Truro Parish
Encyclopedia
Truro Church is an Anglican church in Fairfax
, Virginia
, US
.
Parish (now the Diocese of Truro) in Cornwall
, England. The cornerstone of the current main church of Truro is from Truro Cathedral
in Cornwall.
Truro Parish initially covered all of the land north of those rivers up to the Potomac
, and westward all the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains
at Ashby's Gap
. The parish originally contained three churches: Occoquan (the parish seat), William Gunnell's, and a chapel "above Goose Creek
". The exact locations of the second two are unknown, but the Occoquan church was later known as Pohick Church
, which still stands. In 1733, work was started on a new church "near Michael Reagan's"; this was at the site of the present-day Falls Church.
On June 11, 1749, the parish was divided in two, with the newly-formed Cameron Parish constituting the portion north and west of Difficult Run
and Popes Head Run. George Mason
, author of the Virginia Articles that presaged the Bill of Rights
, was elected to the parish vestry
that year.
In 1753, the first church service at the new town of Alexandria
was recorded.
George Washington
was appointed to the Truro Parish vestry on October 25, 1762. His father, Augustine Washington
, had served on the vestry for a few years, starting in 1735.
Truro Parish was further split on February 1, 1765. The new boundary was just south of Washington's estate, and the northern portion became Fairfax Parish, with The Falls Church as its seat. Parishioners of Truro, however, complained that the division was far more favorable to Fairfax Parish, and succeeded in having a new border drawn through Washington's estate.
Later church buildings were constructed, including Payne's Church on Ox Road (1766), and replacements for The Falls Church (started in 1763, while it was still part of Truro Parish) and Pohick Church in 1767.
In those early years, there were only two churches in Truro parish: a chapel above Goose Creek (in what is now Loudoun County) and the original Pohick Church near Occoquan
, in southern Fairfax County. In 1766, a new church was established “on the middle ridge near Ox Road,” the present site of Jerusalem Baptist Church off Route 123. The Truro Parish vestry contracted Edward Payne to build this new church and it became known as “Payne’s Church.”
With the outbreak of war
with England in 1776, Payne’s Church fell into disrepair and was abandoned. The Jerusalem Baptist Church later took possession of the building until the outbreak of the Civil War
when Union
troops demolished the church, disassembling it brick by brick and using the materials to build chimneys for their tents.
There was no official Episcopal Church in City of Fairfax until the Rev. Richard Templeton Brown, rector of The Falls Church, organized a congregation in 1843. The congregation first met at the historic Fairfax Courthouse and then moved to the private home of Mrs. William Rumsey, a Baptist from New York. There were fourteen communicants. A year later, a plain white frame church was built on the present site of the Truro Chapel and was consecrated as Zion Church in 1845.
As Union troops advanced into Virginia
at the outset of the Civil War, the congregation was forced to abandon Zion Church. During the Civil War, Zion Church was first used as a storehouse for munitions and then was destroyed. The house that is now the Gunnell House (at that time a private residence) was used as the Union headquarters by General Stoughton until 1863 when he was captured in the middle of the night by Confederate Captain John Mosby
. Graffiti written by the officers stationed in the house was found on the walls in a closet on the third floor and is now on display at the Fairfax Museum.
In 1882, the house was purchased for use as a rectory. At that time it was half the size it is today and was enlarged to its present form in 1911. It served as the residence of the rector of the Episcopal Church in Fairfax until 1991 when it served first as a home for single mothers and their babies (NOEL House) and then as the offices for Truro Church.
At the close of the Civil War, the congregation of Zion Church re-formed and began to meet in the Fairfax Courthouse. Zion Church was rebuilt and consecrated in 1878.
Zion Church remained in active use from 1875 through 1933, when a new church (now the Chapel) was built to serve the growing congregation of 100 parishioners, under the leadership of the Rev. Herbert Donovan. Designed to replicate the old Payne’s Church on Ox Road, the new church was consecrated on May 1, 1934, as Truro Episcopal Church. The old Zion Church building was used as the Parish Hall until it burned down in 1952.
