Brief History of New Bethel Presbyterian Church
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"The Church in the Forks"
Tennessee’s Historic Pioneer Congregation
Initiated under the leadership of the Reverend Joseph Rhea in
1777
Organized by Presbytery under the leadership of the Reverend
Samuel Doak in 1782
Serving Christ and His
Church for over 220
years, the New Bethel Presbyterian Church remembers its treasured history as it
moves forward in its service to God.
Our congregation was founded
by Joseph Rhea and organized by Samuel Doak.
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Rhea
laid the foundation for our congregation after visiting this area in the
1770’s. As a chaplain in a military campaign to restore the peace between area
Indians and pioneers, Rhea fell in love with East Tennessee and decided to make
this his new home. He returned to his Maryland home, and he convinced his family
and many members of his Piney Creek Church to move with him to Sullivan County.
While many families made the move in 1777 and 1778, Joseph Rhea died before
making the trip and never got to live in Tennessee. The settlers became a
congregation without a pastor or building. It became known as the Church of the
Forks, so named because of the proximity to the confluence of two rivers.
The Reverend Charles
Cummings visited East Tennessee briefly in April 1777. He urged the settlers to
build a house of worship, which they did. The house of worship was completed in
July 1777, but was destroyed by Tories in 1779.
The Rev. Samuel Doak
(1749-1830) moved into East Tennessee and began his ministry with settlers in
Sullivan County and throughout the area. He is regarded as Tennessee’s first
minister. Unlike Rhea, Cummings and others before him who simply came into
Tennessee for brief mission visits, Doak was the first minister to make his home
in Tennessee. Considered our state’s great evangelist, Doak established 25
churches.
Theodore Roosevelt once
wrote of Doak as walking behind an old gray horse loaded with a sack full of
books, crossing the Alleghenies along the blazed trails to the Holston
settlements. The stern, God-fearing preacher became a powerful influence for
good.
Doak completed the work
started by Rhea when, under his leadership, Presbytery officially organized the
Church of the Forks in 1782. At that time, Doak gave the church its name by
recalling the Bethel Church at Staunton, Virginia, where he had first preached.
In keeping with Doak’s
priorities, a school was also organized with the New Bethel Church. James Gregg,
Sr., one of the elders on the session, served as the first teacher in this first
school of Sullivan County.
A portrait of Samuel Doak
hangs in New Bethel’s narthex. He had always refused to sit for his portrait,
but two of his students conspired and engaged him in conversation while an
unseen artist sketched his likeness.
Log cabins served the
congregation until 1879 when the present sanctuary was built. The brick was made
on site. The bell was shipped from Philadelphia.
The graves in the churchyard
date from 1790, when an unknown traveler was found on the grounds at the church.
The fallen stranger’s horse was still with him, and in a saddlebag was a small
stone inscribed with the letters "I. G." The small stone became the
stranger’s grave marker.
With a treasured history, the New Bethel Presbyterian Church continues to serve God. We are moving into the future with an excitement and joy.
To
view a few historical pictures of New Bethel Presbyterian Church and the
associated school, click HERE.