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 Earliest Rector Photographs
Photographs from John Hennessey provides a new look into our St. George’s Civil War rector, Rev. Alfred M. Randolph. Tomorrow the US Takes over the rectory.
The Saints Split – Trinity Episcopal is created from St. George’s, 1877
The split of Trinity from St. George’s affected St. George’s for more than a generation. The relationship between the two Episcopal Churches has never been particularly close. The nature of the split may explain this lingering situation. St. George’s took until 1946 to recover the numbers of communicants lost. The article tries to separate facts from speculation. The lack of documentation is a problem understanding this event. More research could be done as suggested at the end.
Creation of the Celtic Service
When and how did the popular Celtic service develop ? The Celtic was part of an overall shift toward an increase number of services to present different liturgies, music and to fit changing needs within the church.
The Preschool years 2013-2015, transition to expansion
The expansion years were good years for the preschool in the number of students served, the finances and the addition of the afternoon classes. We were finding more St. George’s parents were sending their children to the preschool
The Preschool – Cost of Creating a space, 2011-12
One expense the preschool did not have to bear with the building occupancy costs which were close to $35,000. Due to the modification of the basement space of McGuire, we were affected by a new building code adopted by the state of Virginia. We would have been affected by this code when we would make … Read more
The Preschool – A rocky first year 2011-12
The first year proved to have many challenges – lower enrollment, costs to get an occupancy report and a change in the director.
The Creation of the Preschool 2008-2010
The preschool arose in part from a Virginia Preschool initiative. The Vestry minutes of Nov., 2007 reported that “Cary, Jim and Gay recently attended a meeting on the Virginia Pre-School Initiative that is being sponsored by the Governor of Virginia. The issue is the large number of underserved three to four years olds in Virginia … Read more
ECW Cook book of 1960
This is the “classic cookbook” issued by the ECW in 1960 and revived in the 1990’s. Thanks to Mary Jane O’Neill who found a copy in a yard sale and donated it.
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
