Truro and Falls Church

Joan Gundersen Offers a Historical Review

In all the other news around the Episcopal Church in the last few days, we have neglected to note a significant piece of research written by Dr. Joan R. Gundersen, exploring the history of the Truro and Falls Church parishes that voted earlier this month to secede from the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

As Father Jake observes, "It appears both of these parishes are insinuating, if not directly claiming, that their roots go back to before the Revolutionary War, and both seem to be suggesting in their 'histories' that George Washington was a member. In recent weeks, some of the articles in the secular press have affirmed this rendition of their history."

One might surmise that the two parishes wish to claim they predate the formation of the Episcopal Church – and this could surely be a useful claim in litigation against the Diocese of Virginia.

Joan R. Gunderson has published her research, How "Historic" Are Truro Church and The Falls Church? on her website. Dr. Gundersen has a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Notre Dame. She has published extensively on the history of the church in Virginia, and is currently collaborating with Edward Bond on a new history of the Diocese of Virginia to be published by the Diocese of Virginia and the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Dr. Gundersen is also President of Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh and a founding member of Via Media USA.

Here is the beginning of the article.

In the last few weeks, we have heard a lot about the two “historic” churches in Virginia whose congregations are among those that have recently decided to withdraw from The Episcopal Church. Both Truro Church and The Falls Church have been characterized as being older than The Episcopal Church. The Falls Church web site suggests that George Washington was once a vestry member of the church. The history on the Truro web site makes the same claim for Truro Church. Somehow, these historical assertions are supposed to make us feel that the decision to leave The Episcopal Church is especially poignant and important.

Let me be clear: I believe that any decision to leave The Episcopal Church, by an individual or a group, is a sad occasion. There is a lot of confusion and misinformation being distributed concerning the actual history of these parishes, however. Neither is the direct descendant of a colonial parish. Neither can claim George Washington as a past member of its vestry or its congregation. Both are “new” church plants from the 1830s and 1840s. In most places in the United States, founding dates in the antebellum period would be quite old enough to justify a claim of being “historic,” but these two parishes have sought the additional aura associated with George Washington and our colonial past. How “historic” are they?

Click here to read the entire essay.