
day of rest

photography from the Chesapeake Bay watershed by Bill Emory
James 1:22-25
King James Version
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Near Lancaster, at the corner of White Chapel Road (Route 201) and River Road (Route 354) a mile from the Rappahannock River, is St. Mary’s Whitechapel, where an Anglican chapel of ease has stood at the site since the 1650s. President James Monroe’s grandfather was the builder of this structure. This parish also has a long association with the Ball family. The current Episcopal church, which dates to the eighteenth century, is a striking rectangular building with a hip roof, and the Flemish bond brickwork shows signs of significant repairs and alterations over the years. Inside, a gallery installed in the south end of the building was paid for privately by the Ball family for their own use in the 1740s. The one-piece baptismal font dates from 1718. The lovely church stands among numerous tall trees near the ancient graveyard at 5940 White Chapel Road, Lancaster. More history of the church and visitor information is available at www.stmaryswhitechapel.org and an information kiosk at the site.–George Washington’s Virginia– John R Maass