In August and September of this year (2024), Windy Cove Presbyterian Church (ECO) has been celebrating the 275th anniversary of its founding in 1749 by Alexander Craighead.
Craighead, the first Covenanter minister in America, had moved with his family from Pennsylvania to the Virginia frontier (what is now Bath County) to establish this new congregation. Later, in 1755, he became one of the founding members, along with Samuel Davies and others, of Hanover Presbytery. A few years after that, he moved south again, as a result of Indian incursions related to the French & Indian War, this time to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where he pastored the Rocky River and Sugaw Creek (Sugar Creek) congregations and founded several others as well. Craighead was the first minister in America to call for armed resistance to British tyranny (1743), and though he died in 1766, his influence on the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence (1775) is unmistakable.
Memorial at Windy Cove Presbyterian Church (photo by R. Andrew Myers).
Two speakers were scheduled to address those in attendance for the festivities marking this anniversary commemoration of the founding of Windy Cove on August 24, 2024: Roger Schultz (Dean of Arts and Sciences at Liberty University), who spoke eloquently on the legacy of Craighead, particularly with respect to his influence on the Mecklenburg Declaration, and Andrew Myers (Website Manager at Log College Press), who had prepared a speech on the life of Craighead. Due to a providential hindrance, this writer was unable to attend, but Pastor Con Sauls (who organized this special event) very kindly stepped up to deliver the written address on the life of Craighead. The story of his life and legacy is important not only to Windy Cove but to American history and American Presbyterian church history.
Additionally, those in attendance were able to visit the original site of the church (which had been burned down by Indians), as well as Mrs. Craighead's recently-discovered grave, and the grave of another early minister Samuel Brown (1808–1889). The next day was the Lord's Day, and Rob Sherrard, who served as pastor at Windy Cove from 1980–2018, was present to minister to the congregation.
It was a very special time of remembrance, and thankfulness to the Lord who has been so gracious as to continue the ministry of His Word at Windy Cove for nearly three centuries thus far.
