An interactive historical performance capturing a pivotal moment in religious freedom in colonial America will be held next month in Gloucester.“A Question of Religious Freedom: The 1773 Baptist Preacher Trial,” hosted by the Gloucester County Historical Society, will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, in the Gloucester colonial courthouse.
The program will focus on the events of 1773, when Archibald Cary, magistrate of Chesterfield County, brought legal action against Baptist preacher John Weatherford for preaching and assembling the people without a license.
A release said the case brings up a number of questions that get to the heart of America’s tradition of religious freedom, such as: Does the English Crown have the right to tell someone how they may practice their own religious beliefs? And, must an individual pay taxes in support of a church that they do not belong to?
Performances of the trial will also be held on June 4 in Chesterfield (the exact date of the 250th anniversary...