William Webber recently visited the church which bears his name in Chesterfield County. He probably was a bit uncertain of the reception he might receive; after all, the last time he came to Chesterfield he was arrested and jailed simply for preaching!
William Webber should not have been concerned. His generation helped secure religious liberty into the laws of Virginia and the United States; and in his long absence, Baptists have flourished in Chesterfield as well as most of the state. Much of today’s generation is completely unaware of the price paid to secure mankind’s most elemental right. And this is precisely the reason William Webber needed to return if only in a costumed portrayal.
Fred Anderson
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Webber is a remarkable yet unlikely hero out of Baptist history. He was born in Goochland in 1747; and his father either could not or would not give him the one thing he wanted – a classical education. Instead he worked as a carpenter’s apprentice.
The young carpenter came under the influence of itinerant Baptist preachers. He began to preach himself even before he was baptized in 1770 by the evangelist John Waller.
Webber and another young preacher, Joseph Anthony, were invited to come into Chesterfield and hold a meeting. In December 1770, they were placed in the county jail. They continued to preach from the jail window; and according to the earliest Virginia Baptist history, “many professed faith [through the work] of these, the Lord’s persecuted servants.”
Homecoming 2010 at Webber Memorial Baptist Church featured (from left) William A. Gunter, pastor; Bob Gearheart, a Webber descendant; and Fred Anderson as Webber.
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The story has been handed down that one of the opposition beat a drum attempting to drown out the preaching of the Baptist ministers. Today, ironically, a set of drums are on the platform of the worship center at Webber Memorial Baptist Church and used by its praise band. And today there are numerous Baptist churches of various streams and styles across the wide expanse of Chesterfield.
In 1920 residents in the Bellemeade school district of the county began holding a Bible school. The next year the school evolved into a duly-constituted church with 40 charter members. In an age of monument building, these Baptists chose to name their new church after the persecuted minister from an earlier century.
Webber Memorial quickly established itself as a community-oriented church with vision. In the old neighborhood it was the place to be; and the church grew and prospered. Herbert R. Carlton served as the first pastor while still a student at the University of Richmond. In the early pastorates, the church received pastoral support grants from the State Mission Board; and by sometime in the ’30s, the church was proud to be self-supporting. When Southern Baptists engaged in the bold 75 Million Campaign to undergird Southwide work, Webber Memorial disregarded its own indebtedness and generously contributed to the effort.
Webber Memorial Baptist Church
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At the original site the church erected an attractive house of worship and a large educational building which bore the name of a member, McCabe. When the neighborhood changed and much of the membership had relocated, a movement began to find a new site. The effort was not without grief as some did not want to lose the original building. After ups and downs, the church voted in 1981 to relocate. The existing facility was sold to another church and the educational building was converted into a shelter for homeless boys.
Webber found a large tract of land, a cow pasture, and in the late Eighties began construction of a sprawling complex of buildings in a contemporary architectural style. Modular units were used for classrooms. Today the complex includes a worship center, a large fellowship hall and educational space. In 1996 a steeple was placed atop and Mike Poole, then pastor, was hoisted high to place the cross atop the new landmark. A Christian school was added and attracted about 150 students through the 7th grade.
In 1999 William Gunter became pastor. He had educational opportunities of which the church’s namesake could only dream. He is a graduate of Gardner-Webb, Southwestern and Southern from which he received his doctor of ministry degree in 1989. Like the church’s namesake, he is willing to meet men, women and children wherever they are. Unlike the namesake, he has tried clowning and even wears all manner of costumes for Vacation Bible School. He has been a frog, a giraffe and a knight in armor! Instead of books, the cases in his study contain vignettes of small figures in biblical scenes.
The visit by William Webber in June 2010 was for the church’s Homecoming. Across the years Homecoming has been a major event in the life of Webber Church. Often a pressing need became answered through the Homecoming offering. Some of the money-counters were rejoicing at this year’s Homecoming that a large offering was received.
There was not an empty seat in the house for Homecoming and the congregation was unusually attentive during the Webber reenactment. It was as if many of the younger and newer members were learning about the church’s namesake for the first time and probably also their first introduction to the story of securing religious liberty.
Among the visitors in the congregation was a man who did know the story. Robert Gearheart is the fourth great-grandson of Webber and a member of Dover Church in Goochland which his ancestor served as pastor. We both agreed that Webber’s significant contribution besides the religious liberty saga was his leadership for the early Virginia Baptists. At age 30, he was moderator of the Separate Baptist General Association; and he also was moderator of the General Committee of Correspondence, one of the first efforts to unite Virginia Baptists. For 14 years he was moderator of the large Dover Association which in its early years was said to have been the largest Baptist district association in the world. An early biographer pinpointed his qualifications for such leadership posts: “Not by elegance of manners but by an unostentatious simplicity.” Another biographer declared that he was “sound in the principles of the gospel and ingenious in defending them.” His was a name worthy to be used by a Baptist church.
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies, located on the campus of the University of Richmond. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.