In 1967, a small group of Truro parishioners (who had been meeting together for Bible study and prayer) began a mission church called the Church of the Apostles, now located east of Truro on Pickett Road.
In 1976 the Rev. John W. Howe was installed as Rector. Under his leadership Truro continued to experience physical expansion as well as spiritual renewal. The church seating capacity was expanded by 300 through the addition of the transepts in 1983. Truro also expanded its engagement in mission around the world. Another mission church, the Church of the Epiphany, was established in Herndon, Virginia
in 1985, with the Rev. Bill Reardon as rector.
In 1991, the Rev. Martyn Minns
was installed as rector of Truro Church. He emphasized an evangelical call to worldwide mission and outreach to the poor, as well as biblical theology. Under his leadership the Lamb Center was established, offering social services, prayer, and practical encouragement to the homeless in Fairfax, and the work of TIPS Truro’s International Programs and Services was expanded. A new mission church, Christ the Redeemer Church
, was launched in western Fairfax County with the Rev. Tom Herrick as vicar in 1994. Most recently, Truro birthed another mission church in Loudoun County, the Church of the Holy Spirit
in 2001, with the Rev. Clancy Nixon as vicar. The Rev. Martyn Minns was made an honorary canon of All Saints Cathedral, Mpwapwa
, Tanzania
in 2002; he was consecrated as a bishop
by Archbishop
Peter Akinola
in 2006.
, Missionary Bishop of CANA. Joining Truro were other individuals from eleven other parishes in the Diocese of Virginia who also voted to leave the Episcopal Church and join CANA. CANA is a member of the Common Cause Partnership http://www.acn-us.org/common-cause-partners/, which also includes the American Anglican Council, the Anglican Coalition in Canada, the Anglican Communion Network, the Anglican Essentials Canada, the Anglican Mission in America, the Anglican Network in Canada, the Anglican Province of America, Forward in Faith North America. and the Reformed Episcopal Church. In June 2008, Truro was represented at the Global Anglican Future in Jerusalem.
On May 13, 2007, the Rev'd Dr. Tory Baucum, a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary
was called by the departing Truro Vestry to become the new rector of the departed members of Truro. On September 28, 2007 he was installed as rector of the departed Truro by the Rt. Rev'd Martyn Minns, CANA. The Rt. Rev'd Sandy Millar, Missionary Bishop for the Church of England (Diocese of London) and former vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton was the preacher.
Though the CANA congregations, including the departing Truro, and their clergy decided to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church in America (TEC) and unite with another demonitation, CANA, they sought to retain the historic church, meeting facilities and other property of the Episcopal Church, and claimed that they owned the facilities as congregations affiliated with the global Anglican communion, albeit under a different "branch". They also withheld contributions to TEC and placed the funds in escrow.
The leaving members of Truro initiated the first legal proceedings under a Virginia "departure" statute. Thereafter, TEC initiated legal proceedings in Virginia to determine the ownership of the facilities. Initially a Virginia Circuit Court judge agreed with CANA regarding technical points about whether the TEC was qualified to bring the action, and the case of real property ownership was not decided. TEC appealed, and on June 10, 2010, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the decision of the circuit court, specifically finding that the Virginia statute on which the departing members relied did not apply because the departing members had not joined a "branch" of the same denomination. The circuit court has now been directed to consider and settle the real property issue. Regardless of the circuit court's decision, it is likely that it also will be appealed.
It is unclear what action TEC would take were the courts ultimately to determine that TEC, not Truro or other CANA-affiliated congregations, owns the property. However, because a minority of Truro members, though small, voted not to unaffiliate with TEC, due to the historical prominence of the parish, and due to the somewhat limited extent of the unaffiliation movement nationwide, TEC may demand either that the CANA-affiliated membership turn over the property to TEC for establishing a TEC-affiliated congregation, or that departing Truro be required to pay for use of the facilities.
