Although it was a small crowd, 35-40 people in attendance, for the Christian Heritage event in Grantsville it speaks volumes that a community would take the time to close Main Street down for a few hours for the purpose of reminding themselves of the path that many of their families took to establish the Christian churches in Calhoun County.
Looking at the number of people at the Sycamore Church dedication reminds us of the role churches played in the foundation of a community. Sunday mornings were their version of the Nightly News, Social media and family reunions all rolled into one. According to familysearch.org the Church of England (now Protestant Episcopal) was the established church in Virginia (including West Virginia) from 1624 to 1786. Other major religious groups in West Virginia were the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Roman Catholic , and United Brethren churches. With the arrival of English and Scots-Irish settlers came West Virginia’s early dominant religions. Many families of English origin were Quakers; the Scots-Irish were Presbyterians. Both religions were well established by 1740, and they were followed by Baptists who settled in Berkeley County in 1743 and a Methodist circuit in Berkeley and Jefferson counties in 1778. (Information from https://www.familysearch.org)
I’ve not yet taken the time to do the history of Calhoun Churches, perhaps I will, but for now I’m not sure of what church denomination was first to be built in our county. I only know this, Church played a huge roll in my own life growing up, and from the number of churches in our community there was a time it played a huge roll in the lives of many.
There are so many churches in the hills and hollers of our community, many that have closed, but many that are open would be grateful for a crowd of 35-40 people on Sunday morning. Denominations didn’t matter last night in the streets of the city as several local singers and musicians from various churches filled the air with wonderful songs of faith and preachers and speakers shared their encouraging messages. The Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department and the West Virginia State Police offered their services to light up and block the traffic for the event. Grinders Coffee shop stayed open late with hot coffee and cocoa that was much appreciated by the chilly attendees.
