Hopewell-Centre Monthly Meeting

As Hopewell Centre Friends Meeting continues its efforts to obtain an historical easement, I'd like to share some of the reasons why Roger and I believe having the historical easement is so important.

On a personal level, Centre Meetinghouse has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I began my spiritual life there with my parents from the time I was old enough to attend meeting. It was a place of peace and solace as I grew from childhood to adulthood. Roger became a convinced Quaker after our marriage, and our daughters, Susan and Cathy, grew up in this meeting. Centre Meetinghouse is an integral part of my family and many other families.

Our goal is to preserve the Meetinghouse for future generations. In today's world having a place of peace and love is more important than ever. The original partition in the interior (as described in the history set out below) is still in place, although not presently useable. It is my and Roger's hope to have the partition restored to working order.

The Meetinghouse has been a part of Winchester in its present form since 1872, and has served as a place of worship for Quakers and non-Quakers alike. Even today, although Hopewell Centre Meeting gathers there on a regular basis only on the fourth first day of each month, it is used as a place for spiritual meeting every day, but Saturday, by AA and members of the Baihi Faith. I've been told that when an AA member attending a meeting there is in particular distress, he or she often goes quietly into the worship area and finds solace in the sacred silence.

By obtaining a historical easement for the Meetinghouse, we can be assured that it will never be used for any purpose other than as a religious center. It is as important today and will be in the future as it was in the long-ago past. Below is a wonderful poem by John Greenleaf Whittier that beautifully expresses the essence of the solace and peace found in our Quaker meetinghouses and our Quaker meetings for worship and the sacred silence.

And so I find it well to come
For deeper rest to this still room
For here the habit of the soul
Feels less the outer world's control
The strength of mutual purpose pleads
More earnestly our common needs;
And from the stillness multiplied
By these still forms on either side,
The world that time and sense have known
Falls off and leaves us God alone.
-John Greenleaf Whittier

Set out below is a short history of the Winchester Centre Quaker Meeting which was taken in toto from a pamphlet, titled "Welcome to Winchester Centre Quaker Meeting," written by a Friend or Friends prior to the merger of the two meetings.

This is the third building used by Friends in Winchester. The original site of Centre Meeting was about a mile Southwest of Winchester, near Willow Lawn about 1777. In 1817, Sara Zane, a sister of General Isaac Zane of the Marlboro Iron Works, gave ground in Winchester, which consisted of the entire 600 block on the West side of South Washington Street, to the Friends Centre Meeting and steps were taken to erect a Meeting House. The Meeting House was used until the Civil War. A committee was formed to investigate the cause of the destruction of the Meeting House. The report states: "We find that it (the Meeting House) was first occupied as a hospital for the Southern army in the summer of 1861. Meetings were held there afterwards until about the 12th day of the 3rd month of 1862, on which day, Bank's army arrived in Winchester. The military authorities demanded the key and took possession of the Meeting House. Friends never used it afterwards. In 1862-1863 under General Melroy's command, the balance of the woodwork was destroyed by the troops. The walls remained standing until about 1863, then fell down. After the fall of the building, the remaining materials were used or destroyed by a portion of the citizens of the town."

At the time, it was the opinion that the new Meeting House should be located in the central part of town. A committee was formed and appointed to purchase land on which to build. On the 8th day of the 2nd month of 1872, the first Monthly Meeting was held at the new Winchester Centre Meeting House located on the corner of North Washington Street and West Piccadilly. The cost of building the meetinghouse was about $2,500 to $3,000.

The Meeting House is a long narrow building containing one room. In the center there is a folding wall which divides the building into two rooms. The paneled wall can be raised or lowered by a crank located above the present ceiling. Along the east wall is a balcony. On the west side, the floor is raised to provide two levels. In the front are two entrances and the rear contains two exits. The women would enter on one side and the men on the other. During the meeting for worship the folding wall would be raised. At the time of the business meeting the wall was lowered so women could have their own business meeting. Necessary messages were passed between the two meetings through a sliding opening in the partition. The practice of separate meetings contributed to the ability of early Quaker women to conduct business meetings. This practice was discontinued in the late 1800s.

Until January of 1970, Winchester Centre Meeting was a preparative meeting under Hopewell. From 1970 until 1999, Winchester was an independent Monthly Meeting, at which time Centre Meeting and Hopewell Meeting merged to create Hopewell Centre Meeting.

Our worship service (unprogrammed) is based in the expectancy that in silent, united search for truth, God will be present.