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History of Truro Church
The original Truro Parish was created by the General Assembly of Virginia on November 1, 1732 when Hamilton Parish was divided along the Occoquan River and Bull Run. It included what is, at present, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, and the independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church. The parish was named after TruroTruro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
Parish (now the Diocese of Truro) in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England. The cornerstone of the current main church of Truro is from Truro Cathedral
Truro Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Truro is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style fashionable during much of the nineteenth century, and is one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom...
in Cornwall.
Truro Parish initially covered all of the land north of those rivers up to the Potomac
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, and westward all the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
at Ashby's Gap
Ashby's Gap
Ashby Gap, more commonly known as Ashby's Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the border of Clarke County, Loudoun County and Fauquier County in Virginia. The gap is traversed by U.S. Route 50...
. The parish originally contained three churches: Occoquan (the parish seat), William Gunnell's, and a chapel "above Goose Creek
Goose Creek (Potomac River)
Goose Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River in Fauquier and Loudoun counties in northern Virginia. It comprises the principal drainage system for the Loudoun Valley.-Course:...
". The exact locations of the second two are unknown, but the Occoquan church was later known as Pohick Church
Pohick Church
Pohick Church is an Episcopal church in the community of Pohick near Lorton in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.-History:Originally founded around 1695 as Occoquan Church, in the Anglican Truro Parish of Virginia, it was later renamed Pohick Church in 1732 after relocating near Pohick Creek,...
, which still stands. In 1733, work was started on a new church "near Michael Reagan's"; this was at the site of the present-day Falls Church.
On June 11, 1749, the parish was divided in two, with the newly-formed Cameron Parish constituting the portion north and west of Difficult Run
Difficult Run
Difficult Run is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in northern Virginia in the United States. The term "run" for "stream" is common usage in this part of Virginia and throughout the mid-Atlantic region; another "run" is better known in American Civil War history: Bull Run. Difficult Run...
and Popes Head Run. George Mason
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
, author of the Virginia Articles that presaged the Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
, was elected to the parish vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
that year.
In 1753, the first church service at the new town of Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
was recorded.
George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
was appointed to the Truro Parish vestry on October 25, 1762. His father, Augustine Washington
Augustine Washington
Augustine Washington was the father of general and president George Washington. He belonged to the Colony of Virginia's landed gentry and was a planter and slaveholder.-Family:...
, had served on the vestry for a few years, starting in 1735.
Truro Parish was further split on February 1, 1765. The new boundary was just south of Washington's estate, and the northern portion became Fairfax Parish, with The Falls Church as its seat. Parishioners of Truro, however, complained that the division was far more favorable to Fairfax Parish, and succeeded in having a new border drawn through Washington's estate.
Later church buildings were constructed, including Payne's Church on Ox Road (1766), and replacements for The Falls Church (started in 1763, while it was still part of Truro Parish) and Pohick Church in 1767.
In those early years, there were only two churches in Truro parish: a chapel above Goose Creek (in what is now Loudoun County) and the original Pohick Church near Occoquan
Occoquan, Virginia
Occoquan is a town in Prince William County in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 759 at the 2000 census, but as of the census of 2010, there were 934 people residing in the town of Occoquan. The town is a suburb of Washington, D.C. and is adjacent to Woodbridge...
, in southern Fairfax County. In 1766, a new church was established “on the middle ridge near Ox Road,” the present site of Jerusalem Baptist Church off Route 123. The Truro Parish vestry contracted Edward Payne to build this new church and it became known as “Payne’s Church.”
With the outbreak of war
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
with England in 1776, Payne’s Church fell into disrepair and was abandoned. The Jerusalem Baptist Church later took possession of the building until the outbreak of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
when Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
troops demolished the church, disassembling it brick by brick and using the materials to build chimneys for their tents.
There was no official Episcopal Church in City of Fairfax until the Rev. Richard Templeton Brown, rector of The Falls Church, organized a congregation in 1843. The congregation first met at the historic Fairfax Courthouse and then moved to the private home of Mrs. William Rumsey, a Baptist from New York. There were fourteen communicants. A year later, a plain white frame church was built on the present site of the Truro Chapel and was consecrated as Zion Church in 1845.
