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"Let Christ be the bone, and flesh, and blood, and nerve, and brain, and mind, and life of your religion. The only man that can help you in life, and death, and judgment is Jesus, the first and last, the all and in all. Preach Him, sing Him, live Him and you need not die to enter heaven ... The Church is only successful as Christ is preached. What the world needs is a practical religion that will touch the body, mind, and spirit, and that kind Jesus gives." Those words were penned by the Rev. John Duke McFaden for the Brethren at Saint James on the occasion of the church's tenth anniversary. They had served as a foundation for his preaching mission out of which the church at Saint James was born. Although many had considered his work to be "unpromising", the believers who banded together in the fellowship at Saint James founded their church with Christ as the cornerstone. In the years that have followed, the Brethren have continued to build on that cornerstone, believing in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The church is, of course, less than perfect, but Christ remains the foundation and the fellowship has experienced His blessing through the years. The Rev. McFaden came to Washington County, Maryland, in 1885, at a time when all the county was a mission field for the Brethren. He came to conduct a revival meeting in the Fairplay Firehall. Because of the ferment within the German Baptist Brethren stimulated by the Progressive movement, the meetings in Fairplay attracted those who had left that fraternity as well as members of other denominations. Those with no church affiliation attended as well. Out of that series of meetings came one baptized convert and the very first member of the Saint James Brethren Church, Mrs. Alice Moats. Believing, perhaps, that the church can flourish where even two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, the Rev. McFaden shepherded his flock of one and in the spring of 1886 two more were added to the fold. He once recalled after closing a service in Fairplay, "I walked to St. James to take the train for Hagerstown, and, standing on the hill where the church now stands, I thought over the situation, and, kneeling there, I asked God to give us a church house of our own." While the Rev. McFaden was preaching at Fairplay, T. J. Fahrney united with the church, and soon after that prayer at night on the hill, invited him to preach in the brick schoolhouse at Saint James. The congregation that was to become the Saint James Brethren Church began to grow, even though less than a dozen of those souls thirsty for the Word of God lived within a five-mile radius of the site on which the church would be eventually built. The Rev. McFaden had no membership to speak of, no money and very few friends, but God heard and answered his prayer. Within the year, land for the Saint James Brethren Church was acquired and construction began. There are no records to indicate how the money was raised to build a house of worship. We can only surmise that is was through the dedication and diligence of those first members - Mrs. Moats, Mr. and Mrs. Fahrney, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Mullin, Mrs. Missouri Show, the Rev. and Mrs. Joshua Long and others - that the first church house was built. That structure was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1886. Church records indicate that Joe Mullin was the first male to be baptized into the church membership. Another early member was the Rev. Joshua Long, who frequently served the Saint James Church as an interim pastor. The Rev. Long was the grandfather of church members Verda Rohrer, Urla Jamison, and the late Thelma Baker, Wanda Jamison and Evelyn Culler. Originally a member of the German Baptist Brethren and an ordained elder in that church, he formally affiliated with the Saint James Brethren in 1887. The Long homeplace, "the first farm below Downsville," had its own pond, and the Saint James Church used that pond for baptisms for many years, regardless of the temperature. There are accounts of baptisms amid the frosts of February, when a hole would be cut through the ice to immerse the converts. After the baptismal service, the new church members would be wrapped in blankets and driven by horse and buggy to the Rev. Long's house to change clothes. In the waning years of the nineteenth century, a Mrs. Cunningham organized a Sunday School that met in the Woburn Schoolhouse at the corner of Dam # 4 Road and Woburn Road. About 1896, T. J. Fahrney sponsored a project to build a Woburn Brethren Church. He was joined by the Rev. Long and other lay members of the Saint James congregation in bringing the project to fruition. Letters of appeal were sent out asking for $2.00 donations to build a meetinghouse. The Rev. Long, known affectionately as "Papa Long", donated land on the northwest corner of his property for the Woburn church. A hall was built and dedicated on June 4, 1898, with the Rev. Long preaching the dedicatory sermon. The cornerstone of the old Woburn Church is now on the present Saint James Church property. As Saint James members "gossiped the Gospel", the church flourished. By the time the church's ten-year building debt was wiped out (1896) there were 141 members. In October of that year, 117 persons attended the Love Feast, including Mrs. Alice Moats, who had been the lone member only ten years earlier. At the church's tenth anniversary, the Rev. Long told his flock: "If we should report the present active membership together with those who died, fell back, moved away and were organized into a separate congregation, the number would surprise even those who have spent the last ten years of their lives at Saint James." One of those who joined the church during the Rev. Long's pastorate was Alice Moats' nephew, William D. Furry. Dr. Furry later became an influential leader in the Brethren Church, serving as president, and professor of philosophy and church history at Ashland College. From the very beginning, Saint James Church was enriched not only by the work of its pastors but also by lay members who strove conscientiously to make God's message heard. One of those early laborers in the field was Dr. V. M. Reichard. Dr. Reichard was a physician who ministered both to the physical and spiritual life of his fellow believers at Saint James. He often filled the pulpit at Saint James and Woburn. He was one of the first persons in the area to own an automobile and, unlike the Rev. Long who often walked from Downsville to Mapleville to conduct Sunday worship, chugged along the country roads in his "horseless carriage" to carry the Gospel. Another of those early faithful and influential laymen was Harvey Poffenberger, who served as treasurer of the church for many years. He was always ready and willing to personally supply extra money when the church fell short. As the church moved into the twentieth century, membership grew and the little white weatherboard building was expanded to accommodate the growing numbers. As with all congregations, the church experienced slack periods and periods of great revival. But always there were faithful laborers of vitality and optimism who taught and trained disciples for the Lord's kingdom. Following is a small article from The Brethren Annual of 1888 which contains "events of interest of year ending Oct. 1st, 1887": A VALEDICTORY Two years and six months ago we commenced turning the sod in Washington Co., Md. During this time we have received into the home church (Saint James) 47 members. In the church at large 159 members, three Sunday Schools have been organized. Funkstown and Mapleville are evergreens. St. James closes for the winter, but opens in the spring. One church building has been erected at the cost of $1500, a balance of $250 to be raised, which the building committee will attend to. A tract society has been organized which has scattered 500,000 pages of tracts and books, waves of influence have been started which will break only on the eternal shore. Some of the work done has been done with the hearty cooperation of the church, and some under many difficulties. We have not done all we wanted to do, but what we could, no sacrifice is regretted. May God bless the Brethren church of Washington Co. "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort." J.D. McFaden Links to more of our history...
Saint James
Brethren Church
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