robertmackayclan

From The Winchester Star dated Friday 15 May 2009.

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Clear Brook -- As his church marks its 275th anniversary with an open house Saturday, Jim Riley says there's much more to celebrate than simply the long history of the Hopewell Meeting House.

Mary Robare of Frederick County sits in a pew at the Hopewell Friends Meeting House in Clear Brook. The faith, also called the Religious Society of Friends, is widely known for a commitment to peace. (Photo by Jeff Taylor)

Yes, the Winchester resident says, it's noteworthy that Hopewell has been home to worship services without interruption since its founding in 1734, making it the oldest place of worship in Frederick County.

But to Riley, it's the spiritual aspect of Hopewell that looms largest.

"There's a great cloud of witnesses here," said Riley, 63, part of the eighth generation of his family to worship at Hopewell.

Saturday's open house -- set for 1 to 5 p.m. at 604 Hopewell Road, a mile west of Clear Brook off U.S. 11 -- will offer visitors the opportunity to learn more about the church's rich history and as well as insight into what the Quaker faith stands for, Riley said.

"Sometimes you'll hear from people who have the impression that Quakerism is something that's in the past," he said. "The 275th anniversary is a chance for us to talk about what Quakers have done in the world, about what our faith is all about."

About 100,000 Quakers make their homes in the United States and Canada, according to the Web site http://www.Quakerfinder.org another 200,000 live in Europe, Africa, Asia, and elsewhere in the world.

Quakers quilt inside the Hopewell Friends Meeting House in Clear Brook in this undated photo.

The faith, also called the Religious Society of Friends, is widely known for a commitment to peace, Riley said.

"Quakers traditionally have worked very hard to create peace in the world," he said. "That's probably the strongest testimony of Quakers."

The church's practice of worshipping largely in silence also sets Quakers apart, Riley said.

"We don't have a minister or a priest who is seen as the leader of our worship service," he said. "We gather and sit in silence and if the spirit moves someone to speak, then that person speaks."

The denomination dates to the mid-1600s when an Englishman named George Fox began to preach of the need to turn away from the hierarchy of established churches. His radical belief: Each person could work to encounter God directly.

"That's still what we believe, that God speaks to each of us," Riley said.

Photographs of Quakers from earlier generations show them in plain dress, but Riley said that tradition has fallen away.

As for the church building itself, Hopewell remains as he remembers it from his childhood.

The Hopewell Friends Meeting House is at 604 Hopewell Road, a mile west of Clear Brook off U.S. 11. (Photo by Jeff Taylor)

"We've done a few improvements on the outside, adding a handicapped ramp and a railing to the porch, but inside where our worship is held, its been pretty much the same for 250 years."

According to the church's history, the first meeting house was made of logs. After more than 20 years of use, the building was destroyed by fire in 1757. The eastern side of the current meeting house was constructed between 1759 and 1761, with another section added in 1794.

Hopewell is not only on the National Register of Historic Places, but is also designated as a Virginia Historic Landmark and a Frederick County Historic Site.

In 1999, Hopewell merged in with Centre Meeting in downtown Winchester to form the congregation now known as the Hopewell Centre Meeting.

Hopewell typically has celebrated its roots with an open house and other special events only every quarter-century or so, Riley said.

Hopewell's next big event is a homecoming celebration slated for late August.

Jim Riley holds a cradle roll from the early 1900s that shows the young children of the Hopewell Meeting House. His mother Virginia Lupton, born in 1912, is one of the children pictured. (Photo by Rick Foster)

Riley's affiliation with Hopewell has been lifelong. His mother's ancestors were among the handful of Pennsylvania families who founded Hopewell 275 years ago.

Virginia Lupton Riley was the oldest member of Hopewell when she died this month at 96.

"I'm kind of the exception, having grown up here," Riley said. "Most of the people who come to worship at Hopewell today didn't grow up with the faith. Something about Quakerism speaks to them and they attend a service and realize it's for them.

"We try to be very welcoming to anyone who comes. We want everyone to feel at home."

Saturday's tour will include the meeting house and grounds, along with the adjoining graveyard.

The church's regular worship services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Sundays.

http://hopecentre.quaker.org

From The Winchester Star dated Monday 18 May 2009.

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Clear Brook -- Historic treasures unearthed at the Hopewell Meeting House were dusted off and aired Saturday when the Quaker church celebrated its 275th anniversary with an open house.

A black velvet bonnet from the 1800s, a gray button-up child's tunic, and wedding certificates signed by the Quaker community in 1826 and 1917, were some of the artifacts on display.

Pam Hambach, a two-year church member and its pastoral care clerk, even found a crushed Washington Post newspaper dated 1898 in one of the fabric-covered footstools that sit beneath the church's long wooden benches.

She was replacing the stools' "yucky" fabric coverings for the open house when she made the discovery, and it drew her back in time as she read that a new Steinway piano was on sale for $65.

"I ran around excited," she said, jogging her feet up and down to mimic her glee.

Linda J. Wilk, church clerk, estimated that up to 100 people came to the Hopewell Meeting House Saturday at 604 Hopewell Road to celebrate the anniversary.

"We had a lot of people come from the community," said Betty McCormick, a church member. "I just talked to a variety of people who came, and I was just really pleased."

Some who showed up Saturday at the gray stone meeting house, which sits on a rolling hill of emerald green grass, wanted to link their ancestors to names listed in the church's records.

Other visitors were interested in the Quakers' practice of worshipping in silence, while others were drawn in by mere curiosity.

"I think more people are struck by the antiquity of the building, and how well-preserved it is after so many years of continuous use," Hambach said.

The church was founded in 1734. Two men from Pennsylvania had brought 70 families to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to start a new community for the faith, also called the Religious Society of Friends.

The church building was first made of logs, but was destroyed by fire in 1757.

The eastern portion of the existing building was built from 1759 to 1761, and the western portion from 1758 to 1794.

Wilk said she spent a lot of time during the open house explaining Quaker religious practices.

Attendees were curious as to why the faith does not employ pastors, and how members know when they're supposed to speak during the mostly silent periods of worship.

"How do you know God is there?" she said, recalling one question. "You know that by sitting and waiting."

She said another focal point for visitors was the centuries-old wedding certificates that list the names of all the attendees of a particular ceremony.

Hambach said that during Quaker wedding ceremonies, the couple sits in the center of the church together.

The other members sit in silence, and speak about the couple when they are moved to do so.

"When the bride and groom are ready, they stand and make their vows," she said.

The attendees, who all sign the certificate, then file out. All are considered witnesses to the event.

"The feeling is that God also married them," said Anne Bacon, a church member.

Wilk said that at one point during Saturday's open house, about 60 people gathered to hear the singing of a woman dressed in the Quaker "plain dress" of a black bonnet and gray dress.

"It was very moving," she said, although, "we normally wouldn't sing during worship."

Others wandered through the cemetery adjacent to the church, which contains marked and unmarked graves.

Wilk said that early Quakers did not believe in marking a grave with tombstones. They believed the practice was pompous and therefore sinful, according to church literature.

Bacon said the graves were unmarked "because God knew who was there," she said. "It was considered frivolous."

The earliest gravesite is the resting place of John Griffith, who lived from 1737 to 1833, according to church literature.

Winchester resident Carolyn Maccubin attended the church Saturday as a visitor since her daughter-in-law is a member.

"I thought it was interesting to see the building pretty much as it was originally erected," she said.