Lost Colony Baptisms to be Commemorated Aug. 17th

The first Protestant Baptisms in the New World to be commemorated on August 17th.

Image Credit:
© 2008 Episcopal Life Online

The Diocese of East Carolina will hold "The Commemoration of the Baptisms of Manteo and Virginia Dare at the Lost Colony" on August 17 at the Waterside Theatre in Manteo, North Carolina.

Little certainty surrounds the fate of the English settlers who inhabited Roanoke Island's lost colony, but it is known that in August 1587, Native American Manteo and English baby Virginia Dare were baptized. Manteo's baptism was the first recorded baptism of the Church of England in North America, while Dare was the first child born to English settlers on the North American continent.

"The baptisms of the lost colony mark a peaceful beginning to multi-cultural relations in North America," says East Carolina Bishop Clifton Daniel 3rd. "A commemoration of this event allows us as a people to reflect on this beginning and the changes that have shaped our nation and shed light on the challenges we face today," he said.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_99569_ENG_HTM.htm