7 interesting facts about George Washington

4. Served in church leadership

George Washington was a lifelong member of the Anglican Church, which would later become The Episcopal Church, and, along with other prominent Virginia gentry, served in lay leadership.

During the 18th century, Anglican parishes in Virginia were led by a clergyman and a vestry, a group of 12 men who oversaw the budget and charitable activities.

Washington served as a vestryman for the Alexandria-based Fairfax Parish and the Fairfax County-based Truro Parish, with him holding the latter post from 1762 to 1784.

Washington also served three terms as churchwarden, a position in which he and another chosen churchwarden oversaw the daily affairs of the parish, noted the Mount Vernon website.

“As a vestryman, Washington donated, along with his friend George William Fairfax, gold leaf for gilding the religious inscriptions on the altarpiece when the new church was built at Pohick in 1772,” they explained.

“He was also charged with importing cloth and cushions of ‘Crimson Velvet with Gold Fringe,’ for use on the pulpit, desks, and communion table at the same church in 1774.”