Heritage Column for April 14, 2005
By Fred Anderson
Abraham Lincoln said it. “Chop your own wood. It will warm you twice.” John Farrar is a Southerner, but he follows the rail-splitter's good advice. Last fall this columnist visited Falling Springs, the beautiful home of John and Julia Farrar which is nestled in the woods just outside Culpeper. The couple showed off the remnants of their fall garden. Julia is an artist and interior decorator and she had even carpeted the garden! A church was replacing carpet and she asked for the old carpet, placing long runners up and down the rows of the garden. No gardener has to trudge through the mud at Falling Springs!
But it was the woodpile which caught my attention. There was a pile of split wood as high as an elephant's ear; and all the work was done by the master of Falling Springs who, in mid-July, will turn 85. He wielded an axe to show his city friends how it is properly split. He also has the same good swing on the golf course or the tennis court.
Nearly everything about the woodland home was the product of the Farrars. They hauled heavy stones and set them in place for garden walks. They placed Julia's creative wreaths along the second story of the exterior. They mounted a huge beam for a fireplace mantle. They filled the house with her paintings and artwork. God had done all the rest: the Blue Ridge in the far distance, the trickling run at the bottom of the hillside, the trees pointing skyward.
It has been nearly 50 years since the two North Carolinians arrived on the Culpeper scene. He was called to the pastorate of the Culpeper Baptist Church and really did not think that he would remain in the community very long. Their children, Alycia and Frederic, were young and already the family had known two other churches: New Hope and Boiling Springs in North Carolina. At first, the new pastor and his family were placed in rather disappointing quarters; but the Culpeper Church was on the upswing and soon the grandest parsonage in Virginia was purchased. It even had plenty of room for a garden!
The expected brief pastorate stretched out for over 26 years, which represented a lot of weddings and funerals. As gardeners, the Farrars knew all about transplants and rooting. They had found good Baptist soil. As an art teacher, Julia had found a place to let her talents shine.
And as a pastor and preacher, John Farrar had found a place of service. He was elected moderator of the Shiloh Baptist Association and was given opportunities to serve Virginia Baptists on the BGAV's Christian life committee and the board of trustees of the Religious Herald.
In 1981 he delivered the annual sermon for the BGAV meeting held at Charlottesville. The title of his message was “The Church: God at Work” and he reminded his hearers of the nature of the church. He observed that “all kinds of people make up the Church [and] the common bond of these people is their oneness in Christ.”
In his so-called retirement years, he has served as interim pastor of a variety of churches within easy driving distance of Culpeper: Bealeton (twice), Mount Hope, Leesburg, Amissville, Warrenton and Flint Hill. He has found that “oneness in Christ” whether in town, village or country churches. In his calm, deliberate, gentle style, he has guided pastorless churches and held the flock together for the next pastor. The Flint Hill Church was more than an interim. It was full-fledged pastoral service as a church which was considered extinct came back to life.
John S. Farrar was born in Gastonia and grew up as one of six children of an electrician and a housewife, John and Minnie Louise Farrar. He early learned the value of hard work, of splitting your own wood. He earned an education the old-fashioned way. He attended Baptist schools-Mars Hill and Wake Forest-and earned his bachelor of divinity and master of theology degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
After he became settled in Culpeper, he soon found that he could be engaged in work with lasting results. He developed relationships. He built upon the fine work of his predecessors, who included some of the finest ministers ever to serve Virginia Baptists. He respected the laity and they were co-laborers. He understood the Virginia Baptist mindset and appreciated the freedom which characterized the people of the General Association.
Staying just became the natural thing to do. In retirement, he was named pastor emeritus. He allowed his successors the room which they needed to become pastor. And he has had plenty enough to occupy his time, serving the world and splitting the wood.
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies.