Star Photos by Scott Mason Tom Ashbridge and Carly Bauserman, standing at Old Bethel Church, are helping raise money to restore the building. This is a view of Old Bethel from the balcony.

     WHITE POST -- It began as a simple log meeting house built by migrating Quakers making their way south from Pennsylvania into the Shenandoah Valley more than 200 years ago.

     In the early 1800s, it became the home of a thriving Baptist congregation, which built the square brick church that still sits high on a grassy knoll in southern Clarke County, overlooking the Shenandoah River and the historic route west toward the Appalachians.

     The Old Bethel church site is almost as old as the history of Colonial settlement in the Shenandoah Valley, and today the old church is showing its age.

     Timbers are rotting, the brick and mortar is deteriorating, and mildew has damaged the drafty interior of the building, which is heated only by two rusty, pot-bellied iron stoves.

     But help is on the way. A group of citizens interested in historic preservation has launched a major fund-raising effort to repair and restore the church, add central heating and electric lights, and replace much of the old woodwork in as authentic a fashion as possible.

     The goal is to restore the building so that it can be used year-round, not just for religious services, but as a cultural center for lectures, musical performances, and other community events, the Rev. J.L.B. Williams said.

     Williams, the former rector of Christ Church in Millwood, is president of Bethel Memorial Inc., an interdenominational non-profit group interested in preserving the old church.

     Tom Ashbridge of Clarke County, who is heading the fund-raising campaign, said a recent inspection of the building indicated it probably will take $115,000 to $125,000 to do the job properly.

     The group mailed 500 letters to residents and civic groups this week, and Ashbridge said restoration could begin early next spring. If all goes well, the work could be finished by the fall, he said.

     Williams emphasized that the historic importance of the church makes 1988 an appropriate year for the restoration effort, because it coincides with the 250th anniversary of the founding of Old Frederick County.

     "Bethel was a major part of the history of old Frederick, and we think (the restoration effort) is a wonderful way to recognize that," he said.

     The earliest record of a building on the site dates to 1765, when the Quakers built their meeting house here. The site was just west of an old ford across the river used by immigrants heading west toward Stephens City and the valley.

     Some local historians believe that the Quakers were driven out of the area by other settlers who didn't agree with their religious and anti-slavery views. Bethel became a Baptist church in 1808, and the building that stands today was built in 1833.

     The Baptists continued to use the church for regular services until 1930, when the building fell into disrepair. Ten years later B.B. McKay of Millwood, in an effort to save the church, set up an interdenominational board of trustees charged with preservation and restoration of the building.

     McKay, whose ancestors were Quakers and many of whose tombstones still stand in the Bethel church yard, is credited with saving the building from ruin, Williams said.

     "In that spirit . . . we want to develop a community awareness of the importance of restoring and preserving this church," Williams said.

     Ashbridge added that any donations to the building fun are tax-deductible, and that donors would benefit by making contributions before the end of the year because of impending changes in the tax laws for 1988.

     The group will apply for grants from the Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks and the National Park Service, he said.

     Old Bethel Church will open at 4 p.m. Sunday for its annual Christmas services.

     The public is invited to come hear traditional Christmas hymns and carols in the old church, on Route 622 about four miles east of White Post.

     Since regular services were discontinued in 1930, Old Bethel has held interdenominational services only twice each year, during the summer and at Christmas. The church is still used for occasional weddings as well.