2025 SESSION

INTRODUCED

25106530D

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 615

Offered February 7, 2025

Commending Galilee Church.

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Patron—Tata

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WHEREAS, since the late 1800s, Galilee Church has provided joyful worship services, generous community outreach, and opportunities for spiritual renewal to the residents of Virginia Beach; and

WHEREAS, Galilee Church traces its roots to 1888, when a group of vacationers gathered for a Sunday service at an oceanfront home near 18th Street and discussed the possibility of establishing a public chapel that could serve numerous denominations; and

WHEREAS, the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Railroad subsequently donated $500 to finance such a chapel, which was initially shared by Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, and Methodist congregations; and

WHEREAS, after these other congregations built their own churches, members of the Episcopalian community purchased the chapel in 1896 and renamed it Galilee by the Sea; in 1903, the church hired its first rector, the Reverend Edward P. Miner, and subsequently became an Episcopal parish church; and

WHEREAS, due to beach erosion, the original Galilee Church building was relocated and a new brick church was constructed on 18th Street in 1926; and

WHEREAS, as the congregation continued to grow in both faith and number Galilee Church prepared to relocate again, laying the cornerstone for the current church building in July 1956; and

WHEREAS, Galilee Church has touched countless lives over the course of its long and storied history and remains a focal point of community life and a beacon of hope to people in need; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Galilee Church hereby be commended for its long legacy of service to the Virginia Beach community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Galilee Church as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the congregation's contributions to the community.