[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 172 (Wednesday, October 25, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1431-E1432]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING THE 120TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 25, 2017

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 120th 
anniversary of St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Newport News, 
Virginia.
  St. Augustine's Episcopal Church had humble beginnings. Originally 
known as Warwick Parish, and then as St. Paul's Church, its mission was 
started in 1897 with the intention of providing a religious community 
for African-American Episcopalians. The church was started with neither 
a full-time pastor nor an official building, so the congregation ran 
their early services out of the upper floor of the Columba Opera House 
in Newport News. Reverend Joseph F. Mitchell became the first vicar for 
St. Paul's Mission in the fall of 1897 and spent the next six years of 
his ministry trying to grow the parish and raise enough funds to afford 
to build a chapel for the congregation.
  Under the leadership of Reverend Adolphus A. Birch, the church's 
sixth rector, the name of the mission was officially changed to St. 
Augustine's Episcopal Church in 1924. Reverend Birch's successor, 
Reverend J.J. Posey, oversaw the church's move into their official 
building on Marshall Avenue at Twenty-Sixth Street in Newport News. The 
congregation still meets at this location in a new church building that 
was constructed in 1962 under the leadership of Reverend Lloyd M. 
Alexander.
  Today, St. Augustine's Episcopal Church is home to a thriving parish 
life with a variety of ministries and programs aimed at bettering the 
congregation as well as the Newport News community. The Feeding Program 
was established in 1988 and offers hot meals to hungry adults and 
children every month. The Twelve Steps Program meets five days every 
week to extend counseling, support, and mentorship for men and women in 
the area who are struggling with substance abuse. The church also 
sponsors a yearly ``Back to School Drive'' which ensures that local 
children can begin the school year with a backpack and school supplies 
that they might struggle to otherwise

[[Page E1432]]

afford. These programs provide an invaluable service to the church and 
its neighbors.
  St. Augustine's growth in these past 120 years has been facilitated 
through the hard work and tireless efforts of seventeen devoted 
rectors--Rev. Joseph F. Mitchell, Rev. Henry J. Geiger, Rev. E.H. 
Hamilton, Rev. Byron E. Floyd, Rev. J.T. McDuffie, Rev. Adolphus A. 
Birch, Rev. J.J. Posey, Rev. Julian F. Dozier, Rev. Charles S. 
Sedgwick, Rev. Charles H. Dukes, Rev. Theodore R. Gibson, Rev. George 
E. Harper, Rev. Lloyd M. Alexander, Rev. Robert C.S. Powell, Rev. R. 
Scott Copeland, Rev. Ralph E. Haines, III, and Rev. Terry D. Edwards.
  Mr. Speaker, today the congregation of St. Augustine's Episcopal 
Church can feel affirmed and celebratory in light of this historic 
milestone. As a longtime member of St. Augustine's, I wish to extend my 
warmest congratulations to Reverend Terry Davis Edwards and the entire 
St. Augustine's community. With the church's distinguished history in 
mind, the congregation may truly take this occasion to feel proud about 
their past, joyful about their present, and hopeful for their future. I 
wish St. Augustine's Episcopal Church 120 more years of growth, 
fellowship, and service.

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