Woodlawn Baptist Church

Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained entries from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:

Woodlawn Baptist Church was built in 1872 on land given to the church by Otis Mason, son of John Mason, a Baptist, who at one time owned Woodlawn Mansion. The congregation had held its first services in the mansion house prior to construction of the church. The Mason deed contains a reverter clause specifying that if the land is used for any purpose other than as property for a full Baptist Church it will revert to the Mason heirs.

The church is a simple structure, originally covered with clapboard. According to the present minister, Mr. Whitescarver, the building was not solidly constructed and has required a great deal of maintenance. In 1939 an educational building wing was added, and the structure was almost entirely covered with stucco at that time. The interior walls, originally covered with dark varnished pine, have been fireproofed and painted white.

Plans have been drawn for a new brick church which will completely replace the existing structure.

The church cemetery contains many graves of Baptist settlers in the Woodlawn vicinity, the earliest of which date from 1875.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Pillar Church website:

Our History:
Woodlawn Baptist Church, part of Woodlawn Estate gifted to Nellie Custis (George Washington’s adopted daughter), history begins in 1850 when John and Rachel Mason, both Baptists, purchased Woodlawn Mansion. Nine years later, the Masons founded a Sunday school that met at Woodlawn Plantation. In 1868 while meeting at Woodlawn Plantation, Woodlawn Baptist Church was constituted and received into the Potomac Association of Southern Baptists. Members during this period probably met in Woodlawn Mansion’s parlor while waiting for God to provide the first sanctuary. The Masons’ son, Otis, gave a portion of his estate in 1872 for building a “meeting house.” From 1872 to 1876, Otis preached until Reverend Samuel Chapman, a member of the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry who was known as Mosby’s Fighting Parson, was called as the pastor. Chapman served as the pastor from 1876 to 1878.

Church Founding:
From 1876 to through 1940s, Woodlawn Baptist Church grew as the Mount Vernon and Fort Belvoir area developed. The building was expanded to include a basement, belfry, education building with a baptistery. The church membership blossomed from 1943 to the late 1960s. By 1969, the church membership was 394. Due to this growth, in 1962 the church body was in need to replace the original meeting house. Woodlawn Baptist Church expanded our property line into Fort Belvoir. Under the leadership of then pastor Roy Whitescarver (served from 1962 to 1970), Woodlawn Baptist Church with generous and gracious assistance of Congressman Joel T. Broyhill, Senator A. Willis Robertson, and Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. House Resolution 11064, An Act to Provide for the Conveyance of Certain Real Property of the United States Situated in the State of Virginia(2), was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 14th, 1964. This allowed the church to purchase three acres of land from the United States Army for around $12,000. Construction for this endeavor began in May 1969 and on December 25, 1969 the church held its first worship service in the Fellowship Hall. In 1996, the church built a new sanctuary that was completed in April 1997. Our church grounds also has a historic cemetery.

Historic Cemetery:
The Pillar Church of Woodlawn Cemetery is considered part of the Woodlawn Historic District in Alexandria, VA and is in the application process of being added to the National Register of Historic Places. The history of the cemetery began in the 1870s, shortly after the original church building was constructed. A site survey conducted in 2012 indicated there are 177 burials. The purpose of the cemetery was to provide a place of rest for those that were unable to afford a grave. Most of the people in the cemetery are extended members of the Mason family and/or at one time members of the church, then known as Woodlawn Baptist Church.

In April 2000, the cemetery was officially closed by the members of Woodlawn Baptist Church. The cemetery is now maintained by Pillar Church of Woodlawn.

The Church Today:
Since its founding, the church body has been faithful to hearing, learning from God’s Word. Additionally, this local New Testament church has been faithful at spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ through church planting and supporting missions within North America and internationally. Woodlawn has endured transitions within the leadership and membership over these 140 plus years. In late 2008, Woodlawn called Travis Hilton and his family to serve this body and community. During Pastor Travis’ tenure (September 2008 to February 2014), he began revitalizing and reforming Woodlawn to be a brighter and bolder witness for Christ according to the Scriptures. In the summer of 2013, God began pruning the church so that the efforts of revitalization and reformation could continue unhindered.

In the Spring of 2014, Woodlawn Baptist Church Council continued bringing about revitalization and reformation while praying for wisdom to lead the small remnant and extending a witness and ministry to those residing in Ft. Belvoir and the surrounding communities. However, for Woodlawn Baptist Church to continue to extend its witness, it became clear they needed to join the church planting efforts of Pillar Church of Dumfries and The Praetorian Project . In late 2014, the remaining Woodlawn Baptist members voted to disband and turn over church assets to Pillar Church of Dumfries in order to plant a new church near Ft. Belvoir.

Church Plant:
In early 2015 a core team began to assemble and prepare to plant a new church. In September 2015 Pillar Church of Woodlawn began to meet Sunday mornings for worship services. One year later, September 11th 2016, gathered members covenanted together and committed themselves to know Jesus and make Him known to Ft. Belvoir, the surrounding community, and around the world.


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Here follows an excerpt from "The Dixie Pig" blog written by Senator Scott Surovell in 2013:

Woodlawn Baptist Church, 1868
9001 Richmond Highway, Woodlawn

Just across Route One from the Friends meeting house is Woodlawn Baptist Church, situated on the brow of a hill overlooking the pastures of Woodlawn Stables. Home to a congregation of ninety-plus members, the church has historical ties to Woodlawn Plantation and Mosby’s Rangers.

John Mason, a sailing merchant from New England, bought Woodlawn in 1853 from Paul H. Troth, the son of one of the two Quakers who purchased the property seven years earlier. A faithful Baptist, Mason and his wife Rachel, who was Abraham Lincoln’s cousin, started a Sunday school class in the mansion in 1859. With the assistance of the Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria, the Masons and several other families founded Woodlawn Baptist in 1868. The church held services at Woodlawn until 1872 when the members constructed their first building on land across Accotink Turnpike, now Route One.

The first permanent pastor of the church was Reverend Samuel F. Chapman, known as the “Fighting Parson” because of his exploits during the Civil War. At the outbreak of the war, Chapman was a student at Richmond College and he soon enlisted in the Confederate Army. In 1863, both Sam and his brother William joined what was to become 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, the Rangers of Colonel John Singleton Mosby. Thrice wounded during the war, Sam Chapman was a fearless member of the Rangers, who were regarded by the South as heroic soldiers, but as bandits and guerillas by the Federals. “He was a Baptist minister who prayed through a six shooter,” Mosby said of Chapman, “especially in dealing with Yankees.”

Chapmen left Woodlawn Baptist in 1878 after two years as pastor and his successors have been closer to the model generally expected of men of the cloth. Roy Whitescarver, pastor from 1962 to 1970, however, also had connections to Mosby. Three of his family also fought with the Grey Ghost.

The church bought three acres for parking from Fort Belvoir in the 1960s through the good offices of U.S. Representative Joel Broyhill. The church razed the original, 1872 building in 1992 to make room for a new sanctuary.