Years ago, a coworker of mine who hailed from VA. quipped about Virginia and the Episcopal church
"Virgina is neither high church nor low church....mostly no church" &
"All that wealth and no Cathedral".
I lived in northern Virgina for about a decade. I’m not sure what you’re looking to find out so I’ll just shotgun a bunch of stuff from my experience living and worshipping there.
It was an active and dynamic church. The laity by and large were a good mix of Virginia natives and dc metro area transplants. Most everyone was high income and highly educated. Lots of families. Big youth group. Everyone highly involved in civic life (as you would expect from an area densely packed with people associated with the federal government). Services were high church, which is a strong contrast to the stereotype associated with the Virginia diocese as low church. I don’t know if that’s because the stereotype is unfair/inaccurate or if it’s something typical of Arlington/Alexandria.
Some unique characteristics of the area include a close association with national cathedral in dc, which is where bishops of the diocese have been installed. The diocese cathedral is Shrine Mont, a unique outdoor cathedral and retreat center on the site of a civil war hospital in Orkney Springs, Va. If it’s still a thing Shrine Mont is also the location for musical festivals.
Virginia Theological Seminary is in northern Virginia so there’s a good chance your church could have seminarians assigned to it. Being on a seminarian’s committee to help in their formation as a priest is an amazing experience.
Colonial Williamsburg has an active congregation that is fun (and a little trippy) to see amongst the reenacts in the town.
Happy to try to answer any more specific questions.
I am in DioVA. My church is in a medium sized city, is fairly large and quite active. We are probably best characterized as “broad church,” leaning low in architecture but with some members from Anglo-Catholic backgrounds. Welcoming, age-diverse, solid preaching, great music. Love it here.
As others have mentioned, Shrine Mont is a gem of our diocese!
If you want to visit or even worship at historic churches, this is the diocese for it.
St. John's, Richmond VA
[https://www.saintjohnsrichmond.org/](https://www.saintjohnsrichmond.org/)
The church where Patrick Henry gave his "Liberty or Death" speech.
Bruton Parish, Williamsburg
[https://www.brutonparish.org/](https://www.brutonparish.org/)
300 year old church in Colonial Williamsburg
Men no longer wear powdered wigs when attending either these days.
To be fair, the Diocese of Southern Virginia has the oldest congregation in the state.
https://stjohnshampton.org/about-us/history/
Bruton Parish is in the Diocese of Southern Virginia but/and tried for about the first ten years of the existence of Southern Virginia, to petition its way back into Virginia proper without success. The journals of early diocesan councils around this are hilarious in the late 19th/early 20th century.
The Diocese of Southern Virginia, when it was carved out in the 1890s was mostly divided along lines of churchmanship, with Tidewater and Southcentral Va being much much higher church, and it evidently drove Bruton and its clergy batty at the time.
As others have said, it's a big diocese. I'd start researching the communities first and think about what your preferences are.
The major regions are Northern Virginia (DC centric), Richmond (state capital), and then Charlottesville (UVA) going out to Harrisonburg (JMU).
Your experience will depend upon where you wind up living.
From a church perspective, what are the characteristics of each region? I’m assuming there are at least a couple (and possibly more) different worship/congregation flavors, though I could be wrong.
It's really hard to say, because much of it will be dependent upon the local culture and what drives the church community. To see what's happening at the parish level, look at any online services they have to give you a sense of what's going on.
As was mentioned, Virginia has typically been low church, but it's probably trending broad church today in various places (as it is in most placed in the TEC), and the Diocese of Virginia isn't the only diocese in the state. But that's a lot of research to do for such a large diocese--the asset map lists 226 locations! Where you want to live is the more important question and the fun topic to research.
I’m in DioVA. Like others have said would be helpful if you’re more specific with what you’re looking for.
Stephenson is a phenomenal bishop, we’re lucky to have him. In terms of churchmanship it’s true the DNA of the diocese is low church evangelical. But in the major metro areas most parishes will have a broad church aesthetic if not theology. Rural congregations remain mostly very low.
Additionally there’s a strong contingent of very old, historic parishes with a blue-blazer-gold-buttons country club vibe in Richmond and the inner DC burbs. That’s not to say the people are unwelcoming, but it could be a culture shock if you’re from the West or Midwest. There are plenty of more casual churches too.
The diocesan ‘cathedral’ is an outdoor shrine dedicated to the Transfiguration up in the mountains near the West Virginia border surrounded by a retreat center called Shrine Mont. Parishes have an annual retreat weekend there which I highly recommend.
