US

Robert. E. Lee’s Former Church Strikes His Name From Parish

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Joshua Gill Religion Reporter
Font Size:

The Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church, in which the Confederate general was a parishioner, voted Monday to remove Lee’s name from the parish’s name.

The Lexington, Va. church will return to the parish’s original name, Grace Episcopal Church, according to the Associated Press. The decision to return to the church’s original name ended a two-year debate among the congregation sparked by Dylann Roof’s 2015 church massacre. The church, which Lee joined in 1865 and served as senior warden until his death in 1870, cited the riots at Charlottesville as the impetus for Monday’s decision, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch.

Those who voted to keep the name said the church wanted to avoid a “knee-jerk reaction to the present cultural environment.” The majority of voting congregants, however, said that “Lee’s name has become divisive in the church and in the larger society, and has become a liability to the church’s reputation” and to it’s ability to grow, according to the Dispatch.

The church first changed its name to Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church in 1903 when the vestry voted to do so. Doug Cumming, a member of the church’s vestry who initially resisted the idea of changing the name, said that he was proud of the vestry’s decision and glad to bring resolution to an issue that has resulted in some congregants leaving the church.

“He [Lee] was the senior warden of our church, we’re proud of that, it’s part of our history, but we’re not going to put that on a sign out on the street because it’s misunderstood,” Cumming told the Dispatch.

“My ancestors were very proud, brave and articulate southerners, and like Robert E. Lee, I think they’d be very proud over what our church has done tonight,” Cumming said.

Follow Joshua on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.