Ten-year-old Locke Gooditis of Clarke County joins in the candlelight singing on Sunday evening at Old Bethel Church's "Lessons and Carols" Christmas service. (Rick Foster)

     Millwood --The spirit of Christmas, through the hearts and voices of hundreds of worshipers and tinkling bells, warmed the chilly sanctuary of Old Bethel Church.

     "If you like the idea of an 1850s Christmas, we've still got it," said Ian Williams, president of the Bethel Memorial Association.

     The church, originally constructed in 1733 and rebuilt in 1836, "is lit exactly like it was 150 years ago. There's no heat. And it's really just like it was back then," Williams said.

     The church is one of the oldest religious structures west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

     First used as a Quaker meeting house, the church later hosted Baptist services into the 1920s.

     Oil lamp chandeliers provided the bulk of the light for the service, combined with a generous blessing of candles and lanterns.

     The pumping pedals of the church's old wind organ kept time with the beautiful music provided by organist Ronald Hottle.

     Some people drove for miles to attend the service, located at the top of a dirt road near Millwood, in Clarke County.

     With condensing breathe erupting from mouths, pew after pew filled up, as did the balcony section.

     All the while, The 6th Dimension Handbell Ensemble, a collection of ladies affiliated with Shenandoah University, provided a lively selection of holiday music.

     The service, "Lessons and Carols," was less than an hour long, punctuated by brief Gospel passages and Christmas carols.

     The Rev. Anne Manson, minister of Christ Church Millwood, was the officiant. Other lessons were delivered by Williams, Peter Cook, Nancy Talley, Robert Randolph, and Thomas Gilpin.

     Soloist Diana Kincannon provided special music for the evening service.

     "We had heard about this, how lovely the service was," said Dot Royston of Boyce, who attended with husband Jim and family friend Connie Boole. "We thought it would be a nice thing to do.

     "So much of the Christmas spirit is gone. We thought this would be a good place to find it."

     Boole, of Franktown on the Eastern Shore, said attending the service with the Roystons awoke old memories.

     "I've been in some churches just as cold as this," she said, adding that her father was a Methodist minister. "I've been in a lot of little old churches just like this one."

-- Contact Ed Farrell at
efarrell@winchesterstar.com