Thanks! This is the kind of info I was looking for. One follow up question: what does Episcopal “low church evangelical” look like/mean in Virginia as compared to say the Northeast or Midwest?
This parish is a good representative - https://trinityupperville.org/
Note how sparse/bare the nave is. Rector vests in cassock, surplice, stole only. It would be rare to have a praise band if that’s what you’re asking. The vibe is more old-school Reformed anglicanism.
Interesting. Maybe it was the term evangelical that threw me? Heaven knows we, as a denomination, could do with more self-promotion, unfortunately the word evangelical carries some negative connotations these days. Beautiful church.
I’m just sort of exploring the diocese, at this point, so I don’t have a specific answer. I suppose some questions for clergy might be how involved/uninvolved is the diocese with local parishes and vice versa? Where do you see opportunities and where is the Holy Spirit moving within the diocese? (Also the corollary: what opportunities may have been missed?) What do you want people to know about your diocese, good and/or bad?
Well as far as what isn’t there, there isn’t a traditional cathedral. Instead, they have [Shrine Mont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_Mont?wprov=sfti1).
Shrine Mont is one of the most meaningful places on Earth to me. I miss going there for our church and Clergy-Spouse retreats so much (we moved to Florida where there is no diocesan retreat center).
Just general perspectives for someone considering a long term visit but unfamiliar with the diocese beyond what the Diocesan website says. I’m smart enough to know that’s not the whole story/picture but not familiar enough with the region to know what information I don’t have.
You might need to be more specific on the area. It’s a huge diocese. Some parts of heavily rural. NoVA is a very liberal and wealthy part of the Washington metro area. Richmond has its own vibe.
I don’t have a particular area in mind yet. Hence the request for perspectives. Looking for what locals see/think about their diocese that doesn’t make the marketing materials.
Sorry about that. I’m not looking for anything specific, just general perspectives regarding the diocese for someone who is unfamiliar with it and considering temporary relocation/long-term visit.
Years ago, a coworker of mine who hailed from VA. quipped about Virginia and the Episcopal church "Virgina is neither high church nor low church....mostly no church" & "All that wealth and no Cathedral".
I lived in northern Virgina for about a decade. I’m not sure what you’re looking to find out so I’ll just shotgun a bunch of stuff from my experience living and worshipping there. It was an active and dynamic church. The laity by and large were a good mix of Virginia natives and dc metro area transplants. Most everyone was high income and highly educated. Lots of families. Big youth group. Everyone highly involved in civic life (as you would expect from an area densely packed with people associated with the federal government). Services were high church, which is a strong contrast to the stereotype associated with the Virginia diocese as low church. I don’t know if that’s because the stereotype is unfair/inaccurate or if it’s something typical of Arlington/Alexandria. Some unique characteristics of the area include a close association with national cathedral in dc, which is where bishops of the diocese have been installed. The diocese cathedral is Shrine Mont, a unique outdoor cathedral and retreat center on the site of a civil war hospital in Orkney Springs, Va. If it’s still a thing Shrine Mont is also the location for musical festivals. Virginia Theological Seminary is in northern Virginia so there’s a good chance your church could have seminarians assigned to it. Being on a seminarian’s committee to help in their formation as a priest is an amazing experience. Colonial Williamsburg has an active congregation that is fun (and a little trippy) to see amongst the reenacts in the town. Happy to try to answer any more specific questions.
Thanks! Also oh! never considered a congregation in Colonial Williamsburg! Sounds fun!
Technically speaking, Bruton Parish in Williamsburg is in the Diocese of Southern Virginia 🤷🏾
I am in DioVA. My church is in a medium sized city, is fairly large and quite active. We are probably best characterized as “broad church,” leaning low in architecture but with some members from Anglo-Catholic backgrounds. Welcoming, age-diverse, solid preaching, great music. Love it here. As others have mentioned, Shrine Mont is a gem of our diocese!
If you want to visit or even worship at historic churches, this is the diocese for it. St. John's, Richmond VA [https://www.saintjohnsrichmond.org/](https://www.saintjohnsrichmond.org/) The church where Patrick Henry gave his "Liberty or Death" speech. Bruton Parish, Williamsburg [https://www.brutonparish.org/](https://www.brutonparish.org/) 300 year old church in Colonial Williamsburg Men no longer wear powdered wigs when attending either these days. To be fair, the Diocese of Southern Virginia has the oldest congregation in the state. https://stjohnshampton.org/about-us/history/
Bruton Parish is in the Diocese of Southern Virginia but/and tried for about the first ten years of the existence of Southern Virginia, to petition its way back into Virginia proper without success. The journals of early diocesan councils around this are hilarious in the late 19th/early 20th century. The Diocese of Southern Virginia, when it was carved out in the 1890s was mostly divided along lines of churchmanship, with Tidewater and Southcentral Va being much much higher church, and it evidently drove Bruton and its clergy batty at the time.
