Annual service at Old Union Church set Oct. 9

The directors and trustees of The Old Union Church Society announced the 227th Anniversary Service is set for 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 9, at the church in Townsend. Guest speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Vicky Gordy-Stith, a Navy veteran, a graduate of The Divinity School of Duke University and current director of connectional ministries for the Peninsula Delaware Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Old Union Church, listed on the National Register of Historical Places, began as a log church known as Dickinson's Chapel, and was completed in 1792. In 1847 the present brick church was built, facing east towards The King's Highway, the original stagecoach road from New Castle to Dover. The Kings Highway was later replaced by DuPont Highway which runs behind the church. The adjacent cemetery reveals the names of Delaware's early settlers. The oldest tombstone, according to Frank R. Zebley's "The Churches of Delaware," is that of Sarah Fields, who died March 27, 1799.

The cemetery is also the final resting place of Bishop Levi Scott, the first person from Delaware to be named to that position. He was born near Odessa, and was untiring in his work with the church, serving various parishes and accomplishing much with his influence. In 1866 he convened a group that would begin the institution that eventually became Morgan State University in Baltimore. Old Union Church continued to serve the families of Appoquinimink Hundred until the early 1900s when regular services were discontinued.

Old Union Church Society organizes two services each year, and the church is also available for weddings and private events. Old Union Church is at the corner of Route 13 (Dupont Highway) and Union Church Road, just south of Willey Farms and just north of Blackbird. There will be a picnic after the service, weather permitting.