As Union troops advanced into Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
at the outset of the Civil War, the congregation was forced to abandon Zion Church. During the Civil War, Zion Church was first used as a storehouse for munitions and then was destroyed. The house that is now the Gunnell House (at that time a private residence) was used as the Union headquarters by General Stoughton until 1863 when he was captured in the middle of the night by Confederate Captain John Mosby
John S. Mosby
John Singleton Mosby , nicknamed the "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War...
. Graffiti written by the officers stationed in the house was found on the walls in a closet on the third floor and is now on display at the Fairfax Museum.
In 1882, the house was purchased for use as a rectory. At that time it was half the size it is today and was enlarged to its present form in 1911. It served as the residence of the rector of the Episcopal Church in Fairfax until 1991 when it served first as a home for single mothers and their babies (NOEL House) and then as the offices for Truro Church.
At the close of the Civil War, the congregation of Zion Church re-formed and began to meet in the Fairfax Courthouse. Zion Church was rebuilt and consecrated in 1878.
Zion Church remained in active use from 1875 through 1933, when a new church (now the Chapel) was built to serve the growing congregation of 100 parishioners, under the leadership of the Rev. Herbert Donovan. Designed to replicate the old Payne’s Church on Ox Road, the new church was consecrated on May 1, 1934, as Truro Episcopal Church. The old Zion Church building was used as the Parish Hall until it burned down in 1952.
Truro Church (1948-2001)
The Rev. Dr. Raymond Davis was installed as rector of Truro in 1948. He said that he would be pleased if he could, just once, fill all one hundred seats of the little brick church. Not only were all the seats filled, but the growing congregation began to burst at the seams as the great suburban expansion of Northern Virginia began in the 1950s. In 1959, a new and larger church was completed with a seating capacity of 500. The congregation first worshiped in the new church on Palm Sunday, 1959, and when the mortgage was paid off in 1974, a new Truro Church building was consecrated. The old church building is now known as the Chapel.In 1967, a small group of Truro parishioners (who had been meeting together for Bible study and prayer) began a mission church called the Church of the Apostles, now located east of Truro on Pickett Road.
In 1976 the Rev. John W. Howe was installed as Rector. Under his leadership Truro continued to experience physical expansion as well as spiritual renewal. The church seating capacity was expanded by 300 through the addition of the transepts in 1983. Truro also expanded its engagement in mission around the world. Another mission church, the Church of the Epiphany, was established in Herndon, Virginia
Herndon, Virginia
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
in 1985, with the Rev. Bill Reardon as rector.
In 1991, the Rev. Martyn Minns
Martyn Minns
The Right Reverend Martyn Minns is the Missionary Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America . Prior to becoming bishop, he served as rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia, in the United States.-Background:...
was installed as rector of Truro Church. He emphasized an evangelical call to worldwide mission and outreach to the poor, as well as biblical theology. Under his leadership the Lamb Center was established, offering social services, prayer, and practical encouragement to the homeless in Fairfax, and the work of TIPS Truro’s International Programs and Services was expanded. A new mission church, Christ the Redeemer Church
Christ the Redeemer Church
In 1692, Fr Andrea, a Maltese Jesuit from Valletta, Malta, opened the building as a conservatory for girls. These were orphans, rejected by their families or had no possibility of "living honestly in poverty and misery". Fr Andrea received charitable collections from the Knights of Malta as well as...
, was launched in western Fairfax County with the Rev. Tom Herrick as vicar in 1994. Most recently, Truro birthed another mission church in Loudoun County, the Church of the Holy Spirit
Church of the Holy Spirit
Church of the Holy Spirit or Holy Spirit Church may refer to:* Church of the Holy Spirit * Church of the Holy Spirit * Church of the Holy Spirit * Church of the Holy Spirit...
in 2001, with the Rev. Clancy Nixon as vicar. The Rev. Martyn Minns was made an honorary canon of All Saints Cathedral, Mpwapwa
Mpwapwa
Mpwapwa is a market town, in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania.-Overview:It is one of the oldest colonial districts in Tanzania, boasting local German colonial government headquarters, or bomas, in the early 1890s, and British administrative offices after World War I...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
in 2002; he was consecrated as a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
by Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Peter Akinola
Peter Akinola
Peter Jasper Akinola is the former Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also the former Bishop of Abuja and Archbishop of Province III, which covers the northern and central parts of the country....
in 2006.
