Grace Episcopal Church

About

Diocese of Virginia - Region XIV

Story

Frederick Parish was created concurrently with Frederick County in 1738 by an act of the colonial General Assembly of Virginia as an ecclesiastical unit of the Church of England.

Cunningham Chapel was the first of three chapels of the parish. It was constructed probably in 1747, at a location three miles south of present day Berryville. After the original log building was destroyed in the Revolutionary War, it was replaced by the stone structure that still stands today at this site, The Old Chapel.

Some of the original congregation withdrew from Old Chapel, Frederick Parish, to establish a mission church four miles northeast of Berryville known as Wickliffe, which separated from Old Chapel in 1819.
Twelve years later a group of members of the Wickliffe congregation desired a place to worship closer to the Berryville community.

Consecrated in 1831, Grace Church in Berryville was at first a mission of Wickliffe, which then separated from Wickliffe Church in 1853. In 1919 the members of Wickliffe joined Grace Church.

The present Grace Church building was completed in 1857. In 1919 Wickliffe ceased holding regular weekly services and its members joined Grace Church. Grace Church received major renovations and remodeling in 1926. Of particular note are the large pipe organ, extraordinary stained glass windows and carillon.

In the early 1900s, St. Mary's Memorial Church was founded as a Mission of the Diocese of Virginia. The Church was consecrated in 1914. Some years later, the original schoolhouse was brought from the Wickliffe area to Berryville to be used as a Parish Hall. Grace and St. Mary's have shared a minister, provided Sunday School jointly, and operated as Sister Churches since the 1960s.

The historic Wickliffe Church building is maintained by Clarke Episcopal Parish. It is used for an annual service which is held the third Sunday in August.

Mission

To know, love, and serve God. To represent Him in the community, that through our faith and witness, in word and deed, others may come to know, love and serve Him as well.

It is our intent as a community of Christians to deepen our faith through the praise and worship of God, the Sacraments of the Church, the study of the Bible, and Fellowship with one another.

As we deepen our knowledge and love of God, we intend also to serve him more faithfully, both individually as Christians interacting with our neighbors, and corporately as a Church using our various committees, organizations, buildings and other resources to make evident in the community the love, righteousness, mercy, and goodness of God Almighty.