The William and Mary Committee on Religion at a Public University released its consensus opinion yesterday on the future location of the Wren cross. Committee members agreed that it should be located on the east door of the entrance to the Wren Chapel.
p. “The case will be in the area along the north wall and near the rail that separates the chancel from the pews,” a College press release stated.
p. The cross will be placed in the display case as soon as the case is ready. A plaque explaining the College’s historic ties with Bruton Parish Church and its Anglican roots will accompany the cross.
p. “This location accomplishes our goal for the cross to be permanently displayed in a prominent and readily visible location within the Wren Chapel,” Committee Co-Chair James Livingston said in the press release.
p. College President Gene Nichol and Board of Visitors Rector Michael Powell have expressed their support for the Committee’s decision.
In January, Nichol formed the 14-person committee, chaired by Livingston and Alan J. Meese, Ball Professor of Law, to investigate the role of religion in public universities. It has come to a relatively quick and widely accepted answer to the controversy generated by his previous decision to remove the cross from the chapel.