Homecoming at Emmanuel is Sept. 18

Published 12:54 pm Thursday, September 8, 2016

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, at Glenmore, will celebrate homecoming on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Dr. Halley Willcox will preach the service, which will be followed by a luncheon. The church is located at 7825 Howardsville Road at the intersection of routes 602 and 655 at Glenmore. All are welcome to attend. Those who attend are asked to bring a side dish.

The Episcopal Church has been in Buckingham County since colonial times when Buckingham was part of Albemarle County. An old Glebe church stood near Sipe’s Spring, about a mile from Glenmore. There are no records of the date of the early church. 

During the early-to mid-1900s, the Episcopal churches in Buckingham were St. Andrews near Dillwyn (later deeded to the Baptist church), St. Peter’s in the Curdsville area, Grace Episcopal at Manteo (closed 1968) and Emmanuel Episcopal at Glenmore. Because of Buckingham’s large geographic area, many Episcopalians attended Ca Ira in Cumberland County, St. Anne’s in Appomattox, and Episcopal churches in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties and Farmville. Emmanuel holds services twice a month.

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At a meeting on Oct. 26, 1869, at the home of John Horsley, it was decided to make plans for the establishment of the Protestant Episcopal Church. At the meeting, chaired by the Rev. Samuel Ridout, nine vestry members were elected: Chapman Glover, John Horsley, John C. Turner, Camm Patteson, Joseph H. Turner, I. Watson Woods, Alfred F. Brady, J. R. Lewis, and I. I. Brown. At a meeting on July 8, 1870, it was suggested that two churches would be more advantageous than one. 

The original church building was established in 1871 at Camm’s Post Office on the Howardsville Road (Route 602), approximately three miles from the present location. When the membership decided to relocate on property that was to be their own, the members in Manteo and in Warminster wanted it located in their community, and in 1884 the church was split — with one group founding Grace Church at Manteo and the other founding Emmanuel Church, Glenmore. 

At a meeting, Sept. 3, 1884, held at Fountain Ridge, home of Misses Willia and Mary Glover, it was unanimously decided that Grace and Emmanuel churches were to be separated and Emmanuel moved to Glenmore as its permanent location. The old Liberty Church (located on 655 at Glenmore) was to be sold to the Methodist Episcopal Church for the sum of $150.

A committee of John C. Turner, P.P. Glover, Alfred Brady, and William A. Lewis was appointed to purchase a suitable site for the building of Emanuel at Glenmore. The old church was to be torn down and rebuilt. A committee was appointed to secure subscriptions for the new church.

In the back of the sanctuary at Emmanuel there is a stained-glass window located over the altar that was donated by Samuel Scott (1881-1956) in memory of the Scott family. The stained glass window in front of the sanctuary was given in memory of the Horsley family. The pulpit was donated in memory of Channing Horsley Moon by Ethel E. Moon.

The Parish Hall was built in the 1960s with generous contributions from the Withers family. This has been vital for parish and community activities.