Calvary Episcopal Church

132 North Royal Avenue
Front Royal VA 22630

Phone: 540-635-2763

---

Description:
The family of Calvary Episcopal Church is a fellowship of individuals on a common journey of spiritual growth in Christ committed to reaching out into the world in Christ's name.

The roots of the Episcopal Church in Warren County go back to colonial times, when Anglicans met in each other's homes for morning prayer and evensong. No records exist from that time, nor from the post-Revolutionary War period that saw the birth of the Episcopal Church in the newly-formed United States of America. The first records of what was to become Calvary Episcopal Church are from 1854, when the members of "The Protestant Episcopal Congregation of the Town of Front Royal and Vicinity" laid the cornerstone for a wooden frame church on Main Street adjacent to the courthouse.

The Civil War brought armies to the Shenandoah Valley, and Front Royal was not immune to this conflict. Legend has it that the church on Main Street was used as a stable for the horses of the Northern Army and that it was also used as a military hospital. Twelve years after the building of the original church and the year after the cessation of hostilities, the congregation was able to construct a wooden rectory on adjacent land. By 1869, the congregation was known as Calvary Church.