History Of St. Lukes
St. Mark's Parish was established in 1730 under the Church of England predating the establishment of both Culpeper and Fauquier counties. The first Episcopal rector of St. Mark's Parish was the Rev. John Cole. In 1859, the Rev. John Cole was helping families of Rappahannock Station (now Remington, VA) plan for the establishment of their church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
On Feb. 10, 1860 Mr. and Mrs. William Bowen donated 30 acres of land to the congregation for the site of the new church. However, on Apr. 17, 1861 Virginia withdrew of the Union and entered into the Civil War. The church site became an entrenched camp and a highway for the Confederate and union armies. During the winter of 1863-64, the Federal Army destroyed all the Episcopal Churches in this area, including our Rectory and the materials for the new church.
From 1870-75 the Rev. Charles Yancey Steptoe of Christ Church in Brandy Station traveled to Rappahannock Station to conduct Episcopal services in the Methodist church. On May 27, 1877, the congregation passed a resolution to build their new church on the site of the earlier church. Because families in the area were still recovering and rebuilding from the devastating destruction of the Civil War, the congregation chose to sell 20 acres of their land to finance the building of the new church.
By 1884, the sale of the land was completed. On Aug. 11, 1881 the cornerstone of the church was laid. The church was named St. Luke's Episcopal Church in honor of St. Luke the Evangelist. on St. Luke the Evangelist Day, Oct 18, 1888, St. Luke's Episcopal Church was consecrated by Bishop Francis U. Whittle.
More information about can be found here: 100th Anniversary of St. Luke's Episcopal Church
The Organ
The organ you hear today is not the original organ of St. Luke's church. The organ was acquired from St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Bucyrus, Ohio in 1909 with help from the Rev. David C. Mayers of St Luke's and Mr. M. P. Moller. The organ was built in 1877 by the firm of Marshall Brothers in Milwaukee, WI. The traker pipe organ had a single 58 key manual board and 27 key pedal board. The organ was pumped by hand and many of the hand pumpers carved their names on the large wooden pipes on the rear of the organ. In 1964, The National Organ Historical Society held a recital at St. Luke's.
More information can be found here: Marshall Brothers Organ
Our Rector
Mother Nancy Betz - Rector-In-Charge
Vestry
Maxwell Bowen (2014) - Senior Warden
Jim Baird (2013) - Junior Warden
Luke Marshall (2015) - Registrar
Alan Anstine (2014)
Kathlene Bilger (2015)
Fred Kay (2013)
Linda Winslow - Treasurer