The vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Elizabeth City Parish, was called to order on June 25, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. for a special meeting. Present were: Senior Warden Charlie Edmonson, Junior Warden Bettyrene Pope, Greg Brauer, Dan Clark, Denine Miller, Stephen Rous, Ruth Simmons, Registrar Emily Klotz, The Reverend Samantha Vincent-Alexander, and The Reverend Mark Riley. Absent, excused: Doug Perry, Youth Representative Darius Rowe. Note: This vestry meeting was conducted via Zoom, in keeping with the diocese’s mandate for physical distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This special meeting of the St. John’s Vestry was called to discuss whether or not to remove, move, or modify the Confederate memorial statue presently located in St. John’s cemetery and near the south entrance of the church. The vestry’s desire to address the future of the memorial was communicated to the congregation, and members of the vestry and clergy received much feedback.
Samantha expressed the need for an in-person congregational meeting to discuss the plans for the memorial and to allow feedback from the congregation. Due to distancing requirements, there may be a need to hold two separate meetings if there is enough interest from parishioners. The vestry agreed that we also hire a moderator, perhaps one suggested by the bishop, to conduct the meeting.
The meeting should not be held the same day as the first day that St. John’s resumes in-person services. The vestry would like to have cost estimates for different scenarios as well as drawings of possible changes.
Dan received three quotes, ranging from $10,000 to $19,000, for removing the memorial and placing it in a storage facility. A storage facility would cost $300 per month. Moving the memorial to a new location within the cemetery would cost an additional $18,000, plus $4,000 for excavation and site preparation.
The vestry would like to investigate the cost of modifying the statue, to remake it into a Civil War Memorial, honoring all those who died during that war. Both Union and Confederate soldiers are buried in St. John’s Cemetery, and the soldier statue does not appear to be wearing any confederate symbols. Modifications needed would be to the engravings of the stone plinth upon which the soldier stands and include: removing the CSA emblem, removing the Confederate flag, and perhaps removing the information regarding the donation by the Daughters of the Confederacy (the Cemetery Committee is looking into any legal ramifications). Other ideas discussed were sandblasting the stone to remove the engravings or covering the engravings with etched bronze plates.
The Heritage Committee is also researching St. John’s historic relationships with Africans and the enslaved population in Hampton.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.