In the 21st Century
Following the Protocol for Departing Congregations http://www.thediocese.net/News_services/pressroom/docs/special_committee_report.pdf created by the Diocese of Virginia, Truro Church embarked on 40 Days of Discernment http://40daysofdiscernment.org/ to consider its future in The Episcopal Church (TEC). This time of discernment led to a parish vote where the entire membership voted on whether to leave the Episcopal Church. On Sunday, December 17, 2006, 92 percent of the individual members of Truro Episcopal Church membership voted to withdraw from the Episcopal Church and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a mission initiative of the Anglican Church of Nigeria (a province in the worldwide Anglican Communion), but an entity that is not a branch of The Episcopal Church, under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Martyn MinnsMartyn Minns
The Right Reverend Martyn Minns is the Missionary Bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America . Prior to becoming bishop, he served as rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia, in the United States.-Background:...
, Missionary Bishop of CANA. Joining Truro were other individuals from eleven other parishes in the Diocese of Virginia who also voted to leave the Episcopal Church and join CANA. CANA is a member of the Common Cause Partnership http://www.acn-us.org/common-cause-partners/, which also includes the American Anglican Council, the Anglican Coalition in Canada, the Anglican Communion Network, the Anglican Essentials Canada, the Anglican Mission in America, the Anglican Network in Canada, the Anglican Province of America, Forward in Faith North America. and the Reformed Episcopal Church. In June 2008, Truro was represented at the Global Anglican Future in Jerusalem.
On May 13, 2007, the Rev'd Dr. Tory Baucum, a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary
Asbury Theological Seminary
Asbury Theological Seminary is a multi-denominational, graduate institution that offers a variety of master degree and postgraduate degree programs through the schools of Biblical Interpretation and Proclamation, Theology and Formation, Practical Theology, World Missions and Evangelism, and...
was called by the departing Truro Vestry to become the new rector of the departed members of Truro. On September 28, 2007 he was installed as rector of the departed Truro by the Rt. Rev'd Martyn Minns, CANA. The Rt. Rev'd Sandy Millar, Missionary Bishop for the Church of England (Diocese of London) and former vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton was the preacher.
Though the CANA congregations, including the departing Truro, and their clergy decided to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church in America (TEC) and unite with another demonitation, CANA, they sought to retain the historic church, meeting facilities and other property of the Episcopal Church, and claimed that they owned the facilities as congregations affiliated with the global Anglican communion, albeit under a different "branch". They also withheld contributions to TEC and placed the funds in escrow.
The leaving members of Truro initiated the first legal proceedings under a Virginia "departure" statute. Thereafter, TEC initiated legal proceedings in Virginia to determine the ownership of the facilities. Initially a Virginia Circuit Court judge agreed with CANA regarding technical points about whether the TEC was qualified to bring the action, and the case of real property ownership was not decided. TEC appealed, and on June 10, 2010, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the decision of the circuit court, specifically finding that the Virginia statute on which the departing members relied did not apply because the departing members had not joined a "branch" of the same denomination. The circuit court has now been directed to consider and settle the real property issue. Regardless of the circuit court's decision, it is likely that it also will be appealed.
It is unclear what action TEC would take were the courts ultimately to determine that TEC, not Truro or other CANA-affiliated congregations, owns the property. However, because a minority of Truro members, though small, voted not to unaffiliate with TEC, due to the historical prominence of the parish, and due to the somewhat limited extent of the unaffiliation movement nationwide, TEC may demand either that the CANA-affiliated membership turn over the property to TEC for establishing a TEC-affiliated congregation, or that departing Truro be required to pay for use of the facilities.