Steve Burns

WMAL.com

ALEXANDRIA – (WMAL) Christ Church in Alexandria defended its decision to move two plaques honoring former parishioners Robert E. Lee and George Washington, saying the two memorials hung on the front wall are a distraction from the church’s core messages.

“It sends a particular message when you enter our worship space about what we value,” the Rev. Noelle York-Simmons said. “We remain a church of Washington and of Lee, but most importantly, we are a church of Jesus Christ.”

The plaques will be moved to a “prominent campus location outside the church building itself,” she said, but the location is still to be determined pending the outcome of a community discussion.

“Many find that those markers on either side of our altar to be a distraction from what we as a church are here to do, and that is to worship God,” York-Simmons told reporters.

Both Washington and Lee were parishioners at the church. Lee’s boyhood home is two blocks away. There are other objects, signs, and photos memorializing the men around the church campus, which will all be staying, York-Simmons said, including markers at the pews in which they sat.

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, who is also running for U.S. Senate, held a press conference outside the church Tuesday, sharing his displeasure with the decision.

“They are just giving in to this ultra-political correctness,” Stewart said. “I don’t think there’s a sane person who would feel threatened by a plaque to George Washington, the father of our country.”

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