G. Robert Lee, county administrator, will be the principal speaker at the annual services of Old Bethel Church scheduled Sunday, August 25, at 11 a.m.

     This is the 47th annual service, held once a year, usually the last Sunday in August, at what is referred to as "God's Acre on The Hill," or "Old Bethel Meeting Place."

     Lee, who is the executive officer of Clarke County, will talk on the role of the county administration as it relates to the planned future of Clarke County. He holds a degree in government from William and Mary College, and a graduate degree in planning and public administration from Cornell University.

     Lee came here in 1978 with his wife and six-year-old daughter.

     Sunday's program will begin with the invocation by Winston L. McKay. The (Bev) McKay family has been a moving force in the services held at Old Bethel from the beginning. Following the benediction, a rendition of America The Beautiful will be by Paul A. Yates, which will be followed by the introduction of Lee by A. Mackay-Smith.

     The program calls for another rendition by Yates, How Great Thou Art, and then a prayer by the Rev. Carroll C. Goodridge of the Bridgewater (Va.) United Methodist Church. The scripture lesson will be from John 1:35-50, followed by the hymn, Faith of Our Fathers.

     The sermon will be preached by Rev. Goodridge, then the doxology and the hymn, God Be With You, and the benediction by McKay.

     The organist is Mrs. Ann Hudson.

     On August 23, 1981, the board of trustees of the church turned over the church records and books, dating back to 1808, and the original pewter Communion set to the Clarke County Historical Association to be permanently house at the old Courthouse, subject only to their being placed on public display.

     The board of trustees include Harry F. Byrd, Jr., emeritus; Harold Hawkins, Alexander Mackay-Smith, J. Brownley McKay, A. Garland Williams, The Rev. J. L. B. Williams and Mrs. Mae Withers.

     The advisory board is composed of the Rev. Carroll C. Goodridge, Mrs. T. Haliburton McCoy, Beverley T. McKay, Winston L. McKay, Donald A. Myers, Eric S. G. Reid and Mrs. Edyth W. Rodgers.