2025 SESSION

ENROLLED

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 615

Commending Galilee Church.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 17, 2025

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.