Galilee Episcopal Church

The year was 1888. It was a hot Virginia Beach summer, in the middle of July. On a certain cottage porch on the oceanfront at 18th street, a small group of vacationers gathered for Sunday morning worship - led by the Rev. Beverly Dandridge Tucker, who would later become Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia. As they talked about things that mattered most in life, they decided that within 3 years should be erected a chapel or place of public worship for all Christian faiths, regardless of creed. The Norfolk-Virginia Beach Railroad contributed $500 to build a Union Chapel at the waterfront and 18th Street to be used jointly by denominations. On Sundays, a Catholic Mass was held early, Presbyterians gathered at 9:30, Episcopalians at 11:00, Baptists at 3:30 p.m. and Methodists held evening prayer at 7:30 p.m. When other denominations built their own churches and moved away, Episcopalians purchased the chapel in 1896, and named it Galilee by the Sea. In the ear...