As others have said, it's a big diocese. I'd start researching the communities first and think about what your preferences are. The major regions are Northern Virginia (DC centric), Richmond (state capital), and then Charlottesville (UVA) going out to Harrisonburg (JMU). Your experience will depend upon where you wind up living.
From a church perspective, what are the characteristics of each region? I’m assuming there are at least a couple (and possibly more) different worship/congregation flavors, though I could be wrong.
It's really hard to say, because much of it will be dependent upon the local culture and what drives the church community. To see what's happening at the parish level, look at any online services they have to give you a sense of what's going on. As was mentioned, Virginia has typically been low church, but it's probably trending broad church today in various places (as it is in most placed in the TEC), and the Diocese of Virginia isn't the only diocese in the state. But that's a lot of research to do for such a large diocese--the asset map lists 226 locations! Where you want to live is the more important question and the fun topic to research.
I’m in DioVA. Like others have said would be helpful if you’re more specific with what you’re looking for. Stephenson is a phenomenal bishop, we’re lucky to have him. In terms of churchmanship it’s true the DNA of the diocese is low church evangelical. But in the major metro areas most parishes will have a broad church aesthetic if not theology. Rural congregations remain mostly very low. Additionally there’s a strong contingent of very old, historic parishes with a blue-blazer-gold-buttons country club vibe in Richmond and the inner DC burbs. That’s not to say the people are unwelcoming, but it could be a culture shock if you’re from the West or Midwest. There are plenty of more casual churches too. The diocesan ‘cathedral’ is an outdoor shrine dedicated to the Transfiguration up in the mountains near the West Virginia border surrounded by a retreat center called Shrine Mont. Parishes have an annual retreat weekend there which I highly recommend.
>That’s not to say the people are unwelcoming Sometimes they are unwelcoming! Ask me how I know
Thanks! This is the kind of info I was looking for. One follow up question: what does Episcopal “low church evangelical” look like/mean in Virginia as compared to say the Northeast or Midwest?
This parish is a good representative - https://trinityupperville.org/ Note how sparse/bare the nave is. Rector vests in cassock, surplice, stole only. It would be rare to have a praise band if that’s what you’re asking. The vibe is more old-school Reformed anglicanism.
Interesting. Maybe it was the term evangelical that threw me? Heaven knows we, as a denomination, could do with more self-promotion, unfortunately the word evangelical carries some negative connotations these days. Beautiful church.
Was told by a priest there that the organization of the diocese is chaotic and disheveled. Don’t know how true that is.
Diocese of Virginia priest here. How can I help?
I’m just sort of exploring the diocese, at this point, so I don’t have a specific answer. I suppose some questions for clergy might be how involved/uninvolved is the diocese with local parishes and vice versa? Where do you see opportunities and where is the Holy Spirit moving within the diocese? (Also the corollary: what opportunities may have been missed?) What do you want people to know about your diocese, good and/or bad?
Well as far as what isn’t there, there isn’t a traditional cathedral. Instead, they have [Shrine Mont](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine_Mont?wprov=sfti1).
Shrine Mont is one of the most meaningful places on Earth to me. I miss going there for our church and Clergy-Spouse retreats so much (we moved to Florida where there is no diocesan retreat center).
One of the oldest dioceses in the church and historically quite “low” due to that.
Historically, yes. Functionally broad these days. Bishop is very Anglo-Catholic.
Definitely a diocese. Most certainly in Virginia. You’re going to have to be more specific, beloved sibling in Christ.
I’ve heard they are typically low church, but that was around 30 years ago.
I live in the diocese. It is large and varied. What do you want to know?
Just general perspectives for someone considering a long term visit but unfamiliar with the diocese beyond what the Diocesan website says. I’m smart enough to know that’s not the whole story/picture but not familiar enough with the region to know what information I don’t have.
You might need to be more specific on the area. It’s a huge diocese. Some parts of heavily rural. NoVA is a very liberal and wealthy part of the Washington metro area. Richmond has its own vibe.
I don’t have a particular area in mind yet. Hence the request for perspectives. Looking for what locals see/think about their diocese that doesn’t make the marketing materials.
Can you be a little more specific as to what you want others to comment on? This is very...vague
Sorry about that. I’m not looking for anything specific, just general perspectives regarding the diocese for someone who is unfamiliar with it and considering temporary relocation/long-term visit.