished and put back up by 2000 and shifted forward in the next 10 years.
1993 – the Financial Scandal
St. George’s endured a financial scandal that involved monies absconded by the treasurer. Here is the story of that event
General George Patton on St. George’s Cemetery
From A Life in ‘The ‘Burg – John C. Goolrick Introduction -The letter below which indicates that General Patton knew about St. George’s Cemetery is included in the appendix of John Goolrick’s book on Fredericksburg. Goolrick (1935-2005) was a columnist and reporter for the Free Lance-Star. A column at his death wrote “John Goolrick liked … Read more
Rev. Tom Faulkner’s church sign
St. George’s in Dec. 2016 planned on replacing the church sign on the front of the building with a new sign similar to the one that was on there that reflected the Rev. Jim Dannals name as the rector. Dannals named had been removed but the wood on the back of the sign was rotting. … Read more
Helping Hands, 1997
Helping Hands was a predecessor of the Table during the 1990’s but it was also more diverse providing help for other problems besides food. The program was a joint program with Trinity Episcopal.
2015 Annual Meeting
Annual meeting documents provide a unique look into a particular year in the history of the Parish. What are the important items ? It is not only the events but how participants reacted to them. 2015 was the Rev. Joe Hensley’s first Annual meeting having arrived earlier in 2015
Ecumenical activities in the 1990’s
A joint covenant committee between the St. George’s and Christ Lutheran congregations was founded in 1995 on a Vestry motion by Pam Jewett-Bullock and Malana Smith. This came from a Lutheran Episcopal study group that recommended a committee between St. George’s and Christ Lutheran to “explore ways that our two congregations can grow towards and in full communion with each other.” This article explores how the relationship developed.
Interfaith activities at St. George’s, Nov., 2015 – Nov., 2016
The Archdiocese of Chicago‘s Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs defines “the difference between ecumenical, interfaith, and interreligious relations,” as follows: “ecumenical” as “relations and prayer with other Christians,” “interfaith” as “relations with members of the ‘Abrahamic faiths’(Jewish and Muslim traditions),” and “interreligious” as “relations with other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism.” Here, we are looking … Read more
Christmas, 1924
It is Christmas, 1924. The greening of the Church has taken place. The hymn boards show advent hymns according to the Hymnal of 1916. Someone has hired Judson Smith Studios to take a professional picture of the interior. (Judson Smith (1880-1962) was a prominent photographer in Fredericksburg during his day). Was it because of the … Read more
1. Carrol Quenzel's History of St. George's
Quenzel's 1951 history is still the standard for the church. He was a librarian for Mary Washington College as well as being active at St. George's, helping to create the St. Georgian newsletter as well as a part of the Vestry. We have the entire book online which was published by St. George's
2. The Three Churches of St. George's - Barbara Willis
Barbara Willis was a local historian and writer and long time St. Georgian with her husband Mac. This paper is a detailed summary of the evolution of St. George's church from its wooden colonial church to the impressive 1849 brick building we have today.
The Civil War may be the most popular historic topic in all of our history. The church served in 3 capacities - as a fortress, center of revival and as a hospital. We have a 9 part series on our role and relationship to Fredericksburg.
McGuire served all 3 churches over the course of 45 years. He is probably the most influential of all our rectors in all phases of ministry from preaching, teaching, and outreach. Trip Wiggins, our archivist, wrote this for a Sunday school class and has been teaching classes for years
5. Charles Syndor on Social Policy
Charles Sydnor served St. George's from 1972-2003 and was responsible for furthering Thomas Faulkner's outreach ministries and creating new ones. This paper he wrote in 2009 was for an adult forum in that year.
6. Tom Faulkner confronts the Vestry on race
Faulkner served St. George's for 30 years from 1946-1976. During these years racial policies were paramount, especially 1954, in the year of Brown vs. Board of Education, Faulkner was challenged by the Vestry on the role of Blacks in our service. He was able to move St. George's toward racial justice that other rectors would further
