Grace Episcopal Church (Alexandria, Virginia)
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Grace Episcopal Church is an Episcopal Church serving the west end of Alexandria, Virginia. The church was founded in 1855 as an offshoot of Christ Church and the current church building was built in 1948. Grace Church is a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. The church frequently hosts seminarians from the nearby Virginia Theological Seminary.
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[edit] History
Grace Church was founded as a place where “all may come without regard for temporal estate, freely and without fee, as brethren come one to another.” [1] This was in contrast to the common practice at the time for parishioners to pay a pew tax.
Today, this approach continues, as the parish proclaims itself to be a place, "where all may worship freely by God's grace." The parish is inclusive, and welcomes all persons, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other attribute. Openly gay persons serve at every level within the parish, including as vestry members, lay eucharistic ministers, and countless other places. Additionally, for many years the parish advertised in the Washington Blade, a publication for the GLBT community.
The parish also provides La Gracia, a spanish-speaking Mass.
[edit] Worship
Grace Church considers itself to be High Church or Anglo-Catholic. The Eucharist is the center of worship at Grace Church, and is celebrated ten times per week during the school year. Grace Church uses both Rite I and Rite II from the Book of Common Prayer for worship services, and conducts one mass on Sundays in Spanish. [2] [3]
[edit] Grace Episcopal School
Attached to the church is a parish school for children
[edit] Church Building
The current church building was constructed in 1948. It has eight stained glass windows, including 6 in the nave. The six windows portray twelve prominent church figures, including:
- Paul of Tarsus
- Athanasius
- Augustine of Hippo
- Bede
- Dunstan
- Anselm of Canterbury
- Francis of Assisi
- Thomas Aquinas
- William Laud
- Samuel Seabury, first bishop of The Episcopal Church
- Edward Pusey
- Bishop Fabian of the Anglican Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago
The stained glass window in the narthex is a rose window and contains the phrase And the truth shall make you free.
The pulpit is wood carved, and shows images of five great British evangelists:
