The people came from Middleburg and the surrounding countryside of Loudon and Fauquier counties. They came on a beastly hot Sunday in June and they filled the old “Free Church” building now occupied by the Middleburg Baptist Church. They sang old hymns, repeated a litany and listened to this columnist, who was portraying John Leland, the noted 18th-century Virginia Baptist minister. They had six other ministers in the service and these were representative of the various churches in the area, including Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and African-American Baptists.
Fred Anderson
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Since 1976, the year of the nation’s bicentennial, an annual “Free Church” homecoming service has been held in the historic, picturesque and pristine old church house of Middleburg Baptist Church. The area’s churches of various denominations had their beginnings in the “Old Free Church” which once stood on the same site. An old stone wall with stone steps to mount carriages is a reminder of the old days as are the ancient shade trees and the rows of tombstones. The present building was erected in 1840 and retains much of the charm of the past. There are two front doors and straight-back wooden pews updated only with padding. Besides cushions and electric lighting, the other concession to the present is air-conditioning; and it certainly was a welcomed relief on “Free Church” Sunday. After the service, the members of the various denominations broke bread together at a dinner-on-the-grounds.
Elder Leland (as represented by this columnist) had much to share about the denominations in his time. His remembrances came straight from his own writings. The Episcopalians were taken off-guard by his comments but nervous laughter soon took away the edge. “The Episcopal form of worship was established by law in Virginia [in the Anglican Church]. If it could be supposed that [some of their priests] were salary-hunters, they surely had a tempting bait before them; like the people of old, who said, ‘Put me, I pray thee, into the priest’s office, that I may have bread to eat.’ When [a priest] was inducted into a parish, he was entitled to a wealthy glebe, having all necessary houses built upon it, at the expense of the parish. His fixed salary was sixteen thousand pounds of tobacco … which made the sum of 133L, Virginia currency. He also was entitled to 20 shillings for every marriage that he solemnized … and 40 shillings for every funeral sermon that he preached.” My character quipped that it was more advantageous for the Anglican clergy to encourage people to die than to marry!
The old steps are still in place to get in your carriage in front of Middleburg Baptist Church.
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On the Presbyterians, Leland said: “[They] indulge in too much mirth at their houses, yet it may be said in truth, that they have the best art of training up children in good manners of any [religious] society in the state.” On the Methodists, he observed that they never spread much in Virginia until about 1775 when they had “a sprinkling all over the state.” He praised the Methodists with their “constant preachers” and their distributing of books.
As for the Baptists, he elaborated on the different streams in his day: the Regulars, who were mostly found in Northern Virginia and were the better-educated townsfolk who also appreciated a written confession of faith, and the Separates, who were generally across the southern part of Virginia, were lively in their worship style and suspicious of written confessions of faith.
For at least this one Sunday in the Hunt Country, it really did not matter about denomination. The worshippers were all Christians and they celebrated together. On other days in the year, these Christians are also neighbors and near-neighbors to one another. In the litany for the homecoming was this line: “For our common heritage in the Free Church, reminding us in our diversity that we are one people with one faith and one Lord, we thank you, Lord.” Even the offering was designated for a community-wide ministry called Middleburg FISH, which helps people in need.
“The Free Church” was the provision of Leven Powell, the founder of Middleburg, who was Episcopalian. According to a brochure prepared for the first homecoming in ’76, “when the town was laid out, he set aside one lot for the building of a church to serve the entire community.” A Virginia gazetteer of 1835 refers to “a house of public worship, free for all denominations.” One by one, the various streams of Christendom built their own church houses in the area. Eventually, only the Baptists remained and the old building was deeded to them in 1954. Although not a part of the original Free Church, the local Catholic church also participates in the annual homecoming service. Shiloh Baptist Church, an African-American congregation, was constituted in 1867 and likewise shares in the heritage of the homecoming.
Middleburg is located in a pocket of largely under-developed land just on the edge of the ever-sprawling Washington/Northern Virginia metropolitan area. The large land holders with their horse farms, the overall wealth of the area and the use of zoning laws have created an artificial wall around the area. It is not unlike the old stone walls which run for miles throughout the countryside. At times and places, the stone walls crumble; and in time, the artificial barrier which keeps out contemporary American commerce may fall.
Louis “Bill” Thigpen, pastor of the Middleburg Baptist Church, has served the church since ’93 and already has observed tremendous suburban growth just a few miles to the east of the town. He shares that there are many thousands of houses within a short drive. But for now, a visitor can plot a course through the open countryside with its stone walls, green meadows and vistas of the Blue Ridge. And if you plan your early summer visit for Free Church homecoming next year you can even participate in a rare bliss of ecumenicalism. It is a foretaste of Heaven!
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.