What's it all about?

[DukeRPSC]

This evening I am called upon to present a program to my church's men's group on CW eenacting. It must go no longer than 30 minutes or thereabouts. I have my presentation ready and am walking out the door for the evening. I would be interested tomorrow morning in seeing what y'all would tell your treasured friends who are not reenactors about how you spend your weekends when you are not at church.

[Enfilade]

Re: What's it all about?

I've done it!

I was the guest speaker for a Methodist Men's group. Not my church, however, I knew many there. Of course, I was raising money for battlefields and the Hodge Preservation march at the time. So, it was pretty easy. I dressed as a North Carolinian soldier and talked about what deprivations they would have suffered. I then had them look out the window at the adjacent cemetery. I asked them how they would feel about having their relatives built over by a Kentucky Fried Chicken or Citgo station. It nailed home the point.

Mark Berrier
North State Rifles
combinations@northstate.net

[Holy Joe]

Re: What's it all about?

Mr. Culberson,

This is a topic close to my heart...I firmly believe that, in trying to pay respect to our forefathers, we are being obedient and honoring to The Allmighty.

If I may, I'd like to share with you some of the Holy Scriptures that have led me to this conclusion;

Leviticus 19:32; Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God; I Am the Lord.

Exodus 20:12; Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

(From the American Bible Society 1858 Old & New Testament, New York)

This is the first promise The Lord gave to us in the Commandments; that if we endeavour to honor those that have come before us, that we might learn from them; that their wisdom may be passed to us; and that our days on earth may be made more fruitful. It is my empassioned belief that honoring our ancestors is commanded by God, and that by doing so, we are engaging in a practice that brings honor and worship to The Father.

Best of luck with your presentation....out of curiosity, have you devoted any time/research into church history during the antebellum/wartime era?

[DukeRPSC]

Re: What's it all about?

"...out of curiosity, have you devoted any time/research into church history during the antebellum/wartime era?"

Yes. My church was burned in Feb. of 1865 as Sherman's troops marched through Lexington, SC. The graveyard is chocked full of CS veterans. Evidently, the Northern troops mistook our church for the church of one Henry Meetze, an ardent Secessionist, and took out their wrath on the most prominent church in town, St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, instead of Mr. Meetze's church, St. Peter's LUtheran Church some 4 miles away.

St. Stephen's Lutheran Church was founded in 1830 by Rev. Dr. E.L. Hazelius. Dr. Hazelius founded the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, which was located adjacent to the church and was much later moved to Columbia, SC. Many, many of our members have direct CS ancestors and many, such as my wife's family, trace their ancestry back to the founding of Saxe-Gotha, the district name prior to the Rev War, in the 1740s-1750s. My wife's family traces its roots to a Meetze man, a Hessian deserter from the siege of Charleston in 1780. Lots of history here.

[lhsnj]

Re: What's it all about?

Duke

Our unit used to kick off our year by attending a mens breakfast at a church that some of our unit are members of. A couple of the years we would setup displays of books, equipment and then afterward do a small living history demonstration. It was usually a pretty short demo as it was done in January in Delaware. But this would give the men of our church a chance to learn about the war, what they carried and how they looked and also about how Christianity played a role in many of their lives.

Our church also did this for other eras (Rev war, WWII). For the WW II we had the members who were vets tell their stories. It was quite emotional at times.

But even with the breakfast, we still get people who don't understand why we do what we do. So we invite them to come to any of the local events we do nearby to see us in "action" and to ask questions there.

[Mike Ventura]

Church History - St. Luke's Episcopal Atlanta

I belong to St. Luke's Episcopal in Atlanta. The church was founded in April 1864 by Dr. Charles Quintard, at the time an Episcopal priest and chaplain to the Army of Tennessee (later John Bell Hood's personal chaplain when he replaced Joe Johnston in July of '64 as commander of the AoT). Dr. Quintard traveled with the AoT ministering to the needs of the officers and men alike.

Although he was a man of great intellectual and ecclesiastical achievement in the Protestant Episcopal Church and thus exempt from military service, Dr. Quintard [who left a promising medical career to preach the Gospel of Christ] joined the prewar company of the Rock City Guard of Nashville as their chaplain and when war came continued in that role in the First Tennessee Regiment. His war service would include participation in battles fought in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. In four years of war Dr. Quintard met a remarkable array of luminaries including President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Braxton Bragg, John Bell Hood, and Joseph Johnston. He once shared a cot with General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

"Dr. Quintard saved many lives through emergency first aid on the battlefield and after the combat as the skilled surgeon in the hospitals. He was known to work on the wounded for twenty-four hours and collapse in complete exhaustion. Sharing the dangers of combat and providing his skills for the moral well-being of the men brought Charles Quintard the love and respect of the troops, but his preaching and witnessing brought the message of God's sovereign grace, faith in Christ, and the hope of eternal life to their immortal souls.

The first edition of this autobiography by Dr. Quintard ranks among the rarest of books on The War Between the States. Published in 1905, the Bishop records his 4-year combat service record in lucid and intimate prose. His account of the conversion of General Bragg is the only known record of that remarkable confrontation.

The funeral of Lt. Gen. Leonidis Polk, who was killed by an artillery round on Pine Mountain in May of '64 was held at St. Lukes and the service was conducted by Dr. Quintard. Polk was the Episcopal Bishop of Gerogia and Alabama as well as a Lt. Gen. and corps commander in the AoT.

[K Bartsch]

Re: What's it all about?

Hey Mike,
Have you heard the one about why Episcopals are no good at chess.....?

Call me...we need to talk airshow stuff.

Cheers,