Frederick County Virginia's Early Churches (updated)

The purpose of this document is to assist our communities to enlist the active presence of God and find strategic direction and empowerment for accomplishing the goals of gospel ministry together in and through our Frederick County Churches. Even though we do not all attend the same church or agree on every point of doctrine, we can indeed pray for a movement of God for the visible unity of His whole church. Jesus desires us to come to "complete unity."

Jesus Prays for All Believers

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:20-23 (The Great Request)

In the beginning, all the Shenandoah Valley was considered part of Orange County, Virginia. In 1738, Virginia's General Assembly created two new counties from the western area of Orange County: Frederick County in the northwest and Augusta County in the southwest were named after the Prince and Princess of Wales respectively. The availability of land grants brought in many religious families, who were often given 50-acre plots through the sponsorship of fellow-religious grant purchasers and speculators. As a result, the Winchester area became home to some of the oldest Presbyterian, Quaker, Lutheran and Anglican churches in the valley.

We should remember that by law, colonial Virginians were members of the Anglican Church. Two decades before the American Revolution, immigrants – Quakers, Presbyterians, Baptists and Lutherans brought religious diversity to the colony. Virginia officials chose to tolerate (in the legal sense) most non-Anglican Protestants. Legislation in accordance with the English Toleration Act of 1689 granted limited religious expression and practice to persons who did not accept the religious doctrines and ritual of the Church of England. Passage of the Toleration Act by the English Parliament gave new rights to religious dissenters, allowing them to register their meeting houses and license their ministers to preach. The Virginia legislature did not recognize the Toleration Act until 1699.

Freedom of religion, and the unique system of institutional religion it fostered, were integral parts of the process of becoming Americans. As Virginians responded to the appeal of evangelical faith and the tolerant rationalism of the Enlightenment, they evolved away from the idea of a single authoritarian church protected by the state. The Founding Fathers feared a state denominational religion not a state doctrinal religion! John Quincy Adams said, "The highest glory of the American Revolution was, it connected in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity." Our new nation wanted to keep the state out of the church's business, not keep the church out of the state's business. Religion was something believed to be vital to the consciousness and success of our government.

In 1784, one year after the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War, Virginia's General Assembly voted to disestablish the Virginia Anglican Church.

Until 1784 the Methodists were a society within the Church of England and not an independent communion. It was the American Revolution that made a separate organization unavoidable. John Wesley, (a priest of the Church of England and founder of Methodism) responded to the shortage of priests in the American colonies due to the American Revolutionary War by ordaining preachers for America with power to administer the sacraments. This was a major reason for Methodism’s final split from the Church of England after Wesley’s death in 1791.

Frederick Counties Oldest Churches

Hopewell Centre Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) was established in 1734 on land that was granted to Alexander Ross (an Irish Quaker) and Morgan Bryan (an Irish Presbyterian) in 1730 and 1732 by Lt. Gov. William Gooch of Virginia. Ross and Bryan had brought about 70 families to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from Pennsylvania where they hoped to establish a new Quaker community. Alexander Ross built his home near the present site of Hopewell on a 2,373-acre tract, which includes the present day Waverly Farm.

Hopewell Centre Meeting is the oldest surviving place of worship in Frederick County and has been in continuous use since it was built. The east portion of the Meeting House was built from 1759 to 1761 and the western half was added between 1788-1794. The structure is a good example of the simple type of stone construction brought by the Quaker settlers, who came into the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania. Its overall character is severely plain and functional. The original cemetery, which is enclosed by a limestone wall, is adjacent to the building. The structure is located on Hopewell Road (formerly State Route 672) one mile west of Clear Brook in Frederick County, Virginia. The name "Hopewell" was chosen because many Friends in the area had come from Hopewell in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Many believe a Methodist society was formed which was in keeping with Methodist principles and practice as early as 1775. Historic records prove itinerant preachers served the Stephensburg society. This would make Stephens City UMC one of the oldest Methodist congregations west of the Blue Ridge.

A large bronze plaque inside the the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church (built 1989) entryway notes the presence of Catholics in Frederick County when the county was formed in 1743, and describes the stone chapel where they worshipped, built by a wealthy French diplomat in 1805. In the 1820s, Winchester was a Shenandoah Valley market town that Father John Mahony visited every third Sunday. Sometime later, it was a mission of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Harper’s Ferry (established 1833). In 1868, land was purchased for a new Catholic church on Loudoun Street. The land was made available from Dr. John S. Lupton’s estate. The Luptons were one of the most prominent Quaker families in Winchester. Sacred Heart, with a new building on Loudoun Street became an independent parish in 1870.

