St. John's Church

Our first stop was St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. I have to admit that I felt a little like Benjamin Gates in "National Treasure." St. John's Church is where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech that ended with the quote "Give me liberty or give me death." Dan printed out the whole speech for the kids to read and went over some key points before we walked over to the church. The speech is spectacular and really shows Patrick Henry's belief in the Almighty God. As an interesting side note, not related to our tour, Edgar Allen Poe's mother is buried in the cemetery of St. John's Church.

One of the many monuments that has Patrick Henry's name on it. The glass above (not pictured) has the last part of his speech. It did not photograph well.

St. John's Church. Our tour guide told us that it sits on the highest point in Richmond and before the buildings and trees grew, you could see the James River in the distance from this spot.

Our group inside the church. The church has had a couple additions since Patrick Henry's time. The teens are sitting in the part of the original church. You can see the beautiful stained glass windows in the background. They were added at a later date.

A little hard to read on the blog, but Exodus Chapter 20, the 10 Commandments. are listed here.

Another tablet stating Patrick Henry's involvement and importance.

The tablet is on the wall above the pew where it is said that Patrick Henry was wont to sit. It really was a different feeling knowing that we were standing where he stood. That history had taken place on the very ground we were treading. I'm not sure that I had ever had that feeling before. It was incredible, really making the history come alive.

A nice gentleman took a picture of our group. We are standing in front of the original part of the church. Just through those doors is where Patrick Henry argued for our liberty and freedom from England.

You might wonder what this had to do with Baptist history. Well, learning about Patrick Henry here set the stage for our next stop in Chesterfield, Virginia. Unfortunately, this is all I have time for tonight as it's almost midnight and we have an early start to our morning. I will try and get our trip to Chesterfield and then our next stop, Bath, NC up as soon as I can!