Thursday, August 19, 2010

Episcopal Roots in Philly

The congregation of Christ Church, Philadelphia was formed in the 1600s. William White was Rector there in revolutionary days, and served as Chaplain to the Continental Congress. Christ Church's bells rang to celebrate independence.

White would become the second Bishop consecrated for the Episcopal Church, and George Washington really did sleep at White's place (309 Walnut St.) from time to time.

After darkening his doorway, I decided to walk the few blocks north again to try for a pic of Christ Church's steeple, which is not easy in the now built-up city. The best I could do was sit on the Church Street sidewalk and work with the intrusive stop sign. But it hit me that White was an architect of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church, which are really neglected and/or abused today. The "Stop" makes a nice commentary on a denomination that has strayed far from its roots.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, you look like a tourist.

Anyway, I like the reason you gave for leaving the stopsign in the pic. I just wondered if "STOP - All Way" might be the antithesis of "GO - Four Square." Or perhaps, "Onward - Full Gospel."

TLF+ said...

LOL that's cuz I was a tourist.

FWIW I couldn't quite get an angle that would include a TEC flag flying on a building to the the left of the frame.

Anonymous said...

No, I like it that way.
One Sunday morning after a particularly strong night wind storm I found a metal "No Parking" sign leaning against the front door of the nave. As you can imagine, that became the centerpiece illustration for my revised sermon that morning on discipleship and mission.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that your photo became a part of one of your sermons when you get back.
I can hear a Jeremiah-ish word there.