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(Continued from Page 12) igration to the south and west and by infrequent and intermittent services that they are hardly able to stand alone and are now like sheep scattered on the mountains without a shepherd.”
By 1892 the church’s membership had partially recovered, with 46 communicants, and the expenses over a nine-month period of that year had soared to $194.93. In that year, also, the records of the Diocese of Virginia show that a Sunday School was in existence, with 25 “scholars” and four teachers.
Sometime around the turn of the century, Emmanuel Church was constructed in Sperryville, becoming the third Episcopal congregation in the county. By 1906, the Diocesan Journal reported that “the churches in Rappahannock County have become self-supporting.” The situation, however commendable, did not last long and Trinity Church did not again become self-sufficient until 1955.
Early in this century, suggestions were made that the church be renovated. The original building was all wood, and had neither a bell nor a tower. It was proposed that the renovations include a bell tower, which would also serve as a vestibule and an entrance to the sanctuary.
The idea did not meet with universal acceptance. One member of the congregation declared that if the front door of the church were moved she would renounce her membership. Another resident of the town (who was not a member of any church) declared that if the tower •were not built, he would leave the church.
Bob Eastham, the carpenter hired to do the renovation, broke the stalemate, saying, “I’ll build the tower because she’s saved and he isn’t.” The tower stands today as testimony to his logic. The question remains whether the concerned resident ever was saved.
During the renovation the origi
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