St. Bede's and Bruton Parish Church

Last week this time Rod and I were in Williamsburg. We went to St. Bede's for Mass and it's a puzzling place. When we first arrived I was struck by how odd it looks. They have a large lobby with a sofa and chairs and tables. It's tasteful but reminded me of the visitor center at the Mormon temple in Maryland. The sacristy, parish office, parochial vicar and pastor's offices are just off the main lobby. We walked around a bit and then went into the actual church. It's one of those church in the round designs from the '70s and the decor is very plain. White walls and no stained glass. They have a large crucifix that makes Jesus look like a short body builder and a disturbing statue of Mary and baby Jesus. For some reason Mary has a weirdly thick neck, huge hands and a honker of a nose and baby Jesus looks deformed. There must be a reason for that or maybe the artist came cheap.

The Blessed Sacrament is kept in a separate chapel. Few people visited while we were there and even fewer genuflected as they passed by.

Before Mass the cantor came out and made us all practice the alleluliah. Either she does this all the time or the singing was really off the week before. A couple of times Rocky asked me if I wanted to go. There's a Catholic church in Yorktown and if we really hurried we could've made it. I decided not to risk it so we stayed. I'm glad we did becuase the priest said a completely non-wonky Mass and gave a sterling homily. He seems like a good guy but it looks like he has a lot of work to do with taming his parish. There must have been about 40 eucharistic ministers. When they were standing around the priest all I could see was a glimpse of green.

St. Bede's gets a lot of tourists so no-one stares at strangers and nobody seemed freaked out by the sight of black people, which is always a plus. That and the brave young parochial vicar are the best things I can say about it. Next time we're in Williamsburg I think we'll go to the Catholic chapel at William and Mary Univeristy or to either of the churches in New Kent or Yorktown.

The next day Rod and I were in the historic area of Williamsburg and visited Bruton church. George Washington and Jefferson went to church there among other notables. It's a beautiful old church. The sad thing, and I do mean sad was that this Episcopalian church looked more Catholic than St. Bede's.