I don't know how many times I've driven past the Falls Church Episcopal without noticing it. In the hurry, hurry, hurry of traffic going down Hwy 29, it has been easy to just zip past when driving from point A to B. Last week though, Falls Church Episcopal finally caught my attention and I stopped off with a friend.
Built between 1767 and 1769, it was designed by a member of the vestry named James Wren to replace an older wooden sanctuary that had fallen into decay. I remembered studying it in graduate school. Or, at least seeing a slide of it in a lecture on colonial architecture. Perhaps more importantly though, a white marble plaque by its front doors reads as follows:
"To the glory of God and in honor of George Washington who was a vestryman in 1765 of the old Falls Church built A.D. 1734. This tablet was placed by the Falls Church Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, October 1911. Rededicated 2005."
There are two other plaques on its front facade indicating that this church has been listed on both the local historic registry and the national one. In addition, there are several others imbedded in the surrounding walkways. The first that one sees is dedicated with "gratitude and repentance" to enslaved people whose labor built this place. Half-covered in the grass further back are two more in memory of Union and Confederate soldiers known and unknown buried on the property.
Falls Church certainly has a lot of history but for me, this history is better evidenced by its bricks. People often talk about "if walls could talk" and these walls do. The hand made blocks laid in a fine Flemish bond not only speak to the skill, talent, and knowledge of all its builders at a high level, but countless parishioners have also carved their names and initials along the water table over its 250+ years of existence. It is good to slow down, stop, and appreciate such small but meaningful details.
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