The earliest churches established are identified and listed in chronological order:

Hopewell Friends (Quaker) 1734, Clear Brook

Opequon Presbyterian 1736, Kernstown

Cedar Creek Presbyterian 1736, Marlboro

Christ Episcopal Church 1738, Winchester

Centenary Church of Christ first built 1749, German Reformed 1842, Winchester

Grace Lutheran Church 1753, Winchester

Trinity Lutheran 1765, Stephens City

Stephens City UMC 1775, Stephens City

Winchester Ctr. Friends 1777, Winchester

Little Mountain UMC 1784, Winchester

St. John Lutheran 1787, Winchester

First Presbyterian 1788, Winchester

Market Street UMC 1789, Winchester

First Baptist Church 1800s, Winchester

Timber Ridge Baptist 1802, Cross Junction

Grace UMC 1811, Middletown

Bethel Evangelical Lutheran 1820, Winchester

Brucetown Methodist 1822, Clear Brook

White Hall Methodist 1823, White Hall

Burnt Factory UMC 1826, Stephenson

Hebron Baptist 1830, Gore

Ebenezer Christian 1832, Gore

Redland UMC 1832, Cross Junction

St. Thomas Episcopal Chapel 1834, Middletown

Kernstown UMC 1836, Kernstown

Wesley Chapel UMC 1839, Winchester

Gravel Springs Lutheran 1842, Star Tannery

Macedonia UMC 1843, Stephens City

Fairview Lutheran 1840s, Gore

Lamps/Mt. Pleasant Methodist 1844 & 1856, Mt. Pleasant

Round Hill Presbyterian 1844, Winchester

Gainsboro Methodist 1845, Winchester

St. Paul’s Lutheran 1856, Winchester

Carpers Valley UMC 1857, Winchester

John Mann UMC 1857, Winchester

Braddock Street UMC 1858, Winchester

Salem Brethren Church 1858, Stephens City

Shockeysville Methodist 1859, Shockysville

Fairview Methodist 1861, Stephens City

Mt. Carmel Baptist 1866, Winchester

Pine Grove Methodist 1867, Winchester

St. Paul AME, 1867, Winchester

Pleasant Valley UMC 1868, Pleasant Valley

Orrick Chapel Methodist 1869, Stephens City

Mt. Olive Methodist 1869, Hayfield

Sacred Heart Catholic 1870, Winchester

Howards Chapel Methodist 1872,

Welltown UMC 1872, Clear Brook

Galilee Christian 1873, Clear Brook

First Methodist 1873, Winchester

Gainesboro UMC 1876, Gainesboro

Ridings Chapel Methodist 1877, Stephens City

Middletown Presbyterian 1878, Middletown

Round Hill Presbyterian 1880, RoundHill

Chestnut Grove Methodist 1880s, Gainesboro

Rest United Methodist 1880s, Clear Brook

Hites UMC 1882, Middletown

Seventh-Day Adventists 1885, Winchester

Emmanuel UMC 1887, Stephenson

Greenwood UMC 1887, Winchester

Faith Revival Center 1887, Albin

Refuge UMC 1889 , Stephens City

Relief UMC 1891, Winchester

Mountain View United Methodist 1891, Star Tannery

Cedar Creek Primitive Baptist 1894, Marlboro

Calvary Brethren Church 1894, Winchester

Clearbrook Presbyterian Church 1901, Clearbrook

Hayfield Assembly of God Church 1910, Hayfield

Highland Memorial Presbyterian Church 1917, Winchester

Above Information courtesy of Frederick County 250th Anniversary Commission in 1988 and other sources.

Leading Christian Denominations in Frederick County Virginia

American Baptist Association - 150

Assemblies of God - 4,904

Catholic Church - 10,000 plus

Church of the Brethren - 394

Church of God in Christ - 120

United Church of Christ (Disciples of Christ) - 75

Christian Churches and Churches of Christ - 2,101

Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) - 2,961

Church of the Nazarene - 181

Episcopal Church - 232

Evangelical Lutheran Church - 798

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) - 134

Friends General Conference - 89

Presbyterian Church - 790

Salvation Army - 243

Southern Baptist Convention - 1,799

United Methodist Church - 6,786

Non-Denominational Christians in Frederick County Virginia

Independent, Non-Charismatic Churches - 5,866

Note: The above data info was taken from the Association of Religion Data Archives, and were collected by Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.

Source: 2020 census, U.S. Census Bureau

If anyone cares to share information about the early Frederick County, Virginia churches, please contact Mark Gunderman at [email protected].

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