Nielsen Builders Harrisonburg Virginia

Daily News Record
Monday, May 14, 2007

Old Church Gets New Look

By Tom Mitchell

   Long before America's founding fathers were preaching liberty to the masses, Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church members were hearing Sunday sermons.
   And now, more than 250 years after it was founded, the Rockingham County church is aging gracefully. A project true to Cooks Creek's history of changing with the times is under way - one that will give the old church a new look. This year, the church is undergoing its most thorough physical change in 59 years with the construction of a new fellowship hall and other structural improvements.
With an area of 7,000 square feet, the new fellowship hall said the Rev. George W. Evans, is 3 1/2 times as large as the old hall. the project, which Evans said costs $2 million, includes refurbishing the whole church building.
   Evans, Cooks Creek's pastor since 2001, said that his congregation simply "outgrew" the old fellowship hall, built in 1948. Membership at Cooks Creek, now at 340, has added 30 members in the last five years, and the old hall needed upgrades to make it safer from fires.
   "We started planning [for the new fellowship hall] five years ago," said Evans. " We needed more space for our youth activities, plus our kitchen was inadequate."

Early Years

Cooks Creek Presbyterian, on Mount Clinton Pike just northwest of Harrisonburg, is named for a stream that ran by the original site of the church in Dayton. According to church records, Cooks Creek was formed in 1739 by residents of the area who met in each other's homes. In 1742, members of the fledgling congregation built a "meeting house" - at the time, English rule kept religious groups, other than those loyal to the Church of England, from becoming churches.
   In 1783, Cooks Creek's members built a new structure near the original site. New buildings followed in 1834, 1912, and 1948. Other construction projects at Cooks Creek Presbyterian consisted of an addition of Sunday school rooms in 1927 and an education building in 1965.
   The cost of the new construction dwarfs previous projects by many hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Francis Tapper Cunningham, 89, a World War II veteran, retired bricklayer and former elder of the church. But strong support from its members already has raised more than $1 million, said Cunningham.
"The hall we built in '48 cost $15,000," said Cunningham, a resident of Bridgewater known as "Tap" to his friends and neighbors. "But we won't have any trouble paying for this one. The addition we put in in '65 cost $1 million, and we paid for that in three years."

Eye On The Future

   A focus on youth continues Cooks Creek's tradition of addressing spiritual needs of its young people: the church formed its first meeting group for young people in 1894, 20 years after the formation of a Women of the Church assembly and two years before the creation of a choir. All three associations still function at the church.
   Cooks Creek's property displays much of America's past. A cemetery by the church bears remains of veterans from four key wars.
   Work on the project began last November. An architectural company in Farmville, Winthrop and Associates, designed the new hall, which Nielsen Construction from Harrisonburg is building. Evans expects the new hall to be finished by Christmas.
   Said Evans: "Our members have great pride in the longevity of their church, and in the fact that congregations at their church have thrived for all those years."

Contact Tom Mitchell at 574-6275 or
mitchell@dnronline.com

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