A Festive Celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary with a Colonial Church Christmas Open House in Prince George County
With America’s 250th anniversary around the corner, Prince George County Regional Heritage decided to celebrate the holiday season accordingly. Two of the country’s oldest churches – Martin’s Brandon and Merchants Hope – were open to the public for a Colonial Church Christmas Open House on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, from 2 to 4 p.m. Visitors experienced what Christmas at church may have looked and felt like in Virginia’s earliest colonial days.
Visitors to the Colonial Church Open House enjoyed organ music at each church played by Karen Rickman (Martin’s Brandon) and Mitchell Sheffield (Merchants Hope). At Merchants Hope, a 1611 translation of the King James Bible printed in 1639 and 1640 was on display. The Bible was on the Smithsonian Institution’s International Tour “Jamestown, Québec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings” in 2007. It is now under the stewardship of the Prince George County Regional Heritage Center. Special treats and drinks were made available to all.
About the Churches
Martin’s Brandon Episcopal Church
Considered one of the oldest churches in the United States, the founding of the original Martin’s Brandon Church is thought to be between 1613 and 1618 on land patented by Captain John Martin in 1616. Martin commanded the Benjamin under Sir Francis Drake in 1585-1586. Returning to England, he married Mary Brandon, daughter of a prominent English goldsmith and supplier to Queen Elizabeth I. Martin landed in Virginia in 1607 and he was named was a “Councillor of the Jamestown Colony”. He established Martin’s Brandon Plantation (now Lower Brandon Plantation) on the James River in Prince George County. Martin died in 1632 at Martin’s Brandon Plantation. The parish was established in 1655 and was named for Martin’s Brandon.
The present church, a pink stucco Tuscan-style building, was built by James E. Gray and consecrated by Bishop John Johns in November 1857. In the choir loft is the 1873 Henry Erben pipe organ given by the Ritchie family in memory of Mrs. Isabella Ritchie. The organ is one of 52 organs built by the Erben firm for Virginia churches and is one of three, unaltered, and in its original location. A chalice and paten, given in 1656, are believed to be the nation’s oldest communion service in continuous possession of the original parish. There are eight memorial stained-glass windows in the church, two of which are Louis C. Tiffany windows.
Merchants Hope Episcopal Church
Merchants Hope Church was established in 1657 and is named for an English ship that brought colonists to Virginia in the early 17th century. The original church may have served Jordan’s Parish, established in 1655.
Some historic resources state that in 1676 Nathaniel Bacon and others met at Merchants Hope to sign petitions to demand protection from attacks by the native population. Gov. Berkeley, who had fur trade dealings with local tribes, dismissed the petitions leading to the colonists’ armed uprising against Berkeley. Bacon’s Rebellion was the first revolt in the colonies of settlers against their own government.
The current sanctuary was completed in 1743. Merchants Hope is noted for its Flemish-bond brickwork, modillion cornice, and its unique gable roof. Many of the original interior features were destroyed during the Civil War, but the roof framing, sash windows, gallery, and English flagstone pavers (used as ship ballast in voyage from England to the New World) survive to this day.
Martin’s Brandon and Merchants Hope are listed in both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.