As the sun set on Shrine Mont’s centennial celebration, the old stone Shrine of the Transfiguration glowed so intensely that some of the 435 onlookers felt like they were watching a transfiguration in real time.
“It was more than fortuitous that that those who dreamed this place into being identified it with the transfiguration of Jesus,” said former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry in his sermon. “They could not have dreamed what this sacred place would do in generations in their time, yet unborn, who were touched and changed and transformed here at Shrine Mont.”
The luminous milestone service in the open-air cathedral of the Diocese of Virginia on Aug. 6 also featured five former bishops and current Bishop E. Mark Stevenson, who praised the generations of the Moomaw family for their commitment and leadership of Shrine Mont. Carolyn Moomaw Chilton was a lector in the service.
On Aug. 6, 1925, the Shrine was dedicated through the efforts of the Rev. Edmund Lee Woodward. He built the Shrine next to his summer home and, according to a reprint of the “Official Status,” served as the rector to “a little company of communicants and baptized children.” Their number swelled during summers when city folks sought the cooler mountain temperatures.
A Midweek Mountain Reunion
Hinting at a century of change, the centennial printed program contained the liturgy in English and Spanish. Passing the peace took an extended time as old friends and families exchanged hugs in the reunion atmosphere. On this late summer Wednesday, the Eucharist was celebrated in descending darkness.
The service included a special collect for Shrine Mont:
“O God, who on the holy Mount revealed your wonderfully transfigured Son to his chosen witnesses, and inspired The Rev. Dr. Edmund Woodward a century ago to build the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration at Shrine Mont – a sacred place where all are welcome to bask in God’s love: Grant that those who visit this place may find peace, your presence, and the inspiration to return to our communities as your disciples bringing hope and reconciling love to a world desperate for your light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
The offering was dedicated to the future, through Shrine Mont’s centennial fundraising “Living Stones” campaign.
“As we spend 2025 in celebration, we hope that every parish in the diocese will join us by celebrating in their communities with some kind of event that highlights what makes Shrine Mont special to them,” said Shrine Mont Director of Development Kirk Gibson. “The Living Stones campaign will be laying the foundation for the next 100 years, and we encourage everyone who has been touched by this holy place to join with us in laying a financial foundation for the generations who follow.”
A Message for the Next Century at Shrine Mont
Before the service, the multitude filled the dining tables and dug into another tradition that makes Shrine Mont “a place apart”: the fried chicken feast.
As the centennial Shrine crowd departed home from the mountain, they took this exhortation from Curry, based on the Exodus 34 Old Testament reading: Be like Moses descending from Mount Sinai.
“Know your purpose, and you can march to hell for a heavenly God, if you have to,” Curry said. “There’s power in your purpose.”
People of purpose, after all, built Shrine Mont and kept it running and transforming lives for 100 years.