When Abingdon Episcopal Church recently celebrated its 375 years, there was more looking forward than back. History was barely mentioned in a packed service February 23 where the Bishop of Virginia preached, and the focus was on the 14 people confirmed and one baptism.
“That number is very significant because in an old church, we tend to look backwards rather than forward, but the fact that we’re confirming people means that we are looking forward,” said the Rev. Sven vanBaars, who since 2010 has served as the 46th rector of Abingdon.
There are about 335 active members at this parish 7 miles north of Yorktown and a couple miles west of the Chesapeake Bay. On a typical Sunday, 126 people attend in person or online, vanBaars said.
Some surnames on the rolls have remained over generations. Thomas Jefferson is believed to have worshiped there because of his closeness to one parish family. Nearly four centuries means that a significant milestone such as the 375th happens once in a lifetime.
Fluid History Sparks Creativity
A lot of the early history is vague because Abingdon existed for almost 140 years before the first bishop arrived in 1789, vanBaars said. “It was consecrated by use before then,” he said.
The parish chose February 21 as its birthday because a notice in the February 1751 Virginia Gazette, based in Williamsburg, mentioned that the church vestry would award a contract for building a new church.
Based on this notice in the Virginia Gazette of February 1750 about plans for a new church building, the parishioners of Abingdon Episcopal Church chose late February 2025 to celebrate their 375th anniversary. Few records exist from 1650. Credit: Abingdon Episcopal Church
“It doesn’t mark our beginning in 1650,” he added. “It just marks the date when something significant took place. It’s been interesting to see just how people are grasping this notion of the past as much more fluid than we thought, so that gives us a little more creativity.”
The 1751 notice was an anomaly on the Gazette broadsheet; most of the news concerned “runaway slaves and people for sale,” vanBaars said. To understand its historical and societal context, the church hosted academic speakers to share about previous eras and enduring issues.
Digging Into the Past
To understand the church’s role in race relations, Abingdon hosted Cassandra Newby-Alexander, the Endowed Professor of Virginia Black History and Culture and emeritus director of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for African Diaspora Studies at Norfolk State University.
View of the exterior of Abingdon Episcopal Church, White Marsh, Gloucester County, Virginia, 8 x 10 safety film negative, by the American photographer and photojournalist Frances Benjamin Johnston. Dated 1930. Image courtesy of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
In addition, the Abingdon congregation in 2023 invited the community to a three-year archaeological exploration of its pre-1791 church foundation. Tobacco pipes, window shards, and more have been dug up.
“We are uncovering clues that are revealing why elite planter and politician William Byrd II described this as ‘the best church I have seen in the country’ in 1709,” reported the Fairfield Foundation, the local not-for-profit partner.
The project includes two public excavation days each spring and fall in 2025, with opportunities to see and participate in the ongoing archaeology.
Abingdon’s first church was a wooden building probably located near the York or Severn River. In 1655, the parish completed the construction of its first brick church on land donated by Col. Augustine Warner, the maternal great-great-grandfather of George Washington. The foundations of this church can still be found inside the south wall of the church grounds. Records indicate that Abingdon Parish was established circa 1650. Its name is derived from the home of the colonists who emigrated from Abingdon, England. Photo source.
Looking Ahead
Abingdon members will continue celebrating the 375-year milestone this year. Weekly announcements include a memorable news item from their archives. “This week, federal troops occupied the church during the Civil War,” vanBaars said.
The church was named by colonists from Abingdon and Gloucester in England, and a pilgrimage to those roots is planned later this year, along with a time capsule. The church will host Abingdon Day on June 21.
At the Feb. 23 anniversary service, The Right Rev. E. Mark Stevenson called the 375th anniversary “awesome, and I’m so thankful that I get to be here with you all to celebrate this milestone. It’s a great and holy time.”
Before the service, he had witnessed “quite a few holy moments— the presentations, the testimonials given by the 14 confirmands. I wish we had video recorded them. I would simply have played them for you this morning in lieu of my sermon.”
Those 14 new members are Kevin Chesney, Jay Crandell, Alex Hogg, Linda Johnston, Melanie Pressley, Renee Pressley, Megan Price, Carrie Provensen, Emmitt Smith, Shirley Tinker, Jackie Turlington, Francis West, Paul Williams, and Trang Wood.
“We are a living community of faith with 375 years of ministry,” vanBaars said. “Our goal is to teach and spread the good news of Jesus Christ and to ‘walk in love as Christ loved us.’”
There was one baptism, as well: Meredith Fowler, an infant.
