By Keswick Life
On Sunday, November 20, All Saints Chapel at Stony Point hosted a ceremony dedicating its new addition: a parish hall including a large meeting area, storage and vesting rooms, and kitchen and rest room facilities. Officiated by the reverend Miles Smith, rector of All Saints and of Grace Episcopal Church, the occasion drew well over fifty members of the two churches, donors, and construction contractors.
All Saints Chapel is a mission of Grace Church, founded in the 1920’s by Grace Church rector F. Leslie Robinson and now the sole survivor of three chapels built on the west side of the Southwest Mountains as outreach to those living in those outlying areas. The original structure, completed and dedicated in 1929, was designed by architect Stanislaw J. Makielski, then a professor in the University of Virginia School of Architecture and designer of many historical structures. Highly symbolic in its design, it has remained in active use since its opening. Completed in 1929, All Saints Chapel is the only survivor of several Grace Church missions .Its exterior of rough boards painted the white of purity, its fence shaped as open arms, and its broken roof line to show the cross on the turret-shaped chimney as its highest point are features of the highly symbolic effect conceived by the architect, Stanislaw Makielski (1914-1968), whose papers are archived at the University of Virginia Department of Special Collections.
Recently Thomas J. Crenshaw, a lifelong member of the All Saints congregation, died, having expressed his wish that his estate could help the chapel. Many of his legal heirs donated funds for the addition. These were expanded by other donations and by a grant from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. After necessary permits by Albemarle County had been secured, a member of Grace Church, Ralph Dammann, acting as general contractor, engaged the services of Robertson Renovations as builder. The plans, designed by architect Adams Sutphin, follow faithfully the style of the original chapel. He and septic installer Wayne Gentry contributed their expertise as donations.
The congregation is small, averaging fifteen to twenty people for semi-monthly services, which follow the rather traditional Rite One of the Episcopal liturgy. It is hoped that the addition with its new features will enable more diverse activities and attract additional community and other attendees.
Services are held twice monthly at 9:00 am, consisting of Holy Communion on the second Sunday, celebrated by Grace’s Rector, the Reverend G. Miles Smith, and Morning Prayer on each fourth Sunday, celebrated by a lay reader. All services utilize Rite One. The usual congregation numbers about 15 to 18 persons, in addition to occasional outside visitors. Increasingly we have been joined by regular attendees of Grace Church who wish to enjoy worship in the quaint chapel building or who take this opportunity for an early service within the parish. The lay officiants for the Morning Prayer services are Alden Bigelow, Susan Hoyt, and Corky Shackelford. The three of them follow each other in rotation on fourth Sundays. We enthusiastically invite all those who are interested to come for a simple, traditional service in a beautiful setting. All Saints Chapel is located at 3929 Stony Point Road on Route 20 North, about 8 miles from Free Bridge and the Charlottesville city limits. From Cismont, one can take Route 600 (Stony Point Pass) to its end, then left about 200 yards on Route 20.