OLD BETHEL CHURCH where services are held once a year, will welcome back its old communicants and families of former communicants at the annual service on Sunday, August 22 at 11 a.m. A picnic lunch will be held following the service to which the congregation and friends are invited. THE OLD PUMP ORGAN at Old Bethel Church will play again the hymns communicants sang down through the ages.

     The once-a-year services at Old Bethel Church will be held Sunday, August 22 at 11 a.m. The speaker will be Tom L. Peyton, Jr., of Millwood who will speak on "The Restoration and Preservation of Early Buildings."

     Once a year, the fourth Sunday in August, Old Bethel opens its doors to the families of worshippers who were a part of the old church since 1790.

     This service brings back descendants of these people. They gather early, look over the graveyard and surrounding grounds on which this brick edifice stands, renew acquaintances and then go into church to hear a message from some speaker. They pray and sing hymns.

     The morning service over, worshippers gather outside for lunch. On a long table that flanks one wall of the church are fried chicken, old ham, deviled eggs and many other items of food for a picnic lunch.

     Peyton is director of Facilities Services of the Smithsonian Institute of Washington. He is responsible for the restoration and maintenance of existing buildings; for the architecture, engineering and construction of new buildings, and for the construction and security throughout the entire system. Early Smithsonian buildings include Belmont, the 18th century version of Caleb Dorsey in Maryland; the Castle of the Smithsonian and the old patent office in Washington, the Carnegie version in New York City.

     Peyton is a nephew of the late Edward McCormick Williams of Berryville, prominent lawyer and Commonwealth's Attorney. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, and has a master of engineering, Columbia University, New York City. He served in the Army Corps of Engineers for 20 years, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then spent five years in the U.S. Public Building Service in Washington, serving as Deputy Commissioner and in 1979 assumed his present position with the Smithsonian.

     Opening and closing prayers will be delivered by Winston McKay. Alexander MacKay-Smith, chairman of Bethel Board of Trustees, will read a sermon, "The Silence of Solomon's Temple", delivered February 12, 1893 at historic St. John's Church, Washington, D.C. by its rector, Alexander MacKay-Smith, later Bishop of Pennsylvania. Many of Bishop MacKay-Smith's descendants and relatives are residents of Clarke County.

     Prior to the services, there is much planning and work to be done. The old church is cleaned, the hand-pump organ is examined, the brass and pewter Communion service is shined, the grounds are carefully groomed, the fences whitewashed.

     Most people know the history of Old Bethel. There are indications that there was a meeting house there as early as 1765. A history described Old Bethel and Lovers' Leap. It included a clause in reference to God's Acre on the Hill known as Bethel Meeting House. In 1790 Old Bethel was a log building which was destroyed by fire in 1827 and replaced three years later by the present edifice.

     Inside the church, the gallery where sat slaves and free servants during the early days has long since been removed. But the pews are intact as are the kerosene lamps and stoves.