ANNUAL MEMORIAL SERVICES will be held this Sunday, August 24 at Old Bethel Church in southern Clarke County. The 153-year-old church is a perpetual monument to deceased members of the church.

     Bethel Memorial Church in southern Clarke County will open its doors this Sunday for its 46th annual memorial service.

     Once a year, on the fourth Sunday in August, Bethel opens its doors to the families and friends of those who once worshipped there regularly. The church was set aside in 1941 as a perpetual monument to deceased members of the church.

     The service will be held Sunday, August 24 and begins at 11 a.m. The church is located at the end of Route 625, near the intersection with Route 622. The historic estate "Upshot" is next door to the church and its adjoining graveyard.

     A picnic lunch will be held at 1 p.m., following the worship service. The public is invited to attend the activities.

     The Reverend William Martin, pastor of Cunningham Parish in Clarke County, will lead the worship service. Dr Matthew Page Mackay-Smith will be the guest speaker. He is scheduled to talk about "Pathways to the present - Early Roads in the Lower Shenandoah Valley."

     Dr. MacKay-Smith grew up in Clarke County. Before going to veterinary school, he travelled the highways and byways of Northern Virginia as an assistant to veterinarian Robert Booth of Middleburg. After an "exile" of 25 years, during which he practice veterinary medicine in Pennsylvania, he returned to Clarke County, where he lives at Greenwood near White Post. In recent years, as an official of the Old Dominion 100-mile Endurance Ride, he has studied many of the early roads, including some developed by General Daniel Morgan.

     Mrs. Anne Hudson will play the antique pump organ which has filled the church with music for decades.

     The large, brick church was built in 1833, three years before Clarke became a county. There was a meeting house on the site as early as 1765. The log building which served as a church was destroyed by fire in 1827 and replaced with the current brick structure.

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

     The small graveyard adjoining the church has been in existence 200 years, according to some of the earliest tombstones.

     The trustees and board of directors normally meet after the picnic lunch. This year, however, a special meeting will be called in the fall to discuss what to do about deterioration of the 150-year-old building.

     The trustees of the church recently donated several of Bethel's treasures to the Clarke County Historical Association's museum in Berryville. The gift included several old record books, which help document the formation of Bethel Baptist Church in 1808, and a pewter communion service.